Hey there! I've decided I need to jump back on the vegan bandwagon this month. June was a bit more than rocky. But I feel like July is a good time for me to really focus on this. I don't have any events (weddings, parties, etc.) to throw me off (June was full of them). I guess my main goal is to be vegetarian all month, with mostly vegan choices. Anyone else?

Not quite sure if I'm talking to myself here.
I've been vegetarian since July 1, and most of my options have been vegan. It's going pretty well. Last night I made "chicken" tikka masala: http://www.food.com/recipe/chicken-t...n-style-418756
It was fantastic. I'm pretty sure if you fed it to a non-vegan, they would have a hard time noticing it was vegan. I also made vegan pad Thai (from a cookbook) and batch of crock pot vegan chili (it turned out okay...will do some tweaking next time).

I actually had a great conversation with my grandpa on Monday. The last couple of months I have mentioned "oh, no thank you, that isn't vegan" and he didn't quite pick up on it. Then his sister was in town and she is mostly vegetarian, so we had a "why do you do it" conversation and my grandpa jumped in and said "what the heck is it?" He was really interested. I assumed he would be really negative about it (he always has made me feel bad about my food choices, good or "bad", so it was nice to feel somewhat supported).

I actually went out and bought $100 worth of vegan cook books. I know that you can get anything you need online, but I needed a push, and I'm really glad I did that. I spent several hours marking pages yesterday. I'm actually excited for the next work pot luck. We had one on Friday (my restart vegan day) and it was brutal. I was only able to eat the salad I brought (which I planned, I came with a vegan frozen dinner). I got a lot of questions about it. So I feel like next time around (usually every other month) I'll bring a main dish and a dessert and not even mention that they are vegan. See how it goes.

Well, I guess that's about it. Hopefully someone will join me at some point.

I have a lot of fun browsing vegan (and other) cookbooks, so I understand the appeal vs reading online. I hope you get good use of them

Congrats on the healthier choices! I eat a mostly plant based diet (no meat) but occasionally eat eggs and dairy. I've been working on replacing those with non animal sources whenever possible. Sometimes there really isn't a good substitute, but I make better choices such as local free range eggs and cheese from small family farms.

I tried the Gardein BBQ chicken shreds and loved it! I toasted the buns first, because the crunch of the bread seemed to help detract from the sometimes too soft texture of the shreds. I can't eat either anymore due to a problem with gluten, but I do recall how good it tasted I'm also backing away from more processed products like that and hope I can devise a suitable alternative.

There is a vegan cookbook that uses a lot of the Gardein products. Conscious Cook Book or something like that.

Thanks, Suzanne, for the motivation and tips.

I definitely know I can do vegetarian. It's the eating out that is throwing me off. When I cook at home, I know exactly what I'm making, and if it calls for something animal-based, I find a substitute. But when I eat out, I read the entire menu and do my best.

In a perfect world, I'd get away completely from process stuff. I have this ideal version of myself: ride my bike to work, eat vegan, whole foods, run marathons, volunteer, etc. I know I want to be completely vegan. I feel like being vegetarian isn't enough (for me personally, I don't judge other vegetarians). I know that when the animal stops producing whatever it is (milk, eggs), they are slaughtered for the meat. So it doesn't make sense to just be veggie (again, for me personally, not for everyone). But I'm happy with my progress so far. It's a fun journey and the people in my life are being very supportive. I went to a workshop with my dad on Saturday and he actually googled restaurants before we went that were vegan friendly (and this particular restaurant didn't have much that he liked, he's picky, but he wanted to go there for me). We had a long conversation of the whys I'm doing it. I told him I'm happy if there is a veggie option and he said "Look, you are doing a great thing. You are feeling better physically. I'm going to support you where I can." I really liked that. Not everyone is going to be that way and many people (from what I've read on these boards) don't have anyone supportive to that extent.

So, I'm definitely vegetarian. I make vegan choices where possible. And I'm happy.

Ashley!
Hi lovely!!! Congrats on your changes, that is wonderful! June didn't go to well for me as far as vegan choices go which is why I'm back at it again this month, I haven't set an end date, I'm trying to do this forever. I think what I may end up doing is eating vegan while allowing myself to eat fish...but for right now, strictly vegan.

ooo $100 worth of cookbooks, I'm jealous! You'll have to let us know some of your favorites.

Again congrats on your changes! You are doing wonderfully!!! So proud of you!
-Li

I already posted in your other thread, but I am totally on this as well. I'm visiting my boyfriend from the 18th-20th, and his parents are already very hard to please, so I will have to eat anything vegetarian but not vegan that they serve. I imagine we'll go out to eat a few times though, so I dunno. Shouldn't be too bad.

I'm also 5'9" and twenty, and I just noticed that you'er 5'9" and twenty-two. We have so much in common!

Well, I haven't had meat in 15 days. I feel great. Very...regular...maybe TMI. lol. I've got the vegetarian thing down. I'm just going to have to work harder to become vegan (eating out...now that I'm dating...is really tough to know if it is vegan or not).

xx - That's awesome! We are pretty much the same. I don't know what weight I'm at, or where I want to be at this point. My jeans are pretty loose. But yes, we have lots in common!