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Thinking about becoming vegetarian/vegan and I need help

2K views 14 replies 14 participants last post by  SplendidBob 
#1 ·
So, as the title says, I'm thinking about going vegetarian then vegan. It's hard to do it alone, and I just feel guilty when I eat cheap meat. I just don't know how to stick with it, because I tried it before and it didn't last long...

My reasons are of course, for compassion for animals, the environment, and my health. Meat is also so expensive!!!

I also have a carnivorous kitty who is VERY picky and loves her meat too much, so that is conflicting in itself!

I just really need someone to help support me and keep me on track.

What did YOU do to make it easier?
 
#2 ·
I've never felt a sufficiently strong desire to do this, so I don't know, but maybe there are small changes you can make to gradually reduce the amount of animals you're consuming, changing purchasing choices to give up certain foods and trying to incorporate others into your routine, talking with friends and family who can begin to try to accommodate your preferences, and so on. I'd try to not feel bad about knowingly feeding kitty her daily animals. She's happier being taken care of than being feral and competing for animals to fill her tummy. If she is healthy, you could look into a vegan diet with synthetic animals for kitty, but I would personally not easily feel comfortable making a decision like that for an effectively obligate carnivore who is more or less dependent on me.

I think there are various vegan support groups you could look into and knowing others irl who share your lifestyle aspirations is probably the best thing you can do to keep yourself interested and motivated. Not a one of em doesn't love to talk and talk about it after all ;), and that enthusiasm is surely contagious. Maybe try meetups in your city, activities where you're likely to meet others of like mind (health and fitness groups), and there certainly certainly a plurality of internet communities dedicated to this.

I appreciated this
 
#3 ·
Please check out unnatural vegan on youtube. I think she has as lot of good advice and good tips on what it means to say vegan. I also think it's a good idea to maybe not immediately jump into this diet and slowly get rid of meats in your life.

If you are looking for vegan inspiration online, please stay away from the RT4 cult (raw til 4). They have this diet which can be considered unsustainable, a lot of people have gained weight from it, and it's super expensive. Vegan is about finding the right diet for you...(I was almost suckered into this cult so I think it's important for me to warn others about the dangers).
 
#4 ·
I am not vegan/vegetarian but I am pretty sure watching videos about how they make food will help you go vegan.. I didn't eat chicken for one month after I randomly stumbled upon a video on how they made chicken on boxes. They had this machine, that would cut things to pieces, and a grid on top of the machine where chickens were put - Then they removed the grid...
@MissIntrovert

Now I just came up with this sad story where a guy could only get a job as a butcher but he turned vegan as he felt so sorry for them.
 
#5 ·
It's not something I have done personally, but I think if I was going to do it, then I would just try being a vegetarian for a while first and see how that goes. I think being vegetarian wouldn't be too difficult, however I imagine being a vegan would be hard work as it means omitting dairy and eggs aswell as meat.

Dairy products and eggs are used in so many foods these days, you have it in bread, pastries, cakes, desserts, chocolate, pasta, ice cream, etc, and a lot of vegetarian dishes often contain cheese. I know you can buy alternative products but this would mean only being able to shop at selected places, and the alternative products are also likely to be more expensive.

You also have to think are you the kind of person who likes to eat out a lot or do you eat with friends and family much, again this is where you may be limited. When you eat out there are very few vegan choices on menus (that I've noticed anyway). Also if you are invited to dinner, some people may find it hard to cater for you and to create a vegan menu, unless they are already experienced in making vegan dishes. Also do you go on vacation much? You might encounter issues trying to source vegan food whilst you are away, and if you are the kind of person who goes on all inclusive holidays where all the meals are included, you may find it hard trying to figure out whether there have been animal products used in the dishes.

You could try a pescaterian diet instead? This is a diet I sort of semi follow, I don't really eat much meat and tend to get most of my protein from fish and seafood.
 
#6 ·
I'm an ex-vegan... was vegan for about 8 years, and even now, I eat very minimal animal products and am extremely selective about where I get them. As in, I need to personally know the farmer, ask a lot of questions, and see the conditions the animal is kept in, or I need to have raised the animal myself. Anyway, when I went vegan, I transitioned from meat eater to vegan overnight.

My main advice is, if you don't cook for yourself much now, you will need to. Once you're used to cooking everything for yourself, eating vegan at home is no big deal. At least, it wasn't for me. There are a lot of great vegan food options out there if you learn how to cook. Going out is a lot more challenging and at times, frustrating... I can't count the times I've said something like, "It's okay, I'm not actually that hungry!"

If you have any questions, like wanting advice on recipes, etc, I'd be happy to help!

Also, keep in mind that just because you are vegan, that doesn't mean your cat has to be vegan too.
 
#7 ·
I'm not fully vegetarian or vegan myself, but i'm not far from vegetarian atleast. So i'm far from good at this. But i guess the easiest would be to slowly remove one type of food at the time. For example, stop eating the meat you like the least. Then you work your way slowly. And most of all, educate yourself about what harm meat can do to your body and stuff like that. And theres plenty of documentaries about the meat industry that will certainly make you want to never go near meat ever again, lol.
 
#8 ·
Be really careful about your health if you go vegan (or even vegetarian). A high proportion of women who eat meat have insufficient iron stores, and that proportion is much higher for vegans and vegetarians. You need to be really careful about getting enough iron in your diet from non-meat sources, and probably ought to take supplements/vitamins too. Calcium too. In order for veganism to actually be healthy, you need to be super attentive to nutrition. It's much harder to get enough nutrients if you ditch animal products.
 
#10 ·
I decided to make the switch to veganism just recently. I'm still transitioning, but it hasn't been too too rough really. I was already conscientious of my nutrition, so taking care of that department post-animal products hasn't been so bad. It's already been said, but you'll need to be able to cook for yourself at home to make things easier :)
 
#11 ·
Watch Earthlings to start off with. That should put you off for life. I went vegetarian 5 years ago and stopped eating meat over night. It's really not difficult. I went vegan 2 years ago, and I would have done so a lot sooner if I had known how awful the dairy and egg industries are. I am totally grossed out by milk and chicken periods now, I have no idea how people can be truly vegan then go back to eating those "grosseries". If you are on Facebook, join vegan groups, they always share pics of the latest vegan food to make your mouth water! There is vegan cheese, ice cream, all sorts of milks and junk if you fancy that. Since going vegan I experience far less stomach pain and I feel so much healthier!
 
#12 ·
Being vegetarian isn't hard.

Only times it can be annoying is when you go to restaurants that someone else chose. I really don't like spending money on veggie burgers or some sort of cheese pasta thing. Can eat that sort of stuff at home.

I still eat a little bit of tuna and shrimp, so I guess I'm pescetarian. Really don't need to worry about vitamins and such unless you go vegan. Then you probably need to take vitamin B-12 supplements.
 
#13 ·
I made the change to becoming a vegetarian just over 5 months ago now and I found what helped me was, whenever I would get a craving for meat again, I would remind myself of why I was doing it. Watching videos of animals and seeing how they feel joy and pain just as we do. For example, cows cry when their calves are taken away from them, that's not just a theory. They feel satisfaction from drinking water and eating tasty foods, just like we do. It's just the reminder that they are not much different from us at all that can help.
Also, I like to cook, so I threw myself into learning new recipes and trying out the different ingredients was fun so that served almost as a distraction to any cravings I had.
Anyway, I hope you are finding it easier to make the transition now :)
 
#14 ·
I've been veggie for almost 8 months and what I find helps is Quorn! Their chicken fillets and sausages taste very similar and I had quorn gammon steaks the other night... better than actual gammon because no fat (and obviously not from an animal!) so if you're missing the taste of meat try Quorn! So many products, their chicken filets, sausages and gammon steaks are brilliant!:)
 
#15 ·
If I went vegetarian I would run my typical diet through cronometer.com to check what I was missing out on.

If memory serves you might struggle with B12, Zinc, and Iron (non heme iron is far less effective in the body and iron is one to be especially careful about if you are a woman).

So my advice, take it seriously and make sure your diet is designed as well as possible to avoid any deficiencies and supplement if necessary.
 
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