Starting to fall off the wagon and frustrated

[wildr0se2]

I'm feeling very frustrated with myself. Lately, I've been slipping up/choosing to eat animal products more frequently. I had banana nut bread this morning that had eggs in it. Now I had popcorn that I'm not sure was vegan but I ate it anyway. Then I had Charms Fluffy Stuff cotton candy that, again, I think was vegan but not sure. I think I'm putting too much pressure on myself to be perfect. I don't want to give up on veganism, but I feel so isolated and I'm tired of those who give me an attitude when I ask if something is vegan. Maybe I need to start bringing my own food, or making a list of food brands to buy that are vegan. I hope it's ok that I am venting. I just feel alone.

 

[Lou]

My motto: perfection is the enemy good.

IMHO, Trying to be a perfect causes more harm than good. So give yourself a break and lighten up. Just do the best you can. And you get to decide what that is.
Practice being vegan to the best of your ability.

 

[silva]

It's really what is going to make the biggest impact, and what is going to further your goals in the long run
When I was first trying to be vegan it drove me nuts. I was torn between wanting things and guilt, and it was actually that inner fight that would lead me to just stop trying so I wouldn't be so obsessed
For me, I finally decided I would set parameters of exceptions. I never had issue with meat but cheese, or just things that would come up unexpectedly. My kids were little too, and those events were often void of anything I could eat.

Just saw your question on yellow 6 dye. While I understand it's good to know, you need to come to terms with how helpful obsessing about details is when you're still early in transitioning. Once you feel vegan is your "normal" then focus on the little things.
Not eating meat dairy and cheese is the forest, the honey, gelatine, enzymes...are the trees. Don't get lost in the forest by focusing on the trees.

 

[Ahimsa24/7]

I'm feeling very frustrated with myself. Lately, I've been slipping up/choosing to eat animal products more frequently. I had banana nut bread this morning that had eggs in it. Now I had popcorn that I'm not sure was vegan but I ate it anyway. Then I had Charms Fluffy Stuff cotton candy that, again, I think was vegan but not sure. I think I'm putting too much pressure on myself to be perfect. I don't want to give up on veganism, but I feel so isolated and I'm tired of those who give me an attitude when I ask if something is vegan. Maybe I need to start bringing my own food, or making a list of food brands to buy that are vegan. I hope it's ok that I am venting. I just feel alone.

When I first became a vegan, I had to bring my reading glasses to the store and it took me three times longer than the average person to food shop because I had to read every label. When I go to the food store now (10 years later), I can place about 90% of my purchases in the cart without even looking at the ingredients. It gets easier, even much easier, as time goes on.

And I'll echo the "Don't drive yourself crazy sentiments" of other posters. For example, I know most movie popcorn contains a soy-based product rather than butter. I can't say I've verified that for every movie theater in the country, and if I ask at the counter I won't get a worthwhile answer anyway. So I've just moved movie theater popcorn into the "safe" category, rightly or wrongly. I don't let the thought that I may have ingested some dairy that way keep me up nights.