Hello everyone
I never planned on going vegan. In fact, I think my exact words at one point were "I would rather die". I have never paid any attention to, or tried to monitor the food I eat, at all. I've been a complete omnivore with a diet composed of largely junk food, cheese, and cheap meat for nearly 24 years. I've been gluten-free and vegan for... a week as of tomorrow.
See, I became aware for personal health reasons that I needed to cut gluten and dairy from my diet as a "see if it helps" approach. One of my roommates, who I have a fairly close relationship with, is a vegan who has also been intending to go gluten-free. So we decided to do it together.
I would categorize myself as entirely unprepared. However, I'm stubborn and don't do anything by halves so I'm planning on this being life for the foreseeable future, even if it turns out not to help with my health issue. The other fun part is that my partner is still an omnivore so I occasionally watch them eat meat and cheese while sobbing internally. I'm sure that will pass after, oh, a decade or so. I am pleasantly surprised by the meat alternatives but I've only had one cheese substitute I didn't immediately despise due to the texture. And I do love cheese.
I'm fortunately not having to worry much about main meals, since we're doing all shopping and food prep together. What is killing me is that I'm used to snacking constantly, on everything, all the time. I'm basically always eating something. Obviously the largest barrier with snack foods is gluten so I'm less likely to find reccs for that here, but if anyone has any go-to snacks that are cheap, preferably shelf-stable, and happen to also be gluten free that would be swell. Good cheese substitute suggestions are welcome as well (I've found the ones I've tried to be too grainy? Not sure if that's a common complaint or just my sensory processing issues). Otherwise I'm happy to accept any general advice. Or if you just want to roast me for being reluctant about this, that's fine too.
I want to note that I'm aware it's not necessarily advised to go from a fully omnivorous diet to something like this literally overnight, but that is the reality of the situation.
I never planned on going vegan. In fact, I think my exact words at one point were "I would rather die". I have never paid any attention to, or tried to monitor the food I eat, at all. I've been a complete omnivore with a diet composed of largely junk food, cheese, and cheap meat for nearly 24 years. I've been gluten-free and vegan for... a week as of tomorrow.
See, I became aware for personal health reasons that I needed to cut gluten and dairy from my diet as a "see if it helps" approach. One of my roommates, who I have a fairly close relationship with, is a vegan who has also been intending to go gluten-free. So we decided to do it together.
I would categorize myself as entirely unprepared. However, I'm stubborn and don't do anything by halves so I'm planning on this being life for the foreseeable future, even if it turns out not to help with my health issue. The other fun part is that my partner is still an omnivore so I occasionally watch them eat meat and cheese while sobbing internally. I'm sure that will pass after, oh, a decade or so. I am pleasantly surprised by the meat alternatives but I've only had one cheese substitute I didn't immediately despise due to the texture. And I do love cheese.
I'm fortunately not having to worry much about main meals, since we're doing all shopping and food prep together. What is killing me is that I'm used to snacking constantly, on everything, all the time. I'm basically always eating something. Obviously the largest barrier with snack foods is gluten so I'm less likely to find reccs for that here, but if anyone has any go-to snacks that are cheap, preferably shelf-stable, and happen to also be gluten free that would be swell. Good cheese substitute suggestions are welcome as well (I've found the ones I've tried to be too grainy? Not sure if that's a common complaint or just my sensory processing issues). Otherwise I'm happy to accept any general advice. Or if you just want to roast me for being reluctant about this, that's fine too.
I want to note that I'm aware it's not necessarily advised to go from a fully omnivorous diet to something like this literally overnight, but that is the reality of the situation.