Any Fellow Vegans?

After talking with other vegans, I thought I'd make a thread for us to socialize! Please feel free to hop in and introduce yourself!

Hi again!    I'm not vegan, but I'm very semi-vegetarian. I'm sure this makes no sense. I don't eat cured pork products (ham, bacon, etc.) anymore and very little meat in general. I never buy it for myself, but will still eat it at my parents' house or occasionally out to eat. I cook mostly vegetarian meals at home using lots of beans. I still eat eggs, but not often. I have a hard time sourcing free-range eggs, but try to get those if I can. I still love cheese. Although the whole humane thing is a big factor, my main reason for eating less meat is because my body doesn't want it. I feel physically ill when I eat more than a small amount of meat. I don't know why. I just do better on fruits and veggies and beans!    I still love my carbs, of course. I could never do away with bread and pasta.

I used to be vegan but have since gone back to being an omnivore. I am actually seriously considering going back to it since I now live in a large progressive city. My biggest issues were that I always felt ill when I was vegan and that I absolutely can't eat tofu, it makes me want to vomit. I need to gather an abundance of recipes before I can transition. I make dinner for 5 people 4 days a week and they all very much love meat so it's hard on me.

My reason for wanting to go back to being vegan is the inhumane treatment of animals. It's against my beliefs to harm other living things and I struggle with my failure in that area.

Any suggestions for making a transition easier?

I have went back and forth with being vegetarian.  It's been awhile since I have been vegetarian.  I never tried the vegan thing.  I think it's just laziness on my part as far as doing the research on complete proteins.

I don't eat very much meat and have several no meat days during the week.  I do stick with organic dairy to avoid the hormones and antibiotics in milk.  There are several family farms around here that sell organic meat.  Only one of them sells it in small quantities.  Most of them sell large quantities like a side of beef.  It's usually just me now so I have no need for that much meat at one time.

Looks like it's going to be a small club of vegans  I became vegetarian when I was 13, and I'm 31 now. During that time I've had periods where I've gone back to eating seafood, and am currently in one of those stages. I've no doubt that will soon change and I'll be vegetarian again. I've tried vegan a couple of times but always find a way to rationalise eating eggs and dairy again. I buy free range eggs and mostly organic dairy but I have a guilty conscience. One of the reasons I found it difficult to be vegan is all the explaining you have to do when you go out for a meal. You realise how many menu items have either eggs or dairy, things you don't worry about if you're vegetarian. I do try avoid eggs when I go out though, unless I know they are free range. Overall, I aim to eat minimal animal products but making the leap to full-time vegan is challenging. I'm also trying to become more aware of non-food items that use animal products too. I'm strict about buying soap without animal fat. Obviously leather is a no-no (but yes I do have some leather shoes), but I overlook things like wool and even less obvious things like dyes. And then, of course, there is alcohol - most of which is not vegan or vegetarian.

Well, I am not a vegan myself but  I know there are  several more vegans on the site;  I've seen people mention it now and then.   like in that "vegan cats" thread.  but  there have been others .    but they may just not have checked this part of the forum. 

You could PM some of the people who have said they were vegans  and  are still active on TCS ,  and invite them to join a discussion,  give them a link to this. 

Of course today  members in the USA may be   traveling somewhere for the holiday or hosting guests ... maybe busy cooking a vegan Thanksgiving dinner !  

I'm not vegan, but have been a vegetarian for 30+ years.  Today I'm taking a vegan lentil loaf and vegan pumpkin pie to our friends' house for Thanksgiving day dinner.  Her husband eats meat but is lactose intolerant so when we share a meal, I bring vegan--no meat for me, and no dairy for him.  Works out well.  

I was browsing the Treehugger website just now, saw this article and thought of this thread  

http://www.treehugger.com/easy-vege...-thanksgiving-recipes-vegans-vegetarians.html

To those who asked, I of course have tons of tips, and lots of scary facts for those looking for a good push, haha. As for making transition easier, for me, it was best to just jump right in and refuse to turn back. But I dunno how that works for others; I'm an "all or nothing" kind of person. I also run a vegan blog on Tumblr, and being in the vegan community, I was constantly surrounded by reminders of why I went vegan. When I went vegan, I struggled. I initially was vegan for five months, quit for nine or ten months, and then went back and forth for a few months before it finally stuck. I've now been vegan for two years. I did get sick at first, so I thought I was doing something wrong, but I was just detoxing, I think. It was tough. I was a huge cheese-eater, and I felt like **** for... oh, maybe two or three months, to varying degrees during that time period.

I think it's the "all or nothing" that makes it such a challenge for me. By that I mean, if I'm going to be vegan then I have to do it 'perfectly'. And that's when I start focusing on all the hidden animal derived ingredients in food, household products, etc. For some reason, I don't mind being a vegetarian in ignorant bliss about those things. But if I'm going vegan I think I have to be super aware and diligent. Then that gets overwhelming and I give up. The last time I gave it a shot, when I gave up I ate more eggs and cheese than ever and then started eating fish again as well.

my-boy-jasper said:

 
I think it's the "all or nothing" that makes it such a challenge for me. By that I mean, if I'm going to be vegan then I have to do it 'perfectly'. And that's when I start focusing on all the hidden animal derived ingredients in food, household products, etc. For some reason, I don't mind being a vegetarian in ignorant bliss about those things. But if I'm going vegan I think I have to be super aware and diligent. Then that gets overwhelming and I give up. The last time I gave it a shot, when I gave up I ate more eggs and cheese than ever and then started eating fish again as well.

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When you gave up on it at least you didn't go to a fast food place for the largest, fattiest cheeseburger with a large order of fries.

wolcar and pocho are vegan. Might want to pop them a PM with a link to this thread!

sugarsandz said:

I used to be vegan but have since gone back to being an omnivore. I am actually seriously considering going back to it since I now live in a large progressive city. My biggest issues were that I always felt ill when I was vegan and that I absolutely can't eat tofu, it makes me want to vomit. I need to gather an abundance of recipes before I can transition. I make dinner for 5 people 4 days a week and they all very much love meat so it's hard on me.

My reason for wanting to go back to being vegan is the inhumane treatment of animals. It's against my beliefs to harm other living things and I struggle with my failure in that area.

Any suggestions for making a transition easier?

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I ca certainly do my best to help you out. I am a vegan and I rarely ever eat tofu - or any soy products whatsoever. Living in a city helps a lot but even when not (I often travel to remote areas where you can find pretty much nothing so I have to fully rely on myselfmaking thinhs from scratch...including milk and cheese - and boy I make addictive vegan cheeses...blue cheese sour cheese and cream cheese)

Anyway. Back to your initial concern. Being vegan shouldn't mean that you rely on imitation foods which can often be hell of a processed food.

Feel free to reach out to me on pm and ill help guide you. But since you mentioned getting ill, I highly highly recommend you get an igG test (food intolerance test). It is pretty straight forward.

thevegancuddler said:

After talking with other vegans, I thought I'd make a thread for us to socialize! Please feel free to hop in and introduce yourself!

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Hey there! Thanks for starting the thread and im sorry I ddnt get ba k earlier im still on my trip,but very glad to see it. Ill drop the link to fellow vegans who are already on the vegan cats thread.

Im glad we can all connect

Hello! I was on a high meat diet at one time convinced by the WEston Price Foundation it would cure all my ailments( anemia, Interstitial cystitis, acid reflux that no meds took away...and more). I was literally forcing myself to eat liver rare twice a week. I would go to a co op and buy 'humane' meat. Nothing really humane about that meat as we know....

Like i have mentioned before my cats brought me to veganism. The love just spread to other animals. I had always felt not right about eating meat but thought there was no alternative for a human beings survival. I was wrong thank god. There was a transition time when I was eating fish and eggs. But the complete destruction of the ocean was not something I wanted to be a part of. I went to eggs from one of my sisters backyard. I felt I knew they were treated well and she didnt slaughter them after they stopped laying. Over time I realized they each had they own personalities and could be quite lovely to be around. Then in a casual conversation she mentioned how her chickens were hiding their eggs from her finding secret spots to lay. I asked why?She said " Because idiot, they don't want you to take their eggs!" That was the end of my eggs days.

I do well on lots of greens and beans with corn tortillas. I supplement my B12 and drink fortified hempmilk for D. My health has improved. I barely have any acid reflux and it was the kind that sent me to the hospital. My anemia ironically has improved, not gone but out of dangerous range. This painful bladder condition called IC remains but also at a lower level and the pain is more manageable.

I am considering going totally raw for my health. Any input would be appreciated.

my-boy-jasper said:

 
Looks like it's going to be a small club of vegans

 I became vegetarian when I was 13, and I'm 31 now. During that time I've had periods where I've gone back to eating seafood, and am currently in one of those stages. I've no doubt that will soon change and I'll be vegetarian again. I've tried vegan a couple of times but always find a way to rationalise eating eggs and dairy again. I buy free range eggs and mostly organic dairy but I have a guilty conscience. One of the reasons I found it difficult to be vegan is all the explaining you have to do when you go out for a meal. You realise how many menu items have either eggs or dairy, things you don't worry about if you're vegetarian. I do try avoid eggs when I go out though, unless I know they are free range. Overall, I aim to eat minimal animal products but making the leap to full-time vegan is challenging. I'm also trying to become more aware of non-food items that use animal products too. I'm strict about buying soap without animal fat. Obviously leather is a no-no (but yes I do have some leather shoes), but I overlook things like wool and even less obvious things like dyes. And then, of course, there is alcohol - most of which is not vegan or vegetarian.

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what is not vegan about alcohol? I have hard cider here and there.

my-boy-jasper said:

Looks like it's going to be a small club of vegans :lol3:  I became vegetarian when I was 13, and I'm 31 now. During that time I've had periods where I've gone back to eating seafood, and am currently in one of those stages. I've no doubt that will soon change and I'll be vegetarian again. I've tried vegan a couple of times but always find a way to rationalise eating eggs and dairy again. I buy free range eggs and mostly organic dairy but I have a guilty conscience. One of the reasons I found it difficult to be vegan is all the explaining you have to do when you go out for a meal. You realise how many menu items have either eggs or dairy, things you don't worry about if you're vegetarian. I do try avoid eggs when I go out though, unless I know they are free range. Overall, I aim to eat minimal animal products but making the leap to full-time vegan is challenging. I'm also trying to become more aware of non-food items that use animal products too. I'm strict about buying soap without animal fat. Obviously leather is a no-no (but yes I do have some leather shoes), but I overlook things like wool and even less obvious things like dyes. And then, of course, there is alcohol - most of which is not vegan or vegetarian.

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I am never the kind of person that preaches or tries to convert people. Because this is an obvious issue and you either are part of animal slavery and abuse or ur not...so I think it is not about preaching it is about knowing and setting your bar.

Anyway, I just thought you should know that most of the yogurt and cheese you eat, unless you make it yourself is NOT vegetarian.
Unless it says vegetarian, it is absolutely not. It contains animal fat and animal gelatine and much more.... not as processing agents (like in white sugar processed with bone char), but as ingredients that are not clear to you.

I have a friend who is highly allergic to porc...she is in no way vegetarian but just allergic to porc. She can never have over the shelf yogurt, she basically makes her own at home.

And even when I was vegetarian I considered that there was nothing vegetarian about eggs. They are not byproducts. They are eggs! And foetuses to be....

Btw, here is a lovely image. My sister who has the chickens lives in the country. She has feral cats that hang around.They are pretty friendly group. She said it is common on cold winter mornings to go into the hen house and see the cats have cuddled up with the chickens to keep warm sleeping there. 

I am fascinated with stories of animals of different species bonding in uncommon ways. I feel there is so much more going on between beings here on earth than we can imagine. 

djoe said:

I am never the kind of person that preaches or tries to convert people. Because this is an obvious issue and you either are part of animal slavery and abuse or ur not...so I think it is not about preaching it is about knowing and setting your bar.

Anyway, I just thought you should know that most of the yogurt and cheese you eat, unless you make it yourself is NOT vegetarian.
Unless it says vegetarian, it is absolutely not. It contains animal fat and animal gelatine and much more.... not as processing agents (like in white sugar processed with bone char), but as ingredients that are not clear to you.

I have a friend who is highly allergic to porc...she is in no way vegetarian but just allergic to porc. She can never have over the shelf yogurt, she basically makes her own at home.

And even when I was vegetarian I considered that there was nothing vegetarian about eggs. They are not byproducts. They are eggs! And foetuses to be....

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Besides the fact dairy in of itself can be seen as cruel I believe. What a life to be a milk slave with engorged mutated utters... But I understand it is difficult to be pure vegan and even people eating less meat is an improvement.

pocho said:

what is not vegan about alcohol? I have hard cider here and there.

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I always thought free range eggs are just like humane meat. Or like when people tell you "but the cow wants to be milked!"....anyway.

I understand that you supplement youe D and B vit. But I hope you know that their deficiency is not strictly related to your diet and there are natural ways of gaining them.... non veg people also go defficient on these 2. If interested to discuss further drop me a pm. I don't want to bother others with boring vit discussions.

Also, about raw diet, while I highly appreciate it, I personally tried it for one year and it didn't work for me. I got In touch with major raw food nutritionists and tbey did advise that it is different from one person to another and that in some bodies it is better to go semi-raw. As in 51% of every meal is raw and having a low heat cooking to just essential. Of course with daily juicing and zero microwave and deep frying/or junk food.

I have references and a few ebooks that ill be happy to sharr. Again. Pm me if you need that.