How to transition from Vegetarian to complete Vegan?!


Question: How to transition from Vegetarian to complete Vegan?
I've been a vegetarian for two years now and I love it. I have always wanted to be a full vegan though. Problem is I love cheese and dairy and occasionally have eggs. Eek! I really can't afford the veggie cheeses or soy milk at the moment. Plus, I'm rarely at home anyway. I'm always at my BFs and it's already hard eating veggie with him as it is.

Suggestions?

Answers:

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

Since no one here seems to have any competent knowledge in vegan nutrition, I'll try to actually be helpful.

To dispel the crap the others seem are spewing, it is entirely possible to be healthy with a vegan diet. In fact it's been proven to greatly reduce your chances for cancer, heart disease, and osteoporosis. You can check out The China Study by T. Collin Campbell for more info on that. It really is an amazing and eye opening book. Judging by your want to go vegan though, you probably already know this. I'm just trying to clarify for other readers that may benefit.

First things first. You're going to have to give up convenience and really learn how to cook or your food bills will be through the roof. Vegan TV dinners are NOT cheap, lol. It will probably require some lifestyle changes and working around things to figure out how to fit it into your schedule. If you're on a budget, you're going to have to trade it for more time spent preparing and cooking meals. It's not the easiest thing, but if you were after the easiest thing, you wouldn't be vegetarian already.

Now to getting rid of the cow-boob juice and chicken periods. The easiest way to get rid of these is to replace them. Scrambled eggs can be replaced with tofu scrambles. They're also fairly easy to replace in baking, check out some veg cookbooks at the library. These are what really saved me from starvation.

As for soy milk being expensive, it's only really around $2-3 for a half gallon if you get the refrigerated kind. The stuff on the shelf is much more expensive because of its packaging. If you don't like so milk, there are plenty of other kinds such as almond milk, hemp milk, rice milk, etc. In cooking, it can be used the same way as milk. They work the same way.

Cheese is a hard one for many people to get rid of. It's salty and full of fat, which is what people are naturally programmed to crave. If you were anything like I was, you're probably eating a lot of it too (at least once per day). Again the easiest way is to replace it. Most vegan cheeses suck, but the brand Diaya is really good. It actually melts, unlike the other ones falsely claim. It is a bit pricey at $4 a bag, so it would probably be best to first find some new vegan recipes and ween yourself to only eating cheese a couple times a week, and not as the main course. Another thing you could try is nutritional yeast. It's a bit cheaper than the vegan cheeses, but still has a sort of cheesy flavor. I like it on popcorn ^_^ It can be found in the bulk section at whole foods or any other natural food stores.

So my biggest piece of advice is to get some cookbooks, find what you like, and figure out what you have to change in order to fit in 30 minutes or so of cooking time a day. I could go on with more tips and such, but this is already getting a little lengthy. Feel free to ask anything else, I'm eager to help!

Three years of experience including a ton of research



Is a vegan someone who eats only vegetables?

That's incredibly unhealthy. We are omnivores, we are meant to eat a wide variety of foods, it's bad enough being a vegetarian and not eating meat, but only vegetables ...

That's like a bear eating only berries. You could live off of only vegetables, but you could live off of only eating McDonalds french fries for every meal of the day too.

You won't be healthy, it's your choice.



440+110+80+100+44+40+200+0+50+40=1104 calories daily
bfast cup kaia foods cocoa sprouted buckwheat granola
n cup pacific foods hazelnut original
lunch kaia foods cocoa sprouted sunflower seeds
green smith apple n 2 organic red vine tomato n rasberry box
spinach or arugula salad w evoo n tarragon balsamic
evian liter n teatulia white tea n vitamineralgreen48 daily



Take out the stuff you eat less of, first. Like start with the eggs.
Also soy isnt that good for you anyway. Try to eat Rice or Almond milk.



Easy. Don't do it, and get away from being a vegetarian while you're at it. You'll be healthier for it in the long run by NOT being vegetarian.



Slowly transition into Veganism. Eat less and less dairy, basically trick your body. Baby steps. Soy cheese, milk etc. are expensive? Hm. Can't you eat then go over to his house?



Stay vegetarian. Don't go vegan. You loose a lot of benefits from food that you can't eat once you become a vegan. Being a vegetarian is normal, a vegan is extreme. Stay vegetarian!



You sound like one of those "bi-curious" teenagers asking how to become completely gay. Like it's a fad. rofl.




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