I want to become vegan?

Question

I've been thinking about this for a while. I still have a few questions.
How can I be a healthy vegan?
I know that vegans tend to lack in vitamins if they are no eating what they should be. What foods should I be eating? I need to know what foods will be good for me to eat. I have been a vegitarian for a year. I want to make sure I'm getting all of the nutrients I should be getting.

What are things that vegans shouldn't be doing?
I know how the circus' mistreat the animals, so vegans refuse to go to the circus. Animals are our friends and not for our entertainment.

Can I still play sports?
I love to play sports. I play soccer, basketball and softball. I know like in the things you use for the sports, i.e shoes, gloves, the ball, are made from leather. Would I still be considered vegan if I play them? Since I have been considering veganism for a while, I refuse to buy new cleats and such. COuld I still use my old cleats and gloves even though they are made from leather?

Clothing?
For me I already own a pair of vegan shoes that I wear everyday. But what about the clothes that I already own? I don't think any of them have animal products in them, but I wear alot of BAND T-SHIRTS and I was wondering If the shirts are good to wear if I'm vegan.

I'm not doing this to impress somebody. I'm doing this for the animals and my health.

I want to know that I am doing everything wright.

Answer 1

Oh lord! You are asking a bunch of hippies if you can play sports?!?!

Why not ask what type of bong is best, where to get Phish tickets or if it is OK to still hug your mom when she makes meatloaf every Sunday?

Play sports and enjoy your life. Be vegan if you think it will make your life healthier, although I can see clearly that you have questions of your own about how healthy the lifestyle is. Seems to me that you are young and looking to impress someone with this. If I am wrong, sorry, but reading your question tells a lot.

You are not ready, and it seems to me you are smart enough to see that there are some pretty silly attachments to what is essentially a bad diet.

Please, don't stop playing soccer and baseball if you love it. I love playing frisbee and I would like to smoke a joint, but I wouldn't change my life for the people I have played frisbee and smoked joints with.

Answer 2

Congratulation! Becoming a vegan is one of the best thing you can do for reduce exploitation and suffering in this world. Vegan are not lack in vitamins, not more than other people, I would say probably less. The only vitamin who is not easy to find in a vegan diet is B12. Some people dont need to eat B12, some need to find a little of B12 in their food, not on a daily basis, not even weekly basis, but maybe month basis. So eating sometimes a supplement could be good.
Yes you can still play sports. Sure you can. Why not? Sport is good. The only thing, is to not buy anmyore animal products, clothes, balls, etc... You can find anything in "animal friendly" products. As vegan we are doing a "boycott" of every company who earn money on animals exploitation. This is the way we reducing suffering, because less products sells, mean less animals exploited. This is logical... no?
Good luck. Read books. Be informed. Be ready to answer questions of ignorant peoples. They will always try to find the weak point. To find something illogical in your lifestyle. Just show them that you are maybe not always logical, but you do your best to be in accordance with your belives.
Happy new year.

Answer 3

That's great you're interested in going vegan. To be healthy, eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, and nuts.

Here is more health info:
http://goveg.com/optimal_vegan_nutrition.asp
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/food_groups.html
http://www.tryveg.com/cfi/toc/?v=08sources

The main concern for vegans is getting a reliable source of vitamin B12. It wouldn't hurt to take a B12 supplement so you don't have to worry about eating lots of B12-supplemented foods.

Some people are vegan only in terms of their diet. If you want to be vegan as a lifestyle, you will want to avoid animal-tested products, clothing derived from animals (such as fur, leather, and wool), and entertainment that exploits animals (such as circuses and rodeos). You can certainly keep playing sports, and you would still be considered vegan if you used your old leather sports clothing/gear.

For cruelty-free clothing (including cleats and baseball gloves), see: http://www.peta.org/living/alt4.asp

Good luck!

Answer 4

my cousin is a vegan and shes still the same person. your vegan if you don't eat any meats or animal products but i think you can still wear leather and be considered vegan.

Answer 5

I agree with K Mac! You are just aware of things, and you try your best to live without the use of animals, and any suffering that your actions may cause (not just to animals, but people and even yourself too!). So play sports, but know that if there is not a vegan ball (which there are by the way. Leather for balls are too expensive and they are made of nasty petroleum plastics materials now) then I always say thank you for the life that was taken and honor it by playing (cause if my life was taken from me, it would be a lot to know that it was bringing joy to an innocent out there). I tried to go to a zoo last year and was just miserable seeing all these wild animals so docile or paceing back and forth with not where to run. And a field trip to the farm with my son was torture for us both! To see the cows chained to the milking stalls and checking out the feed to see if it was just oats but there was so much stuff in it (recycled cow parts?) made us feel frustrated because of our views.

Healthy is to eat the colors of the rainbow every day. Of course green should be there a couple of times a day. Orange and yellow should also be there, and red is good too. Then I just cycle beans, grains, nuts for protein. I add the flaxseed meal/oil for the Omegas that are needed for brain power (walnuts have the Omegas too). I also add Vitamin D during the winter since the sun doesn't come out enough for our body's make it from the sunshine on our skin. And Methyl-B12 from VegLife to get our B12 (although our nutritional yeast from KAL has supplemental B12 in it also. Cereals, even granola (processed/store bought) has it), but you don't need to worry about B12 deficiency till you have been vegan for 3 to 5 years as your liver can store it for this long.

I will advise you that giving up cheese may be hard and it will test your will power as the casein in it is addictive and you will crave it. It took me a couple of months to get over it. So good planning will help (like have something else ready to eat when you crave the cheese. Dark chocolate was my motivator).

Welcome aboard! Thank you for your choice of going vegan! Viva la evolution to a peaceful compassionate world.

Answer 6

I gotta say I don't really understand the answer above mine -- I don't think that your question is at all indicative of 'not being ready,' or 'wanting to impress.' You're a newbie and have legit questions. I'm a newbie too and have my own! :)

As for the sports -- I think that you're still a vegan if you play. You can make an effort to find a faux-leather ball or vegan shoes/cleats to play in (and I wish you luck), but as any Vegan will likely tell you -- it's near impossible to be 100% animal-free.

Even if you don't drive a car (your tires have animal byproducts), you'd still have to take a bus, or occasionally ride in a plane, or take prescription medicine... none of those things are necessarily cruelty-free. All you can do is do your BEST within your means. Does that mean giving up sports? No. Just try and fine alternatives first. If you can't, then you can't -- and it's a personal decision you have to make. You can still live the rest of your life as veganly as possible.

As for food, I've been helped immensely by experimenting with recipes! Get 'Skinny ***** in the Kitch' -- but use an 'i' not a '!' -- or 'Vegan with a Vengeance' -- both of these cookbooks offer great ideas for making easy, cheap, animal-free meals. Once you get the hang of a few of the recipes, you'll start to have your own ideas of what to make. Also, a lot of regular recipes can be veganized -- substitute meats with fake meats, dairy with soy-based "dairy", etc. You should also take your vitamins daily -- but especially be aware of taking both Iron and Vitamin B-12! Several websites (like vuru.com) will allow you to come up with a customizable vitamin packs. (Just look up 'vegan') in the search field.

And yes -- circuses are no-no. Zoos too. And products that test on animals / contain animal byproducts. Peta has an extensive list.

Good luck!