Vegan

Thanks for your comment!! I agree there's no one-size-fits-all for how people change for the better. Regarding shame, I think there's an important distinction between the internal emotional experience of shame and the interpersonal behaviour of one person shaming another. Sometimes they go together, sometimes not.

To use my understanding of your case as an example, I wonder if another person verbally shaming you (in front of others) would have led to a similar honest reflection on your behaviour that led you to go vegan? Instead, was it important that you were exposed to a message that could elicit internal shame and that you also had the space and safety to stew on it?

I dealt with a lot of toxic shame as a kid (not related to diet), so I might have biases in thinking about the utility of shame in assisting people in going vegan. I too was vegetarian before vegan. I think for me it was more that a) I realized I should do better (e.g., after watching vegan documentaries), and b) I felt willing and able to give it a try. I think someone shaming me would have only slowed me down getting to a) and b). But, as you said: different strokes for different folks