I want to become a vegan. Help! >.<?!
I don't really care for the taste of soymilk much... any other dairy alternatives?
I'm afraid I'll get a bad rep at my school (there's a girl in my class who's vegan and she's really mean).
How can I go vegan without letting my family know?
I am not a picky eater and I eat a pretty healthy diet filled with whole grains, fruits, and veggies.
I have a lot on my hands....
Answers: I'm already a vegetarian, and I REALLY want to become a vegan. My family isn't very supportive of me. They eat a lot of meat. My mom is always nagging me to "get your calcium! Drink your milk!" When I told her about wanting to go vegan she said, "It's hard enough as it is."
I don't really care for the taste of soymilk much... any other dairy alternatives?
I'm afraid I'll get a bad rep at my school (there's a girl in my class who's vegan and she's really mean).
How can I go vegan without letting my family know?
I am not a picky eater and I eat a pretty healthy diet filled with whole grains, fruits, and veggies.
I have a lot on my hands....
Since your mom thinks that your veganism would put a burden on her, make it clear that you're willing to help out with shopping, meal planning, cooking, cleaning up, etc. If she's worried about the nutritional aspects, offer to see a nutritionist or print out some sites about vegan nutrition to show her. These are good:
Vegan sources of protein, iron, and calcium:
http://www.tryveg.com/cfi/toc/?v=08sourc...
The four vegan food groups:
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/f...
You can get all of the vitamins and nutrients you need by eating a variety of fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, and grains. So if your mom still isn't cooperative, you could just eat those foods and avoid dairy/eggs.
Soymilk brands vary, so maybe you just tried a bad-tasting brand... I find Silk Plus Omega-3 DHA to be really good and it's fortified with a veg source of omega-3. There are lots of other non-dairy alternatives.. rice milk, almond milk, hemp milk, etc.
If you're really worried about how people at school will react, just don't tell people... you could say that you've developed lactose intolerance if someone asks why you're not eating dairy. I personally wouldn't worry too much about what other people think; it's pretty pathetic if you're a nice person and get a bad reputation just because of how someone else acts. Maybe you could be a nice vegan and show the students that not all vegans are bitchy :)
Hope this helps. Good luck!
rice milk possibly?
just do what you can as far as foods go. Explain to them this is what you want and tell your mom this is how I can get more calcium, vit c, vitamins in general and give her a list of foods you can eat from the store.
dont' worry about your reputation really, i mean after you leave school you won't talk to even a 1/4 of those people! good luck and happy eating
PETA has alot of great information online, you should check them out, there is a huge vegan section. You might suggest your mum make you an appointment with a nutritionist so that you can be sure you get what you need to be healthy and she gets some info as well.
please explain your reasons for wanting to be vegan before we can help you with your parents ... it is expensive and difficult to be healthy on a vegan diet, especially if you do not do your own shopping ... you will need to get a couple of books on it and put at least a couple days research into it ... if you are not willing to spend the money and time reading and researching, then your parents have every right to discourage you - you cannot expect them to bend over backwards if you are not willing to put forth an exerted effort and help them ... where are you going to get your protein ... you don't mention legumes or any other vegan source for sufficient protein already in your diet ... you should offer healthy and inexpensive vegan meal plans to your parents that do not require them to cook a whole second meal for you ... you should include in your research quick references to show your mom how you are getting the proper nutrition - you want to have hard-copies on-hand from physicians and other certified health-care professionals to help make your point to them ... go on amazon and search for "vegan" in thje books section ...
There is Rice Milk.. Almond Milk.. lots of alternatives.. maybe you could be the "good vegan" in your school.. let others know being vegan doesn't mean you think your better then everyone else.. if your parents already know your veggie.. just start changing over to vegan.. just start drinking rice or almond milk.. maybe say the smell of eggs just makes you sick right now.. just tell you parents you believe you are doing the right thing.. they might get mad to begin with.. however if they love you they will except you for who you are..
if you dont want your mum too find out just avoid eating and drinking things with dairy and soya milk isnt too bad if you put powder milk shake stuff init trust me and just tell your mum youve started to like soya milk
and you wont get a rep just be yourself
Purchase calcium fortified almond or rice milk. My fave is vanilla Almond Breeze.
Regarding your rep at school, why should what you choose to eat influence that? If you're already vegetarian, no one will notice much if you go vegan. Just don't talk about it.
Every group has mean people- just don't be one of them.
There are different types of milk out there from rice milk to hemp milk. As far as hiding it from your parents I wouldn't recommend that. You would not want your children hiding it from you. Try to talk to your family calmly and bring along materials that back up your point. However, make sure they are valid materials, like articles from clinicians, nutritionists, doctors, ect. I wouldn't show them propaganda from PETA or such orgs. , that isn't going to help your cause. If you have a job then volunteer to help your parents out with the extra grocery expenses you will need. If this fails then I would just go as strict veg as you can till you are able to move out and buy your own food. As far as getting a bad rap at school, it is really no ones business what you eat or don't eat. I would say that girl is known to be mean because she is. Maybe she tries to push her diet off on other people. If she does, then yes one would get a bad rap.
Anyways, good luck. I am sure it will all work out for you. Just try to have a good plan with lots of positive articles when you talk to your parents.
Take Care!
Have you heard about Almond Milk? Hemp Milk? Silk Soy Milk?
All of which are tasty. Hemp Milk, specifically. Hemp Bliss is very tasty and has an amazing amount of Omega 3, 6 and 9 in it as well as an extremely high protein content and yes, calcium as well.
Tahini has tons of calcium in it. 174 mg
All the fruit and veggies grains and legumes, beans, nuts, and seeds have calcium in them.
And you can use Tahini in more than hummus
For vegan and vegetarian recipes check out
http://www.your-vegetarian-kitchen.com/h...
And have your Mom take a look at the review I wrote of Andrew Kimbrell's book Your Right to Know. It may help. You should take a look at it too, of course. http://www.your-vegetarian-kitchen.com/y...
Another great resource for you is www.vege123.com
Good Luck
One thing you could do is explain (respectfully and rationally) to your mom that cow milk isn't the only food that contains calcium. In fact, most conventional soy and rice milks are fortified so that they have the same amount of calcium as dairy milk. If you really dislike soy milk, look into rice milk or almond milk. I find rice milk to be rather thin and bitter, but almond milk is delicious. The only drawback of almond milk is that it's expensive; almost twice the price of soy milk. In addition to fortified drinks, spinach is an excellent source of calcium, and many bread products are also fortified.
First off, spend time reading at the Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine. I'll list the link below. Then you'll have plenty of data to prove your mother wrong.
We do not derive calcium from cow's milk. In fact, studies have shown it depletes our body calcium. There are 350 milligrams of calcium in one cup of unprocessed cows milk. After processing only 10% of that, 35 milligrams, is bioavailable. You can get more calcium than that from 10 almonds.
Studies have shown that the more animal protein women consume (both meat and dairy) the higher the rate of bone breakage.
The best thing you can do is be smart! Hit the library. Bring home books on vegan nutrition and some cookbooks as well. Show your family you are not just doing something whimsical.
As far as the different kinds of milk like beverages there are - rice milk, grain milk, almond milk, hemp milk.
I love chocolate hemp milk.