Any new Vegans here? Been Vegan since earlier this year. (long post)

[Fae Kizunatchi]

I was hoping someone who shares my interest in Tamagotchis/games etc would also be a vegetarian or vegan?
It would be great to have a chat. I went Vegan earlier this year. I'm not looking for a debate about it, so if you don't like it please just ignore this post.

I've had very serious health problems most of my life so I can't say whether it has made me better or worse. (I know that is the first thing people want to know) I was sick eating meat, and I was sick not eating meat. My blood tests are actually quite similar, except cholesterol is down which is good. I do find my digestion has improved and my stomach problems have lessened. The major health issue have not changed though, so it's helpful but not the magic wand people say it is.

I'm doing it for ethical reasons, but it started off as an accident preparing for surgery and looking up vegan recipes. I then felt interested, learnt more and wanted to continue with the diet. Now I know all that I know I cannot turn back.

If it were for health I would just go back to eating animal products even though I've had some improvements-the cravings are intense and frustrating. So psychologically it would not be worth it for me unless the benefits were a lot greater than what I have now. My boyfriend is doing well on the diet and has gotten over the cravings in just a few weeks. For me it is 6 months in and I still have intense cravings for chicken, cheese, supermarket chocolate and eggs. I also have put on an entire dress size in weight. This is because I am not eating enough calories and cooking enough to meet my needs is exhausting, so I get frustrated and eat a bowl of crackers or salty chips which I would not normally do. Before becoming vegan I had a sweet tooth, but my main vice was chocolate. Now most easy to buy desserts are out of my league and I have to cook everything or make things from scratch because the shops make it really hard to eat a vegan diet because all that easy prepped food is non-vegan. The more people turn vegan the more options are cropping up, however this is taking years to achieve. In the meantime it is a lot of effort. So I am eating hot chips, crackers and salty snacks to fill that void and stop the hunger in between meals.

Established vegans on you tube in particular seem to have a lot of energy and make it look easier than it has been in my reality. As a sick person I lack energy and all the food prep is exhausting. So even though I know they would say "no wonder you put on weight on a vegan diet-you aren't getting enough calories from healthy foods" they are correct, but in my case it has been easier said than done. I'm hungry, hungry hungry and I don't always want to make another vegetable fancy dish or eat more fruit. I'm going to open a packet of chips when that happens. I'm tired of feeling deprived and wanting something to chew on. Because I have a disability I'm inside a lot so food is part of my entertainment and comfort. Rationally I could just stop eating this or that and deal with the cravings--but those cravings are LOUD and my life is mostly indoors and boring. I'm lonely and bored and don't like vegan food.

I'd love another vegan, especially a new one to talk to and we could work this out together. I contemplated stopping the diet, but then the guilt wouldn't be worth it. So I have to find a way to do it right.

 

[TamaMum]

First, let me just mention that I am not a Vegan or Vegetarian (although I mainly eat fish and fowl - not much red meat at all). I understand that it's not really possible to go into all the background details on why you're eating vegan at the moment, but from your post it sounds a little as if you're really unhappy with some of the restrictions your new eating regime places on you.

It's clear that you're making a real effort to follow a vegan diet, but (so far) your health doesn't appear to be obviously improving, in fact it's tiring you out. You also mentioned you're putting on weight because your cravings lead you to binge on junk snacks and you don't like vegan food.

Seems to me that it might be a good idea to re-think your eating regime - even if it's a short term "tweak". Why not try following a vegetarian diet rather than a vegan one - perhaps even for 3 out of 7 days per week? That would allow you to keep eating healthily but also to treat yourself to a chocolate dessert or eat an egg dish from time to time. Perhaps after a while you will become more comfortable with the change and it will be easier to move full time onto a vegan diet.

Anyway, I hope things work out for you and remember, the good thing about advise is that you can read it and make your own decision about what you want to do

 

[-Ra-]

Like TamaMum, I think perhaps going vegan cold turkey might not be the best way for you. At least, from the way you've described your experiences, it seems more as if you're having difficulty adjusting to this way of life. As she has suggested, alternating between a vegetarian and vegan diet might make the transition easier, and help you get used to it more smoothly. Like everything else, moderation is always a good policy. I have a lot of friends in real life who have made the choice to go vegan. Some are successful, others still struggle with it. I have two friends that I work with where the wife is full on vegan, while the husband is half and half between vegan and vegetarian. At one point, I too was interested and tried a few vegan options available out there. They seem to make almost everything as a vegan alternative. They have vegan burgers, hot dogs, eggs, chocolate, cheese... Trouble for me was, they just did not approximate a close-enough likeness in taste. So my brief interest in a vegan diet sadly didn't get very far. However, there are still many vegan items I do enjoy. Perhaps finding a balance which works for you w/o negatively affecting your health is the best way.

Ra,

 

[Counting Bodies Like Sheep]

I was vegan for 5 years. Was - I'm not anymore, so I'm not a new vegan, but rather an old one.

I went vegan for ethical reasons - I wasn't looking to lose weight or get healthy etc, I was doing it purely because it's what I thought was right. I've always loved the taste of meat, but between being a very busy student and being appalled about animal rights I really wanted veganism to work, and soon enough I was surviving on rice, all sorts of beans & legumes, vegies/fruit and soy. It was a cheap diet and was sustainable at first, so I was happy.

Unfortunately, because I couldn't eat most things you find in restaurants, I found myself ordering nothing but chips & bread when I went out. It was either eat chips or give up my social life - so over the years I ate heaps of chips and bread and rice and other empty foods that were ethically acceptable but ultimately devoid of anything useful. I unfortunately got a bit fat, because vegetable-based meals & fruit snacks weren't enough to hold me over, nor were they particularly motivating or enjoyable when it came time to eat. I eventually realised veganism was not a sustainable choice for me, for various reasons. There was too much unsupported propaganda, I was zapped of energy, the food was just bad (despite me being very good at making 'tasty' vegan food), I was getting bigger and yet I was starving all the time. I wanted to do the right thing ethically, but I also didn't want to torture myself. That'll sound like an exaggeration, but after half a decade of eating chickpeas, drinking soy milk and feeling deprived, I had had enough.

Vegan diets are hard work with a lot of cooking and prep time required. Some have the time, others don't. If you are following a nutritionally adequate vegan diet and find you are not adapting even after several months, I honestly suggest reconsidering from a health perspective. It's important to give veganism a fair go though, and prepare diverse & healthy dishes - although it sounds like you are. But keep in mind that in the end it may boil down to a choice between personal ethics vs. your health, and only you can decide.

I know this wasn't particularly helpful, but you are certainly welcome to ask any questions you might have.

 

[Fae Kizunatchi]

Thank you I really appreciate these replies, they are really nice! I had a good feeling about putting this here as a vegan/vegetarian forum would be biased, and other places are far too against the diet/attack you.

After thinking about this for a while, reading these and also talking to my naturopath (surprisingly not a vegan, she thinks animal proteins are the building blocks and easiest way to get certain amino acids.)
I have decided I'm going to go back to her next week. She has already tried to convince me to give myself a break, but seeing I'm committed to it will come up with ways to make a better diet plan for me as a vegan. She was hoping I'd eat fish or at least eggs, and I wasn't ready for that yet-but if all else fails I'll think about it.

What I'm going to do is attend that appointment, do my best to get better sleep and more regular food (hard as I'm going through intense anxieties an worries right now) and give a final crack at a eating plan and better routine. If it turns out I'm still suffering after some structure, supplements and proper eating plan I will look into the suggestions above.

When I first transitioned I actually did it gradually: Pork was first (I see pigs as like dogs) then I just went from big to small- steak, chicken, fish, dairy (bar chocolate!), eggs and finally chocolate. Most people struggle with cheese the most-I found that easy. I actually really hate the idea of dairy now and enjoy not having it. The thing I crave most has been chicken, chocolate, eggs and fish. Actually chicken is the thing that comes into my head the most. I'm surprised as my favourite foods were red meat and fish, but chicken cravings have trumped all!

If I ever had no choice but to compromise I think a traditionally Japanese inspired diet (no dairy) would be best-but in much smaller portions. Like maybe small amounts of fish, egg and tiny things here and there. I couldn't justify a giant steak or eating more than I physically needed as that would be gluttony as opposed to giving my body a need. I'll cross that bridge as a last resort.
I do feel bad as the oceans are over-fished and in some ways fish is most likely the worst option due to the possibility of empty oceans, but then again I could say that about any animal option with the beliefs I have (bar dairy, dairy is the worst option for both health and ethics)

Recently I had also lost a pet that had been with me for 10 years. I spent a lot of money at the vets before he passed away, and my heart is broken. His death reinforced my beliefs because I put so much effort into the animal I love, it feels silly to spend so much time, love and money on one and then eat another. I felt like his death was an important lesson to me in many ways, and helped me value animals even more. The hole his passing left in my heart has been persisting for a solid month.

This is hard, but I'm sure I'll come to a good solution in the end. I believe in the non-radical vagans that say to do the best you possibly can is still better than nothing. That is what I do.
Thanks for the support guys.

 

[JesterxLady]

I think it's great to see that more and more people are taking the ethics of their food into consideration; I wouldn't quite say it's 'the norm' yet but it is certainly no longer unusual. Like many others who have posted here, I'm not vegan; I do, however, have a 'vegan-friendly' diet (I know that some vegans would argue that the only vegan friendly diet is a vegan diet and that anything else is animal cruelty; however, I feel that I am doing my bit and my vegan friends fully support my choices). That is, I try to eat vegan where-ever I can; apparently 'meat-free Monday' is becoming a thing, but in this household it's more like 'meat Monday' (and vegetarian/vegan food every other night).

I'm sorry to hear that you're not enjoying a vegan diet; it isn't easy, having to constantly check food labels and finding traces of egg or dairy in anything that looks tasty. I do hope things improve for you. However, I think you need to consider where your ethics lie to help you decide where to go from here. In that I mean, do you find it inherently wrong to eat animals/use animal products, or is it the farming that is the problem? If it's the former, then, obviously, we need to find a way to make the vegan diet a positive in your life. If it's the latter, then there's a little leg room. I personally don't believe that it is inherently wrong to eat animals, I do, however, detest the way many animals are farmed. So for me, this means sourcing 'ethical' meat where I can; one of my main sources is game meat. I'm not sure what that's like in Australia, but game is available easily enough from specialist butchers here in the UK. As I said, the eating of meat isn't problematic to me, so an animal dying for food isn't unethical in my mind; however, there's nothing more free range than wild.

Anyway, I won't go on about my meat choices as that's not really what the discussion here is about. Just after having seen your previous post (about introducing small amounts of fish/eggs/etc.) it might be something for you to consider (and it's fine if you disagree with me and think meat is never going to be okay).

For convenience sake, a lot of the food we eat in this household is vegetarian; by this I mean that most Quorn 'meat' isn't vegan and Quorn is the easiest meat substitute. I am trying to find alternatives and I do use them where possible (although Quorn are supposedly going fully vegan in the next few year); examples are soya mince, tofu or seitan. I've only recently tried seitan (home made as no where locally sells it), which I made into a 'Doner' kebab, topped with vegan garlic mayo. It was delicious! Seitan isn't too difficult to make, but it is a little time consuming. However, today I found out that it can made in batches and frozen. Would this be possible for you? I don't know if you ever made seitan, but it's essentially gluten flour blended with water and herbs before being boiled in stock. You could make a load, and store it in the fridge or freezer and then just use as necessary when cooking; and that's half the meal done.

I do agree that a lot of vegan cooks seem to make complicated meals; as delicious as they are, they're just not always convenient. I guess it's because a lot of vegans are 'foodies'; that said, vegan comfort food recipes are available. Both my boyfriend and I enjoy cooking, so don't mind spending a bit of time in the kitchen preparing food (my boyfriend is making a vegan lasagne as I type), but even so we have days where we can't be bothered. I usually make stir fry or simple pasta dishes when I'm feeling lazy and the vegan options usually aren't any more hassle than a meat version I would have made. I've found that a lot of store bought (tomato) pasta sauces are accidentally vegan, as are many stir fry sauces. After that, it's just a case of egg free pasta/noodles, and any vegetables I want to put in (if I'm being really lazy, I'll buy pre-chopped veggies). Sometimes I'll fry off some tofu or Quorn pieces, which isn't any more difficult than frying off a bit of chicken.

Do your supermarkets have 'Free From' sections? It's becoming quite big in the UK and if you lived here I could point you towards which stores sell the best products, but that obviously isn't going to be applicable in Australia. Still, our local big supermarket has vegan mayo, vegan korma sauces, vegan instant porridge, vegan chocolate, etc., which has made my life a whole lot easier. I live in the free from sections! (Although I have to check the labels, as they also do gluten free, which isn't necessarily free of eggs or dairy.) My local health food stores (both chain and independant) also stock a lot of vegan meats, cheeses and so on. VBites has a nice selection, but I believe they're a UK only brand? Their 'smoked salmon' slices are perfect though; a little less oilly than actual salmon, but in a sandwhich with some vegan soft cheese, it's divine and as good as the real thing. AMy's Kitchen (which, I've checked, is available in Australia) has a selection of vegan products, such as canned soup or freezer meals. Maybe not the healthiest of foods, but I'm just thinking for the days when cooking feels like moving the mountains, just popping some premade soup in the microwave will be better than snacking on crisps. Another option, that we always have in the freezer, is burgers; store bought vegan burgers, which we can have as fancy or as simple as we like (with a bun, onion rings, lettuce, sauces, cheese, or just on their own with some fries). Burgers are easy lazy food. Similarly, pizza doesn't take too much effort, is easily veganisable (we use store bought bases and sauces; both are accidentally vegan); if you can get vegan cheese, that's a bonuc, otherwise cheese free pizza is still tasty. My favourite is mushrooms, sweetcorn, onion and pineapple (we always have onions in and the sweetcorn and pineapple both come from tins, so, without the mushrooms, it's a very easy 'last minute' meal for me).

What I tend to do, as, even though there is a fair bit available locally, is bulk buy online from specialist vegetarian/vegan stores who sell lots of different brands. I'll do an online shop to stock up with vegan bits and pieces, burgers, cheeses, cream, etc. Linda McCartney are a good brand (although not everything is vegan) for burgers and sausages; that said Gosh! are my favourite brand of vegan burgers (again, not sure if this is available outside of the UK?) Have a look around and see what brands are available in Australia, as there must be some (I have also noticed that a lot of 'vegetarian' foods are vegan, but don't explicitly advertise that they are; an example is one of our big supermarkets own brand vegetarian mince is actually vegan but doesn't say so).

Now, here's the interesting part. You say that dairy is the worst; I would agree. The dairy industry is truly horrific (not that meat farming is hugely better). I have very little dairy in my diet. Initially, this was not due to ethics, but dietary. I realised I was lactose intolerant about ten years ago (although as I've grown older and found out more about the dairy industry, I am glad that I do not contribute to this). That means I can truly empathise with how you're feeling about your diet right now; it sucks when your diet is restrictive and you feel that you're missing out. I was genuinely miserable for a long time; I was a teenager and when all my friends would go out for a coffee or ice cream, I'd have to sit there, awkwardly and enviously with nothing. It's taken a while (and there's a far more options readily available to me now than there were years ago), but I have got to a point where I can have everything I want. Being lactose intolerant shaped my relationship with food; suddenly my food options were halved, so I had to find my own way of doing things. It's the reason I enjoy cooking and don't rely on things out of the packet (almost every non-vegan ready meal is full of dairy). That said, soya ice cream was the best accidental find ever. I prefer it so much to dairy cream; the texture is so smooth. My boyfriend often makes us vegan ice cream sundaes after a meal, which satisfies my dessert cravings (although, admittedly, after ten years of few desserts,my cravings are few). Cream is also really easy to make; blended cannelli or other white beans is perfect for soups, or whisked coconut cream with sugar and vanilla essence for scones (hey, I'm British; I jhave to have a vegan afternoon tea!) A lot of fruit crumbles are also inadvertently vegan, so topped with soya ice cream or cream, they're perfect. I'm not a huge chocolate lover and never have been, but if you want milk or white chocolate try MooFree, which are made with rice milk. So tasty! There's a website called Vegan Town, which specialise in vegan sweets; I think they're UK based, but if they don't ship worldwide, it might be worth looking if there's something similar that does? At the very least, you can see what vegan products exist and see if they're available locally. A lot of flavoured popcorns are also vegan (I would live off of popcorn if I could); Ten Acres do an amazing strawberries and cream flavour! Mmm.

I don't know about Australia, but where I live I can easily get vegan ice cream, yoghurt (plain or fruit flavoured), milk (oat, rice, almond; more than just soya!), single cream and cheese (yep, one of our big supermarkets sells it's own brand vegan cheese, it's amazing). Most of these are branded, so you should be able to find them over there?

For sweets and snacks, there's a really good Twitter account, 'Accidentally Vegan', which finds various products which aren't advertised as vegan but are. Again, it's British, but it might be worth checking out in case any big brands turn up on there, or seeing if there is a sister Australian version.

When I first realised I couldn't have dairy, in the days before I discovered dairy free treats, as I said, I was very unhappy with my diet. However, the first thing I, rather unexpectedly, turned to, and found revitalised my relationship with my diet, was drinks. Not alcoholic (I was underage at the time), but fancy, tasty drinks. I couldn't get a super chocolate fudge cake with ice cream and caramel sauce and buttery biscuits when we'd go out for a meal, so I started ordering fancy drinks; black coffee (with or without a shot of whiskey), smoothies, peppermint tea or whatever else might be available. I couldn't eat anything interesting but I could drink. Hazelnut 'milk' is truly delicious and something I'd never have tried if I could have dairy. It tastes like Nutella milkshake!

Fruit smoothies are also very easy to make at home (you can keep fruit in the freezer), don't take too long and are good for you. I know you said you didn't want to eat more fruit, but smoothies don't have to just be fruity flavours. Two of my favourite recipes are toffee apple or Turkish Delight. Cherry almond is also wonderful and satisfies my sweet tooth. Smoothies can also be made in advance; I used to have a peach, orange, fig and oat milk smoothie for breakfast before college. I'd make it the night before so I could grab and run for the bus.

The other drink that I went for (and has now become a huge part of my life) is tea. Now, it's not unusual in the UK for people to have four or five cups of tea a day, but only really Breakfast tea. I grew up with a teapot and never used teabags until uni, so loose leaf tea has just always been my norm. Once you're happy with loose leaf tea, you can ditch the tastless store bought 'flavoured teas' and really start looking. No, seriously. When I say I drink tea, I really do mean specialist tea. I think I have over fifty different types of loose leaf tea at the moment, everything from oolong to Assam to Earl Grey to some really fancy things such as Kukicha, Ku-Ding, flowering tea or different types of Pu-Erh. I believe there's a tea for everyone. While tea won't satisfy your hunger, it could be a replacement for boredom eating. Tea also has a rich and diverse history; I love nothing more than curling up with a Ceylon and reading about it's history and how it has impacted Sri Lanka. There's also many tea customs, such as the Japanese tea ceremony (using powdered matcha tea) or Gong Fu (a Chinese ceremony), which are fun to research or even do yourself (I don't yet have a full Gong Fu set, but I have a matcha set). I also use tea when I meditate and happen to keep a blog where I review my various teas. This might all seem a bit odd when we're discussing veganism, but I'm mentioning it because you said that you can't leave the house. This may not appeal to you, but for me, tea satisfied the part of me that my diet could not, while also providing me with a hobby. I couldn't throw myself in to eating, so I threw myself in to drinking.

Another thing to add; my mother has an egg allergy. Between that and my lactose intolerance, (at least partial) veganism became a sensible choice to me. Unlike myself, my mother hasn't really had the attitude of 'just because I can't, doesn't mean I won't' and so therefore hasn't ever looked for alternatives. However, I have made her things such as vegan quiche in the past. More recently I found a vegan recipe for a fried egg; I wanted to see if I could find a recipe for the most 'unveganisable' things I could think of. So I made this for my mum; she hasn't had fried egg, one of her favourites, in over ten years. It was a huge success; it's also not that difficult. You need tofu, some vegan instant mash and Kala Namak salt. Kala Namak (used in a lot of Indian dishes) has a stong sulphur-y flavour; just like eggs. It's near enough instant egg flavour, and can be put into dishes for an authentic 'eggy' flavour. I bought mine on eBay as I couldn't find it in any of the local Health Food shops. So fried egg is possible, as is scrambled (scrambled tofu! Add some Kala Namak for even better tasting egg). I really want to have a go at making an 'egg custard' tart as these were another of my mother's favourites. What I'm saying is, 'egg', which you say you miss, is totally doable as a vegan. My mum has been so pleased with the 'fried egg' as it's allowed her to have something she loves again without fear of a reaction. She says the taste is pretty spot on, too (my presentation was sloppy, but for a first time, I was forgiven).

Phew. I feel like I've waffled on quite a bit here and I'm not even sure how helpful any of it is! I hope you can find something in this massive wall of text that will help you out. If you have any questions or want any more help, feel free to ask, either here or through PM. Hope you find a solution to your problem! ^_^

 

[memeswirlz]

sorta hard for me when even the plants come from tamagotchis..... i guess we all gotta eat right? *but then again we have lab grown meat and stuff*

 

[TamaMum]

sorta hard for me when even the plants come from tamagotchis..... i guess we all gotta eat right? *but then again we have lab grown meat and stuff*

...

and on that note, let's move this away from those who just want to use these forums to RP to a more suitable space for this type of discussion...

*Topic moved to 'Seriously (Non)TamaTalk'* (for mature and sensible discussion)

 

[memeswirlz]

...

and on that note, let's move this away from those who just want to use these forums to RP to a more suitable space for this type of discussion...

*Topic moved to 'Seriously (Non)TamaTalk'* (for mature and sensible discussion)

.... u thought it was rp?

 

[Bubbles11]

I am a former vegan and current vegetarian. I did veganism for about a year for animal rights reasons, however I had some mental health issues (still do) that made it really tough for me to feed myself at all, period, let alone the extra stuff needed to find vegan foods because I was living on convenience foods and whatever my college cafeteria served. Also, during the time that I was vegan, I had to constantly turn away free food because it wasn't vegan (pizza parties for my tutoring group, candy, etc) and it was extremely difficult because I really needed those calories but I said no because I was vegan. ;-; And I did actually cheat and eat dairy and egg based foods from time to time, because hunger and temptation are really difficult things to overcome when there's some banana bread or something in front of you and there's nothing else to eat at all. However, I have been meat-free for about 5 years and I constantly think about how I should be vegan, but those mental health things haven't gone away and I still don't see them going away or getting much better anytime soon. But, if you ever want to talk about veg stuff, feel free to PM me.

 

[N4LLLC]

Am vegetarian; do eat eggs and use dairy, but yogurt only. Have been for years.