What do you find hardest being a vegan?

[Stephen Gadd]

Hi all,

Great to find this community.

I'm curious what vegans, whether new vegans or veterans, find challenging about this lifestyle. And what things do you think would make being a vegan easier? Interested to hear any thoughts at all!

Really keen to understand our common challenges, to help more people transition to something so valuable for health, the health of the planet, and the welfare of animals.

Thanks!

 

[gab]

Hi Stephen,

Having to ask for custom choices in the menus, difficulty in finding vegan clothing that looks good (to me), other people's attitude about vegans.

A reasonable improvement will happen when the vegan diet will be as popular as vegetarian - I am hoping that in every restaurant you would have a few vegan options.

Gab

 

[Jamie in Chile]

It seems to me that social acceptance/awkwardness whether in restaurants, someone's house, or just talking about your veganism all the time, is the biggest issue.

 

[Stephen Gadd]

Definitely recognise the difficulty of finding vegan options in restaurants in the UK. Seemed a little better when I was recently in Canada.

Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[Sally]

Mostly eating out. I had a meal where the chef replaced the cheese on a warm salad with unpressed tofu, no dressing and that was his version of a vegan meal. The starter was melon and the dessert was sorbet on fruit cocktail. I wasn't surprised to hear that he was sacked the next day, shame it wasn't the day before I ate there. I would like to see vegan cookery programmes on television, The Great British Vegan Menu would be fascinating. Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstall did a series on vegetarian food, but it was only on an obscure channel and in that he sometimes resorted to meat.

 

[Indee]

Getting people to understand . My local chip shop insisted that there oil was vegetable and when I picked up the order they offered me a box to carry everything and on the box it said Fryall animal blended oil .They didn't care because I wasn't allergic grrr

 

[VeganBeth]

Overeating. I eat more than I need, and did not have this problem when I ate meat. So I gained too much weight over the last 8 years. I am working on that but really has been a issue for me. So many lose weight and I gained. I am technically not vegan. I used to be but my health started to decline too, not only because of my diet, also my age and leaving sunny Tucson to move back to the Midwest for family reasons. My Vit D was pretty low and ended up with a sluggish thyroid. So I had to rethink my diet along with making sure I got enough UV B Rays and Calcium. I have bone loss now GRRR, I was a bodybuilder in my 40's and still lift weights, How could I have bone loss!

So with holistic studies I have regained my health but I do eat bivalves from time to time, not too often I call myself a OstroVegan, even though there is no such thing lol. I eat seaweeds everyday and make sure to get out in the Sun. I travel a lot so that helps, since I go to sunny places usually. Lots and lots of leafy greens too.

I still am working on getting satisfied eating high carb foods (especially Beans), they just seem to make me more hungry. But it is not really hunger, I can not explain it.

 

[Gail Robins]

Eating out at non-vegan restaurants. I'm down to either ordering steamed vegetables or ordering a salad and replacing the meat with avocado, but even that's getting difficult with the avocado shortage!

Fortunately, I don't get as hungry as I was when I ate a mainstream diet. Therefore, I don't mind not eating at parties or people's houses. I usually eat before I go out.

 

[Paul Gammage]

Not a sausage. It's a doddle. No problems or difficulties whatsoever.

 

[gab]

I still am working on getting satisfied eating high carb foods (especially Beans), they just seem to make me more hungry. But it is not really hunger, I can not explain it.

Hi Beth,

Have you tried baked potatoes, it is the most filling food ever that I know of.

Vitamine D - sun is best, tanning salon second best, taking pills third place.

I personally don't like leafy greens, I eat fruits and starches instead (potatoes, rice, beans). Apparently our digestive system not tuned for greens, we'd be able to extract nutrients from grass otherwise.

 

[Lz17]

Definitely going out to restaurants. Most of the time I just stick with the vegetarian option (if there is even is one!) but even they are mostly bland and boring.
I think its strange that some restaurants idea of a vegetarian meal is a bowl of lettuce. They are missing out on how good food can be without meat and animal products!
Luckily I dont eat out that often so its not too big a problem for me but for other people it must be a pain.

 

[VeganBeth]

Hi Beth,

Have you tried baked potatoes, it is the most filling food ever that I know of.

Vitamine D - sun is best, tanning salon second best, taking pills third place.

I personally don't like leafy greens, I eat fruits and starches instead (potatoes, rice, beans). Apparently our digestive system not tuned for greens, we'd be able to extract nutrients from grass otherwise.

Sure I have ate potatoes, anyway you can make them. I follow McDougall off and on, it is great for stressful times in my life where I overeat.

And Of course Sunshine is best but have to be in the sun when the UVB Rays are the strongest. The easiest way to figure that out is to look at your shadow, when your shadow looks shorter than you are tall that is the best time.

I just started using Tanning beds this year and only when I feel I need them. Will be in Florida this time next week in the Everglades and the Keys, excited about the sunshine.

And I am lucky I can eat leafy greens raw and in massive amounts best way for calcium. the only food I have an intolerance for is broccoli. No big loss, I love Kale!!!

Thanks for your post

 

[JoannaM]

Hi all.

I've switched to veganism after 4 years as a vegetarian. I'm 6 weeks in and the only difficulties have been eating out (it would really help if they just labelled things like they do with vegetarian friendly meals) and the attitude from other people towards vegans. I get so angry, particularly on social media, about some of the retarded opinions spouted. I get sick of explaining myself and can't believe the hate that people spout. I know it's because they're ignorant but how the hell do you deal with it?

 

[Ta.Gutier]

The hardest thing for me has been grocery shopping.

I am not used to buying a lot of plant-based foods so sometimes I go a little crazy and buy too much and then some of my veggies and fruits go to waste. I can't stand wasting food and no one likes to waste money. I am still learning to gauge how much to buy and how to take advantage of what I get.

Practice makes perfect.

 

[Ktn]

Having to prep food (especially for work) and consider ahead of time what I can eat and where. I can't just 'grab something' anymore. But a fairly minor complaint...I actually find eating out quite easy!

 

[VeganFoodDaily]

The hardest thing for me is to know when to walk away from a conversation about veganism. I am passionate about it, and I really would love to see more people around me adopt it. But, a lot of people are not interested in hearing it or are very judgmental. I try to not be preachy or push my views but it can be hard to walk away from a conversation when someone won't even try and see things from a different perspective. I keep trying to find simple ways to show people how great veganism is.

Food wise, it may take me more prep time but I didn't see that as being hard.

 

[RayP]

Hi all,

Great to find this community.

I'm curious what vegans, whether new vegans or veterans, find challenging about this lifestyle. And what things do you think would make being a vegan easier? Interested to hear any thoughts at all!

Really keen to understand our common challenges, to help more people transition to something so valuable for health, the health of the planet, and the welfare of animals.

Thanks!

I thought there was going to be a lot of big problems but really, not too many actually...

I think remembering to take B12 and sometimes when I go out to a restaurant it can be a small hassle.

 

[Liz Echo]

The hardest thing for me is getting others to accept my choice to be vegan. My mother doesn't really care that much but I haven't even told my father about. My father loves meat and eats a diet that consists of mostly meat. He also likes to hunt, and used to trap and fish. Talking about veganism isn't even a conversation I can have with him because he just wouldn't understand. I don't live with my parents anymore meaning that I can make my own food choices, but it can be difficult when I visit my parents for holidays. The thing that has helped me the most is that I'm lactose intolerant and eggs also make me sick. My parents never question why I need vegan milk, cheese, and other products because I have special dietary requirements.

 

[AnthonyA]

I just decided to go all-out vegan today, and the hardest thing for me is grocery shopping. I'm sure this is mostly because I am not very well educated yet, but I felt very overwhelmed trying to find vegan foods at the farmers market.

 

[Paul Gammage]

Hi all.

I've switched to veganism after 4 years as a vegetarian. I'm 6 weeks in and the only difficulties have been eating out (it would really help if they just labelled things like they do with vegetarian friendly meals) and the attitude from other people towards vegans. I get so angry, particularly on social media, about some of the retarded opinions spouted. I get sick of explaining myself and can't believe the hate that people spout. I know it's because they're ignorant but how the hell do you deal with it?

I told somebody the other day that I would probably cause let dismay and consternation in people if I dressed habitually in a Nazi SS uniform. The shock! The horror! The, 'Eek! How do I deal with this awkward and difficult person? His diet is incomprehensible!'.

A female friend of mine on faecesbook was complaining of feeling ill. She drew tonnes of suggestions re., improving her health. I said: go vegan! She said: 'Paul, I'd die if I didn't eat meat'. There you have it. The inability to understand. The point-blank refusal to even try to. We are aliens: Vegans from the planet Vegan.

In a nut: keep the faith!