宮島 萌 / Moe is a vegan athlete in Japan. She enjoys running, cooking and body building. Meatless Movement recently had the opportunity to chat with her.
Tell us more about yourself, please
I’m from Ishigaki island in Japan.
菜食ごはんで HEALTHY HAPPY LIFE
宮島 萌 / Moe
I have been Vegan for half a year. My running coach recommended meatless in 2020 for performance. At that time, I was a flexitarian. After that, I went to an amazing vegan restaurant. The food was awesome, so I realized vegan is tasty, good for my body, and vegans are not people who eat just salad.
After turning vegan, I discovered that I can train harder than before. Recovery is so fast. When I pulled my quad muscle I could recover in just one week.
How to explain to others you’re vegan?
I’m so happy always because I don’t need to eat animals to survive
宮島 萌 / Moe
I turned vegan because of the suffering of animals. It is the best thing I can do to help stop animal cruelty. But not everyone is open to cruelty-free lifestyle. Hence, if my friends choose to continue to eat meats/dairy/etc, it’s not my job to change them immediately.
If they further ask “why not eggs/milk?”, I would explain that these industries cause death (especially to male newborns). The male chicks of egg-laying hens are killed when just a day old because they will never lay an egg.
However, I am not immediately concerned if my friends feel strongly against my belief. Not all people will appreciate and understand the suffering caused by the dairy and egg industry.
How do vegans eat out with friends?
I am 100% vegan, not vegetarian. And I do not find many challenges. The hardest part, to me, though, is having the confidence to tell friends (in a kind way) that I do not want to eat animal products.
Usually, my friends will not insist on going to non vegan-friendly places when eating out with me. I am pleasantly surprised that all friends are also open to going to vegan cafes.
To reciprocate their understanding, I simply pick restaurants that have both choices. I am so happy to see so many vegan food choices around.
How can we promote meatless living and encourage more people to eat less meat?
I find the best way is to win them over with food. When I first started, not all my friends were as excited about it as I was, but now my friends fully support my choices.
The easy thing is just to enjoy the wonderful food that vegans can eat! A vegan diet is worth trying out. I would recommend they go to restaurants and try out the wide variety of vegan food options.
I decided to turn vegan because I take a stand against animal cruelty and animal exploitation. I am not worried if people might need more time to think of their diet choice when they hear why I made my decision. I remain true and honest but kind. As a matter of fact, I wasn’t raised vegan. So I understand many people would need more information/time to make this choice to switch.
But the world is changing. going vegan is more popular now. It’s easier now than ever. And next year more so. And so on! I am so happy to see more people globally adopting meatless diets.
My diet is very diverse and enjoyable. It’s not just normal diet minus meat
宮島 萌 / MOE
Kujaku_okinawa is my best vegan restaurants in Japan. They have healthy and tasty foods and staff are very friendly.
Scrambled tofu is good home-cooked. We can use this many ways. For example, it can be three-color donburi (donburi with three ingredients in it), topping of burger and salad. And also tofu has more protein and calcium, less calories, fat, sodium and cholesterol than eggs per 100g. That’s amazing.
I was able to speak to the maker of movie The Game Changers, Mr. James Wilks over a video call. He’s an inspiration
宮島 萌 / Moe
I think some people think vegan is a religion and vegan eat just salad. To be honest, I was like those people. There are more reasons to be vegan besides health. It is not only about empathy and overwhelming compassion stories. Global warming and climate change are real. The good news is there is something we can do about it.
Going vegan and staying vegan is better for health, kinder to animals, to people and to our planet.
If you are seriously transiting to a vegan diet, I say just please keep studying and understanding the environmental benefits of veganism. Besides humanity towards animals, a vegan diet is one of the best ways to counter the worst effects of climate change.
Please go slow and never feel bad if you can’t do everything overnight. But if you want to do it overnight, watch Dominion or a documentary that shows you what happens to animals in meat production…
Also, have fun.
宮島 萌 / Moe 🌺🏃♀️🌿ヴィーガンアスリート
Athlete
Vegan Athlete in Japan🇯🇵
Okinawa / Ishigaki 🌺
Spartanrace2021🥇
run🏃♀️ / cook🥑/ bodymake👠
:
アスリート、ボディビル用のごはんを
菜食で毎日つくっています❤︎
:
レシピはオンラインサロンにて公開中👇
all images courtesy of 宮島 萌 / Moe