Feelings of guilt for animal products I ate before went vegetarian?

Question

Once in a while I feel a heaviness in my chest that is the guilt I feel for all the animal products I ate before I became a vegan.

I know there is no way to change what happened, but I still feel guilty. I didn't know what I was doing was wrong...but now I do.

Do any of you have this same problem?

Please don't answer this if you are not a vegetarian/vegan. Meat eaters wouldn't understand because they think the suffering animals endure for the production of meat is fine, or else they wouldn't support it. If you are a meat eater and don't know what I mean please go to www.meat.org.

Answer 1

There is nothing you can do, you have to accept that the past cannot be undone and that all you have control over is the future and the emotions and weight you attach to the past.You can either bring yourself down and hound yourself for something that you can't change anyway, or you can put it behind you where it belongs and focus on being the better person you are today.

Guilt swallows you up and makes you stagnant and pessimistic and unjust towards yourself. Everything behind you is gone, you can't do anything about it. All you control is your feelings and attitudes about the things in the past. After all, you have no time machine.

So why let what you did in the past continue affecting you, making you feel bad, pushing it's negativity into your life, wrapping it's black and heavy arms around you? If it helps you, work on making the world better or spreading awareness now. I feel guilty about things people have even done to me, not to mention what I have done myself.

You are compassionate, so let me be honest, while I feel guilty for eating tortured animals in the past, I also feel guilty for sitting comfortably and eating chips in front of my TV set while I knew Darfur was happening. I feel guilty for coming home from the Army whole and healthy while my friend came home in a coffin. I feel guilty every time I touch the folded flag his family gave me and I feel sick to my stomach with guilt. I feel guilty about allowing men to victimize me in my life, and that's wrong to feel guilty about. All of it.

I personally found it very healing to get involved with UNICEF and helping women that are s*x abuse victims, child slavery and prostitution, acid attack victims, women who are mutilated by female circumcision in Africa, and I also volunteered to see a cattle farm and witness the atrocities (and I am planning, right now it's still in the development stages, to go to a slaughterhouse).

Maybe you are a person like myself, where you can't sit by comfortably knowing something wrong is happening and you either contribute to it or do nothing about it. Well, none of us are the savior of mankind, none of us can fix all the problems in the world. But you are hundreds of times the better person for even trying.

You are the one person that doesn't just accept it and doesn't just sit back and feel sorry and do nothing and feel overwhelemd, you are one to every ten thousand people out there that go, "Children are dying of AIDS in Africa? Chickens are rotting into their f***s-filled cages to make my eggs? Underage, poverty-stricken teen mothers in Guatamala stitched my clothes in a sweat shop? The sugar cane industry in America is destroying the Everglades and our government gives them tax breaks and makes the middle class pay for the damage from their bloated taxes? Oh well, there's nothing I can do."

There are no tiers or boundaries. You and I, all of us, contribute to cruelty on all levels! In fact we are all caught in a cycle of silence or even acceptance and permission to injustice. People that rank evils - "Oh, since kids are dying in Africa, I won't give a darn about the condition of egg-laying hens" - are twisted and are missing the point. Nobody can resolve all the problems, but it's even worse to not contribute in resolving ANY of the problems, or just accepting all of them because one feels they can't change a thing.

So be happy in who you are now. Don't let the guilt have a presence in your life since it's the only thing left and alive from the things you did in the past. Letting that guilt be here is in a sense allowing pieces of what you did to live on. Kill it completely, put it behind you.

Answer 2

i 100% agree, i dont think animals should suffer for us when we can live without meat, and i used to get those feelings too. Its the animal rights sides that turned me vegetarian, i just got an overwhelming sensation that i should be fighting for them, they cant talk so we have to sort of thing. those that argue that one person being vegetarian isnt going to reduce the amount of animals being slaughtered in the world today obviously doesnt consider animal rights, perhaps we should go and eat them...muahahaha.. X)

ps) join PETA ;)

Answer 3

Why should you feel guilty?   God put meat AND veggies here for us to eat....do you also feel guilty about living in a modern society?   We have lots of great things to be proud of because of animals and their by products.....get over the guilt and enjoy life

Answer 4

I have the same problem, I also feel extremely guilty when I waste power and water and things like that

Answer 5

I know what you mean about the heaviness in the chest, especially whiles I'm going to sleep sometimes. It's like my heart is getting fixed or something.

*strange*

Answer 6

@ Robert S, no we don't need meat. Do some research. We don't have pointy teeth like a carnivore. Also, meat can be very hard on the digestive system.

Piscespets, I understand entirely. Personally I used to be addicted to cow's milk & dairy produce. Now I realise that soy milk is a much less cruel option. And it's tastier too. I will never drink cow's milk again.

Enough about me. I'm sorry to hear that you feel bad. But believe in yourself. Being vegan is about embracing a brighter tomorrow. Have faith.Think of how you are enormously helping the earth. You are reducing suffering in the world, you are making a positive difference, and standing up for animals. This always makes me feel better when I doubt myself.

Animals don't have a voice, but if they did, I'm sure they would say a huge thank you! Although this seems a little unrelated, I always remember this certain [Buddhist] quote- ''This too shall pass''. Try to forgive your old ways, you are on a learning curve, a journey. And you're doing great!

Here's a star to cheer you up a little. I hope this helps! ;)

Answer 7

just remember, you didnt know better

Answer 8

robert s, you dumb a$$!!!! we do not need meat and we did not evolve!!!!! vegans and vegetarians are not brainwashed!!! you are a typical stereotype animal abuser.

phew, im glad i got that off my chest. lol. but, ya, i do feel guilty a lot because most the time i didnt even think of the animal even when the dish was called "chicken sandwich" or "shrimp plate" or what ever it was that clearly stated the animals name in it. i would walk right by the meat department in the store and all i saw was some red stuff... not a dead animal. i have been changed so much by just watching a few animal cruelty videos and changing my diet. it was the best thing i have ever done.

but, now, all we can do is think about all the animals we have saved and all the animals you still can save. did you know that an average american eats 100 animals a year???? over a lifetime, that REALLY adds up. think of all of the animals that you DIDNT eat. our meat eating days are in the past now and all we can now do is inform others and be happy with the decision that we have made. : )

Answer 9

We evolved to be omniverous; & to hunt animals for food.

This is evident in the binocular position of our eyes.

Prey species have their eyes on the sides for look-out.

Our teeth are uniquely shaped for cutting, tearing, & grinding.

The canine teeth would not be needed for herbivores.

Your sense of guilt is misguided & the result of brain-washing.

That does not mean we should condone mis-treatment.

Jews & Mennonites still claim to follow humane methods.

Organic farmers are eliminating hormones & antibiotics.

But we need higher concentration of protein as found in meat.

Answer 10

I can somewhat understand how you feel.  I have memories of eating things like ribs, and I wonder why I didn't just stop.



It's not really an easy thing to do, especially if no one else around you is a vegetarian.  American culture revolves around food.  I know it may seem like a cheap excuse but I don't think you have anything to be ashamed of.  Just be proud of the fact that you now do what you know is right.

Guilt is not a productive emotion.  You have to let it go.  Just try to forgive yourself for the past, and concentrate on doing the right thing in the present and future.

Answer 11

I did feel guilty but not anymore I know I do what I can to reduce animal suffering, not nearly enough but I try.

To Michael and any other Ignoramus:  Please don't use a myth like "God" to justify your barbarism.

Answer 12

I felt guilty when that was the case, but you have to understand that it's actually in ourselves to eat meat. However, we can always adapt to a vegetarian or a vegan lifestyle. Everyone has different views on eating meat. I prefer not to eat it, not just because of guilt, but also because i feel that animals have as much right to enjoy life than us.

Answer 13

I'm vegan but i never thought about it. i was raised in a meateater family and they fed me plenty of meat. i chose this lifestyle on my own when i was 15. dont think about the animals you ate. think about the ones you saved.