question for the vegans

sapf

How hard was it for you to go 100% animal product free? What helped you stick with it? I am not doing this for moral reasons but health reasons and I would like to know what I am up against

I went from full on omnivore (maybe bordering on carnivore) to vegan when I was 19. I was fully vegan for 5 years, but now I eat fish when I travel. To be clear: this was always motivated by health reasons for me. I do a fair amount of international travel and I found that after one of my three week eurotrips I was just so sick/exhausted/malnourished because of a real lack of vegan options in some of the places that I traveled.

Now I for the most part follow a vegan diet when at home (in NYC) but when I travel I eat fish. Still no dairy, eggs, or other meats. I am also more lenient on baked goods when I travel. I think most people approach lifestyle changes (esp veganism) as all or none - any incremental change you can make will be for the better.

neanderthin

I should probably say the health reasons I am looking to change my diet so drasticly I recently found out that I have high blood pressure and cholesterol. My mom is in her 40s and already has had several heart attacks ( and she is a runner and in great shape!). I have a pretty sever allergy to milk so I never drank it or ate much of it in the first place. I was sick for years before they finally realized that what was the cause. I want to see what I can do to help lower my risks.

If you haven't seen it yet, watch "Forks over Knives" it is all about healing common health problems through the plant based diet. there is TONS of information at the related websites as well. I am following Dr Macdougall's plan personally.

(This sort of thing is why you get people saying "vegan" is the wrong term BTW...to be vegan is also to eliminate animal products from everywhere in your life that it is possible to do so. The term "plant based diet" is more accurate, or I tell people I eat a vegan diet because it is easier for them to understand what I mean, but I can't yet call myself 100% vegan. Getting there, but not yet. but instead of just mocking with a "lol" someone who says they are going the vegan route for health reasons..perhaps people could do a bit of research? just a suggestion fwiw... )

More research for you.

http://rawfoodsos.com/2011/09/22/forks-over-knives-is-the-science-legit-a-review-and-critique/

alpaca217

I'm still in the middle of my journey and I'm not even sure if I want to be vegetarian or vegan. However, what I can tell you is that it can be very overwhelming. The number one rule I found is never tell others what you are doing. It just creates a lot of headache and protracted 'discussions' at the dinner table. It's all good if they just want more information and are curious, however, there are some who might poke holes in your logic, start scrutinizing your entire meal to see if you are indeed sticking to your guns or worse, start a humans are carnivores war on you. I feel like I'm under a microscope. It's especially difficult when you are doing a slow transition. So you might 'slip' and have some meat at one meal, then they'll be like 'I thought you said you were vegetarian! Why are you eating meat?' So now, my mom and I just don't talk about it anymore at dinner gatherings.

I also found it helpful to cut out stuff gradually. I was already half way there because I had already stopped eating all 'exotic meats (stuff like duck, turkey etc)' and stuck with the main chicken, pork and beef. So then I started cutting pork. When that was established, then I moved onto tuna and octopus/squid. I still eat salmon. I'm also partial vegan. (Which makes it real hard to explain). I don't drink cow's milk/yogurt or honey. But I do eat eggs and will consume cheese in pizzas.

The other thing I find overwhelming was figuring out the substitutions if I were to go full vegetarian/vegan. I think I've driven myself crazy with researching all the info on the net. But yes, the key is one thing, one item at a time. For example I found I didn't care for the taste of almond milk but soy milk was tasty. Then I started to read all the stuff about the connection with soy and breast cancer/increased estrogen levels. I got so confused. I've since decided I would alternate between almond and soy. Moderation is also a good idea.

Finally, as others have said, it really does help if you cook your own foods. Eating out is quite the challenge with the available menus and also with the social scrutiny.

lotorwin2

I have been vegetarian mostly since 1983. It is soooo much easier now then it was then. Read vegan cookbooks and blogs to learn a bunch. That is how I learned to be a vegetarian. Also many places have clubs.

freckles_cmj

I hardly call one womans blog..however passionate and well written it may be, research...its opinion.

Me I have never felt better in my life than I do now without animal products in my diet

MeeshyBW

This is really interesting. I have been interested in vegan food for a few months now but i think i would struggle to go full vegan myself.

I was vegetarian as a child so I would have no difficulty being vegetarian now, I know that. The thing that would stop me being full vegan is the difficulty in eating socially, purchasing foods (reading every label) and my love of parmesan cheese! LOL

I eat very little meat anyway. Mostly chicken, rarely beef steak and the only pork I eat is in bacon pretty much. I do not drink cows milk though and haven't for about 6-9 months. I use either Kara Coconut milk or Almond Breeze which are by far the best two I have come across and I eat eggs and some cheese (although not a great deal).

I think if you were serious about becoming Vegan to read a book first called: Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating. It might give you the emotional motivation you need to live this way. I always feel people become vegan for moral reasons, very rarely for health purposes (Even though if you eat whole foods it can be extremely healthy!)

lisabinco

My first vegetarian book was "Diet for a Small Planet" and away I went from there, a long time ago.
There are lots of good books out there on going vegetarian one day at a time. Most people are comfortable that way, and it gives you time to develop answers to rude questions.
When you get old like me, and your friends are all having serious health issues from their terrible diets, some of them will actually join you! The nice thing about getting old is I don't feel I have to justify myself to anyone anymore about anything.
You do what is best for you. Simple as that. Those who love you will still love you, and those who don't, don't matter anyway.

neanderthin

I hardly call one womans blog..however passionate and well written it may be, research...its opinion.

Me I have never felt better in my life than I do now without animal products in my diet

Of course, how presumptuous of me to think this movie wasn't presented with all the correct and unbiased facts and beyond reproach.........I guess she doesn't know what she's talking about, silly woman, I'll disregard any of the facts and studies she presented. There's thousands of medical, nutritional and other professional and passionate people around the world that have blogs, and for good reason, they conjure up discussion, for what it's worth.

Ideology should not be questioned, I guess is your point. I could say since removing refined carbs, and transfats, both of which are veg'n/vegan I've never felt better. It's not whether a vegan diet is better, even though it surely is a very good plan if whole and natural foods are considered, it's the propaganda of misinformation that leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Being a well informed vegan on all fronts I would think is the better path and hopefully your conviction doesn't waver because something might not support dogma that doesn't hold up to scrutiny because the bottom line is, better health, and there's many ways of getting there, not just one.

freckles_cmj

I hardly call one womans blog..however passionate and well written it may be, research...its opinion.

Me I have never felt better in my life than I do now without animal products in my diet

Of course, how presumptuous of me to think this movie wasn't presented with all the correct and unbiased facts and beyond reproach.........I guess she doesn't know what she's talking about, silly woman, I'll disregard any of the facts and studies she presented. There's thousands of medical, nutritional and other professional and passionate people around the world that have blogs, and for good reason, they conjure up discussion, for what it's worth.

Ideology should not be questioned, I guess is your point. I could say since removing refined carbs, and transfats, both of which are veg'n/vegan I've never felt better. It's not whether a vegan diet is better, even though it surely is a very good plan if whole and natural foods are considered, it's the propaganda of misinformation that leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Being a well informed vegan on all fronts I would think is the better path and hopefully your conviction doesn't waver because something might not support dogma that doesn't hold up to scrutiny because the bottom line is, better health, and there's many ways of getting there, not just one.

Never said the movie was 100% accurate, just that one womans blog is not what I would call "research" No need to be so defensive.
I watched the movie, have read several books about establishing a good healthy vegan diet ..my diet is almost completely whole foods..I use very few processed things..such as mustard in my salad dressing. If you read the book that goes more into detail of the plant based diet they promote in FOK it is based on whole and natural foods..it is not "junk food vegan" by any stretch of the imagination. They don't go into great detail in the movie as I recall...

I also never said there were not other paths to being healthy...I am sure there are plenty of omnivores out there who are healthy and thats great. (I do however think diets like Atkins are a load of BS, but thats just my opinion, and if it works for someone, good for them) For me personally the idea of consuming the flesh of another being sickens me...period. And for health reasons I have dropped the eggs and dairy. I dont want to have a heart attack or stroke in my 40s like several members of my family. Since dropping all animal products from my diet, my cholesterol has dropped to the low side of the healthy range, and my blood pressure has normalized so I no longer need 2 medications to regulate it, and I have been steadily losing weight easier than any other time in my life. Since I have not changed anything else except my diet...then for me this is working to improve my health in many ways, . SO yeah I think there is a lot of truth to the things in the FOK movie, and even more so in the books that I have read related to it. Is the info 100% correct 100% of the time..probably not, but I dont need some blog post to tell me that. the fact I am a rational intelligent human being does that job.

freckles_cmj

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Spartacus31

I've been on a plant based diet since August, and like you it is solely for health reasons. My dad had a heart attack which caused me to look into this diet. Not wanting to end up the same way is what really keeps me on track. Another thing is the longer I'm on it the tastier foods become. I'm not sure why, but the fruits and veggies, rice and beans, and even oatmeal has so much more flavor than before.

kiiiwade

It helps if you're creative in the kitchen. I was only vegan for a few months (I still try to limit my dairy intake), but I think it would've been extremely hard if I wasn't open to experimenting with different recipes and meat/dairy substitutes. Lots o' nuts, too. Really, there are a ton of options. Just look up some veg food blogs and such. It would probably be beneficial to research the ethics of going vegan as well. Maybe it will make you more inspired and stick to it more easily.

kiiiwade

Yeah!

azalea617

Another thing is the longer I'm on it the tastier foods become. I'm not sure why, but the fruits and veggies, rice and beans, and even oatmeal has so much more flavor than before.

This is because your body is readjusting to its idea of flavors. Once you stop using sugar/grease/salt on everything and getting overly processed foods out of your system, you can appreciate original flavors more. I stopped using any kind of sweetener in my teas and now I can taste every aspect of them and they're so delicious on their own. Once you can appreciate food for what it is without covering it up with unnecessary "taste enhancers," you know what something actually tastes like. Of course, it helps if you know how to cook well too, usually.