How to go from vegetarian to vegan?

Question

I am 17 and i've been a vegetarian for three years. No one else in my family is a vegetarian. I would like to become a vegan, but i'm not sure where to start. I see the big lists of things to avoid and get intimitated. What would be the best way to start?

Answer 1

Just start out slowly. Concentrate on the big animal by-products that you are probably eating right now: like eggs and dairy/cheese/yogurt. Dairy will be the hardest (from experience and most other vegans that I have talked too). There is something in cheese that is addictive and it will give you cravings for it. Soy milk, almond milk, and rice milk, are good substitutes for milk in cooking and putting on cereal. If you want it right out of the container, then I would suggest chocholate soy milk (SILK's is good) to drink. Soy yogurt is also pretty good with the same beneficial bacteria as regular yogurt. Cheese hasn't been the greatest. Vegan cheese can not have casein (a solid milk protein) in it which helps with the melting properties. I've just given up on cheese (and for other vegans, nutriitional yeast just doesn't taste like cheese). Eggs are hard as they are found in almost all baked goods like cookies and cakes and muffins. But bread and bagels don't have them (although egg bagels and french toast bagels do). Vegans can make their own baked goods though (using egg replacer which is basically a starchy mixture of binders, or nutritious flaxseed eggs).
You will have to become a label reader for processed foods. Look at cereals especially. Make sure you look at what you are eating and get your nutrients from them. Vitamin B12 is one that I am looking into now that I've been a vegan for three years.
Using sugar without animal bones to bleach it white, honey, leather goods (boots, purses, shoes, etc.) will all come in time. Just become aware of things and what they are made out of. You will be amazed at how dependent we are on dead animals for our everyday life.
Good wishes on your journey.

Answer 2

Educate yourself about vegan nutrition. Find out which nutrients are sometimes missing in a vegetarian diet and what foods are most beneficial in providing those nutrients. If you are becoming vegan for reasons other than health (such as animal welfare or the environment), research those issues as much as you can as well; doing so will help to strengthen your resolve and will better equip you to answer questions when people ask. When you gather information, take special care to see that it comes from a knowledgeable source, such as a registered dietician. Many people will try to be helpful but can only tell you what they have found to be true in their own experience. (I'm one of those!)

Find the vegan resources in your area: a natural food store that caters to vegans, a local vegetarian or vegan society, restaurants that cater to vegetarians, and a library or bookstore with a good supply of vegetarian cookbooks. If you cannot find such places just by looking in the yellow pages, try asking people on a vegetarian newsgroup or contact The Vegetarian Resource Group (if you live in the U.S. or Canada).


just go to Bhodies their food are vegetarian..

Answer 3

Why not just poke yourself with a pointy stick if you feel a need to self-mortify? There is no rational reason to be a vegan, unless you come from Vega. A vegetarian diet that includes nonlethal foods like eggs and dairy is healthy and complete. The human body is not meant to be totally vegan no matter what you've been told.

Answer 4

A great cookbook to check out is "Vegan with a Vengence" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. She is the master of vegan baking. You can also check out this website, www.theppk.com. Remember that it's a transition process and it's best to take it slow. Good Luck.

Answer 5

Its possible. To start with you would have to follow a chart or list of food that you can have and can not have. Start by avoiding cookies or cakes or baked products that contain egg matter, because egg is used extensively in baked products. Slowly you wouldn't even miss it. However do compensate your body with protein from other sources such as Soy milk . Dairy products are your choice, its good to have them as you are not eating meat anymore. Good luck

Answer 6

If you are doing it, I would seriously suggest speaking to your family doctor first and reading plenty of books from credible sources.

I have several friends who are strict vegans and it takes TONS of work to ensure your dietary needs are being met.

I have one friend who will not drink most beers because of some tiny animal based derivative that is in it, he won't each McD's fries because they are made with the same oil as the chicken fingers....etc...etc.

Answer 7

YIKES!
That will be hard.
You can't have ANYTHING that has ANYTHING to do w/ animals.
How ever will u survive????
I'm a vegetarian and i like LIVE off of cheese & milk!!!!!
wow.
GOod luck.
Oh. Right. THe question.
Uhm. Wean urself in2 it: say: by Christmas i will be a vegan. And then u just work ur way there for the next 2 months or so.
GOOD LUCK! i have a feeling ur gonna need it!
lol

Answer 8

First, through science out the window and completely forget that Homo Sapiens are omnivores. Next lose you mind. Thirdly, watch your healthy physic quickly degenerate and ignore the pleas of your loved one and the murmurs of you sallow appearance behind your back. Lastly, try not to bump into anything hard as you will break easily.