Having a Plan

Something has been nagging at the corner of my mind lately, and it is this: the adjectives we use to describe people who do things we don’t like. Recently I got into a heated discussion where the words “lazy” and “selfish” were lobbed at vegans who failed to achieve perfection in certain ways. My first thought was “Whoa, if some vegans are calling other vegans lazy and selfish, what are they saying about the average non-vegan out there?” But I don’t know the answer to that one, I was too busy insisting I’m not really lazy and selfish.

Not to rehash all that, instead I want to talk about the vegans who slip up or the vegetarians who want to be vegan but can’t seem to make the leap. Is this because they’re lazy and selfish? I don’t think so. I mean, c’mon, I can be pretty lazy and selfish myself, but I keep a vegan kitchen. The main way I prevent slip ups is having a plan. Yeah, seriously, when the going gets tough I don’t fall back on my moral self-righteousness, I don’t crack out a dvd of Earthlings, when the going gets tough I fall back on two things, habit and planning.

When my fellow vegans confide to me that they ate something non-vegan it usually falls into three categories. The first is accident: “The waiter told me that the soup was vegan, but this thing floating in it seems to be bacon.” The second category is hormonal cravings, and this is mostly women but sometimes even happens to men, but typically it’s: “I had terrible PMS and all I could think about was chocolate but I was stuck at the office and the only chocolate in the vending machine was a Milky Way Bar.” The third type is stress/depression/tragedy eating which goes like this: “I was totally vegan for months but then my grandmother died and I went to the funeral and afterwards they were serving all the foods she used to make and I ate them all.” These confessions are usually accompanied by a lot of self-recrimination or even hand-wringing. The vegans here often ask themselves why they can’t be more perfect, why they keep messing up when others don’t.

So the first aspect of this is habit—when things aren’t stressful and overwhelming, get into the habit of eating vegan foods. This should help cut down on the cravings for non-vegan foods, and also help you learn where you can find vegan foods in a pinch. Sorry, it doesn’t always totally eliminate cravings, but it certainly helps.

Habit helps with the accidental non-vegan foods too, because we learn which restaurants serve foods we can eat and keep going to those places. We might also just develop a habit of asking the waiter specific questions instead of “is this vegan?” Sometimes people don’t know precisely what vegan means so asking “is the broth a meat broth?” might bring a more accurate answer.

Working on forming new habits is especially helpful for recovering junk food junkies. If your taste buds are accustomed to white flour, tons of sugar, and a greasy slab of fried animal flesh, those are the things you’re going to reach for when your brain is on auto-pilot. However, if you go through the sometimes painful process of realigning your taste buds to crisp juicy apples, whole grain crackers, veggie sandwiches, and carrot sticks there’s a good chance you’ll eventually start to just automatically reach for those foods instead. But just like learning piano, learning healthy vegan eating takes practice. And it isn’t always fun when your brain is screaming “ice cream” to bite into an apple instead. It can be hard work, but eventually it does become second nature.

The second aspect is planning. For me this means trying to keep a couple of vegan energy bars (yes, with chocolate in them) in my desk drawer at work so if I am stuck working late or have an intense craving I have something on hand. This is also good from a nutritional standpoint too, because while energy bars aren’t perfect they have to beat whatever junky stuff I could find in vending machines.

This kind of planning especially comes in handy when you’re going through a really tough time, like the funeral of a loved one, or even happy stress like traveling to and participating in your sister’s wedding. During those stressful times we tend to skip meals, so the hunger combined with stress, combined with an urge for “comfort foods” means we’ll be especially tempted by the non-vegan foods we once loved. However if we go into it knowing that we can plan. We can tuck a box of vegan “shells and chreese” into our luggage for a late night indulgence, we can check listings of vegan and vegetarian restaurants online, as well as regular restaurants with vegan options before we travel to an unfamiliar location. We can stash a few of those energy bars in our coat pockets just in case.

We also have to remind ourselves why this is important. It’s not because we’re selfish, stupid, or lazy that we forget, it’s because like everyone else we’re busy, pulled in nine or ten different directions, stressed, tired, etc. It’s hard to keep in mind every single day the things that after all are so carefully hidden from us. Some people even wear something to remind themselves about the animals when they’re least likely to think of them, like working late and starving, or at a party. Other people will periodically watch a video or visit a sanctuary to keep the connection fresh in their minds. There’s no wrong way, so long as it works for you. The trick is to find a way to remember that the tasty-looking slice of cheesecake also meant suffering to the cows (for the milk and cheese) and to the chickens (for the eggs). One friend of mine keeps the photographs of sanctuary animals she is sponsoring in her wallet. This can keep her reasons for being vegan close at hand and also gives her a pick-me-up on a rough day. Just looking at those rescued animals, knowing they are safe and fed and cared for can go a long way.