Not Vegan Story

[eli47]

Hi, I just found ya'll a couple days ago, COMPLETELY by accident, and I have to say it--I'm not Vegan. Not even vegetarian. Do I have to go? Anyway, I was vegetarian for 3 yrs. or so, even though I did slip on occasion. I did it for purely ethical reasons; I wasn't going to eat anything with eyes. So anyway, actually gained weight cuz I ate lots of pasta, cheese, etc. Blah, blah, blah......So now I have two girls who I am teaching to be compassionate toward animals, and my oldest , who is 6 tells people she's a veg. but she "must have turkey!". She doesn't want to hurt animals and will ask me what part of the animal something comes from before she eats it. I asked her if she would like to go veg , or atleast try it and she said yes. SO.............I'm about 30 lbs. overweight and am starting a major diet Feb. 1. My hubby is on it too whether he likes it or not! So this is a good time to go vegetarian. Although I gotta tell you, I have to do this first and then maybe go vegan, or should I just jump in all at once? I don't know enough about nutrition to just yank things away from my daughter. Anyone have any good ideas for sites to go to for info? Or maybe a forum like this for fledgling vegetarians? I still do alot for the animals that I can help ( I leave at 4 in the morn. while everyone is still asleep and make feeding rounds to homeless animals and feral cat colonies . Come back at 6:30 in time to wake everyone up and get my daughter to school. I just need to look at my PETA mags I guess to work up my anger about the atrocities done to animals. That will get me pumped up and excited about going veg.!! Any support from ya'll, veg recipe websites, etc. would be great. Eli

[Vegit-8]

Welcome to VRF Eli. I think that you will find this a very supportive community for you at this time. Virtually all of us were omni prior to going veg*n so we can all relate in some way....and, well I guess we made it.
Some of my favorite books to recommend for people making the change over are by, or co-authored by, Vesanto Melina. Here is here website with her wonderful books.

May peace and joy be with you and your family.
Vegit-8

[mountainvegan]

Welcome, eli. What the rabbit said (great site reference, wabbit ).

[mountainvegan]

Another site worth visiting with talks on vegan nutrition, etc.:

http://www.drgreger.org/index.html

http://www.drgreger.org/talks.html

[petaske'kwe']

Originally Posted by eli47

I have to do this first and then maybe go vegan, or should I just jump in all at once? I don't know enough about nutrition to just yank things away from my daughter.

Some people are successful in going from meat-eating to vegan in a day but for me it was a very gradual change.

I suggest taking it day by day, meal by meal, trying to choose vegetarian over meat whenever you can.

Adding new foods to your family's diet that you may not normally eat (soy lunchmeat, tempeh, TVP (textured vegetable protein, a.k.a. soy "ground beef"), different types of beans and grains, different vegetables, etc.) will probably be necessary if you're going to be cutting down on meat, etc. Trying new foods is fun!

Welcome to VRF! You can hang around here even if you're not vegan! There's a lot of good information and great recipes here. We're here to support you!

[dropscone]

I second what petaske'kwe' said about taking it a day at a time. It probably took me a couple of months between thinking "I wonder if I could go vegan...probably not, but maybe I'll give it a try at least" and cutting down and finally cutting out all animal products. I cut eggs in cooking first, then in stuff that I was buying, and I think the last thing to go was cheese. And it took me another couple of months to realise that it wasn't as difficult and cranky as I thought it was going to be and be able to start telling people that I was vegan, rather than just cutting stuff out for a while

I found reading a few different vegan recipe books and websites helped, not only for food ideas but because they often have good concise lists of reasons to go vegan and help your resolve to stay that way, and also good nutrition advice.

Anyway, welcome!

[Tracy G]

Welcome!

Yup, as petaske'kwe' said, different people go through different types of transitions.

My husband and I stopped consuming meat over a period of a few months in 1994. We eliminated beef and pork from our diets first, and then chicken and turkey. We were mostly vegetarian (he still is) for ten years, except for seafood on rare occasions (at which times, our diet was pesco-vegetarian or pescatarian, though I know some people don't like those terms).

I became interested in a vegan lifestyle last summer, and I went a long ways toward that rather quickly. I call myself "vegan" now, although I admit I'm not very picky about honey and trace ingredients and small amounts of animal-derived substances in bread, etc. It hasn't been too difficult, but I don't have any children to worry about, either. Still, I know you'll find lots of help around here, so thanks for posting your story, and best wishes!

[frank_iii]

While you're looking at the PETA magazines and working yourself into a frenzy, check out:

Animal Exploitation Photos

Factory Farming

Yummy!

[mouse]

I think you're probably setting yourself up for failure if you try to go from omni to vegan in one step. As others have said, take it one day at a time, one meal at a time. Think to yourself, "for this meal, I choose not to kill or have someone killed." It works much better than thinking to yourself "I'll never eat another porkchop."

[thecatspajamas]

Yeah...what they all said. And you've got good bunch of people here to lend support, advice, recipes, and anything else you might need every step of the way. Welcome and good luck with the changes!

[bluedawg]

welcome, eli47! i agree with the others; gradual or "one meal at a time" is probably the easiest route to go. although if there are things you'd be perfectly happy never eating again and it feels empowering for you to make that decision right here and now, i say go for it!

and, wow, frank iii... thank you(?) for that animal exploitation photo site. i had never seen it before. it was horrendous and disturbing, but i'm glad to know it's out there.

edited to agree with zatoichi below--once i saw meet your meat, i knew all i needed to know. i have the "ignorance is not bliss: meetyourmeat.com" bumper sticker on my office door now. i think that video is extremely powerful.

[zatoichi]

meetyourmeat.com did it for me.

[spasticastic]

I like the advice about going one day at a time. To that I would add the idea of going in stages or steps. That's how I subconsciously did it.

My first step: I'll just buy less meat...

Second step: I won't buy meat myself, so I'm not actually supporting it, but if other people have already paid for it and it's sitting there...

Third step: You know what? I need to stop eating meat because, even though I'm not paying for it, I'm still creating a demand.

Fourth step: I'm not sure this dairy stuff is any better, I think I'll just eat less of that.

Fifth step: Okay, that tears it! I'm quitting all of it!

Each step lasted a couple of months. It wasn't my plan to do it that way, it's just how it worked out. It's only in retrospect that I can see the design. It would have been a good plan if I were somehow precognitive. As it is, I am only postcognitive ... *sigh* ...

[riotxofxwords]

I agree with the one day at a time, too, especially since you are asking what to do to help your daughter go <b>vegetarian</b> - if you're that unsure about your knowledge on those kind of diets then going straight into veganism could be very risky and unhealthy.

Since it's not just a diet, but a lifestyle, one of the best ways to prepare for it is to read up on farming conditions, nutritional information, and what kind of things you need to eat. When I was in the process of considering it, I must have read for 4 hours a day for over 2 weeks until I was convinced that 1 - it was the best thing for me morally and ethically, and 2 - that I was capable of doing it.

I was a pretty strict vegetarian prior to aspiring to veganism, so the transition was so gradual it was almost unnoticable, it just seemed like the next logical step. http://www.vegansociety.com/html/ has a ton of good information that can start you off in the right direction.

Good luck!

[Kat]

Welcome to the VRF boards.