A conundrum

I have a bit of a difficult situation facing me. I am going out for dinner tonight with some old work colleagues. The dinner was organised months ago and I have not seen them for about the same time. When they booked the dinner, they were very concerned about making sure that my vegetarian dietary requirements could be met. Most places serve vegetarian food but these colleagues always worry that there won't be any food for me. They are very lovely and I really appreciated the effort they put in and the concern they showed. However, in the months since I have seen them, I have become vegan. At the present time it is quite unusual for a 'mainstream' restaurant to serve vegan food.

I really feel that I have to go, and I can't now turn around and say, "Oh I know you made such an effort to find somewhere that made vegetarian food, but I'm vegan now and there's nothing here I will eat". This leaves me with only one option. I must eat non-vegan food. I must eat dairy and eggs, thus supporting the very cruelty I want to cut out from my life.

This is a very difficult choice for me but I feel that I should support the effort that my colleagues put into having dinner with me. It does mean that my money will be funding the industries I no longer wish to support, and therefore feed the cycle of consume and demand, but at the same time I will be supporting people who have taken it upon themselves to learn so much about vegetarianism and accommodate their own views as a result.

So I guess this means that my vegan challenge will have to be suspended for one night so that I can support the gradually changing views of these old colleagues. I feel really bad but I know that at the same time I am doing good. I will therefore be extending my vegan challenge by an extra day (to Easter Monday), to make up for this day involving non-vegan eating.

I'm also a bit worried about how my body will react. Since going vegan, I have felt so much healthier and I have so much more energy. Over my years of being vegetarian, there were a few times when I accidentally ate something containing meat. On these occasions I got quite sick, and it wasn't psychological! Apparently it's quite a common occurrence, that the more people cut out meat and animal products, the better they feel, but the reverse is true if you go in the opposite direction. I believe that cutting out dairy has been a big factor in how healthy I feel today, so I'm worried how I will feel after eating a meal no doubt covered in cheese. I guess only time will tell!