Hi there from a wannabe vegan

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daiyahime
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Joined: Mon Dec 25, 2017 4:37 pm
Diet: Reducetarian

Hi there from a wannabe vegan

Post by daiyahime »

Hiya,
I'm Christina and I'm currently an undergrad student in London, though I do spend quite a bit of time in Germany as well since my family lives there. I'm kind of new to the whole vegan lifestyle, however when I tried going vegan in summer I couldn't stick to it for more than a few weeks at a time, partly because I was very stressed planning meals carefully and partly because I missed certain foods. I've yet need to find a way to make beans and tofu tasty (except for the tomato-paprika kind in bolognese style sauce) so meal planning wasn't super easy and I was drinking lots of smoothies with greens, chia seeds and nuts and spirulina powder to get enough of the nutrients I'm prone to be deficient in (especially iron). Now it's winter and I don't want to drink smoothies because I'm cold enough as it is.
Now for the second reason why I've struggled with veganism, I was wondering what you guys do when you miss animal based foods? Or do you miss them at all? I've had people tell me I wouldn't miss it at all (I suppose because that was their own experience), once I 'commit' to a vegan lifestyle or once I saw the horrors of the industry animal foods would disgust me but I just don't have that response. When I order my favourite festive drink at starbucks and ask for soy milk I still want whipped cream on top (I actually ordered that once and it earned me some weird looks). Or when I have brunch with some friends I find hard to pick roasted vegetables over the banoffee pancakes. I suppose it's travel and eating out in general. But even cooking at home had me struggling. The mock meats I've tasted so far haven't really done it for me when I had cravings and get them frequently. Heck, even the crisps I love (the sweet chili ones) have milk powder in the seasoning. :cry:

I suppose I came to this forum looking to share my experience, as it seems to be a more reasonable and welcoming environment than twitter or the youtube comment section. I want to gravitate towards a more vegan lifestyle and I buy a lot less meat and dairy than I used to (and I think I bought like one small carton of eggs in the past 4 or 5 months when I used to buy one every week) Perhaps you have some advice? Perhaps others have struggled with similar things and managed to overcome those obstacles? Or perhaps you don't find it easy to be vegan either, in which case I want you to know you're not the only one. :)

Other things about me: I'm a cosplayer, I love art and fashion, and I'm studying history, politics and economics. Oh, I also love to learn languages and I travel whenever my time and budget allows it. I'm really into surfing, too, since giving it a go last summer, but I kind of live at the wrong coast to do it often and I'm not very good at it yet.

This has become waaaay longer than I intended it to be. It's nice to meet you all!
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Jebus
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Joined: Fri Oct 03, 2014 2:08 pm
Diet: Vegan

Re: Hi there from a wannabe vegan

Post by Jebus »

Welcome Christina. Great introduction.
daiyahime wrote: Tue Dec 26, 2017 9:49 am I couldn't stick to it for more than a few weeks at a time, partly because I was very stressed planning meals carefully and partly because I missed certain foods.
This was the most difficult thing when I first became vegetarian. I could no longer make the few meals I had learned how to prepare over the years. Just remember that this is a temporary inconvenience as you will soon learn how to prepare great vegan food.

daiyahime wrote: Tue Dec 26, 2017 9:49 am I've yet need to find a way to make beans and tofu tasty
Nuts, olive paste, and nutritional yeast makes everything tasty.

daiyahime wrote: Tue Dec 26, 2017 9:49 amNow it's winter and I don't want to drink smoothies because I'm cold enough as it is.
Smoothies don't have to be cold. Just mix in room temperature items.
daiyahime wrote: Tue Dec 26, 2017 9:49 amI was wondering what you guys do when you miss animal based foods?


Easy! just think about what you would be sinking your teeth into. It is some pretty disgusting stuff when you think of it.
How to become vegan in 4.5 hours:
1.Watch Forks over Knives (Health)
2.Watch Cowspiracy (Environment)
3. Watch Earthlings (Ethics)
Congratulations, unless you are a complete idiot you are now a vegan.
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brimstoneSalad
neither stone nor salad
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Joined: Wed May 28, 2014 9:20 am
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Re: Hi there from a wannabe vegan

Post by brimstoneSalad »

Welcome, definitely great intro.

What has inspired you to give this a go?
daiyahime wrote: Tue Dec 26, 2017 9:49 am I was very stressed planning meals carefully and partly because I missed certain foods.
A multivitamin can help a lot in taking some of the stress out. Some professionals are obsessive about people getting everything from food, but that's really not what the evidence says. There's no indication that added vitamins are a problem, except taken in huge amounts.

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/multivitamin/

Take a multi, and use a nutrition tracking system like cronometer; it will be a lot easier to tweak your diet if you're low in anything with a safety net, and if you are low it won't be *as* low and you won't have to stress so much.
daiyahime wrote: Tue Dec 26, 2017 9:49 am I've yet need to find a way to make beans and tofu tasty (except for the tomato-paprika kind in bolognese style sauce) so meal planning wasn't super easy
Cheap Lazy Vegan has a lot of good meal prep stuff. But part of it is also changing tastes. It can take a while to adjust, and get to like plant foods more. Many standard foods are hyper-palatable, so it can be a bit of a shock to switch to cooking for yourself.
daiyahime wrote: Tue Dec 26, 2017 9:49 am Now it's winter and I don't want to drink smoothies because I'm cold enough as it is.
Winter is usually soup time
Beans make a great base for a creamy soup. You can find some good recipes online, or we could recommend some.
(Usually you leave more chunks in a soup than smoothies, of course, and just blend 1/2 or so after cooking and pour it back in to make it creamy)

daiyahime wrote: Tue Dec 26, 2017 9:49 am I was wondering what you guys do when you miss animal based foods?
Most of the same tips for quitting smoking work for quitting meat. Cravings are usually short lived, and only last a few minutes if you don't linger on them; distraction is very effective.
Make sure to take snacks with you so you can eat something filling (like trail mix). Hunger can make cravings a lot worse.

https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/quit-smoking/guide/cravings.html

If you have a game, or can open your phone and read some action alerts for animal rights causes when you have a craving, the distraction + reminder + just waiting a bit will usually help overcome a craving.

It sounds like you're already doing pretty well though!
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