Vegan question......?

Question

I am a new vegetarian, and I hope to soon make the transition to becoming a vegan....my question is how can I successfully make that transition? ...it seems like almost everything is made from animal by-products....are there any good meat substitutes (like boca burgers) that are completely vegan? What can you recommend to replace dairy and other animal products?


Thanks :)

Answer 1

Going vegan requires extreme commitment and discipline, howeve,r it is not impossible to live animal-free. If you have a good support system. To get you started I recommend the following websites.

www.goveg.com
www.milksucks.com
www.peta.com (here you can request a free veg. starter kit)
www.peta2.com
www.vegetariantimes.com


Visit your local Whole Foods, Sun Harvest or Wild Oats to purchase vegetarian or vegan food products. If your really serious about going vegan you can also purchase every day items that haven't been tested on animals e.g (Kiss My Face product line). Please experiment with different brands of Soymilk and meat alternative products to find what you like best (my personal favs are Odwalla Chocolate Soymilk and Quorn meat-alternative foods). If you want to learn more about vegetarian and vegan recipes Vegetarian Times Magazine has tasty recipes that my husband loves and he isn't even vegetarian. Have fun with it. I wish you the best of luck.

Answer 2

I would suggest reading everything about Veganism and Animal Rights you can get your hands on. For the diet aspect a good book to start with is: Becoming Vegan. Learning about Veganism is going to make your life easier to be sure, but half the battle of being Vegan is the stupid questions from well meaning but ignorant people. The more you know about Animal Rights, slaughterhouses, farming practices, environmental impact, and health implications, the easier dealing with these people will be.
I would recommend reading: Slaughterhouse, An Introduction to Animal Rights, Your Child or The Dog? and The Food Revolution.

Edit: Just to add to what Vegan & Proud said, NOT ALL Bocca Burgers are Vegan, only the ones that say Vegan are.

Answer 3

Good for you :-) As for eating out.. I haven't 'ate out' in years, lol. So no advice for you there. Snacks? Nature Valley Peanut Butter Bars or something.. nuts, rice cakes, any fruit or vegetable, Triscuits, Wheat Thins... I eat a lot of cereal. With almond milk of course. Thomas Cinnamon Swirl bagels are really good. Earth Balance is pretty much a staple for any vegan. I'm too lazy to think of more, :-P You should check out Peta's Accidentally Vegan list. And ALWAYS Google anything you're unsure about... especially natural flavors! I was eating Chex Mix for the longest time before I found out it may not be vegan :-( I hope some of this helps.

Answer 4

My transition from vegetarian to vegan wasn't as easy as a snap of fingers. I took it step by step, I first stopped drinking milk and eating cheese and yogurts. I then stopped eating things that were obviously made from milk and egg products, and then, I began religiously reading food labels.

I took it step by step as to not overwhelm myself and get discouraged (which I'm sure can happen). Boca and Morning Star Farms has a "vegan" burger. As for replacing milk, just drink soy, rice, or almond milk. There are plenty of choices. Cheese? Soy cheese, rice cheese. If you have a Whole Foods Store in your area, take a look and see what you can find there. Most mainstream food stores (Walmart, Kroger, Publix) also has a growing natural foods section.

Becoming vegan does take a lot of work, but it will be well worth it.

Answer 5

I went vegan overnight. It was hard but very rewarding. Boca burgers do make a vegan burger. Just read labels on your food VERY carefully. A lot of veggie burgers contain egg whites.

Being vegan is actually a lot easier these days. There are so many subtitutes and they are more accessible. Even some big chain grocery stores have organic sections with a ton of vegan products. I would recommend Rice or soy milk. They make vegan cheese, pizzas, tv dinners. You really do have a lot of options. My husband even made me a vegan birthday cake and vegan pancakes.

Good Luck!

Answer 6

the easiest way to go vegan is to watch a peta video. as far as meat substitues, yves veggie cuisine: vegan hot dogs, burgers, ground round, lunch "meat". most grocery stores will carry some of their products. also check out tvp. dairy substitutes include soy milk, tofutti offers vegan sour cream and cream cheese, and vegan gourmet has the best vegan cheeses you can find. if you love chocolate, ritter sport makes a dark chocolate marizpan, and a dark chocolate mint flavor. delicious. find a health food store and check out the selection. once you start looking for vegan alternatives you'll be surprised at the amount of selection there is. by the way, i'm looking more than a little prosperous on a vegan diet, and i couldn't be happier or healthier

Answer 7

Yeah,it isn't that hard.I just try and stay away from processed foods.I went from omnivore straight to vegan.Yeah,boca burgers are vegan.Dairy products,you can have rice milk,soy milk,almond milk,soy ice cream,rice ice cream,margirane,and they have lots of vegan stuff like Better Than Butter and Tofutti Cuties.You should go get tourself a vegan cookbook.Some things you want to include:

pumpkin seeds=zinc
broccoli=calcium
beans,whole grain breads,spinach=iron(have vitamin c when you eat something with iron,it helps absorption)
flax seeds or flax oil=omega 3 fatty acids
b-12 supplement or b-12 fortified foods
portien isn't as hard to get as most people think,but here are some decent sources=brown rice,beans,peanut butter,soy foods,nuts,whole grain breads

Answer 8

Replace the oils, don't worry about the protein. Its going to take a few months at least to get rid of all the excess protein as it is. Olive oil, coconut oil, flax, hemp, borage, primrose, whatever you can find that is cold pressed and unrefined.

Go to a farmer's market and buy whatever they have to sell. it will be locally grown and in season. Mix tops with bottoms. Potatoes with kale. onions and cabbage.

Next mix the vegetables with the oils. Grow into a higher percentage raw food with time. You should feel totally satisfied by eating what you can comfortably hold in your hands. its macro biotic, whole foods, and easy to be vegan for cheap.

that meat replacement (gluten without glutamase) is garbage. you'd be better off to eat the box

Answer 9

tofu, can't go wrong with tofu. Or you can get temph or seitan, both are really good. But if you are looking for something that you don't have to prepare try Licks Nature burgers, and some of the Yves products are vegan, but you need to watch the ingredients.

Answer 10

Captain Kirk will take you to the Vegan Planetary System. It is a very well known star system run by Turnips. (with some small assistance from rutabagas)