My official name is Manda, but I've been Razhie for almost as long. I'm a 28 year old woman who didn't use to be half as confident or brazen as she is now.
My advice is pretty good, not always perfect and rarely censored.
The Question
from losing weight? I went vegan for my health and to get skinnier, and have already lost 25 pounds this year. I still have an overweight BMI and have gone from a BMI of 30 (tipping point for obesity) to a 25.7, the tipping scale of normality. my boss frequently comments on my losing too much weight, my dad really hurt my feelings the other day by saying I should just eat the oil heavy, animal product heavy foods or get out (before my parents wished I'd cook more, now they hate that I need to make meals once every one to two weeks, saving money on food costs in the process), and many family members and family friends are very skeptical, in spite of my progress and the fact that it's the first time in my life I've ever been successful at a diet for more than like 2 days (it's been 2 months!), I was on the brink of getting type 2 diabetes medication at my previous weight, I'm finally learning to cook, most of my cravings went away (fast food is expensive. And not only am I vegan, I'm also mostly plant based, but I don't shame myself for occasionally having coconut ice cream or vegan cheese. It's like people recognize all these famous, beautiful people but don't like the idea of me being one, finally being happy with a slim (I want a BMI of 18.5, I don't have anorexic dreams) body for the first time in my life since I started puberty in elementary school (early menarche is linked with dairy, meat, and etc and I ate those with no restraint), or eliminating my risk for various diseases common with my elder family members. I'll just try to not talk about the diet as much and have my blood tests my proof of the benefits of a whole foods, plant based diet, but it's been sad to pretty much have barely any support, especially from family members. At least my co workers are supportive and consider that I'm vegan with things, unlike my parents who joke about me needing to eat animals
The Answer
You are conflating and confusing a lot of different issues here. Being a vegan is not always a healthy choice - any more than eating meat is always a healthy choice. Both these diets have pit-falls, misunderstandings and temptations that can lead to weight gain. Your diet choices might be great for you - they might not be great for everyone - they might not even be great for you at all stages of your life.
It's great that you are so much healthier, and it's great that you are feeling betters, and learning to cook. It really doesn't matter that other people don't recognize those great things, but frankly, you'll have an easier time letting them see those great things if you keep it personal, and don't claim authority on subjects you are not an authority on.
For example, you claim that early menarche is linked to dairy, meat etc. It's not. That's been debunked pretty damn throughly. Girls are not getting their periods much earlier than they were 50 years ago - the average has only moved by a few months - and has been linked to being obese, but also is largely happening along ethnic lines, not dietary ones.
So you see, the information you got was warped by your preference for information that would support the conclusion you already believed in.
That isn't something that just happens to vegans. That happens to everyone. We are more likely to take information seriously when it confirms what we already believed to be true, and less likely to take information seriously when it challenges our beliefs.
Your diet is your choice. That is only defence you need to make. Stop trying to defend the science - you don't actually know the science. No one knows it's 100%, and it's not going to convince anyone. No one cares about your blood tests, or how much money you are saving. Instead, demand respect for your choice, not your version of the facts.
Honestly, it's a bit weird to me how much you've got wrapped up in being slim and what other people think of what you choose to eat. In the end, what we choose to put in our bodies is a highly personal choice, and any choice you make is going to get some comments, good and bad, from others. It sucks when your parents don't support a choice that is important to you, but that's also just life. Make your choice anyway and stand by it, but stop trying to get them to change their beliefs if they are not open too it. Their choice to eat as they do it just as valid and deserving of respect as yours is.
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(Rating: 3)
Can you name one pit fall to a whole foods, plant based diet? Yes, I could eat oreos everyday and still be vegan, but that is not what I said. I agree about misinterpretations, though, and I'm far less tempted now than I was as a faux omnivore.
Thanks for your take on that, but I have to say that I never claim authority when I speak to people about such things, I defer to the findings of many famous, successful doctors and researchers. I don't try to come across as someone with a PhD in Biology, it's often easier for me to pass on links to info or comment on my own life experience than to summarize medical jargon.
Can you give me one reference about dairy and meat not leading to early menarche? I was an average weight and regularly exercising during elementary school, too. Here's two links saying the opposite of your point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJvrlwnEqbs and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joel-fuhrman-md/girls-early-puberty_b_857167.html
50 years ago Americans were still eating plenty of dairy and meat, so so compare the age of menarche in America with 1980s rural China. As China westernizes, it gets more and more at risk for what were previously deemed just diseases affecting westerners.
If my mind was that inflexible then I wouldn't have become vegan in the first place, just two months ago. Just six months ago I was one of those people wondering where vegans got their protein from. I don't know about you, and other people you're referencing, but I am a rational, open minded person. Turning back type 2 diabetes isn't a belief, it can be proven. Would you tell Bill Clinton he just "believes" he has improved the state of his arteries, too? There's nothing wrong with someone being able to say they don't eat as healthy as they should. I could go without coconut ice cream, for example. It's a problem when someone is so far in denial that they'd rather say that all diets can be healthy than be honest with themselves.
Learning the science is what made able to eat the way I do now, a far cry from where I was one year ago, always tempted when driving by restaurants and at the check out counter of grocery stores. Yes, I'm aware I am not as knowledgeable as the relevant experts, but a basic understanding of why certain foods are addictive, why certain foods have a negative effect on my body, why there aren't commercials on the benefits of kale, and etc. benefits me on a daily basis. As a kid, I hated when my mom would tell me to eat a certain food just because it was "healthy", without any explanation further, because that leads you to just have a "fuck it" attitude about "foods" that have been fucked with.
You say I won't convince anyone when hours after writing my question, my mom said she wants to start making fruit smoothies for breakfast, too, and I also forgot to say earlier that a co-worker of mine was interested in the diet, as well as one family friend. If you truly gave people the option between open heart surgery and going whole foods, plant based, most people would choose the latter. And many have done so, and reversed many, many conditions. If one tries the diet, and it doesn't work out for them, do they lose anything? My alternative was starting type 2 diabetes medication, which likely would have been more expensive than what I pay monthly for food, with a number of potential side effects. It's not even as difficult as I thought it would be. At all! There are alternatives to literally everything. I made epic veggie burgers yesterday, basically a baked hybrid of falafel and kimchi. I now work on getting enough calories and enjoying food than constantly worrying about them before, and feeling guilty over my inevitable constant binges from my aspirations and failure at eating low carb.
Sure, nobody has to care about me, but people care about themselves. People care about their own blood tests and saving their own money. I'm not trying to be praised, I'd love to people take charge of their own lives instead of being pawns to the standard american diet and big pharma. The facts are the facts. I'm not trying to be this quirky individual, eating some special diet just to be quirky and different.
If you had been in my shoes, essentially a social outcast, and insecure your entire life over your body, you would understand why I want to be slim. Maybe you're your ideal body type and have never had that issue, so it's hard for you to relate, but no, that doesn't make either of us "weird" for our real experiences and body preferences. I agree with most of your final paragraph, though, but my feeling is just that if I didn't give a shit about someone or didn't respect them I wouldn't try to give them an alternative to expensive, and often ineffective medical solutions to their problems, and fad diets you can't maintain in the long run.