Living Vegan For Dummies - Alexandra Jamieson [125]
If your employer won’t allow other chairs to be used, don’t lose your job over it. Take a nice set of fabric cushions to sit on so you aren’t in direct contact with the leather. Keep earning that paycheck and use part of your income to fight for animal rights to ease your discomfort.
Similarly, if the company you work for has a cafeteria with no vegan options, it’s acceptable to ask that a vegan dish be available — as long as you plan to eat there regularly. Be polite, considerate, and have your case well thought-out before going to human resources or your boss. Offer suggestions and resources so you can be part of the solution. Try not to get emotional about the subject, because you could wind up presenting yourself as unprofessional. Be sure to have healthy, filling food choices for yourself every day in case you aren’t able to find an acceptable meal. Bringing your own lunches and snacks from home is often the best option for your health and your budget anyway.
You should be able to eat whatever you like at work without having to worry about the repercussions on your employment status. If you find that other people you work with are hazing you or making repeated jokes about your food and lifestyle choices, you should stick up for yourself. Tell them that you don’t think their jokes are funny and that you want them to stop. Keep your responses as professional as you would hope your working environment would be. If the behavior continues, you can go to your human resources manager to talk about the harassment. If you work for a small company with no human resources department and your boss is participating in the joking that makes you uncomfortable, start documenting the incidents. Write down times, what exactly was said, and who was present. After you’ve gathered some specific evidence, you can then calmly present the information to your boss and mention that you consider this treatment to be harassment and would like it to stop — or else further steps will be taken.
Part VI
Veganism for All Walks of Life
In this part . . .
Every stage of life brings different nutritional needs, but all these needs can be met healthily and vibrantly with a vegan diet. Babies, nursing moms, and pregnant women, for example, have different requirements than a teenaged track star or dancer. Even Grandma and Grandpa may start noticing that they feel a lot better and have a lot less pain when they eat more plant-based foods.
If you aren’t sure how to get all the nutrients you need from this “bird food,” this is the part for you. It leads you through the various nutritional needs for people who require special diets whether due to age, level of physical activity, or developmental stage.
Chapter 20
Pea in a Pod: The Healthy Vegan Pregnancy and Postpartum Period
In This Chapter
Planning for a healthy vegan pregnancy
Understanding daily nutrition requirements when eating for two
Gaining weight healthily and safely during pregnancy
Dealing with common issues that pop up in pregnancy
Providing yourself with great nutrition and self care after giving birth
Motherhood is a wonderful, crazy, bizarre, and magical part of a woman’s life. Each woman and her partner should think ahead about their personal views on health and living before welcoming a baby into the world. Embarking into parenthood shouldn’t be a light decision. You have much to consider, and the health of the baby and mother rank at the top of the list.
Countless women have brought healthy babies into the world while eating a vegan diet, so you don’t need to feel like you’re venturing into unknown territory. A vegan pregnancy can be extremely healthy, but you need to think about several areas of nutrition and self care.
This chapter covers the basics that any vegan embarking into the wild world of pregnancy and motherhood needs to know. Proper nutrition before and during pregnancy is important, as are the menus for any mama who wants to breastfeed her baby. I discuss