I've just become vegan - what advice can you give me?

Question

After being a veggie for almost 13 years, I've now been vegan for 5 whole days! :) I feel great but I was wondering if there was anything I needed to know?
Many thanks!

Please don't use the p... word! If I hear one more time that vegetarians and vegans aren't getting enough protein, I'll scream!!!

Answer 1

Remember that you do not need to *give up* or sacrifice good food to be a vegan. I'm sure you probably know that, but there is a lot of good milk and egg food that you may think you are missing.

*You can still have the best cupcakes of your life
http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Cupcakes-Take-Over-World/dp/1569242739/sr=8-1/qid=1170860525/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-8999441-6315311?ie=UTF8&s=books

*You can gets tons of B12 from nutritional yeast and your omega-3 from flax.

*You can still have tons of kick-butt dinners and recipes. Life has a bounty of foods.
http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Vengeance-Delicious-Animal-Free-Recipes/dp/1569243581/sr=8-2/qid=1170860525/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/102-8999441-6315311?ie=UTF8&s=books
http://www.amazon.com/Recipies-Hungry-Banditos-Dirty-Cookbook/dp/0977055701/sr=8-3/qid=1170860525/ref=pd_bbs_3/102-8999441-6315311?ie=UTF8&s=books
http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Italiano-Meat-free-Dairy-free-Sun-Drenched/dp/1557884943/sr=8-4/qid=1170860525/ref=pd_bbs_4/102-8999441-6315311?ie=UTF8&s=books
http://www.amazon.com/Students-Go-Vegan-Cookbook-Recipes/dp/0307336530/sr=1-9/qid=1170862520/ref=sr_1_9/102-8999441-6315311?ie=UTF8&s=books
The last one is for easy and cheap recipes for people without much time. :)

*Remember that if your friends ask you out to eat, your best bet is to eat at an ethnic resturaunt. (I know American's are a bit behind the times, unless you want french fries, or a bowl of lettuce with a cherry tomato on top.)
*You can call ahead and have a list of vegan friendly places. (Some mexican places use porkfat in theri beans.)

*If you are down and out when shopping for a particular product, there are places that can suit your needs. (When I went to buy a winter coat, I went to a large coat store, and it was like an animal graveyard! 8 rows of cow skin, 8 rows of chickens, 8 rows of sheep, and two rows of vegan coats made to look like dead cat. I was bummed that day.)
:)
http://veganessentials.com
http://veganstore.com

*If you are shopping for bread, remember that the ones that are baked daily are most likely to be vegan.
*Papa John's pizza is vegan. So is their garlic butter. Pizza Hut puts meat in their pizza sauce.
*You probably already have the list of "accidentally vegan" products, but here it is anyway. I found it to be surprising. Remember to check the products because some of their info is out-dated.
http://www.peta.org/accidentallyVegan/

And REMEMBER, no one can be 100% vegan. It is a life-long process that takes a lot of dedication. You will constantly learn about new things that aren't vegan. The foundation of your house isn't because concrete has animal bones. Be you, and do your best every day.

I personally love the challenge. It is exciting whenever by boyfriend and I find a new vegan food.

Oh yes, the Vegan Food Pyramid suggests for how much to eat in a day
http://www.vegsource.com/food_groups.htm

Answer 2

Wonderful. I have been a vegan for almost 13 years. I will share my diet with you. For breakfast I always have either rice or oats. You can add anything you want to either the rice or the oats for variety. For lunch I have a variety of veggies and a bowl of rice. Generally the same for dinner. I always keep fruit around and try to eat three to five whole fruit a day. I always make sure, of the veggies I eat daily, there is a helping of beans, carrots, mushrooms, potatoes, tomatoes, and some type of green veggie such as green beans, spinach, bell pepper, avocado, etc. I stay away from anything processed, including tofu. You will be surprised how easily you can eat the same and never get tired from it. The body is always happy to eat good veggies. Half of my diet is raw. I only drink water and I drink a gallon of water a day. Occasionally I will have a soy chai. I am in my 50's and I look 10 to 15 years younger than I am and I am a runner, biker, hiker, etc. I am training for a marathon right now. Good luck.

Answer 3

There is a lot you need to know and it will never be too much. If you want to be a vegan you must study nutrition intensively. That is, if you plan to be a vegan long term. Plenty of people call themselves vegetarians just because they eat no meat. Existing on cheap carbohydrates with inadequate protein, pretty soon they look older than their age. You can only avoid this fate by studying nutrition, keep an eye on intake of all known nutrients, and it is an uphill fight. However, with all that said, a vegetarian diet is healthier if wisely planned.

Answer 4

Make sure you get a variety of foods. Go pasta, then rice, then beans, then bread. Keep the vegetables brightly colored, and mix it up with raw and cooked/steamed. Remember to eat vegetables! Do fruit also, but try to keep them raw and maybe by themselves or eat them first before your meal.

Vitamin B-12 will be in the future. Your body will have stored up enough vitamin B-12 for 3 to 5 years, so think about it after a couple of years. Nutritional yeast does come fortified with B-12, but you have to look at the labels.

If you are in the North like I am, Vegan Vitamin D is another one you might want to consider if you don't get enough sun too. Our whole family takes it during the winter months (since we don't drink Vitamin D fortified milk).

Listen for cravings that your body tells you, and try to use your brain to figure out what it needs. Cheese can be calcium or even fat (which broccoli and avocado can help respectfully), and meat can be iron (tahini, seaweed, or kale!) or fat too.

Check out cookbooks, and go to a health food store and find some new rice, or new grain (quinoa, amaranth, teff, millet), or any other vegan stuff (cookies even!) just to keep learning and not get bored.

Thanks for becoming vegan! The animals thank-you, and the whole planet thanks you! I especially thank you for helping to promote a peace loving lifestyle.

Answer 5

How about kudos!!???

I went vegan last year. I was veg for 14 years myself.

My best advice would be books.

Becoming Vegan
Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegan Living
Sarah Kramer's cook books (all 3)
Isa Chandra Moskowitz's cook books (both)

Buy a good jar that seals well. Fill it with Nutritional Yeast from the bulk bins at your local health food store. Or Whole Foods. Put that on everything. You'll never miss cheese.

Learn how to make basic vegan cheese sauce and gravy with nutritional yeast. There are great recipes for both in Sarah Kramer's books. I just can't remember which one. I have all three!

Answer 6

I suggest you suscribe to either VegNews Magazine or Vegetarian Times. Those are two great resources for really good recipes that will show you how to eat healthily as a vegetarian. There are lots of different options that will open you up to more than just salads and vegan cookies.

Answer 7

www.veganoutreach.org Read the article "How vegan" Use the website for nutrition info also. The founder couldn't find unbiased information on vegan nutrition so he became a Registered Dietitian and figured stuff out on his own. Also, good stuff at www.vegsource.com and recipies at www.vegweb.com

Answer 8

I say keep your strenth up with vegtables and fruits. Just try not to eat meat!

Answer 9

Be sure to get checked regularly (blood tests) at your doctors office for iron in your blood. Vegans have a tough time getting complete proteins, and iron in their diet.

You have got to read up on how to combine vegetable proteins in order to make a complete protein.

Answer 10

i try http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com for advice, its so addicting i read the whole thing! Read food labels so you don't eat dairy eggs or honey. good luck!