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 Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 6:38 pm
I've been a pesco-ovo-lacto Vegetarian for 5 years, and then dropped fish from my diet 2 years ago almost. I've tried to become vegan twice. The first time I lasted about a week, second time I lasted a few days.
The main reason behind my past failures:
-Being uneducated about what to eat
-Lacking support.
My parents pretty much scolded me so much for trying to be a vegan, no one really supported me and I was left alone feeling down and useless.
But I'm ready to try again. As they say "3rd time is a charm."
I'm looking for people to support me and help me make the transition from a dairy loving Vegetarian to a hardcore Vegan, possibly raw vegan if I have the will power.
Could anyone give me some support, and some pointers on what I should be eating?
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 9:21 am
I can't really give you pointers on what to eat since I'm not vegan myself, but I can definitely give you hugs and lots of support! To transition to vegan is a very hard thing to, and requires a tremendous amount of willpower. Hell, several people can't even transition to eating just chicken! Usually when I end up doing something most other people don't, I feel damn proud of myself and talk to other people about it. When they gawk at me for doing something so crazy, I never take it as an insult, I take it as quite a compliment, even if the gawking is negative. As long as I'm proud of myself and happy with what I'm doing, that's all that matters.
I did an internship once in California about 3 years ago where I lived with vegans and vegetarians for 4 months, so I had to adapt my diet pretty quickly to veganism. It really does help a lot when you have someone to lean on, and especially someone who knows what they're doing to cook your food for you! Some of the guys said that they would never eat something that had an ingredient on the label that they couldn't recognize or produce naturally (this is a raw vegan, I suppose?). That helped them when they went shopping for food. They also had several vegan cookbooks and planned meals a week in advance.
Your parents are just scared of something they don't know anything about. To persevere with your lifestyle in the face of their condescension will show them how strong of a person you are. My parents were the same way when I went vegetarian, and eventually they laid off on the remarks and supported me by grilling me portabella mushrooms on the grill instead of the hamburgers they were having. I even introduced them to a few new foods that they would never have tried before. I was really shocked when my dad, a serious meat eater, absolutely loved the falafel I made for dinner one night. Offer to cook dinner for them sometimes, they might enjoy it!
Anyway, sorry to ramble, especially when it wasn't very helpful. xD Good luck to you, and be sure to give us some updates every once in a while!
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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 11:45 am
Ailinea I can't really give you pointers on what to eat since I'm not vegan myself, but I can definitely give you hugs and lots of support! To transition to vegan is a very hard thing to, and requires a tremendous amount of willpower. Hell, several people can't even transition to eating just chicken! Usually when I end up doing something most other people don't, I feel damn proud of myself and talk to other people about it. When they gawk at me for doing something so crazy, I never take it as an insult, I take it as quite a compliment, even if the gawking is negative. As long as I'm proud of myself and happy with what I'm doing, that's all that matters. I did an internship once in California about 3 years ago where I lived with vegans and vegetarians for 4 months, so I had to adapt my diet pretty quickly to veganism. It really does help a lot when you have someone to lean on, and especially someone who knows what they're doing to cook your food for you! Some of the guys said that they would never eat something that had an ingredient on the label that they couldn't recognize or produce naturally (this is a raw vegan, I suppose?). That helped them when they went shopping for food. They also had several vegan cookbooks and planned meals a week in advance. Your parents are just scared of something they don't know anything about. To persevere with your lifestyle in the face of their condescension will show them how strong of a person you are. My parents were the same way when I went vegetarian, and eventually they laid off on the remarks and supported me by grilling me portabella mushrooms on the grill instead of the hamburgers they were having. I even introduced them to a few new foods that they would never have tried before. I was really shocked when my dad, a serious meat eater, absolutely loved the falafel I made for dinner one night. Offer to cook dinner for them sometimes, they might enjoy it! Anyway, sorry to ramble, especially when it wasn't very helpful. xD Good luck to you, and be sure to give us some updates every once in a while! When people I dont know flame me, I just laugh at it and think its quite silly of them to try to upset someone they dont even know. But when my friends and family disrespect my beliefs, it hurts. The worst thing with my dad is, he always goes on about "THOSE VEGANS ARE BRAINWASHING YOU, YOU'RE STUPID TO BE LISTENING TO THEM." Its hurtful to hear my dad say that. For a long time he made me feel that I had to eat meat to be his daughter. We would fight so much, and every time he and I fought I was usually the one in tears by the end of it. Dropping all meat other than fish wasn't hard for me at all, and years later I dropped fish and again that wasn't too too hard. But it seems dropping dairy and eggs was hella hard to first two times. But I think maybe trying to think about becoming a "semi-raw vegan" might make things easier for me. I do love my cooked foods but I know processed foods wont give me enough of what I need. Maybe eating something like pasta once in a while could be a treat, but eating a mostly raw diet seems the way to go. Eating raw, vegans never have to question "Is there enough of what I need in this?" "What are the ingredients of this?" "Is this vegan?" I am quite "heavy" for being a vegetarian for so long. I know most people lose weight, but I kind of gained weight because I wasn't eating right. Veganism will pretty much elliminate all the junk food I have been eating for years, I expect to feel a lot better than I have felt in my entire life from making this switch. But I have lost weight lately by taking some of the bad things out of my diet, and drinking more water. So far I've lost 10 pounds this past month. Its prolly not visible to others, but to me my clothes are fitting so loose I've been needing wear a belt for the first time in a long time. Thanks for your rambling, it did help and it also lets me know atleast someone is listening to me.
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Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 9:27 am
Don't rely on veganism as a weight loss mechanism. I've been doing a food journal lately, and it turns out that what I thought was a pretty healthy diet, was actually close to 3000 calories per day, with a ridiculous amount of carbs and especially sodium. Even now, trying to cut down on alot of the processed crap, I'm still taking in like 150-200% of the RDA for sodium.
Whether you decide to "go raw" or not, you can never going wrong eating more fresh, raw whole foods.
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Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 12:23 am
Buy a vegan nutritionist book and a good vegan cook book. If you have iTunes I recommend Vegetarian Food For Thought Podcast and the Vegan Freak Podcast. The VeganFreak one is more in your face but its nice to listen to after people bash you for you choices. Food For Thought has a website also called Compassionate Cooks. It does get tiring hearing people bash vegans and calling them freaks. If my husband wasn't such a basher I would be more upset about him being deployed but his negative and unsupportive behavior is just depressing to put up with. It angers me having to cook his nasty meaty meals and I'm excited about not having to deal with meat come November. Since the only time we seem to spend together is meal times that I have to make with his must have meat, egg, and dairy items. He actually cut the food budget when I started buying more veggies than meat. WTF right?So breathe deep and remember you're not alone in dealing with close family members bashing your lifestyle.
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Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 2:12 pm
Dear VegPanda,
I can feel your pain right there.
It may feel like you are alone....but you aren't. You have a lot of support right here in this group, and at Peta, when you make an account, you will find a lot more support on the boards there, too.
Don't listen to your parents beliefs if you don't believe them. They can't force your beliefs on you. That is one of the amendments: Freedom of Press...in other words, freedom of speech. You have the freedom to believe in what you want. As long as you have your beliefs and people that believe in you, that is good support.
Peace and Love,
Sazzie heart
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Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 9:49 am
rice, tofu, etc. asian food tends to be either meat or vegan, although some has eggs. oh, and coconut milk and soymilk and ricemilk too.
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