Vegans/Vegetarians?

Question

I'm a meat-eater but I really want to stop eating it beause I read the book Slaughterhouse and it opened my eyes about how wrong it is to kill animals. I was wondering if I should go straight to being vegan or going vegetarian first.

Answer 1

hi, I think you should become vegetarian first as this is already a big step. By becoming vegetarian you are still helping.  Then once you get going gradually become vegan. If you overface yourself you might not acheive what you are capable of.

What you're doing is great and more ppl should definately consider it! Good luck and trust me once you've got it going it gets easier.

xx

Answer 2

ease into it.  just go veggie first. (the first week is the hardest, but I haven't had much of any cravings since then, and I've been a vegetarian for over a year now).

then if you want, you can go on to becoming vegan..... though i really don't think i could do that...

good luck!!! :D

Answer 3

There are certain nutrients we NEED from animals like B12 vitamins that you can't get anywhere else (unless you buy supplements...but where do you think they got B12 anyway lol)

It is a shame though that people treat animals the way they do in slaughterhouses but there are "friendlier" people who put down animals quick and painlessly elsewhere...

Answer 4

I do know people who went straight to veganism successfully, but it would be a really big adjustment.  I'm not saying veganism is hard because I don't find it to be, but I think it would be a pretty drastic change to do it all at once.  If you feel really strongly about it, though, you won't really be happy eating dairy and eggs for long.  

What I'd probably try is cutting out meat completely, and replacing obvious dairy and eggs with vegan alternatives.  As you get used to that, you can tackle all of the hidden dairy and eggs that are in prepared foods.  It's really pretty easy to replace cow's milk with plant milks for cooking or drinking, but it's trickier to read all the ingredient labels of everything you buy to weed out all the whey and casein.  

In the meantime, get a couple of good vegan cookbooks ("Vegan with a Vengeance" and "Veganomicon" are incredible.)  And do some research into nutrition.  "Becoming Vegan" by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina is excellent.  You'll learn that what a lot of people are saying here about not getting the right proteins, etc... is just plain false.

(Edit to the person above: vegans do NOT eat only fruits and vegetables.  We also eat legumes, grains, nuts, seeds, herbs, spices, oils and everything made from them.)

Answer 5

Vegan can be a bit tough.

I would suggest going vegetarian for about a week, and see how you go.

After a few months of being vegetarian see if you could make the switch to being vegan, and try a vegan diet for a week or so.

http://www.peta2.com/STUFF/s-accvegan.as...

Good Luck :]

EDIT:

To get the nutrients I need, I take vitamin suppliments.

Because you'll need some of the proteins that meat can supply but not vegetarian/vegan foods.

So I suggest if you do go vegan/vegetarian to take vitamin suppliments

Answer 6

Vegan can be hard because there is milk are butter in a lot of things you don't even realize.  Try vegetarian first and if you do well and feel good about it try veganism.  Here is some info for you:

http://www.goveg.com/

Answer 7

It's not impossible to go Vegan right away but as a warning, there is a lot to learn.  I've been Vegan for 3 years now and I'm still learning as to what can be Vegan and what can't.  (You just run into things every once in a while that are questionable!) I would highly suggest easing into your transition with becoming a Vegetarian first and then moving onto Veganism.  Get some books of becoming Vegan so that you're doing it in a healthy way and you are getting all your nutrients.

Congrats and good luck!

Answer 8

Okayy i whent through the EXACT same thing trust me go vegetarian first.

make sure you still get your protien from other substitutes. like peanuts(i ate those alot)

then gradually go vegan

You really need to be careful, be healthy.:)

Answer 9

Being vegan you dont eat any animal products at all.

They dont kill animals for eggs or milk.

But they arent healthy life styles.

You wont get the nutrients you need

not eating meat and especially not

eating any animal products.

Man was created to eat animals.

Answer 10

probably vegetarian 1st cuz when your vegan you ONLY eat fruits and veggies

no milk or eggs or anything...

good luck :)

Answer 11

Go Vegetarian FIRST - for @ least 6 months B 4 attempting Veganism. I, myself never reached that ultimate stage. Tried 2 once & after 10 days I broke down & got a "double-cheese" pizza delivered

Answer 12

Hi, I believe that my eating diet is pretty unique, I don't really know any other people with the same, but here it is. I don't eat any red meat at all, nor chicken. I do eat most seafood, don't ask me why but I can't eat meat or chicken since I've become vegetarian, but I'm fine with fish. Anyway, at first I was eating meat every now and then, but most of the time eating either vegetarian or vegan meals. After a couple of months I went completely vegan 90% of the time with something with dairy in it pretty rarely. Right now, I don't drink milk itself (i use rice milk for cereal), but I'm fine with stuff that has dairy or eggs in it, but not too regularly. Like I said, I have fish or some other seafood about once a week.

One thing you need to look out for If you want to become vegetarian is that a lot of foods that appear to be veggie were cooked in animal fat or have it under a different name that you may not recognize, for example most take-away chips were cooked in beef fat, frozen apple pie from the supermarket usually has some sort of animal fat in it, and of course sweets and jellies are made out of gelatin[e] which is pretty much ground up beef skin or something like that.

So pretty much, it is absolutely impossible to be vegan or vegetarian unless you live on some isolated island where there is nothing to eat but coconuts. Just my 2 cents.

Edit: Oh yeah, and you need to take some vitamins like B12 if you become vegan or I think even vegetarian, I'm pretty sure you can get this at the supermarket in various forms.