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My
Mum
My Mum has always been slightly overweight, not obviously,
but it has always worried her. She has tried dieting
over the years with no real effect until about eight
years ago when she joined a slimming club. She lost
about two stones over a period of around eighteen months
and got down to her target weight. She was absolutely
delighted, and so were we. In fact at one point she
weighed less than I did, and that was the first time
she had ever weighed less than me (I wasn't so delighted
at this bit!).
For a few years she stayed at around her target weight,
but then her weight started to creep up again. Not as
much as before, but she got to the stage where she felt
that she needed to lose a bit again. She has been trying
unsuccessfully to lose this weight for a while and was
getting pretty annoyed that it wasn't shifting. She
said that she was having cravings for carbohydrates
and felt this was one of the reasons that she couldn't
lose weight. So she decided that she needed to switch
to another diet.To my horror she started following a
high protein diet.
She began eating lots of meat and fats and hardly any
carbohydrates and is now losing weight. When she first
told me, I tried to tell her how bad this diet is for
her. I searched the Internet for information in the
hope that I could get her to change her mind. I did
give her some information about high protein diets,
and she did admit that any diet that requires vitamin
supplements couldn't be a particularly healthy one.
However, because she is losing weight, she is sticking
to it.
After the initial worrying, I started to think more
rationally. I realised that I had been trying to push
my vegan beliefs on her, even though I hate it when
others do this to me, regardless of what beliefs they
are promoting. I know I did it because I am worried
about my mother's health, but that doesn't excuse it.
Forcing beliefs on others is not veganly, in my opinion.
I realised that what my mother eats isn't really important.
What matters is that she is happy with her life. She
is my mother, and I love her. The love I have for my
family is always there no matter how different our beliefs
may be. I have learnt a lot from this experience and
realise that first and foremost I should treat others
with respect, especially with regard to their decisions
about what to eat. After all, isn't that what we as
vegans hope for ourselves?
Pamela M.
England
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