Im thinking of becoming a vegan i need any tips on how do i start and how do i get my daughter to join me?

Question

any tips or recipes would be great since im life long meat eater and i love steak but i dont plan on giving up dairy ive recently switched to organic dairy so any hwlp would be great oh and i also im trying to lose my last 50 pounds thanks so much god bless

Answer 1

Well, my top tips would be to focus on your basic cooking skills.  Find someone that you know is a good cook and makes tasty food, and learn from them.  Then find someone else who is also a great cook but cooks totally different food (doesn't matter if they are vegan or not).  Especially if they come from other cultural backgrounds.

So, if you make some tasty meals, your daughter won't even realize that what they are eating is actually vegan. Besides, she likely doesn't care, as long as it tastes good, who cares, right?  Taste and texture etc. comes first.  Both of you need to realize that there is a whole wide world of interesting foods out there and start to explore it all... look in the Asian stores, middle eastern, russian, Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, Indian, african... there are so many great vegan foods out there from every single culture in the world.

Get her involved too.  My daughters have been mixing and cutting since before they could talk.  My 4 year old is now often at the stove too, helping to stir fry or whatever, but still likes cutting and mixing best, and spooning out the cookie dough or the banana bread batter.

There are lots of good veggie meats out there too, especially the stuff from Taiwan and it usually cheaper than the American veggie meats.  And  you don't need much, just cut into bits or cubes and add to your stir fry or whatever.

I recommend getting a wok and using extra virgin olive oil for stir frying.  Also getting a rice cooker, as it can be used for rice plus other grains too (make sure you get a non-aluminum pot -- aluminum is bad).

So, hit the library and get some cook books.  Lots of vegan cook books in there these days too.

To lose that last 50 pounds... EXERCISE.

Answer 2

Well, here's the info I've been giving today; this seems to be the question on a lot of people's mind. :)

Here's a resource I found just this morning:

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2008/07/mak...

It has a link to 21 podcasts of 8 to 12 minutes each which cover:

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...getting adequate nutrition, setting up your kitchen, and avoiding animal ingredients, as well as offer plenty of answers to the common question, "What do I eat?" As Erik says, it's not about discipline and cutting things out: "Rather than cut out foods, crowd them out. Your main job will be to try as many vegan foods as possible....The more foods you try, the more sensational options you'll discover."

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http://www.vegan.com/articles/oprahs-21-...

There's also a veg blog search there to find vegan blogs and recipes:

http://vegblogsearch.com/

These are good resources too:

http://www.ivu.org/faq/

http://www.vsc.org/protein.htm

http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/vegan.htm

http://ultimatenutritiontables.com/

http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?in...

And more supportive, inspiring and educational podcasts to listen to:

http://www.compassionatecooks.com/podcas...

Back episodes with summaries:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/VegetarianFo...

Have fun with this. It will make it more enjoyable and you'll stick to it longer if you treat it as an adventure. You will discover so many great things.

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You don't have to give up dairy (though that's not vegan) but you can choose meals that don't have it which are not just healthy but very tasty.

Regarding organic dairy here's some information and a scorecard of many dairies put out by Cornucopia Institute that will help you make good choices there too. The better the cow is treated the better her milk is for you:

http://www.cornucopia.org/

http://www.cornucopia.org/dairysurvey/in...

This diet, though it should be more a healthy lifestyle choice and not a means for weight loss, can be very effective for shedding extra pounds partly because it's much more nutritious and the food is lower calorie so you can fill up nicely on fewer calories (plus more fiber which clean your intestines taking out extra cholesterol). Do remember though that "veg*n" does not translate to "healthy" as there is a lot of junkfood that is vegan.

As far as your daughter, you don't mention how old she is or if she even lives with you anymore but I would just serve her some of the meals. Even non-vegans can eat vegan meals. Peanut butter and jelly is vegan. Cutting out meat is one of the best things we can do for our environment and climate change so all meals without animal products are a good choice for personal and planetary health.

Check out Meatless Monday and The PB&J Campaign:

http://www.meatlessmonday.com/

http://www.pbjcampaign.org/

Answer 3

First of all, if you won't give up dairy then you can't be a vegan.  A vegetarian doesn't eat meat but a vegan doesn't eat meat, dairy, or eggs.  Why are you becoming a vegan/vegetarian if you love steak? Also, vegetarianism isn't a weight loss eating plan.  I am a vegan and when I switched I didn't lose one pound.  Also, why does your daughter have to do it with you? At the age of ten she is way to young for this way of eating.

Answer 4

Well, if you are not giving up dairy, then you would be a lacto-vegetarian. Vegans do not eat any animal byproducts, such as, meat, dairy, eggs, fish, or most refined/processed foods because they may have hidden animal ingredients in them

Hidden animal ingredients:

http://www.cyberparent.com/eat/hiddenani...

I find it really helpful to plan your meals for the week before you go shopping, this helps you make and stick to a list. I also buy fresh fruit & veggies 2 sometimes 3x a week, because I am only cooking for two and they would not be a fresh by the time we ate them. There are a lot of great recipes out there, but what got me started were a couple of books like "Veganomicon" "Vegan Planet", and my favorite (also the funniest) "Skinny B*tch" & "Skinny B*tch in the Kitch"

As far as getting your daughter to join you, don't force her, but show her by example! Also, get her to try the recipes you make (even get her to help you make 'em) and she'll know she won't be missing anything.

Make sure you both take a multivitamin and a B12 suppliment!

Answer 5

If you will still want to consume dairy, you would be lacto-vegetarian as vegan people do not consume any dairy.

If you want your daughter to jump on board with you, ask her to sit down and watch this with you.

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=ea...

There is a good chance that she'll be very responsive to what she sees if she has your support.

Please be very careful to never argue with your daughter over this and be very accepting if she doesn't just dive into the deep end with you right away. People can easily be pushed further away from this sort of thing.

Here are some links for reading up on balanced diets find the nutrients that you're looking for.

http://www.veganhealth.org/sh

http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/index...

http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/f...

Answer 6

I am a vegetarian, my kids are not.  

This is how I handled it.  I told them it was their choice, I was cool with either, but when they ask questions, I do answer them with my point of view.  Offer your veg options and they may like it better.  If my kids want pork bacon at Denny's or whatever, fine.  But they actually prefer the veg version since it's not as "chewy" (pork fat).

I'm just not sure about showing a video like Meet Your Meat to a kid, but that is just me.

Answer 7

are you going to force your daughter to join you?

Answer 8

if you dont plan on giving up dairy then you are not becoming a vegan.

Answer 9

Yay! That's great news! :) There's vegan alternatives for every animal product. Yes even steak. Being vegan will help really help with weight loss.

Lots of great websites to check out. Tons of info. You can get free dvds , stickers,recipes, etc.   The dvds and the free vegetarian kits show the horrors of factory farming and facts about animal products is nothing but poison. It will  help educate your daughter.

http://www.veganoutreach.org/

http://www.goveg.com/

http://www.meatout.org/

http://www.vrg.org/

Organic dairy  doesn't really exist. Dairy farmers lie so their wallets can get fatter while they torture cows. http://www.notmilk.com/horizon.html  

http://www.milksucks.com/

Cows produce dairy for their babies so they can get nutrients and gain weight.  It doesn't makes make sense that humans would take their milk. No other species would ever drink milk from other species. It causes many illnesses  heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc.Believe me I didn't always get this . I didn't become vegan til I was in my late teens and found out the horrors of animal products.

Good luck!

:)