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ofearthandstarsPersonal thoughts/feelings on veganism, weight loss, and body image.
First off, veganism is a very personal decision. It is not something that I tend to nag, bully, or push others around about. At holidays and family dinners, when L.'s family inevitably jokes with me about forfeiting my position at the top of the food chain, I don't make it a point to argue, and I don't believe that veganism is for everybody. It's just about what feels right for me.
For me, veganism is a way to practice ahimsa, it is about compassion for all living beings, and from that view, I find it a very freeing and abundant way to live. My food choices are centered around compassion and trying to leave this world a little better than I found it. I have a hard time viewing the vegan diet as one of restriction or deprivation, and it rankles me when people refer to it as such (although I also understand that someone who eats meat, dairy, and eggs has more possible food combinations, to willingly forego these items does not require that one feel deprived).
With that in mind, I think several other more qualified people have written about the problem of parading veganism as a weight loss diet - Ginny Messina, a professional dietician, is my personal hero for pointing out that relying on veganism doesn't guarentee weight loss, arguing for a HAES approach, and tackling the body shaming that comes from as high up as the Physicians Committee for Response Medicine.
From a personal perspective, I lost weight initially, and I think that veganism has helped me to keep my weight down in the past year, but ultimately, I have gained around 10-15 lbs again as I encountered interruptions to my exercise routine and found myself beset with stress outside of my control (I think that eating the way I used to eat would probably have resulted in greater weight gain). Perhaps I've enjoyed too much coconut milk, avocado, nut butters, and wine. In short, I'm pretty much a "fat vegan", a term for which there should be no shame for. (And please don't argue with me about whether being an inbetweenie qualifies as "fat" - if you look at me, you can obviously discern that I am overweight by my lovely belly.)
However, there are a number of reasons that jumping into a vegan diet solely for weight loss makes me feel deeply uncomfortable - for one, it presumes that everyone who jumps on the vegan bandwagon will lose weight (they won't), and it presumes that those who don't magically lose pounds have had some great moral failing - and really, the vegan community has already suffered a epidemic of individuals arguing over the moral failings of others (just think, for a second, of the stereotypical "combative" vegan who lambasts other omnivores for their food choices and health problems). This results in individuals who don't fit the magical size 4 vegan runner mold being alienated. Case in point, Dr. McDougall equates being overweight to failing the vegan cause, or as he puts it:
In short, vegans that are fat are abusing themselves and making veganism look bad. And while I can appreciate that drowning everything in olive oil is probably not good everyday, I also feel that those who promote the fat-free and oil-free vegan diet are myopically focused on the fat-is-evil-and-will-kill-you viewpoint. It is, once again, simple demonization and fatphobia.
I follow Lindsay Graham's blog, but she lost a lot of my respect with her "say no to oil" post, which is based more on vague, emotional arguments against oil instead of nutritional studies or science (oh, and statements from Dr. McDougall). Although, I'm not gonna lie, I have her "Everyday Happy Herbivore Cookbook", and of all my vegan cookbooks, her recipes have resulted in the most cooking failures, including one dish that made me physically sick - so maybe that's why I give Lindsay the hairy eyeball. But that's an aside...this approach also results in people giving up on veganism when they realize it is not a magical weight loss tool, and when they do begin to feel deprived because they can't enjoy a vegan cupcake or an oil-based salad dressing. And in all of this, the ethical focus of veganism - compassion for all living things ('cept plants) - is lost.
And I can't help but think that all of this claptrap about fats and oils, and promoting veganism as a weight loss tool, is just another way of making veganism more extreme, more difficult, than it needs to be. And frankly, there are already accessibility issues with maintaining a healthy vegan diet - think of individuals who live in a food desert, where the nearest grocery store is a gas station of canned goods and white bread. I have the good fortune of having the income and the ability to drive to obtain certain foods that are unavailable in my local grocery and to get a variety of foods in my diet, but not everyone does. There are also a number of vegans who suffer from other health issues, unrelated to weight (or maybe even causing weight gain, such as thyroid issues) that will always struggle to meet this mythical picture of health and wellness. Have we lost sight of that?
Being vegan shouldn't require that one fit some picture of health and perfection. I fear that getting lost in trying to live to those standards keeps you from enjoying some of the mental (and maybe spiritual) aspects of living vegan - knowing that each bite you take is cruelty-free, knowing that you are able to sustain your body without violence, knowing that there is an abundance of plant-based foods that are tasty and amazing, and even the pleasure of an endorphin rush that comes with a kick-ass vegan dessert. That's enjoying a compassionate life, not attempting to fit some paradigm of slimness or wellness (which are not one in the same).
It's great if veganism makes you feel better, if it improves your energy levels or if it reduces GI issues, if it helps you to maintain a healthy weight, or if it inspires you to make other healthy choices that improve your health. Those are all great personal reasons to keep it up, and it's okay to say those things. That said, I find that expecting it to be the magical weight loss cure and promoting it as such for everybody - along with this insane zealotry of labeling certain plant-based foods (avocados, olive oil, etc.) as "bad" or "unhealthy" and claiming some higher moral ground for abstaining - results in a loss of compassion towards oneself and towards others who don't meet the mold and who make food choices that are accessible/attainable for them.
I don't need to feel shamed by a so-called community of compassionate individuals because I don't meet that mold. There's already enough messages from society about how a large body is bad, there's already enough struggles with doctors who won't examine real health issues because they can't see past weight, there are already enough assholes out there making snide comments and bitching about second seats on airplanes. Veganism that relies on fatphobia and weight-loss as its crutch is missing the point entirely.
Disclaimer: These are just my personal thoughts on what I feel is a disturbing trend, and this post is not directed at anyone. Also, I fully realize that some people go vegan for personal health reasons (to reduce cholesterol, etc.), and that's not my argument - my argument is against the expectation that veganism should be about weight-loss or fat-avoidance or some picture of wellness that must feed the cause.
First off, veganism is a very personal decision. It is not something that I tend to nag, bully, or push others around about. At holidays and family dinners, when L.'s family inevitably jokes with me about forfeiting my position at the top of the food chain, I don't make it a point to argue, and I don't believe that veganism is for everybody. It's just about what feels right for me.
For me, veganism is a way to practice ahimsa, it is about compassion for all living beings, and from that view, I find it a very freeing and abundant way to live. My food choices are centered around compassion and trying to leave this world a little better than I found it. I have a hard time viewing the vegan diet as one of restriction or deprivation, and it rankles me when people refer to it as such (although I also understand that someone who eats meat, dairy, and eggs has more possible food combinations, to willingly forego these items does not require that one feel deprived).
With that in mind, I think several other more qualified people have written about the problem of parading veganism as a weight loss diet - Ginny Messina, a professional dietician, is my personal hero for pointing out that relying on veganism doesn't guarentee weight loss, arguing for a HAES approach, and tackling the body shaming that comes from as high up as the Physicians Committee for Response Medicine.
From a personal perspective, I lost weight initially, and I think that veganism has helped me to keep my weight down in the past year, but ultimately, I have gained around 10-15 lbs again as I encountered interruptions to my exercise routine and found myself beset with stress outside of my control (I think that eating the way I used to eat would probably have resulted in greater weight gain). Perhaps I've enjoyed too much coconut milk, avocado, nut butters, and wine. In short, I'm pretty much a "fat vegan", a term for which there should be no shame for. (And please don't argue with me about whether being an inbetweenie qualifies as "fat" - if you look at me, you can obviously discern that I am overweight by my lovely belly.)
However, there are a number of reasons that jumping into a vegan diet solely for weight loss makes me feel deeply uncomfortable - for one, it presumes that everyone who jumps on the vegan bandwagon will lose weight (they won't), and it presumes that those who don't magically lose pounds have had some great moral failing - and really, the vegan community has already suffered a epidemic of individuals arguing over the moral failings of others (just think, for a second, of the stereotypical "combative" vegan who lambasts other omnivores for their food choices and health problems). This results in individuals who don't fit the magical size 4 vegan runner mold being alienated. Case in point, Dr. McDougall equates being overweight to failing the vegan cause, or as he puts it:
... their audiences of meat-eaters and animal-abusers may be so distracted by their appearance that they cannot hear the vital issues of animal rights and the environment; resulting in an unacknowledged setback for a fat vegan’s hard work for change.
In short, vegans that are fat are abusing themselves and making veganism look bad. And while I can appreciate that drowning everything in olive oil is probably not good everyday, I also feel that those who promote the fat-free and oil-free vegan diet are myopically focused on the fat-is-evil-and-will-kill-you viewpoint. It is, once again, simple demonization and fatphobia.
I follow Lindsay Graham's blog, but she lost a lot of my respect with her "say no to oil" post, which is based more on vague, emotional arguments against oil instead of nutritional studies or science (oh, and statements from Dr. McDougall). Although, I'm not gonna lie, I have her "Everyday Happy Herbivore Cookbook", and of all my vegan cookbooks, her recipes have resulted in the most cooking failures, including one dish that made me physically sick - so maybe that's why I give Lindsay the hairy eyeball. But that's an aside...this approach also results in people giving up on veganism when they realize it is not a magical weight loss tool, and when they do begin to feel deprived because they can't enjoy a vegan cupcake or an oil-based salad dressing. And in all of this, the ethical focus of veganism - compassion for all living things ('cept plants) - is lost.
And I can't help but think that all of this claptrap about fats and oils, and promoting veganism as a weight loss tool, is just another way of making veganism more extreme, more difficult, than it needs to be. And frankly, there are already accessibility issues with maintaining a healthy vegan diet - think of individuals who live in a food desert, where the nearest grocery store is a gas station of canned goods and white bread. I have the good fortune of having the income and the ability to drive to obtain certain foods that are unavailable in my local grocery and to get a variety of foods in my diet, but not everyone does. There are also a number of vegans who suffer from other health issues, unrelated to weight (or maybe even causing weight gain, such as thyroid issues) that will always struggle to meet this mythical picture of health and wellness. Have we lost sight of that?
Being vegan shouldn't require that one fit some picture of health and perfection. I fear that getting lost in trying to live to those standards keeps you from enjoying some of the mental (and maybe spiritual) aspects of living vegan - knowing that each bite you take is cruelty-free, knowing that you are able to sustain your body without violence, knowing that there is an abundance of plant-based foods that are tasty and amazing, and even the pleasure of an endorphin rush that comes with a kick-ass vegan dessert. That's enjoying a compassionate life, not attempting to fit some paradigm of slimness or wellness (which are not one in the same).
It's great if veganism makes you feel better, if it improves your energy levels or if it reduces GI issues, if it helps you to maintain a healthy weight, or if it inspires you to make other healthy choices that improve your health. Those are all great personal reasons to keep it up, and it's okay to say those things. That said, I find that expecting it to be the magical weight loss cure and promoting it as such for everybody - along with this insane zealotry of labeling certain plant-based foods (avocados, olive oil, etc.) as "bad" or "unhealthy" and claiming some higher moral ground for abstaining - results in a loss of compassion towards oneself and towards others who don't meet the mold and who make food choices that are accessible/attainable for them.
I don't need to feel shamed by a so-called community of compassionate individuals because I don't meet that mold. There's already enough messages from society about how a large body is bad, there's already enough struggles with doctors who won't examine real health issues because they can't see past weight, there are already enough assholes out there making snide comments and bitching about second seats on airplanes. Veganism that relies on fatphobia and weight-loss as its crutch is missing the point entirely.
Disclaimer: These are just my personal thoughts on what I feel is a disturbing trend, and this post is not directed at anyone. Also, I fully realize that some people go vegan for personal health reasons (to reduce cholesterol, etc.), and that's not my argument - my argument is against the expectation that veganism should be about weight-loss or fat-avoidance or some picture of wellness that must feed the cause.
