Veg*n Help on Becoming Vegan?

[CavyLover00]

Hiyah! Well, i just went vegetarian a few weeks ago after witnessing a video of one of our local farms and their awful slaughtering of chickens.
I am planning to go vegan, but its sort of harder to cut dairy out than meat, i must say. So, i need assistance on how to cut dairy out. I rarely drink milk, but i do eat a lot of candy and ice cream .-.
I just really want to cut anything that comes from animals from my diet.
Oh, and i had somebody tell me that i wasn't human because i don't eat animals and i am working to not eat dairy products. Can you believe that?!

Thank you for your help!

 

[ClemmyOddieIndy]

Hiyah! Well, i just went vegetarian a few weeks ago after witnessing a video of one of our local farms and their awful slaughtering of chickens.
I am planning to go vegan, but its sort of harder to cut dairy out than meat, i must say. So, i need assistance on how to cut dairy out. I rarely drink milk, but i do eat a lot of candy and ice cream .-.
I just really want to cut anything that comes from animals from my diet.
Oh, and i had somebody tell me that i wasn't human because i don't eat animals and i am working to not eat dairy products. Can you believe that?!

Thank you for your help!

You should tell that person to take a biological anthropology course and then tell you humans were made to eat meat and digest milk from other species. We are far more similar to herbivores than carnivores with our digestive system. Carnivores have a simple system, whereas herbivores are more complex. But, we are evolving in ways to leave our more complex system behind (i.e. the appendix).

Anyway, if you just went vegetarian I would give yourself some time to adjust to that diet before trying to jump into a vegan lifestyle. It is a difficult jump in my experience. But, you can start by substituting non-dairy ice cream for ice cream. I admit ice cream is my downfall too, but there are some great alternatives made of coconut or soy. There also several brands of frozen fruit bars that are pretty good. If you like candy it is probably the sweetness you are craving. Try eating sweet fruits (like strawberries) when you crave candy. The hardest thing to find a good substitute for is cheese. You'll just have to try several types of vegan cheese until you find one you like. I am constantly changing my mind about which cheese I like, but in my opinion none actually taste like cheese.

 

[CavyLover00]

thank you so much!

 

[amigo.p.chan]

Hello! Congrats on choosing to change your lifestyle to vegan! When I first went vegan, I thought I would have a really hard time with the cheese and dairy cravings. Oh and ice cream, don't even get me started! I was known to eat a whole tub to myself in a day I know it's awful! Going vegan was actually much easier than I expected and really I don't miss dairy or eggs. There are so many delicious substitutions. If you like eggs, try using tofu and scramble it in a pan like you would eggs. Add seasonings and veggies too! For ice cream, my favorite is Luna and Larry's Coconut Bliss. I have seen them at Fred Meyers but if you have a Whole Foods, you will find a whole freezer of flavors. It can be a bit pricey though. I think a great substitution is blending frozen bananas with some almond milk. Mmm. If you like cheese, you may want to try Daiya. It is best when melted though. Also nutritional yeast gives dishes a great cheesy flavor. Hm and for candy, you can actually find vegan dark chocolate bars and many candies are vegan just check the labels and make sure none of the ingredients have hidden dairy in them. Good luck!

 

[CavyLover00]

Thank you! I'm gonna look for the ice creams you mentioned and definenitly gonna try them! I like to make silk milk smoothies with strawberries, and i've already got non dairy yougurt (which believe me, was very hard to find) and have strawberries mixed in. I've been working a little more at trying to become vegan! Thank you for your help!

 

[ClemmyOddieIndy]

Thank you! I'm gonna look for the ice creams you mentioned and definenitly gonna try them! I like to make silk milk smoothies with strawberries, and i've already got non dairy yougurt (which believe me, was very hard to find) and have strawberries mixed in. I've been working a little more at trying to become vegan! Thank you for your help!

Make sure your yogurt is vegan. Even non dairy yogurts a lot of times contain milk products in it.

 

[spudsthepiget]

I follow Smosh on Facebook and they like to post links to their articles; I saw this article on surprising vegan snacks yesterday and was pleasantly surprised. (broken link removed)

 

[CavyLover00]

really? i love smosh, and i havent seen this! Thanks for the link!

 

[CavyLover00]

Make sure your yogurt is vegan. Even non dairy yogurts a lot of times contain milk products in it.

i've made sure, i always look at ingredients before i eat something! Sometimes theres dairy and meat just hidden in there!

 

[starrgazerr]

If you live in a non-vegan friendly area, it will be harder. California has vegan restaurants while my New England supermarkets hardly carry vegan options at all! I go to whole foods to get organic and vegan foods. I'm not full vegan yet but I am transitioning and I have found that eating fruit instead of candy actually makes me feel better and crave sugar less and feel more satisfied. Try berries! In terms of getting your protein easily, try black bean burgers or morningstar soy veggie burgers (both VERY easy to find!) as well as trail mix for snacks that include nuts like cashews and almonds. Hommus is also a great protein source and it makes veggies yummy! In terms of cooking, use pam or olive oil to grease and flavor dishes instead of butter. Use vegetable broth to make soup instead of chicken stock. My local stop and shop supermarket sells vegan soups, they won't be labeled as such however so you have to read the ingredients to see if it is vegan. For example some potato, carrot, mushroom etc soup will be made with chicken stock or cream while others are made with just veggies, veggie broth, and seasoning. those are my suggestions for now...good luck!