Switching from vegetarian to vegan?!
Switching from vegetarian to vegan?
I am 17 years old and have been a vegetarian for almost a year now. I would like to switch to being a vegan, any help on how the make the transfer easy or any other tips thanks. Im also looking for anyone who wants to talk through e-mail.
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Answers:
I wish you the best of luck and am looking forward to seeing the replies you receive. My daughters and I became vegetarians a year ago. My oldest daughter has had cancer on 13 occasion. She has been cancer free since becoming a vegetarian. It could be coincidence, though I doubt it.
My oldest daughter and I have decided to become vegans. The eating part will be easy. We no longer use products that are tested on animals. We actually stopped using them before becoming vegetarians. We are getting rid of all our leather/suede products. We already have stopped going to the Circus and Rodeos. Now we are no longer going to attend Zoos or places like Sea World.
There is a lot that goes into the cross over. You need to be extremely conscience about household products, cosmetics, footwear, clothing and more.
The only thing I am keeping is my recipe (meat recipes) cookbooks. Some of them have been past down from my through the generations.
For us, not beating ourselves up when we find out there is something we do not believe in consuming in a product, we are consuming is the most difficult part. Such as, the day after we became vegetarians the girls had a marshmallow roast with friends. My youngest found out two days later what was in marshmallows. She was crushed. All we can do is the best we can. We all make mistakes, the important is learning from them and not repeating them.
I admire your choice.
to avoid a lack of protein shock you need to eat alot of nuts and beans.
When I decided to switch (I was 19), I had just gone shopping the day before and loaded up on cheese, eggs, and dairy products. I thought I'd finish them up and then go vegan, but I actually never did finish them.... I had some cake at various friends' birthdays over the following two months, and that was it. I just stopped after that.
I had already been learning to cook, so I started learning to cook vegan. I think that was the best thing. Learning how to feed myself nutritious foods. Get yourself a good cookbook. My favorite is "Very Vegetarian" by Jannequin Bennett and Carl Lewis. That was my first as well.
Check out these websites for lots of info as well. I think sort of immersing yourself in "veganness" helps at first. If you know any vegans, try talking to them, and maybe striking up a friendship if you get along. Having veggie friends really helps at first, cause you may have difficulty explaining your choice to your friends and they may have difficulting understanding. I'm NOT saying to dump your friends! Not at all. Just that it will be a good idea to make a couple new ones.
Also, if you're planning on going away to college, try looking for a school in a veggie-friendly area if you're not already in one. I think the fact that I moved from Alabama to Olympia, WA a little after I became vegan definitely helped. I sometimes wonder how well I would have done if I'd stayed there.
Feel free to e-mail me if you want. Good luck. :-)