Vegetarians have this nasty habit of going "you know that thing that you do? That isn't fundamental to your being? That you don't think about much? Have you thought about it lately? Oh, you have? Well guess what you're impossibly guilty and all your behavior has to change at once as penance for everything you ever did no there's no way out I've been waiting for YEARS to unload this unholy fury on you because I've been telling you so since Clinton was president that everything you do is going to bring about the immediate downfall of mankind unless you absolutely utterly one hundred percent recant everything you've ever said and change every aspect of your lifestyle and there is no way out there is no moderation there is no possibility of staggering things out or delaying other things or attempting to do a little bit and yes we can talk briefly about institutional problems no we can't psych this is entirely about your own personal behavior and your behavior alone but not mine not me I'm righteous you're the bad one you're the evil one do you give up do you give up do you give up do you do you do you do you do you" And I'm gonna eat another fuckin' burger just to spite the little bitch. 'cuz you know what? Uncle Sam buys me $38 billion dollars worth of burgers every year and Mr. Foer just sorta goes You know what? I'm game. But so long as American tax dollars go to producing beef, chicken, pork, cheese and corn, American food is going to be made of beef, chicken, pork, cheese and corn.If for a single year the government removed its $38-billion-plus in props and bailouts, and required meat and dairy corporations to play by normal capitalist rules, it would destroy them forever. The industry could not survive in the free market.
Doesn’t have to be an absolutist thing. If you’re eating less meat than 2019 nil or 2018 nil, you should feel good about yourself. After my wife went pescatarian a few months ago, I’ve been drowning in meat. All kinds. I try to absolve her of any guilt, so that she doesn’t buy as much for me, but it’s only recently been getting better. Being forced into eating the meat before it spoils has been terrible, but at least sometimes I’ve weightlifted. :/ I would be OK with a sharp reduction in meat production. Eventually. Might sniffle into my pillow for a bit, but it’s for mama earth. Worth it.
I've lost 15lbs since the last week of December, when my religious conversion happened, which puts me at 174. It's the lightest I've been in at least 6 years, but I don't own a scale so I don't track that closely. Eating vegan hasn't affected my lifting at all. I would say if anything I feel better, since I'm taking a lot of stress off my knees and heart. I'm old now, so I'm not going to compare myself to what I was like when I was 23 and lifting 5 days/week, but for my current situation (2 little kids, 37 yrs old), I'm feeling like a million bucks. (FWIW my wife always yells at me when I say I've lost 15 lbs in 4+ months by just going vegan. She's like, "IT'S NOT THE VEGANISM, YOU DON'T GO TO THE COFFEE SHOP TO EAT A 600 CAL MUFFIN FOR BREAKFAST EVERY DAY LIKE YOU USED TO, MORON!!!!" But then I'm like, "yOu DoN't GO to ThE cOfFEe ShOp...," and the argument continues.)