I’m not a Vegan. I’m not even a Vegetarian. I’m an Intuitive Eater – I eat whatever my body tells me to. At this time, and for more than a year, my diet has been predominantly RAW Vegan (for 4 months last year I ate 100% RAW). I haven’t had dairy, chicken or beef in all that time. My diet consists of mostly raw foods and some cooked veggies, plus the occasional piece of fish and even less occasional egg. But I would never call myself a Vegan. Why not? Because first of all, I don’t consider myself a Vegan – if I want a steak, I’ll have a steak. I just don’t happen to want one. And second, I don’t want people shrinking away from me as though I were covered in poo.

I’d like to make it clear that there are many wonderful Vegetarians and Vegans out there who are perfectly nice people and who do not fall under the description I’m about to give. If you’re one of these wonderful plant munchers, I’m not talking about you, okay? But we’ve all met that dedicated Vegan, that judgmental, condescending herbivore who not only has made the choice to no longer partake of animal products in any way, but has made it his mission to ruin that pleasure for all others. These are the people who will sit across from you at the dinner table, eyeing your steak as though it was covered in maggots and ask you if you’re aware that you’re eating a corpse. These are the people who will refer to eggs as “chicken fetuses” and who will lecture you on how your decision to put cheese on your toast is directly responsible for the loss of an acre of Rainforest. I’m talking about the Vegan Douchebags.

This post isn’t so much for the Douchebag (who can’t hear me anyway and doesn’t want to), but for those who have to suffer in his presence. I’d like to give an explanation of why perfectly normal people turn into Veggiesnobs, how to deal with them (without slapping them), and how, if you would like to veggify your diet, you can avoid becoming one.

Douchebag Cause Nr. 1: Insecurity

Many Vegans and Vegetarians (not all…) don’t actually WANT to give up Meat & Co. They just think that they have to. And while they are trying to convince themselves that they’ve made the right choice for their health and/or the planet, they would secretly like nothing more than to sink their teeth into a juicy burger. You’ll see this a lot with former carnivores who have been “converted” by their girlfriends or boyfriends. On the outside, they talk the talk, but on the inside, they’re doing it for all the wrong reasons. Why do you think there are so many vegetarian foods that try to mimic meat? Why would the market demand healthy food that tries to imitate unhealthy food (and by doing so, almost always becomes unhealthy in the process)?

Your diet shouldn’t be determined by guilt, shame or fear. All of those emotions feel horrible, and what have we learned so far, boys and girls? That’s right. That nothing is as important as feeling good. And anything that doesn’t feel good doesn’t serve you. So, if eating a steak makes you feel guilty, but you secretly want to eat that steak, then the thought of steak is going to feel horrible. The reason it feels horrible is not because steak is bad for you, but because of the discord in the thoughts you have about it. When you stop having steak, you’re changing from “I shouldn’t have steak/I really want steak” to “I’m not going to have steak/I still really want steak”. You haven’t gotten rid of that discord and the negative emotions may have slightly changed, but they haven’t gone away. You’re still thinking thoughts that aren’t serving you.

When you’re having dinner with a Vegan Douchebag, and they begin to berate your choice of meal, realize that they’re most likely simply looking for validation. They’re not really happy with denying themselves something they secretly want, and instead of admitting that, they’re trying to validate their choice by getting you to join them. The more adamantly he berates your choice, the more he wants your steak.

Douchebag Cause Nr. 2: We have to save the planet/the animals/the world

A great many Vegans and Vegetarians have made the choice to stop eating meat and all related foods because they have a strong belief that by doing so, they are saving the planet. Sure, there are many arguments to be made. Cattle ranchers are greatly responsible for the deforestation of the Rainforest. It can be argued that cow farts (methane gas) are at least in some part a cause for global warming. We also have a responsibility to save the poor, defenseless animals, that are treated and killed with cruelty. And all of these arguments are valid. I’m not in favor of the way animals in slaughterhouses and chicken farms are treated. You won’t see me in the rainforest, cutting down trees. There’s nothing wrong with caring about Bambi and his forest.

And yet, I still don’t agree with the Vegan Douchebag who blames those who eat meat for destroying the planet. Why not? Because to do so would mean that I believe that others have the power to determine our reality. And I don’t. If you truly create your own reality (and you do), then no one but you has the power to affect that reality, unless you let them. This means, that if you adjust your focus to only include a safe world with happy animals, then that’s what you’re going to line up with. You can’t control everyone in the world. You can’t control all realities, dimensions and Universes. You can only control which reality you line up with. And as we know, the Law of Attraction states that whatever you focus on is included in your reality. So, if you focus on mistreated animals and a destroyed environment, then that’s what you’re giving your attention to. Denying yourself and others meat, while being angry at those who refuse to eat Tofu, still keeps your focus on the unwanted. You’re giving your attention to the wrong damn thing and the fact that you’re so angry is a clear sign of that.

You either create your own reality or you don’t. And the same goes for every other living thing – animals, plants, the whole planet. Just as you can’t save other people by feeling bad for them, you can’t help animals or the planet with an angry, bleeding heart. That doesn’t meant that you can’t help others, animals or the environment, but not by going around slapping the cheeseburgers out of people’s hands and yelling at them to “Stop ruining the planet you murderer!” There’s another way.

Why to stop eating meat (or not)

The only reason to stop eating meat (or doing anything else), is because it feels right to you. If your body doesn’t want to eat meat or cheese or dairy, if the thought of a chicken nugget grosses you out, then by all means, don’t eat those things. If you don’t feel good while wearing leather shoes, don’t buy them. But it’s your choice. It’s your reality.

When you fully realize that whatever you push against gets included in your reality, and you start to pay attention to how you feel, you begin to understand that vilifying those who eat meat isn’t serving you. And yet, you’d like to find a way to line up with a world where animals aren’t mistreated and the rainforest is getting bigger instead of smaller. I’d like to offer a better feeling perspective.

The Solution: Individual Choices from a place of connection

For me, the solution to all of this is true, individual freedom. That means, if you want a damn steak, have a steak. However, as we begin to wake up and raise our vibration, a few things are going to happen on an increasing basis.

We will begin to listen to our bodies more and feed them properly. When you eat only what you truly resonate with, you realize that foods that have been contaminated with chemicals no longer look or taste good. You begin to look for higher quality foods, including animal products that come from happy cows and chickens. As you begin to feed your body properly (no more foods that your body has to stay alive in spite of, and more foods that truly nourish your body) you will not only feel much better, raising your vibration further, but you will begin to eat less. The only reason we eat so much in our society is because our bodies aren’t getting the nutrition they need and they keep screaming for more food. Less food means less impact on the world and more balance with nature. As people begin to care more about themselves and feel their connection to everything, they will think more about how to conserve the environment, NOT because of guilt or necessity, but simply because you treat that which you love differently than that which you hate or don’t care about.

You can’t guilt people into caring about the planet.

And you don’t have to. A connected person will care automatically.

As balance is restored and farming and animal husbandry return to sustainable ways which work WITH nature instead of against it, it won’t matter if someone eats meat or not. Everyone will be free to eat what they want and because they are listening to their bodies, they will never consume too much or too little.

Line up with the vision of what you want

The main reason that many people would consider this beautiful vision to be unrealistic is because they’re still hung up on the idea that other people have the power to affect their reality. But they don’t, unless we give them that power. Personally, I choose to line up with the vision I described. Interestingly, as I’ve raised my vibration more and more, my food choices conformed with this vision quite naturally. I stopped eating processed foods and chemical additives – not because I thought I should, but because I no longer liked them. I stopped eating meat – not because it made me feel guilty to do so, but because veggies just looked so much better. I stopped drinking milk, not because I think that doing so will save the planet, but because the mere thought of milk kind of grosses me out (and always has, but I didn’t want to admit it to myself).  Instead of running AWAY FROM Meat and dairy, from foods that didn’t feel good for whatever reason (including losing weight, BTW), I ran TOWARDS the foods that felt better. I listened to by body and increasingly gave it what it wanted and nothing that it didn’t want. And I’ve noticed that a lot of other people who are consciously raising their vibration have done the same.

When I go to dinner with a friend and he orders steak, I have no issue with that. I hope he enjoys it. If I wake up tomorrow and want some beef, I will have some. I’ll go and find a butcher that sells beef from happy, healthy cows, but I will give my body what it wants (including the quality that it wants). I make sure that I feel good about what I eat and that I eat what I feel good about. I deny myself nothing. I keep my vision firmly on the reality I want to line up with – one of balance, of free choice where no one has to do anything they don’t want and everyone honors their own wishes. And I know that I can’t get to that realty by taking away other’s right to choose, even if I don’t agree with their choices. What reality are you lining up with?