Can a meat-eater become a vegan cold turkey? no pun intended?

Question

lately I have been thinking about this, but I know it must be hard. It's like a point guard becoming a center all of a sudden,lol. Have any of you done this? was it hard?

Answer 1

Yes,I did it that way.I never went vegetarian,I went vegan right away.While discovering vegetarianism and factory farming,I deciding to go vegan since animals are treated just as badly as for dairy products.Of course I didn't follow it perfectly,I had to learn how to read labels and stuff,but I eventually learned to just eat unprocessed foods so i don't have to read labels.I didn't get weaker or anything,I lost weight and actually started watching what I eat so I felt better actually being health conscious.

Answer 2

Personally, i have tried on a bet, and my experience was :

on the first 2 days, you feel especially light and energetic, everything seems clearer and you eat and drink more. You use the washroom less often.

by the first week, there seem to be a 'glow' effect, every step becomes a jump.... the lightness of being is intensive. There is a sign of breathlessness and weakness after exercse.

by the eith-ninth day, the body becomes very weak, nothing seems to nourish you. Everything you eat becomes a snack.... and hunger become everything you think about. Leaving the house becomes an effort.

at the end of the 2nd week, you have already gone tired from chewing veggies and nuts non stop. Sunflower seeds and soya milk gives a short-lived satisfaction. The craving for a decent meal with animal proteins becomes depressive.

Running out of alternatives, the third week was hell as the mind starts finding excuses like 'eggs are considered vegetarian by some'. I started drinking milk ... even though i'm lactose intolerant. I soon fell sick.

So before the month was up, i had no choice but to resume meat consumption. However, i no longer consume any pork, beef, lamb after the experience.... if that counted for anything.

I do not believe cold turkey is suitable for everyone, might be possible for very selective individuals. I know a lot of vege/fruitarians and none of them went cold turkey.

Cheers

Answer 3

Yes you can. I haven't been a vegan very long (a little over a year) but I was a meat-eater before. I never gradually became a vegetarian, since veganism makes so much more sense ethically. If you choose to become a vegan for the right reasons (ethical reasons) you should be fine and it shouldn't be hard at all. If you choose to be a vegan for personal reasons (to lose weight, etc..) it will be much harder. When you do things for the right reasons it doesn't feel hard at all. Do your research, learn all you can, and totally go for it. You won't regret it. You will clear your mind and your body and you'll live a happier life. Email me if you need any help or have any questions at all: [e-mail]

Answer 4

If you really want to do it, you definitely can do it "cold turkey". Do your research though, you want to make sure your still getting all the nutrients that you're now getting from animal sources. Things like iron & B vitamins can be the biggies. Some people recomend doing it in steps: cut out meat and eat like that for a couple weeks, then cut out eggs as well for a couple weeks, then maybe cheese, then milk, then all dairy, etc.... Just do what you feel will work for you. It can be a bit of a shock to the system to when you make a really dirastic and sudden diet alteration. Your body may "detox" itself a little bit. Be prepared for possibly some acne, oily skin, and lots of poop. Sounds unpleasent, but it can happen(I've been there), but it passes within about a week or two. Good luck!

Answer 5

I basically went from a meat eater to vegetarian cold turkey (I'm not vegan though). One day I just stopped eating meat to see if I could do it, and it's been over two years now and I don't miss it at all. The only thing is that I ate very little red meat to begin with, no fish, and just chicken every now and then for dinner. So I think that made it easier.

Answer 6

I cut back on the amount of meat I eat. I rarely eat red meat, so that's not hard for me. I've gotten chicken that was free range and not given hormones, etc, and I eat eggs from free range chickens, so I've made some conscious changes that way (and organic milk as well but the kids and I only drink half a gallon a week anyway)

There are other protein sources out there but I don't know if I could personally give meat up completely. It's a personal choice.

Answer 7

Yes, it's possible to go cold turkey. I became a vegetarian that way. Knowing what I know now (like how hard it is!), I would have weaned myself off gradually. Becomig a vegan is even harder than that.
I live in Ohio and everyone is ALL ABOUT meat. It was everywhere I went. It was hard at first. It gets easier. Just make sure that you have yummy alternatives. That's half the battle. If everyone is eating big juicy steaks, make sure you have more than just a tossed salad or something like that. Have a really delicious Mexican dish or some great Chinese food. Then people will want to sample off YOUR plate!

Answer 8

I suggest you become vegetarian first and if you can handle that then you should be able to handle being a vegan!
Being a vegan is more costly not cheaper.. this is why I'm a vegetarian but nearly a vegan! Eat fruits, grains, seeds, beans, veggies. Vegans will go for coconut milk, rice milk or soya milk ( I put them in the order of what tastes best to me coconut milk 1st ,rice milk 2nd, Soya milk 3rd ( though there are some good one some brands have a nasty taste!)
U might be interested in by Veggie Corner booklet.. see
my profile for info on ordering it! note I didn;'t go cold turkey into becoming Vegetarian.. fish was my stumbling block I was a semi Vegetarian.. I called myself a near vegetarian but most people didn't hear the word near. So when they saw me eat fish they thought I lied to them but that's their fault for their poor listening skills! My point it's not easy to go cold turkey.. I did so with alcohol though I just stopped drinking that cause I didn't like where getting drunk led me to!

Answer 9

I've seen it happen, but I'm sure it's a bit hard. A lot of people go vegetarian first. I did that cold turkey. If you do that, try not to become over reliant on dairy and eggs though, cause that'll make the switch to vegan that much harder. Check out these websites for good info:

Answer 10

I would reccomend going vegetarian first. Keep your chese, milk, eggs for awhile. You're still not contributing to the death of animals.

Then think about going vegan (no dairy) realize this is not easy..
Mayo= dairy
ranch salad dressing= dairy
many margerines and butter= dairy (although there are totally vegan margerines that taste fine)
and eating out is hard enough Vegetarian. It's even harder vegan

I been vegetarian for 17 years and I'd like to be vegan, but i haven't totally made teh switch. I still ask for chese on my veggie sub sometimes. I don't nit-pick at ingredients, I like pizza once in awhile.. I use real milk on cereal at hotels, etc. I generally don't buy dairy products for my home, but when I eat out, I'm not as picky. Same goes for eggs.

Thumbs down to the idiot who said to give up meat and THEN fish.. as a REAL vegetarian I am SICK of people who don't consider fish as meat. It is MEAT! You CanNOT call yoruself a vegetarian if you eat fish (by definition). It's annoying because it confuses the hardcore meat eaters and makes it more difficult for us REAL vegetrarians to explain our diet preferences to them.