Looking for Vegetarians/Vegans...

I've been a vegetarian for almost 2 years. I do believe a vegan diet is healther, it is my next goal.

Best of luck on your journey, and feel free to add me as a friend if you'd like. Any of you veggies, I can use all of the support!!

Hi,
When I was 15 I decided to become a vegetarian for ethical reasons. I have to tell it wasn't easy but most of all because of the fact that there where almost no choices in my hometown (in Portugal). I didn't have a store where to buy simple stuff like tofu and forget about restaurants (had to stick with scramble eggs).
For me easing into it didn't work, what I did was eat all the meat I wanted for 3 months, in which I thought about the slaughter of animals all meals long and it worked. Since I became a vegetarian I never ate meat or even considered it, even when it was very difficult to find what to eat. Only when I relocated to the capital of my country I found out that there were stores only with this kind of food. I seemed a child in a toy store!
I would love to go vegan and really feel that it is the right thing to do but I have a meat eater as a partner and it's harder to give up eggs and milk. I almost don't eat cheese, only organic milk, and free range eggs.
I love to cook, and I'm crazy about mushrooms, so if you (or anyone) wants we can share recipes.
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I'm a vegan (well, trying to be). I've only been vegan for about two months, but so far it's been great. For a while I wasn't getting enough protein, so I was starving all the time, but I've fixed that so it's all good. I went from meat-eater straight to vegan, btw. And I would also suggest vegweb.com I get almost all of my recipes from there. They're great! Feel free to ad me! :happy:

I've been eating vegan for about a month and a half now. I love it. I wasn't a vegetarian beforehand, but I also just didn't eat much meat.

The only thing I found difficult was giving up dairy. I've also faced challenges when eating out and there have been a couple slip ups (e.g. cheese coming already grated on top of some pasta... just didn't think about that!)

Overall, it has been successful though. I have been amazed at how much more energy I have now than I had before. It's really been life altering. I actually have the energy to get out there and do some exercise.

I have a long way to go with weight loss, but I already am feeling healthier.

I've been a vegetarian for 15 years (I'm 23) and like other people have said being vegetarian first would be the easiest. Being vegan is incredibly difficult, and to be done well it's best to research quite a bit first.

Being vegan for 6 years now my best advice to anyone wanting to adopt that lifestyle is...

DON'T TAKE ADVICE FROM VEGETARIANS!

Honestly, why are people who are not vegan recommending "a slow transition"? I understand the pride you may feel in being vegetarian, but it really gives you no insight into being vegan.

So to the aspiring vegan, if it is only about diet, well...then it's not vegan. If you want to call it a vegan diet, that's kinda lame and misses the point. That would be what we used to call vegetarian before eggs and cheese started getting coopted by vegetarians. So then it became strict vegetarian. But if it is ethical as well and yiu are more dietary focused do the research and take time to read some of Dr. Neal Barnard's books. There is ample evidence that a vegan diet is far better for you (and other animals as well). Far more death goes into milk and egg production than most non-vegans want to admit, but the facts won't hide or be twisted if you look for yourself. Also check out "The China Study".

If you are heading this way for purely ethical reasons with your diet being a another logical extension of that such as what you wear, carbon footprint, etc., then try "Becoming Vegan" or "The Vegan Sourcebook".

I definitely recommend vegweb.com as a place for recipe ideas as well as Post Punk Kitchen. You can also make friends. The 14 year vegan I love and live with met each other on a vegan forum about 5 years ago.

I have traveled to both coasts after becoming vegan simply forth purpose of meeting other vegans. I learned that simply being vegan does not make me like you, but I can sure appreciate your ethical consistency over a vegetarian who says they are doing it "for the animals". And for all the vegetarians who want to slam me for that last statement, I was vegetarian before I became vegan. I wish someone would have slapped me down from my little hypocritical cloud. When you truly want to make it about ethics, vegan is the only choice. This attitude will get one accused of being "elitist" as quick as anything but for me it's nothing I pat myself on the back for. To over celebrate being vegan would quite literally be the equivalent of thanking myself every day for not killing anyone, it's just common sense now.

So go vegan and don't be a whiny one. Don't take advice from one who isn't vegan or who "tried that once". Follow what you feel about your impact on other animal's lives and whether or not killing them is necessary or relevant to you. Don't hide behind food addictions, believe me you will beat yourself up for that later.

I actually care about all animals, including vegetarians. ;-)

There is ample evidence that a vegan diet is far better for you (and other animals as well).

That's only if you're doing it right, though. If, for example, you give up meat and dairy and don't supplement your vitamin B-12, which is ONLY found in animal products, it'll could you, but not before seriously messing you up. There's also ample evidence that the spectrum of partial vegetarian diets (ovo-lacto, pescetarian, etc.) are just as healthy as vegetarian/vegan diets that don't contain non-red-meat animal products.

Basically, if you want to become vegan, research, research, research. I agree that, if you're really serious about it, it's more a lifestyle than a diet, but start with the diet and work your way up from there. Know which vitamins and minerals you'll need to supplement (because you will need to), which plants have abundant sources of stuff like iron and protein (there's a reason Popeye ate spinach), which processed foods contain hidden animal products (hint: Peeps are off the menu), etc., etc., etc. I recommend doing that before you jump into it completely, because, if you're lacking in some vitamin and you start feeling crappy because of that, you're going to be reluctant to continue.

Any suggestions for a good brand of nutritional yeast?

I have some I got from the bulk bin in the store, but I feel pretty "meh" about its flavor.

I have to order mine in from online so I just buy whatever's cheapest and they all taste about the same to me. I never eat it by itself, I add blend it with tofu, almond milk, and almond meal to make a cheesy sort of sauce and put it on pasta and vegetables. It reminds me most of Parmesan. I made this recipe up the other day trying to replicate the cajun alfredo sauce from Chilis and, even though I haven't had that sauce in years, it does its memory justice!

Ingredients

1.5 cups almond milk
1 cup silken tofu -- drained
2 T dairy-free spread (I used olive oil spread)
1/4 cup cajun seasoning
1 T water
2 T minced garlic
1 8oz jar of smoked red peppers -- drained, rinsed in hot water to remove excess oil and drained again on paper towels
1/2 cup of nutritional yeast flakes -- ground to a powder. use more if you like a more cheesy flavor.
1 T cornflour
1/4 cup hot water

Directions

1. Combine tofu, dairy-free spread, almond milk and cajun seasoning in a food processor or blender until smooth.
2. Dice the red peppers (you may be able to buy pre-diced ones, I just can't get them here!) and then saute with the garlic in a large saute pan for 2-3 minutes. If you're not worried about added fat, you can saute in oil instead of water.
3. Pour blended tofu mixture into saute pan with the garlic and peppers. Add nutritional yeast and turn to low heat to thicken. The longer you leave it, the thicker it will become, it's really up to your personal taste.
4. Finally, mix the cornflour in the water. Remove sauce from heat and add the cornflour mix. Blend well and stand to thicken for a few minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste, pour over your favorite pasta or rice and you're done!

Any suggestions for a good brand of nutritional yeast?

I have some I got from the bulk bin in the store, but I feel pretty "meh" about its flavor.

I used Red Star, Frontier Co-op, or Whole Foods Co-Op (which might be from the same co-op = not completely sure)