Hello...

Christine

Forum Novice
Joined
Sep 4, 2017
Reaction score
13
Location
United Kingdom
Lifestyle
  1. Vegan newbie
Hi all, new member from England who made the change from vegetarian to vegan only a week ago. :) Found a decent supplement and gained a new favourite food brand in the process already. Things have gone surprisingly well so far... I've tried going vegan years ago but went in unprepared and returned to the lacto-ovo vegetarian diet: been the latter for half my life, so going vegan is a big deal for me.

Strangely have not missed eggs or dairy a bit so far - it's just as well!
 
Welcome Christine!

I switched from a high meat diet to vegan about 5ish weeks ago. I totally agree that you sort of have to be prepared to make it happen. You need to have foods that are filling and give you lots of energy. Best of luck on your journey! :)
 
Welcome Christine!

I switched from a high meat diet to vegan about 5ish weeks ago. I totally agree that you sort of have to be prepared to make it happen. You need to have foods that are filling and give you lots of energy. Best of luck on your journey! :)

Definitely! How's the switch 5 weeks in? Must have been very difficult for you after such a drastic change! Thanks for the luck, I'm going to need it. :D
 
Hi Christine,

I've been vegan for a while but like you just now joined this forum. Congrats on making the switch!
 
Definitely! How's the switch 5 weeks in? Must have been very difficult for you after such a drastic change! Thanks for the luck, I'm going to need it. :D

It actually wasn't too bad. At first my macros were a little off, so I was feeling sort of weak. But then I redid the diet and I started to feel better. I still do have cravings from time to time, especially if I go out and eat with friends. Where I live in Wisconsin, there aren't a whole lot of vegan options. At home it is easy to stick to the diet.
 
It actually wasn't too bad. At first my macros were a little off, so I was feeling sort of weak. But then I redid the diet and I started to feel better. I still do have cravings from time to time, especially if I go out and eat with friends. Where I live in Wisconsin, there aren't a whole lot of vegan options. At home it is easy to stick to the diet.
That's a shame, but it's great that you've reconfigured it and feel better now. My area is getting better regarding vegan options in restaurants etc... but yeah it's still mostly catered towards vegetarians alone, sometimes not even that, lol! This said, I had a vegan meal in the most unlikeliest of places last week with my folks: in a carvery! :D
 
That's a shame, but it's great that you've reconfigured it and feel better now. My area is getting better regarding vegan options in restaurants etc... but yeah it's still mostly catered towards vegetarians alone, sometimes not even that, lol! This said, I had a vegan meal in the most unlikeliest of places last week with my folks: in a carvery! :D

Heh! :)

I found the Mongolian Grill actually has a vegan option with fake chicken. Then you can load up on all the veggies, rice, or pasta you want with it. But that is 45 minutes away from me in Milwaukee. But eating in is sort of nice since you really can stick to your diet a lot easier.
 
A little advice... Let's see what I can come up with... Who doesn't like being asked for advice! :) One thing that helped me is that very early on I bought a book called Healing with Whole Foods, by Paul Prichford (spl?). It's a wonderful book with lots of fantastic information on nutrition, alternative recipes and ingredients (with a vegan outlook through the whole book). He also has a nice focus on Chinese medicine and Ayurveda in the book. It's been my go to for a long time.

If you can, I would look for a vegan groups around you. A lot of people do monthly potluck send that kind of thing which could be really supportive, a source for new vegan friends!, and new recipes too.

I also think it's important to not be too hard on yourself if you eat something that is not a vegan, or feel like you need to make some exceptions. I incorporated some animal products back into my diet a few different times with the idea of it being a short-term thing for health reasons, but I always made sure that they were products that caused the least harm possible. Ultimately, I don't think that they ever made any difference but I think a willingness to be flexible is better for staying a happy vegan in the long run. Some folks will probably disagree but I think it's all a very personal thing and you really just have to make it your own. I'd be happy to hear your thoughts on all this!
 
A little advice... Let's see what I can come up with... Who doesn't like being asked for advice! :) One thing that helped me is that very early on I bought a book called Healing with Whole Foods, by Paul Prichford (spl?). It's a wonderful book with lots of fantastic information on nutrition, alternative recipes and ingredients (with a vegan outlook through the whole book). He also has a nice focus on Chinese medicine and Ayurveda in the book. It's been my go to for a long time.

If you can, I would look for a vegan groups around you. A lot of people do monthly potluck send that kind of thing which could be really supportive, a source for new vegan friends!, and new recipes too.

I also think it's important to not be too hard on yourself if you eat something that is not a vegan, or feel like you need to make some exceptions. I incorporated some animal products back into my diet a few different times with the idea of it being a short-term thing for health reasons, but I always made sure that they were products that caused the least harm possible. Ultimately, I don't think that they ever made any difference but I think a willingness to be flexible is better for staying a happy vegan in the long run. Some folks will probably disagree but I think it's all a very personal thing and you really just have to make it your own. I'd be happy to hear your thoughts on all this!

Thanks for the book recommendation - looks interesting and perhaps I'll get myself a copy. :) I think that's wise advice for people starting out vegan as I know from experience the all or nothing approach can sometimes do more harm than good; though ironically that's exactly what I did when I quit smoking! Hope it won't come to it however, but I have been prone to deficiencies in the past so will keep your advice about a flexible vegan approach in mind.

Agreed that there's no single pathway to being a vegan or one reason why we all make the choices we do, everyone has their own methodology for doing things, for better or worse! I think my particular path centres around the urge to adopt a more ethical approach of living that falls in better with my (sometimes terribly liberal!) concern over our impact upon the environment and other species. Additionally there might be some worry over what a (veggie) diet of convenience does to one's moods: I knew a guy who suffered panic attacks who cut out gluten and experienced a dramatic drop in attacks as well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Alex_M