Vegan 101

[Ana]

I've been trying to go vegan, but I need help from you guys!

Can you guys give me some tips on how lead a vegan lifestyle?

Thanks!

-Ana

[Charles]

Hey Ana,

I am Vegan and raise Vegan children, so maybe I can be of some help. The hardest part about going Vegan is in your own head, the rest is just regular stuff. Let's start with a few questions then some tips, k.

1. So why are you going Vegan - health concerns, diet, animals, skin, partner, wanna be one of the cool people, ......?

2. What are some of the things you have heard can be a problem or things you need to watch out for in a Vegan diet?

3. What are you not willing to give up in your life to be Vegan?

Tips:

1. View being Vegan as a journey, some people say that they have turned Vegan overnight and stuff, but no one is truly Vegan in the hard sense of the word. I like to view it more as a state of awareness and the action you take after you are aware defines if you are being Vegan or not. I think everyone is on the path to being Vegan, some just need more help than others.

For example: Say you become Vegan and throw out all your leather stuff, wool stuff, animal based foods etc. So you are happy knowing and living like a Vegan, but what you didn't know is that some corporate brainiac put some animal products in your shampoo under a crazy name. Oh, crap - so are you now not Vegan - this is where the awareness part comes in. Having the product in your house while you are honestly unaware of it doesn't make you not Vegan, what you choose to do after you learn about it defines your commitment to being Vegan. Do you keep it and finish it up, do you get rid of it and learn from it or do you ignore it?

2. Start simple, be patient with yourself and others, and know your gonna probably end up buying products with animal ingredients by accident. Always remind yourself - I am doing something positive, meaningful and compassionate for others around me - I am giving in a positive way.

3. Keep educating yourself about Veganism, talk to others about it, keep your mind open for redefining what you think it means. The more I learn the more I realize how deep and real my choices impact everything, from that I can learn to work within the world to find better choices that make the world a more compassionate place. I have changed my perception of Veganism over the years many many times - and it is still changing. You can read my profile to understand how I have grown to view veganism.

Keep it real, Charles

[Oddlittlefish]

First of all keep in mind being Vegan isn’t about being perfect. Being Vegan is one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. But I will warn you, if you don’t have a good support group you’re in for a bit of a bumpy ride. People are constantly trying to prove me wrong or discredit me so they feel ok about eating meat. I guess they figure if they can find a flaw then it invalidates what I’m doing. Being vegan is about making choices that we feel create the least amount of harm. Sometimes we can’t help that animals are harmed. For example medications, most medications especially prescribed medicines, are tested on animals. If there’s an alternative to what I need, I’ll take it, but if not, I’m not much help to anyone if I don’t take care of myself. Its sad how much of the world around us uses animal byproducts, which is what makes being vegan so difficult, and seems so bizarre to others. I promise it gets easier though. You just have to learn to identify the things you don’t want in your food, companies like to make up new words for the gross things they put in their products. I’ve got a great book, Animal Ingredients A To Z, that has helped me a lot. For example, Casein, this is a milk protein found in ‘non-dairy’ products, and its linked to causing cancer! Here’s one more, Carmine, this is red pigment from crushed beetles. You don’t have to be vegan to think that’s gross. This is used in many things that are red, like juices and yogurts. And it can often be listed under the term ‘natural flavorings’.

For most people I think cheese is the hardest thing to give up. I know it was for me, but I promise after a few weeks you wont miss it. It drives me nuts to hear people say, ‘oh I couldn’t live without cheese.” Yes, we can. The thing that helped me the most is finding out what happens to the animals to create such products. The only reason we have dairy products is because of veal. So by eating cheese your supporting the veal industry. Did you even realize that a cow has to be pregnant to produce milk? Sounds funny, but I didn’t know that. Cheese is so hard to give up because there’s actually an ingredient similar to morphine, so we become addicted to it. I forget the specific ingredient, but it’s naturally produced by the cows so the calf will continue feeding.

The thing that helps me the most is doing research and learning. That way when someone asks me a question, or tries to discredit me, I can respond correctly and intelligently. There are 2 pod casts that have helped me with this. Check out, http://veganfreakradio.com/ and, http://feeds.feedburner.com/VegetarianFoodForThought . Listening to theses people have helped me immensely, they are actually the reason I’m vegan!

Good luck, hope I was helpful, and please ask me any questions you have!!

[CBrownColors]

"I forget the specific ingredient, but it’s naturally produced by the cows so the calf will continue feeding."

It's the Casein :-) the stomach breaks it down into an opiate.

Helpful post! rock on with your bad vegan self.

[Zia]

Ana, It is important to make the time to cook homemade foods in order to be a healthy vegan. This is not time consuming unless you try to get fancy. I try to always have something to eat in the frig for when I'm hungry and in a hurry. I'm big into greens because of their calcium content. I almost always have some chopped, steamed kale....then I stir fry it into rice or just about anything. I also make a perfect breakfast smoothie with raw or steamed kale, bananas, orange juice, ground flax, filtered water and maybe a little fresh ginger.

[Wendy Sierra-Freeburg]

Hi Ana,

I decided to become vegan about three months ago. Prior to that I had thought about it for about a year and when I finally decided to do it I told myself it would be a gradual thing. I would start by eliminating red meat from my diet, then chicken, fish and finally dairy and eggs. I really didn't think I could give up dairy because I love ice cream. I could eat an entire gallon of cookies n' cream ice cream in one sitting! However, once I made the decision to stop consuming these things it was so easy to stop everything at the same time. My husband was initially negative about this but once I explained to him that it meant a lot to me to have his support he has been really good about it. I'm hoping that eventually he will also become vegan.

At this point, the only advice I can give is to really understand why you're doing it and not to be so hard on yourself when you buy something and then discover when you get home that it actually contains animal products. I've had friends say to me that it makes them nervous to go out to eat with me because they think I won't be able to find anything to eat on the menu. I've found that you have to be flexible. I don't grill the wait staff on every ingredient and do the best I can with what I'm presented. I believe that if you make it seem difficult there's very little chance that others will want to follow in your path and if you're doing it for the animals, like I am, every person that you influence will make a difference.

Good luck! Hope this helps. I'm sure I'll need support too!
Wendy