How long have you been vegan?

Sax

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Lifestyle
  1. Vegan
And were you vegetarian before that?

Just curious, not a contest. In my experience so far being vegan just gets easier and easier, so it's the newbies that are actually doing the heavy lifting!

I'm right at the 1.5 year mark.

I had a roughly 2-month transition period where I was mostly vegetarian, full omni before that.
 
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I took my first step on the path to veganism about 20 years ago. I was never a vegetarian. My very first step was to boycott dairy. Over the next 15 years I excluded eggs, then red meat, then chicken, then fish. And about 6 years ago I started calling myself a vegan and trying to exclude all animal products ( I think the only thing left was store bought bakery items), and shopping cruelty-free. Last summer I started trying to become more WFPB.

I still think of myself as transitioning. I'm not a perfect vegan. Personal Purity is not one of my ambitions. I like to think of Veganism as a path or perhaps a strategy. Reducing animal exploitation is the goal. Compassion is the direction.
(I know, I know... sounds like something Master Po would say to Grasshopper).
 
Not far off 40 years.

We would have gone much earlier but we fell for this line, “Look. You can’t be vegan. They are all pale faced, skinny, totally unhealthy and half crackers. And you can’t be so hypocritical as to not eat meat but use cheese, milk and eggs because they kill as well.”

Of course it was much more difficult then because there were few readily available “essentials” such as today’s soya milk and tofu. But my wife had studied nutrition so she saw us through.

Also we managed to find a little support but nothing like what is now freely accessible in our magnificent age of the internet.

We went straight there with no intermediate stages. It wasn’t until I discovered this forum that I learned that the majority of newbies do need a gradual conversion and why that is. Long may veganforum.org live and prosper. :)

Roger.
 
It’s been a journey between being vegetarian, vegan and pescatarian, and for a very short time eating beef and lamb under health professional orders and earlier a toxic boyfriend ... don’t go there. All up journey started 30 years ago :)

Happily vegan now - thanks to the great help of the internet, the first stint failed bc of lack of B12.
 
Whole food no oil vegan for 1.5 years (on the 11th) after 27 yrs of 'pescatarian.' I stopped eating dairy for a couple of years as a pescatarian but I caved because of the addiction and societal pressure I guess. Now, I don't miss it or desire it *at all* and feel much better without it. During all that time previous, I always admired vegans but thought it would be 'too difficult' and was one of those people who would say I could never do it. Here I am and the only thing that's difficult about it (if you can even call it that) is giving up the romance that had been programmed in me my whole life of dining out at restaurants. Having worked in restaurants for years, I know I'm really not missing much, and most of the time it's a huge waste of money and time anyway. I'd prefer to do just about anything else instead.
 
I have not knowingly and willingly eaten anything from animals, or derived via animals since November 2017. The previous October was my transition month – so I have been a Vegan for about 1.25 years.

Prior to this I considered myself a semi vegetarian, although it was probably more like semi-semi. I left the SAD diet a long time ago, including more wholegrains, vegetables and legumes and less meat, and although less overall than the standard, still enough to notice a big difference after ditching it altogether. Prior to going vegan I already had dietary restrictions that I mostly abided by such as no pork nor shellfish and very little dairy.

I was not brought up in, nor even knew of a single vegetarian much less vegan in my immediate or larger extended family.
 
2 days, and apparently I am already an outcast, seems like if you cannot drink the high carb Kool-aid then you will never fit in. Darn medical condition.
 
I don't understand why vegan has to be high-carb/low-carb - anything. I eat lots of plant foods all day, every day. Whole plant foods. I don't even think about "carbs." The enemies to your health are animal products, and excessive salt, refined sugar, and oil. If you want extra fat in your diet for whatever reason, go heavier on the avocados, nuts, and seeds.
 
I don't understand why vegan has to be high-carb/low-carb - anything. I eat lots of plant foods all day, every day. Whole plant foods. I don't even think about "carbs." The enemies to your health are animal products, and excessive salt, refined sugar, and oil. If you want extra fat in your diet for whatever reason, go heavier on the avocados, nuts, and seeds.
Yes the problem is that most carbs are highly insulinogenic and that is a very big problem for me as my pancreas is always looking for an excuse to kill me by producing way too much of the stuff and dropping my blood sugar down to near fatal levels, the condition is called reactive hypoglycemia and I was born with an exceptionally nasty case of it, the only way to survive that on carbs is to eat more and more and more trying to stay ahead of it which has lead me to the unhealthy state of 223lbs, sky high blood pressure, and knocking on the door of type 2 diabetes. When in ketosis blood sugar does not matter, not that I am eating anything to stimulate insulin anyway but even if my pancreas tries to kill me it cannot as people in ketosis are unaffected by low blood sugar levels since the body has an alternative fuel source already present. I know what I am talking about I have been dealing with this since birth, and if there are some adverse side effects of eating 75% fat down the road when I am in my 60s at leased I lived that long to face them, hypoglycemia nearly killed me in my 20s and that is where I really started experimenting with diets to control it and of the ones that I tried (including whole foods high carb vegan) keto was clearly best for me and not by any small margin either.
 
@Luke Are you familiar with TrueNorth Health Center? If I were in your situation, I would call them. They offer a free phone consult. If they say they can't help you, perhaps they could point you to someone who could.
 
@Luke Are you familiar with TrueNorth Health Center? If I were in your situation, I would call them. They offer a free phone consult. If they say they can't help you, perhaps they could point you to someone who could.
True North is a water fasting clinic, I already do that quite well in fact I am just now coming off a 36 hour water fast, one of the perks of being in ketosis actually since you are already running on your fasting fuel source there is no uncomfortable transition and no issues with low blood glucose in that 10-16 hour range as your body no longer reacts to low glucose levels. If fasting could cure hypoglycemia I would have been over it years ago because I have been aware of the benefits of fasting for a very long time now.
I hate to sound like a know it all but I have tried all of the high carb methods, even consulted several times with a vegan dietitian and even she has no idea why I could not stabilize. Trust me when I tell you that there is no high carb diet that will not throw me into hypoglycemic shock on a regular basis or make me gain huge amounts of weight. I spent 30 days on a whole foods vegan diet, no processed food of any sort, no refined sugars or bleached flour and I gained more weight and felt horrid the whole time, if a hardcore approach like that still gave horrific results why would I try another variation of the same thing? Not sure why vegans have such a negative reaction to keto as most of the best fats out there are plant sourced and the best version of keto is arguably vegan as it avoids the inflammation pitfalls of those who rely on dairy and bacon for their fats.
 
True North is a water fasting clinic, I already do that quite well in fact I am just now coming off a 36 hour water fast, one of the perks of being in ketosis actually since you are already running on your fasting fuel source there is no uncomfortable transition and no issues with low blood glucose in that 10-16 hour range as your body no longer reacts to low glucose levels. If fasting could cure hypoglycemia I would have been over it years ago because I have been aware of the benefits of fasting for a very long time now.
I hate to sound like a know it all but I have tried all of the high carb methods, even consulted several times with a vegan dietitian and even she has no idea why I could not stabilize. Trust me when I tell you that there is no high carb diet that will not throw me into hypoglycemic shock on a regular basis or make me gain huge amounts of weight. I spent 30 days on a whole foods vegan diet, no processed food of any sort, no refined sugars or bleached flour and I gained more weight and felt horrid the whole time, if a hardcore approach like that still gave horrific results why would I try another variation of the same thing? Not sure why vegans have such a negative reaction to keto as most of the best fats out there are plant sourced and the best version of keto is arguably vegan as it avoids the inflammation pitfalls of those who rely on dairy and bacon for their fats.
I'm just telling you what I would do. I've done several short water fasts (7 days and under), but if I had a serious medical condition, that's where I'd turn to first. They don't just do supervised fasting, they work with your nutrition and help you find a plan that works for you as an individual. A free phone consult couldn't hurt.
 
Been Plant Based for 2- 1/2 yrs.. I just jumped in. I will never go back to SAD and it does get easier.
The one thing I try to remember is no matter where Im eating there will always be salad...LOL:):sun:
 
Been Plant Based for 2- 1/2 yrs.. I just jumped in. I will never go back to SAD and it does get easier.
The one thing I try to remember is no matter where Im eating there will always be salad...LOL:):sun:
Believe it or not, that sadly not always the case. My son's dad's family will have family get togethers and literally serve *nothing* plant-wise. He has learned to bring his own food. ...When I first met the family years ago, my ex-SIL was overly accommodating... Always asking me what I was going to eat, making sure there was something. Then one day she just stopped. It was Thanksgiving or Xmas or NYE or something - we drove the 1.5 hours to get there and *everything* they served had meat in it. Everything! (I was pescatarian at the time and there was still literally nothing I could eat - I believe the put bacon in the mashed potatoes. Ugh.) Dad was over 300 lbs, SIL to be ended up with I think 2 stints --- They were huge wine connoisseurs and hosted wine tasting parties with cheese galore ALL the time. They built a large wine cellar even in their family room. Like, it was a small walk-in "fridge." Dad is no longer alive, ex-SIL hasn't changed at all. And sadly, neither has my son's dad. I bought Dr. Greger's 'How Not To Die' book for my son to give him for his birthday or Xmas or something... He will never be one who will say "no" to whatever the norm is in his family, and they will never change. (And their father died in the hospital having carotid artery surgery to remove the plaque buildup.) It's very sad, to tell the truth.

Always be prepared to bring your own food, or eat beforehand. That's what I do. :)
 
Believe it or not, that sadly not always the case. My son's dad's family will have family get togethers and literally serve *nothing* plant-wise. He has learned to bring his own food. ...When I first met the family years ago, my ex-SIL was overly accommodating... Always asking me what I was going to eat, making sure there was something. Then one day she just stopped. It was Thanksgiving or Xmas or NYE or something - we drove the 1.5 hours to get there and *everything* they served had meat in it. Everything! (I was pescatarian at the time and there was still literally nothing I could eat - I believe the put bacon in the mashed potatoes. Ugh.) Dad was over 300 lbs, SIL to be ended up with I think 2 stints --- They were huge wine connoisseurs and hosted wine tasting parties with cheese galore ALL the time. They built a large wine cellar even in their family room. Like, it was a small walk-in "fridge." Dad is no longer alive, ex-SIL hasn't changed at all. And sadly, neither has my son's dad. I bought Dr. Greger's 'How Not To Die' book for my son to give him for his birthday or Xmas or something... He will never be one who will say "no" to whatever the norm is in his family, and they will never change. (And their father died in the hospital having carotid artery surgery to remove the plaque buildup.) It's very sad, to tell the truth.

Always be prepared to bring your own food, or eat beforehand. That's what I do. :)
for family I always take vegan f
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That is very sad that they wont learn from what happened . For my family I always take food but most the time they have something for me they respect that I eat the way I do, but when we go out most places have salad I always find something vegan.