Veganism is an Ethical Choice Not Restrictive Eating.

If you follow me on Facebook or on Twitter you might have noticed that I’m involved in the HAES (Health At Every Size) community.
HAES acknowledges that humanity has body diversity and that thin isn’t a template that equals health.
I follow several RDN’s who are against diet culture and work with this approach.  I love following them because they talk about food the way I do, which is to say that food is positive and delicious.
I appreciate their expertise so I can refer to them if people become triggered by the fact that I’m both a foodie and an exercise enthusiast who isn’t trying to lose weight.
Usually twitter is full of encouraging comments whenever a blogger and/or nutritionist share an article about body positivity and diet culture. But there is a common misconception that I would like to address which is that veganism is just one of the many trend diets that restrict your eating; a symptom of orthorexia, or a gateway of sorts for teenagers to develop an eating disorder.
I’ve had discussions with several people who think that when a teenager become vegan they have an excuse to skip meals, or eat salads when the rest of the family is eating dinner.
I would like to point out that it isn’t veganism that is the issue here. I have never heard someone argue that a teen in a vegan family became a meat eater just so they could skip meals, or that a parent is letting a child with celiac disease eat salads or skip meals since they can no longer eat wheat pasta.
This would point to poor parenting, lack of information on nutrition, and not having noticed that your child has body image issues.
I don’t think I need to tell you that if your child decides to become vegan, it’s your responsibility to find out what vegans eat and then cook nutritious meals.
Vegan food isn’t a low-calorie food and vegans eat from every food group just like everyone else. If you look at my own recipes here on my blog, you’ll find nutritious and rich dishes, all vegan or vegetarian. Please enjoy them, they’re delicious and easy to make.
And keep in mind that choosing plant based food because of inhumane factory farming, stressful transport to slaughter, cruel slaughtering practices, or as a way to minimize strain on our planet, is very different from restrictive diets that is trying to confirm to society’s obsession with thinness and clean eating.
Restriction lead to eating disorders. Veganism and Vegetarianism is about ethics.

Enticed by these photos? Recipes are available right here on Exercising Foodies. #Foodie #Vegan #Delicious #Nutritious #RichInProtein