Help start a vegan diet?

Question

i want to start a vegan diet, not only because of the health benefits, but because of the good morals based behind it.

i need a way to ease into it;

i also need help learning what foods should be cut out of a diet.

and all the basics. please help

thanks you (:

Answer 1

It's great that you want to make the transition to a vegan diet! Good for you!

There are different ways to ease into it. You could replace non-vegan foods with vegan options, one product at a time. For instance, first replace scrambled eggs with scrambled tofu. Then find a good-tasting non-dairy milk. Then replace cream cheese with vegan cream cheese.... etc.

I would replace eggs first because egg-laying hens are the most intensively confined animals. You might  find it easiest to eliminate and/or replace your favorite foods last. (For me, the very last things to go were cheese pizza and cool ranch Doritos.)

Another way to transition is to start out being vegan a certain number of days a week. You could first have a vegan diet just one or two days a week, and gradually build up until you're vegan seven days a week.

Here's an example:

http://www.tryveg.com/cfi/toc/?v=06makin...

I would just concentrate on cutting meat, eggs, and dairy out of your diet. Those are the products that cause 99.9% of suffering. One thing to remember is that many vegetarian fake meats do contain eggs and/or dairy. Read the ingredients to check for egg whites. Here's a list of good vegan fake meats and non-dairy products: http://www.vegcooking.com/guide-favs.asp

The site http://www.tryveg.com/ is a great resource. It has basic nutritional info and lots of vegan food suggestions.

Another good site is http://www.chooseveg.com/ . Check out "Making the Switch" and "Hundreds of Recipes" -- all of the food ideas are vegan.

Good luck!!!

Answer 2

Congratulations on becoming a vegan.  I was a vegetarian first.  For over two years I had no meat but I was still having dairy and eggs.  Then I was on meat.com and saw how cows and chickens were being treated so cruelly so that we could have dairy and eggs.  So for two months I have been a vegan and I feel great.  I feel like I am making a difference.  I wish everyone would become a vegan.  There is so much that a vegan can eat.  People are ignorant in thinking that there is nothing to eat.  I love fruits and veggies, salads, seeds and nuts, beans and rice, and there are meat substitutes like veggie burgers but you have to read labels.  Some things that you wouldn't think of have dairy and/or eggs in them.  I have found a great chili that is vegan.  My best advice is to read your labels and to make sure that you have a balanced diet with plenty of calcium and protein.  I drink rice milk which I love and it has calcium, Vitamin D, and B-12.

Answer 3

The first poster pretty much summed it up!! When I made the switch I did it very slow, every week I would cut something out and replace it with a vegan product, I started with something simple such as dairy products, I love yogurt and switched to dairy free soy yogurt with fresh fruit!! I also read a very good book called Skinny B**** it has some very good info, be sure to check out the websites the first poster left for you!! Congrats on making the switch and don't get discouraged it gets easy as you go on!!