Vegan • Page 28

What has worked for me (and bear in mind I'm not 100% vegan. Yet) is just starting a bit at a time. So maybe start by finding a milk alternative you can fuck with. Personally I find it easier to cut things out if I know there's a decent alternative out there, but you may not need that.

I eat meat alternatives all the time, there's really good ones widely available these days.

I'd just say experiment and find what works for you. Don't feel you've got to live up to anyone else's standard.

 

yea everyones got different palettes, different health situations, different reasons for going vegan so id just say is go for variety and try as many new things as u can. variety gives u all the nutrients u need and helps u find the shit u like. it feels less like giving something up if ur trying new shit and finding new favorite dishes.

 

I’ve found out i like it simple. I eat a lot of the same stuff every week. I don’t think I’ve cooked up a new recipe in a few weeks(although I will tomorrow). Starting vegan I would seek out different things to make every day. Too complicated and expensive. Now I just throw shit together. Today I ate this for a big lunch. Sautéed some stuff I had on hand in a skillet and adde a bit of salt pepper and garlic powder. Hit the spot.

 

It clicked for me most when I stopped trying to lean so heavily on vegan "substitutes." There are so many Indian/Chinese/Thai/etc. dishes that are inherently vegan, really easy to make at home, and don't feel like you're "missing" something.

That said, Beyond/Impossible burgers are a staple in my home - as are plenty of other plant-based "meats." My advice would just be to not get discouraged when you try something that's underwhelming, and to look outside of the scope of traditional American cuisine as often as you feel comfortable.

 

I back fake meats as an entry point if it works for you. Everyone has to start somewhere and find what works for themselves.

What I did when I considered making the jump was to see how many foods I could eat compared to what I was giving up by brainstorming a list of all the fruits, veggies, etc that I could think of vs meat and dairy. That’s a good mind trick you can do when jumping in by showing how much is really out there.

Ultimately, the diet I most try to adhere to is a plant based diet consisting of veggies, fruits, legumes, and whole grains.

 

Yeah ultimately I think you'll have much more success approaching with an attitude of "what can I eat?" rather than "what am I not allowed to eat?".

 

At a minimum, switching to fake meats and cutting out real meats will improve your cholesterol quite bit since fake meats doesn’t contain it. You will also be consuming less saturated fat (albeit not completely eliminating it) compared to the meat counterpart. And that’s before you get into the ethics, environment, and sustainability debates.

Ideally, fake meats serve as an entry point for new people and then are used as an every now and then thing as opposed to a focal point.

 

I really think you shouldn't change yourself and if you are happy alone, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. The only thing I would recommend would be some supplements, but that's recommended to everyone, no matter what they are looking to achieve. Being healthy and happy is the best way to catch someone's heart. Personally I've been loving the products from here Turmeric Ginger for hair health, I feel like Rapunzel, or like a princess in general when I have my hair loose.

 

i feel like i should take the plunge and do this for health and ethical reasons but i grew up with such a midwest meat and potatoes mindset that actually following through has been … difficult. ugh.

 

grew up in KC so bbq everywhere. I basically made the change over night and once you find your groove it's so easy. Only thing I miss to this day is cheese. Vegan cheese still blows. I've tried them all, none of them are acceptable substitutes. But, the impossible meat, vegan chicken nuggets and other alternatives are barely noticeable.

 

there's an afrikaans place here that makes dope fake cheese but yeah I've heard that a lot. i think I might try veggie at first and then commit fully.

 

Everyone is wired a little different. Some people can do a hard switch and jump right in. Others need to step into it with vegetarian first. No wrong or right way. As long as the goal is reached I don’t think it matters.

My only recommendation would be for someone (generally speaking) thinking about it for health reasons would be to at least try 30 consecutive days of truly plant based eating, especially if you are tracking specific health markers. You will see positive results pretty quickly just from that change. And if the eating habits are combined with exercise it really takes off.

To me, I’d rather eat this way then end up in the medical carousel of prescriptions, numerous doctor appointments, and the medical bills that comes with it. I understand for some it’s hard or impossible to avoid it. I feel better eating this way and help the environment. As someone is who is pretty active to very active, it’s a pretty easy decision. The extra $1 or $2 you pay for a meal out or some transitional meat product (along with fruits, veggies, and legumes) is worth it in the long run if it saves even one medical bill. It’s definitely a lifestyle change as opposed to the fad diets.

 

I totally acknowledge how goofy this is, but when I wanted to stop falling back into a non-vegan diet after a handful of tries, I just listened to Propagandhi a bunch and their lyrics made extra effort a little easier lol.

That said, my main reason for converting was animal ethics and I understand that's not everybody's main jumping-off point.

 

I wish this was my entry point haha. I read Fast Food Nation in high school and thought PETA had a point, but it didn’t push me over. I liked Earth Crisis and Propagandhi too.

I think for people that do it for health or performance reasons have an extra hurdle of getting past their habits. Someone that is in on the ethics is probably more willing to stick out the change longer than someone slightly less passionate about animal rights or environmental ethics. I know some good runners that tried it and reverted back bc the habit disruption was too much. It’s a more selfish viewpoint, but I think it’s pretty common. They didn’t ultimately want to change or adjust their routine.

 

its a double edged sword imo. i got into it for ethical reasons and when i gave up meat initially i actually gained a few pounds before later cutting out the dairy and eggs. i love a good veggie burger as much as the next person but i was eating too many of them at first lol.

 

Oh there is a vegan thread! Sweet!

 

It’s only a matter of time now before this thread and the core thread become the same thread.

 

I have noticed a lot of crossover. I’ll take it!

 

Fake meat question for everyone despite rambling in previous posts about it.

Has anyone had the lightlife burger patties? Was curious how they were bc the United Center has them as an option at some of their concession stands.

 

Just wrote this NYC vegan guide for my job! You can check it out here: NYC Vegan Guide - Some of our favorite places to eat in the Big Apple!

 

I guess eating Vegan isn’t ALWAYS healthy, lol

For reference, that’s Karl from Earth Crisis on the right. A militant Straight Edge and Vegan band.

 

Just discovered this thread! Bumping to request stories about how everyone started or realized they were living a vegan lifestyle.

I’ve been vegan for four years. I’ve always had a guilt/aversion to eating animals since I was a kid, whenever my parents made and/or served meals with bones I would question it and once it was explained that it was from a living creature I would refuse to eat it.

Fast forward to adulthood, I was eating meat (only when heavily processed until it no longer resembled the animal) because I’d been told by everyone that it was normal and that my guilt was unnatural. At a particularly dark moment in my life, I’d had a conversation with a friend who suggested that I make a list about my ideal life, and was surprised to realize that my number one was to stop eating meat and to live by a code of “do no harm”. Then once I researched the differences between a vegetarian and a vegan lifestyle, I realized what harm the dairy industry causes and my mind was made up.

Four years going and I still have some friends who ask how long this “diet” is going to last, but my family (who remember my impassioned speeches whenever they’d bring home a rotisserie chicken) all recognize that I’m now just finally living according to my true values and beliefs and not just what I’ve been conditioned to accept.

I’d love to hear everyone else’s stories, the beginning or even current part of their journeys. I just recently moved to a new city and it’s been harder finding like minded individuals than I thought it’d be

 

I grew up not loving meat really young and didn’t eat cheese or eggs. I only really drank milk if it was with cereal or chocolate milk. I would consume milk or dairy in other recipes like brownies or stuff like that, but wouldn’t directly consume them. Cheese I would either take off pizza or ask to be left off sandwiches. I eventually ate meat and did so for a while until like 5 years ago. I also read Fast Food Nation and would read/listen to certain PETA items that didn’t seem overly pushy or condemning as a kid. While neither PETA or the book made me convert it planted some seeds down the road.

I ultimately made the jump straight to plant based vegan in lieu of training for a marathon. I liked the idea of eating clean and consuming things that are naturally grown with an eye on little processing and oil. In a pinch eating out, driving on the road, or going to someone’s house you sometimes only have limited options, but at home it’s been pretty easy to maintain since I basically had the inkling early on. Unlike most, my struggle is not with dairy but meat instead. Buffalo chicken and meat on pizza are the things I would crave.