Any vegetarians trying to transition to vegan?
 

I'm currently a vegetarian who would like to go completely vegan, but I have somehow not been able to make it over the hump. My DH is a firm omnivore so I can't look for support in that area and I'm going to have to live with meat, dairy, and eggs in my house (and I will even have to cook with them for him, as I do now). Mostly it is dairy that trips me up and my own laziness and ingrained habits. There really is no excuse for me since I firmly believe that there is as much if not more cruelty in dairy/egg production than there is in the meat industry. So I feel very bad about myself for having not been able to make the transition.

Are there any other veggies who are trying to go fully vegan who would like to support each other, trade tips and tricks, and offer encouragement? And maybe some of the more experienced vegans would help us along as well?

I really want to do this! :)

I'm here for support! Been vegan for many years and went vegan overnight as a family way back when. ;) If I can help in any way, let me know!

Incidentally, I agree about dairy and eggs being cruel...In fact, I firmly believe that dairy is even MORE cruel than flesh...It's "liquid flesh" in more ways than one!

About 6 months ago, I went from full omnivore to a vegan diet. I haven't been completely perfect the entire time (basically during my 2 vacations) but I found it fairly easy from the start. My husband also basically just followed me because I cooked for him. At first, he'd eat meat when he went out to eat with coworkers but its been a few months for him since he has done that. It is fairly easy to make vegan dishes that can be enjoyable for both you and your husband.

What do you have issues with giving up?

Thank you SoulBliss, I'm so glad you are here to answer questions! If you don't mind sharing, what does a typical day's worth of meals look like for you and your family?

That's great Nelie! I just went and looked into the fridge/cupboard and I think that really the only things I need to find good replacements for are:

- Yogurt and cottage cheese (I generally eat quite a bit of both of these -- any suggestions?)

- Regular cheese (don't eat much of this now anyway due to trying to cut back on calories, so maybe this won't be as big a problem as it was in the past, but I used to be a real cheese-aholic!)

- honey that has found its way into various bread items, granola bars, sauces, and dressings (shouldn't be hard to find replacements for these, right?)

- Milk (not a problem, I adore Almond Milk)

So maybe now is the PERFECT time to do this! I think it was really regular cheese that has been my nemesis all along and now I'm not even eating it because it is just so calorically dense!

I've been meat free for a long time and my husband absolutely won't give up his meat. I wish he would. He grills ALOT. He will eat whatever vegetarian dishes I make on the side, but he will ALWAYS have meat with it and has said he just can't (and doesn't want to) give it up. Such a bummer. Mostly he does all the grilling, so he just asked me to make him meat sandwiches and meat sauces.

I wish he'd have been as easygoing about it as your husband!

I can certainly understand that your husband may want meat and you wouldn't want to force your choice on him. I was thinking of things were meat can be omitted with similar flavors and not noticed (Caseroles, Chili and such).

You might want to invest in a couple good vegan cookbooks. Vegan with a Vengeance and Veganomicon are 2 of my favorites.

I also used to be a big cheesaholic but I found it was fairly easy to give up. I did eat cottage cheese and yogurt before giving up dairy but didn't have a problem giving up either. For a while, I started eating soy yogurt but I think I'm giving that up.

I went vegan on Jan. 2 this year prior to that I was vegetarian for 6 months. I found that I was relying way too much on dairy and as I researched veganism more I could no longer deny the cruelty involved.
I believe Tofutti makes sour cream and cream cheese I am not positive about yogurt though there is surely a good alternative just mix up with some nice berries!

What I did is spent some time on google.com looking up info and the real tool that assisted me more than any was a podcast by a vegan cookbook author. She has so much info to offer including a podcast specifically about transitioning to a vegan diet as well as living with meat eaters! You can download off Itunes or listen directly off the website. There is also a message board if you want to ask anyone on it questions. I cannot say enough good things about it.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/VegetarianFoodForThought

podcast link

Thanks Jasmine and Nelie!

I'm working on going vegan too! I was for a short time when I lived in San Diego on a work rotation. It seemed so much easier out there, probably because I had a lot more restaurant options and I didn't have family dinners to go to where everyone makes comments about you not eating meat. But I've decided I'm not listening to those people any more and I'm doing this for me, my health, and to benefit the animals and the earth.
I am in the middle of reading Food Revolution by John Robbins. I recommend it to everyone! I have read a lot about being vegetarian and vegan but this book for some reason really sticks with me and makes so much sense.
Today is the first day of my new lifestyle. I just have one question for all you out there...what is your opinion on honey? That's one thing a lot of people disagree on. I use honey in my green tea in the morning, I need to sweeten it or I won't drink it. I don't want to use artificial sweetners any more so should I still use honey or try something else? I've heard agave nectar is good, stevia doesn't sweeten it enough for me.
Thanks!

Oh yeah, I just bought a cookbook called Vegan Bites. It is recipes of dishes for only one or two people. I haven't make anything from it yet but I thought it was a great idea because I am either cooking for myself or just me and my boyfriend. Leftovers tend to sit in the fridge or freezer to long so making one or two servings is great for me. I'll let everyone know how the recipes go.

Hi Switzie! I'm glad to find other going through this journey!

About honey: It's not vegan as it is an animal product. And man, they put honey in a lotta stuff, too, but it isn't that hard to avoid. I also researched the process of creating honey and it is very cruel to the bees. So hopefully you can find another alternative to sweetening your tea?

I'd love to hear what you think of the recipes and maybe you can share your favorites!

I went from full omnivore to vegan last September. I also live with an omnivore so I'm familiar with those challenges.

My tips:
1. I avoided all "substitute" products for the first few months for two reasons. First, none of them really taste the same. I appreciate soy cheese (and other products) now for their own virtues, but I think they just would have frustrated me in the beginning. Also, a lot of those products are pretty junky and I wanted to make sure that my vegan diet was based on nutrient-dense foods, not just Tings and soy ice cream.
2. I tried lots and lots of new things. There are some amazing vegan cookbooks out there and they can give you fantastic ideas on what to eat.
3. Keep yourself in touch, every day if necessary, with why you're doing this. From September to now, I haven't had any cravings for animal foods that were not easily overcome. I know what it costs the animals and it's just not worth it for me.

I'd like to help in any way that I can! I'm so happy that I went vegan and I haven't looked back for a minute. It feels SO GOOD to know that my dietary choices aren't contributing to animal mistreatment and death. I had a nagging voice in the back of my head for years and I feel like I have energy to spare for so many other things now.

Yay Betsysunqueen! Full omni to vegan is great, congratulations! Thank you for the tips! As you suggested, I need to go get some cookbooks and make some tasty casseroles so I can cook once then have stuff throughout the week. I'm not that great in the kitchen and I usually buy alot of frozen meals (Amy's Vegetarian and Tandoor Chef vegetarian selections). But I realize I could save money (and sodium) if I learned to cook some good dishes!

I don't have a lot of time right now and will get back later to address all the comments but just wanted to say this: Agave nectar is GREAT as is "Just Like Honey" Rice Nectar. http://store.foodfightgrocery.com/julihorine.html

Honey isn't vegan, it is not a cruelty-free product and so ethical vegans avoid it.

I've been vegan for 3 years, and was vegetarian for a couple years before that. During the first 2 years I was vegan, I lost 120 pounds without even trying. How's that for incentive?

YOW! Congratulations, that is some serious incentive you're offering! Great job! What do you think was the key thing that resulted in all that weight loss without even trying?

Tyler, before becoming vegan I was a huuuuge cheese nut. Cheese is so dense calorically, that I think that had a lot to do with it. I never deprived myself though - if I wanted chips or french fries, I had 'em. I think my 'accidental" weight loss is over now as I haven't budged for a year (except for a 10 pound gain when I was on prednisone), so I may have to learn to deprive myself a little bit. :lol:

I second the agave nectar. Yummmm.

I can only hope giving up cheese will be so positive for me as well -- like you I was a complete cheese freak! I'd have cheese on... cheese! LOL. Good reason to never touch the stuff again!

So today I'm trying to draw up meal plans since I need to go to the grocery store any way. When I continued looking in my fridge/cupboard I realized there were more items with dairy in them than I first realized.

- Lots of the salad dressings we currently eat have parm cheese in it.

- Several of my favorite Indian frozen meals have paneer in them (bummer!).

- some of the oatmeal flavors we have in the cupboard have whey -- which seems to be in a lot of things actually.

- the bread my DH bought has whey AND honey.

Ooo, I'm all excited because my library has Veganomicon and I've put a hold on it...

It is definitely a learning experience. Although I do try to avoid honey, it is the least of my concerns. I've found you can definitely find bread without whey and honey although many wheyless breads often contain honey.

Trader Joe's has some indian shelf stable meals that don't have paneer in them. There also may be frozen dishes as well. (Although sometimes they will still have ghee/butter in them)

I buy regular oatmeal, it is cheaper, you can flavor it yourself and it is easy to microwave. Actually, my favorite hot cereal right now is Bob's Red Mill High Fiber hot cereal. It is really good.

Use up what you have and when buying replacements, look for vegan friendly items. I actually had to throw away a lot of whey protein powder (I lived on the stuff). I really felt bad about it but also I didn't want to have myself or my husband ingest it.

Thanks for the advice Nelie! I wish we had a Trader Joe's here, but no such luck. We do have a Wild Oats, but it is over on the mainland, so mostly I shop at a reg grocery store (Publix).

I feel sort of guilty about eating some of the non-vegan items now that I've made the decision, but throwing them out seems terribly wasteful also. So I guess I'll use them. There isn't TOO much to go through, and by the middle of next week it should all be gone. Yay. :)

What I consider the vegan bible: www.theppk.com, and all of Isa's books!

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World
(Omg, my carnivores have almost fainted after tasting any one of these cupcakes!)

Vegan With A Vengeance

I wanna try the newest book Veganomicon (sp?)

Also, Skinny B*tch and Skinny B*tch In the Kitch (although these books have a lot of vegan junk food in their recipes, so I use them for weekend food, instead of ordering out)

I was totally a dairy addict, but now I only use vegan cheese for special treats. I am also 90% vegan... about once a month I might have a slice of cheese pizza, or order some shellfish (shellfish is like candy to me). Other than that I steer clear of all other stuff.

As for honey, the way it's made today is sad. They like forcefeed the bees corn syrup or something to make them produce honey quicker. It's not natural anymore :(
So terrible!

Michelle, thanks for the link to PPK, even if it wasn't intended for me. :lol:

Yeah, great site! I feel tragically unhip after looking at it, though. I need to dye my hair blue and get a nose ring!

I wish I had a Trader Joes or Whole Foods in my area. I love both of them but am at least 2 hours away from each. I did all my grocery shopping there when I was in San Diego and when I lived just outside Philly.

Oh, how I wish anyone in my family would at least be vegetarian and it would be awesome to have someone I know be vegan. But no such luck.

Lol I'm a total "Elle Woods" preppy girl and I love The Post Punk Kitchen. They have cooking videos on YouTube as well! When I'm bored I'll just watch them cook. So fun. :)

Hey Tyler,
I've been vegan for 7 years and I didn't think I could EVER give up cheese, but I use Joanne Stepaniak's Uncheese Cookbook, and it's got lots of recipes for cheese sauces and even fondue! It's got a couple of different mac & "cheese" recipes in it, as well as stuffed shells, etc. It's probably the book I use the most, and I have a fairly extensive vegan cookbook collection.

Now, the vegan cheese doesn't taste like dairy cheese, of course, but for me it's close enough.

Oh, another author I love is Sarah Kramer who wrote La Dolce Vegan, Garden of Vegan, and How it all Vegan. I use those books a lot too.

Let me know if you want me to send you a few recipes to try out.

Darby, I'll see if I can find some of those at the library! Thanks for the suggestions! I'm glad to hear another cheese-a-holic was able to go completely vegan.

Michelle, they are fun to watch aren't they!? I love their whole attitude!

I'm having me first fully vegan day today. Yay! :) All the non-vegan stuff that was "mine" is either gone or DH has agreed to eat it so it won't go to waste. My meal plan for today:

B: 1/2 bagel with 1 TBS peanut butter, strawberries.

L: Soy chick patty sandwich (mustard, lettuce, tomato, onion, roasted red peppers and sweet green peppers) with zucchini sticks on the side.

Snack: Blackberries and red seedless grapes.

D: Rice with madras sambar and a salad full of veggies on the side.

Day 2 all vegan!
Yay!

WTG! There will come a point when you'll wonder how you ever ate any other way. :)

This really was the perfect time to go vegan because I'm not having any transition problems at all. I'm so focused on healthy eating that I was avoiding most dairy anyway, so I feel like I haven't even given anything up! And it feels really good to be eating in a way completely supported by my ethics, yay!

How are you doing so far with variety and getting all your nutrients in?
I've been vegetarian for a full week now and feel much better but already the dairy products I'm using are weighing on my mind pretty heavily. I'm thinking the vegan switch may happen sooner then later.

Yay! I say DO it!!! :carrot:

Oh yay, Heather, you should do it! :carrot:

I'm loving it! I don't miss the eggs or dairy at all! I feel really, really good, as good as I've ever felt. In fact, I'm having a hard time not blathering on and on about it to my family and my husband -- who are NOT receptive to vegetarianism much less veganism. And there has been NO negative impact on my energy or training!

And I love that I'm not feeling guilt over my food choices, it just feels so... right!