What to say?

What does one say when asked "Why?" constantly? On the one hand, an honest response might come off as self-righteous, crazy, hippie-ish, etc, but on the other hand, a lie like saying "It's for health reasons" would be hard to justify were it put under further inspection. Usually I try and avoid situations involving my eating habits, but every so often it happens that some helpful soul offers me ice cream or chocolate.

So my game plan is to say simply, "No thank you!" If I am offered non-vegan food.

If they ask why?

"Just because"

If they ask if I'm that crazy vegan girl?

"Yes, I am vegan. I know it's a little weird, but I have my reasons"

What are my reasons?

"Well, I don't want to gross you out or anything. Let's just say i saw a video about slaughterhouses and dairy farming and that made up my mind for me."

What do you eat?

"Lot's of things! Tofu, veggies, tempeh, beans, seeds, legumes, rice, pasta, fruit..."

It doesn't hurt the cow to get milk!

"Yes, it does. Unless the cow was hand milked. But honestly, my choices are my choices and your choices are your choices. It's that simple"

Don't you starve from lack of protein?

"Actually, vegans have higher levels of plant protein intake than meat-eaters on average and lower levels of that nasty cholesterol that's in eggs, dairy, and meat. And we have much lower levels of saturated fat intake, one of the major causes of obesity in America. So yea, we're pretty healthy."

Oh...