Best products from r/Vegan

Yeah, I was atheist for ~ 4-5 years during college. I'm 23 now and consider myself a nonaffiliated theist.

I grew up vaguely Christian. My father and mother had, respectively, been raised in Protestant and Catholic churches and had had issues with their practices. My brother and I were never raised in any church, but were told that God exists.

I also had a number of "spooky" experiences growing up. Ghosts. A dead great-aunt maybe visiting me before family deaths. These mainly occurred during my high school years. They make me strongly believe in some sort of afterlife. I describe them here.

In college, I grew skeptical of God -- Problem of Evil, the incompatibility of free will and "a divine plan", and whatnot. I adopted a materialistic worldview, and my spooky past experiences were essentially ignored because they couldn't be reconciled. But they humbled me and made me a bit skeptical of my own worldview.

I graduated this year in March with a BA in philosophy. I needed some sort of direction/purpose, but, after reading Change of Heart and Predictably Irrational I grew skeptical of human reasoning. And of course our senses and memories are flawed. Of all the animals in the world, from worms to cows, with all their limited perceptions of the world, why do we humans assume that we have a correct perception of the world?

I concluded that we can't have a firm, certain grasp on anything. And so my endeavor to live the best life was impossible. And my reliance on science and reasoning were shattered because humans and their reasoning are flawed.

• Note that science is built upon theories/principles of knowledge founded in empiricism, a school of metaphysics. Science uses metaphysical and epistemological principles and applies them to the world. But science isn't capable of looking at its foundational principles. That's a job for philosophers.
  
  
• And science makes only objective observations, not normative ones. Science can't make moral claims. It can inform morality, but it can't arrive at moral conclusions alone.
  
  
• On top of that, we have no fucking clue what consciousness is or how it arises. The Problem of Other Minds reminds us that we can't be sure of who or what is also conscious. We just do our best to make sense of how something acts and how much its anatomy resembles ours (because I know that at least I'm conscious.)
  
  On top of that, as a graduate, I no longer had college professors telling me what to do. I had no clear goals in life to work towards. And so now, post-college, all the responsibility was on my shoulders to choose what to do and pursue with my life. That's a big responsibility. But how do I make decisions if I have no certain grasp on anything? I spiraled into depression.
  
  So I sought wisdom.
  
  I talked to friends and family about wisdom. I looked at the Greek philosophers who spoke of wisdom and virtue.
  
  I looked at all the major religions to see what wisdom they might hold. I looked for patterns between them in hopes of finding something universal that they all described.
  
  I also became increasingly focused on immediate sensory and intuitive knowledge as opposed to the theory and abstract nature of science and philosophy. I started reading from NDERF's archives of self-reported near-death experiences to look for patterns.
  
  -----
  
  ....
  
  Anywho, I've arrived at the conclusion that everyone does their best to make sense of the world. I try not to judge others. Even if they're Mormons or Scientologists or Wiccans. I have my spooky history. I've come to believe that an afterlife exists. I see what others think about the supernatural, and I see if it appeals to me. I think Sikhism is pretty reasonable and beautiful, and I think my attachment to the afterlife belief almost obligates me to believe in a higher power. Sikhs seek to create and maintain chardi kala, a happiness in life by being content and thankful, which greatly appeals to me. But Sikhism does have a fair bit of ritual (albeit with legitimate purpose) and some guru praise which, given my history, seems a bit too much of a commitment.
  
  What I can say with some certainty is that it's good to live a life of virtue. It is good and feels good to help others. It's good to enjoy life and not take it for granted. Everyday, I consciously make an effort to be virtuous and to be thankful for my blessings. Veganism and activism are obvious applications of virtue and helping others. If God exists, I thank It everyday for all the good I experience. I thank it for the beauty in the world. As flawed as the world is, it's certainly more wonderful than horrible.

Good for you for making that connection! It's not an easy thing to accept, but once you do, you're kinda stuck this way.

1. A non-vegan can live happily in a vegan household. My SO is non-vegan but, I do all the cooking for us so we have a vegan kitchen. I would be uncomfortable cooking and paying for animal products at this point and he knows better than to ask that of me. I would bet that you're a fantastic chef and will have no problem keeping your husband full and satisfied.
   
   
2. If you're comfortable using it then do so. But I warn you that it may desensitize you to eating/preparing animal products again or it'll make you feel disgusted. If possible, I would donate it to a local food bank or a friend.
   
   
3. Clearly, you care about your son so I don't think you will harm him. Keep a watchful eye and maybe contact your pediatrician for advice, there are plenty that are veg-friendly. I would also recommend following some vegan parent blogs.
   
   
4. Like all other weightloss or weight maintenance, if you're keeping an eye on your calories then you should be fine. You can easily keep carbs under 50%, but you may find that the volume of food you're consuming will increase quite a bit. Most people lose weight when going vegan so don't be surprised if that happens (just maybe don't add tahini to every meal like I did).
   
   
5. My best friend has IBS and it improved drastically after severely cutting down on her meat intake. I imagine that there will be an adjustment period (I had like 4 BMs a day and was cramping due to bloat for a couple weeks), but cutting out animal products could really help your IBS as well.. Only time will tell.
   
   
6. Yes, you can! I haven't frozen seitan for quite that long but it would be interesting to see how it goes. I imagine it would be fine though. Also this recipe for tofu nuggets looks really, really good. Cultured vegan cheeses will last quite a while and continually age in the fridge, Miyoko Schinner says they typically last about 100 days. But yes, you can freeze them if you don't use it in time.
   
   
7. Yess this is my jam right here. I read cookbooks like people read novels. It sounds like you would enjoy Isa Chandra Moskowitz. I absolutely love her book Isa Does It and I recommend it to everyone. Her other stuff is also wonderful (I'm sure amazon will show you the rest of her books in their recommendations)! Another one that I think you would enjoy is Miyoko Schinner's The Homemade Vegan Pantry and Artisan Vegan Cheese. After hearing her speak at VegFest it sounds like she has similar style: doing a lot of prep work beforehand so that doing the everyday meal making is simple. Lastly, I will recommend Plum Bistro's Plum: Gratifying Vegan Dishes. The restaurant is absolutely fantastic and while I haven't made anything in this book since I got it (because I am a little intimidated tbh), I have no doubt that you could get a lot of use from this with your culinary skills.
   
   I hope this was at least a tiny bit helpful! Good luck! :)

Meat, eggs and dairy are the major restrictions. Most meat dishes I've found are pretty easy to rework with tofu or other proteins because it's usually the spices and sauces you're really craving, anyhow. What you use in place of eggs varies, but baking is easy to rework. I was never a big "egg" person (scrambled eggs omelettes etc) but tofu scrambles are a wonderful thing. Dairy is also pretty easy -- soy/nut milks fill the void pretty happily and a few coffee places carry them, just takes some trial and error to find the types and brands you like. Coconut ice cream etc. is a thing. If you end up missing cheese I've heard nut cheeses are pretty great, but I haven't missed cheese enough to seek them out. There's a book "Artisan Vegan Cheeses" about making them yourself. There are also vegan cheeses like Daiya that can work very well on e.g. pizza. Honey is generally not considered vegan. Harder to empathize with bees, but swapping for agave nectar etc. is easy enough that I haven't looked back. There are a few small nonvegan ingredients you have to watch out for like l-cysteine (duck feathers) and fortified vitamin D3 (usually wool, though there are vegan ways to produce it), but you become familiar with them over time and avoiding them isn't very hard. Is It Vegan is pretty helpful when you're uncertain about something. It helps to get a good cookbook. Honestly seeing all the cool recipes in the Veganomicon is what made me realize that this whole vegan thing is actually pretty fun and painless!

re: Celiac, my diet's been mostly gluten-free just on account of living with my aunt who has Celiac's. It shouldn't be an issue at all. Just avoid seitan which is made from vital wheat gluten. I'm not as informed about the restrictions that come with Type 1 diabetes, but being vegan with type 1 diabetes is definitely a thing. Probably someone with more knowledge of diabetes will come around to give you some information. :)

One problem that many new vegans seem to make is only thinking about veganism in terms of what they "can't have". So the first (really large) chunk of this comment is going to be about changing that mentality, not about your specific food dislikes (but we'll get to that).

> My motivation is purely ethical, the health benefits aren't really a factor for my decision

If that's why you're tying this, when you shift your thinking from focusing on how veganism is "restricting" your life, to thinking about the situation as being about "I get to make a choice today that gives me a little control over what happens in the world, that shows who I am and what I stand for", it can give you motivation to try to weather some of the obstacles or setbacks that might come up.

Now, that said, "motivation" is not necessarily the same thing as "practical life skills". You often need a bit of both to make attempted changes to your life sustainable and stick in the long term. We don't just want to you "weathering the storm"

> I've tried going meat free and made it about a week or two and gave up because I was just starving

for the rest of your life and doing this through some sort of great expenditure of willpower; it's important to try to make it as easy as possible to do, as well.

So how do you do this? You change the focus of your thinking from one of "This is restrictive. I miss X, Y, and Z, (animal product) foods. I'm hungry and I really miss ." to "There's really an abundance and diversity of plant foods out there. I'm hungry and I really miss , but there are so many fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds, legumes, etc., I can try, why don't I try something new?"

(Another note is that, even when there are situations or things that feel like restrictions, it can seem really counter-intuitive, but sometimes placing "limits" on what you use can do the opposite of what you think: it can open up a world of things you never considered, because it "forces" you to think in more creative ways.)

The world of vegan food is astounding: it's already immense and continues to expand. The substitutions or tricks that some vegan chefs have come up with are mind-blowingly creative. Everything from flaked hearts of palm crab cakes to sous vide tomato sashimi to besan omelettes: there's a vegan version of so many things.

Vegan food that doesn't try to replicate animal products is also diverse in its own right, because plants are diverse, flavorful, and interesting. There are thousands of edible plants; there are only a few animal we use for food in comparison.

One of the simplest substitutions to start with are plant milks: there are dozens of them now, which you may be able to find or make. Compared to the number of animal milks you can commonly get (likely only one, maybe two) there's more diversity in vegan food (and this makes sense, because plants are so much more efficient producers of calories than animals, wherever there's arable land, it's often going to be the case that we can grow a wider variety of plants than we can raise animals).

Spices and herbs are all vegan (they all come from plants, right?), and are so strong tasting that we use a tiny amount to flavor other food (even many animal products) with them.

You may have always known the things I just listed (and other things like it), but you're just not going to pay attention to them in these terms unless you "force" yourself to a little, by purposefully embracing and seeing in a positive light (or a shifted perspective) all the plant-based or nearly plant-based ingredients and dishes that do surround you already.

You don't have to use these exact recipes, especially with such specific food dislikes and when just starting out, but it can be helpful anyway just to see what's out there (and you may also be able to adapt some cooking techniques or dish constructions to ingredients that you do like). So take a quick look at some vegan cooking shows to give you more ideas (these tend toward the more gourmet side, if you're curious in trying to see this in a different way):

• Hot for Food
  
• The Happy Pear
  
• Peaceful Cuisine
  
• Good Eatings
  
  So don't just "restrict your diet" and resign yourself to never eating out again: look up some vegan restaurants! Don't just "restrict your diet" and try to "overcome" any cravings you get through willpower alone: learn some vegan substitutions:
  
  
• Beef, sausage: seitan, commercial vegan meat substitutes
  
• Bacon: Coconut bacon or Bac'n bits
  
• Heavy Cream: Cashew Cream
  
• Butter: Vegan Butter, margarine, or vegetable oil.
  
• Cheese: blended up nuts or other things with flavorings or gelling agents, different for different ones. Mozzarella, Ricotta, Feta, Parmesan, Fancy Cookbooks: 1, 2
  
• Eggs: For straight eggs. For baking with eggs, a bunch of different things depending on what you're making.
  
• Crab cakes: hearts of palm
  
• Tuna salad: mashed chickpeas
  
• Merangues: aquafaba
  
  Do you have to become the world's greatest gourmet vegan chef? No! I'm just listing these things to show some idea of what's out there. I'm just saying veganism doesn't have to be as restrictive as "I'm going to cut out these 10 things from my life, and that's it".
  
  You should be thinking: "I'm going to cut out these 10 things from my life because I disagree with them, but I'm going to add 10 things to my life I agree with. Heck, I'm going to add 100 things to my life that I agree with and want to support."
  
  Even just using google can be really helpful here. If you have a specific dish you want to make, don't just think "Okay I can't have Italian sausage any more, ever". Instead, google "simple vegan recipe" or "vegan substitute". Putting Italian sausage, or whatever else, in for the blanks.
  
  ------
  
  My comment has focused a lot on home cooking (even though it's definitely not the only way to get food), because it's particularly relevant to someone who has specific food aversions. When you cook your own food, you get to more carefully decide what goes in it and what doesn't, so it may be the route for you to go. Again, this doesn't necessarily have to mean gourmet home cooked food, there are some pretty simple vegan recipes out there.
  
  
• https://itslivb.com/category/recipes/
  
• http://thevegan8.com/
  
• https://minimalistbaker.com/
  
• http://www.thevegancorner.com/
  
• /r/vegangifrecipes
  
  The Vegetable Problem:
  
  Many people have trouble eating certain foods, especially some kinds of vegetables.
  
  > There are so many things I can't bring myself to eat, like onions, tomatoes, most peppers
  
  You can slowly introduce vegetables into your diet in a number of ways. You may want to start with ones that aren't green (carrots, sweet potatoes) and slowly move your way into the mild green ones (cucumber, celery, iceberg or romaine lettuce, snap peas, bunches of herbs like parsley, basil, dill) and only lastly move into the dark greens or particularly strong tasting ones (mushrooms, bok choy, broccoli, kale, spinach, beets). You can prepare them in many different ways besides boiling them, to change how they taste (try roasting, for example). If you really can't stand them, you can try methods to outright hide their taste or texture altogether, primarily through blending.
  
  Keep in mind also, that you don't necessarily have to eat absolutely every single vegetable in existence, to be a healthy person. You may be able to get away perfectly fine with never eating a handful if you really can't find a way to integrate them into your diet. All you have to do, is make sure you're getting complete nutrition from other sources (other foods, or supplements). It's a different topic (though it's one you'll want to set aside some time to learn about if you do go vegan), but here is a quick guide to vegan nutrition, and you can use an app or website like https://cronometer.com/ (or ask a doctor for a blood test) to track nutrition in the beginning.
  
  (More below)

Not OP, but I can tell you that all of those dishes are super easy to "veganify." Start buying different veggie burger patties, check out Beyond Meat products (they make burgers, ground beef, and chicken type meat currently - honestly I've been meat free for so long that it's all a little too meaty for me, but I wish the Beyond brand had been available when I first stopped eating meat). There are a ton of other veggie patties out there. Check out your nearest vegan restaurant if there are any around you. If you're a milk drinker, I honestly prefer plant-based milk, pea milk, oat milk, almond, flax, soy... all so good. When my husband first went vegan we went and bought a whole bunch of different plant-based kinds of milk to do a taste test b/c he's very picky about the creamer in his coffee. He ended up choosing the pea milk - it's got a good creamy feel to it in coffee. Chao Cheese is delicious (a lot of vegan cheeses aren't so great but that one is).

Easy snacks: almond butter and banana, or avocado and hummus sandwiches, soup and bread is easy, something about coconut oil on toast tastes EXACTLY like butter to me, but there are vegan butters available that mimic the real thing very well also... there's a lot of vegan junk food out there like chips, Oreos, cookies, and ice-cream too to get that fix. Ben and Jerry's dairy-free ice cream is unreal. I didn't even know it was vegan when I used to eat it as a vegetarian.

Vegan cooking blogs:

[Minimalist Baker] (https://minimalistbaker.com/) - she has a good shepherds pie.

[Hot for Food] (https://www.hotforfoodblog.com/welcome) has a lot of good comfort food

[Thug Kitchen] (https://www.thugkitchen.com/)

[Here's a list of the Top 50 vegan food blogs] (https://www.culinarynutrition.com/top-50-vegan-blogs/)

Reading ["Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer] (https://www.amazon.com/Eating-Animals-Jonathan-Safran-Foer/dp/0316069884) was really instrumental in helping me make the shift as well. Foer is a fiction author who went vegan irl and the book is autobiographical of his decision making, so it's very approachable and not guilt-trippy at all.

Welcome to the right side of history! Also, I didn't feel different at all going from meat-eater to vegetarian, when I went from vegetarian to vegan, however, I felt a world of difference in terms of improved mood and energy and getting to poop like three times a day ha.

And, like someone else said, you don't have to do it all at once. Maybe try cutting out one animal group at a time. If I had to do it over, I would start with dairy, then chicken, fish, pork, beef... Dairy is really just awful in terms of cruelty and health impact.

Okay now I'm rambling. Take care!

Edit: formatting wall of text.

the only nutrient that is harder to get on vegan diet is b12 as far as I know. everything else will just require you to learn and change your habits a little bit.

• B12: I take this brand, which is a little pricey, but is very high quality. Contains both methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin, and does not contain any additives. If you set a price alert on camelcamelcamel.com you can also get it for pretty cheap (I got a years supply for about $24 dollars a bottle). One bottle should last you a month or possibly more.
  
  as for other nutrients that are important to make sure you're getting, vegan or not:
  
  
  
  
• Zinc: this is a good brand if you want to supplement with it. pumpkin seeds are a good whole food source.
  
  
• Iodine: Spirulina is a good source, a daily serving will get you about 30% of the RDA, and spirulina is kinda like a whole food multivitamin. High in protein too. Sea vegetables like dulse (would recommend getting atlantic only) are great sources of iodine. I put a tablespoon or two in a smoothie that I have regularly.
  
  
• Omega 3 (EPA/DHA): Pure encapsulations is generally a good brand, though this particular formulation seems to melt/stick together. They'll probably fix that. You can also get them from flax seeds (either ground, or blend them), hemp seeds, stuff like that. Make sure you're getting a good balance of EPA and DHA-- some things just contain a lot of DHA.
  
  I handle most of those just by taking b12 supplement in the morning, and sticking some flax, hemp, and pumpkin seeds as well as dulse flakes in my smoothie. Once it's a habit, you don't need to think about it anymore.
  
  As far as any other concerns, it's just about making sure you're eating enough, as vegan foods are less calorie dense and so if you eat the amount you're used to eating, you won't be eating enough; and eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables somewhat consistently. Adding a bunch of things like raspberries, frozen wild blueberries, spinach, kale, cilantro, etc to a smoothie in the morning also makes this easy.
  
  Making fruit a big part of your life also makes things easy. Apples, bananas, avocados, dates, mangoes etc are great, easy snacks.
  
  Make steamed potatoes or other veggies-- it is so damn easy! You just wash the potatoes, put some water in the bottom of the pot, steam for 15-30 mins (until a fork can go all the way through), and then toss with some herbs, olive or coconut oil, and sea salt, and you have a delicious filling dinner.

Regarding your question about helping the environment: http://thevegancalculator.com/ <-- Go here and put in "1 year" into the calculator. Just one year, you're saving almost half a million gallons of fresh water, 15 THOUSAND pounds of grain, 11 THOUSAND square feet of forest and 7 THOUSAND pounds of carbon dioxide (compared to a typical animal-including diet). The calculator is supported by sources. Just by changing a few minor things about your lifestyle, you can have an incredibly drastic impact on the world.

​

TL;DR regarding expense and difficulty - if you live in a very rural area in the USA, it can take some difficulty to find a good source of cheap bulk beans / lentils / vegetables / bulk (by weight) dried veggies. But they're sooooooo cheap; normally you can eat for $1-2 a day, plus B12 vitamin expenses ($5 a month).

​

Longer explanation regarding expensive/difficult: Expense is very low; I pay much less now for food than before going vegan. Difficulty may vary depending on where you live. I happen to live in Denver, and it's very easy for me to find pretty much any substitute/vegetable I want. If you cook your own meals, there's really nothing different about cooking vegan - just use vegetable oil/avocado oil instead of butter, and buy veggies instead of meat. That's about it. Just make sure you eat a lot of beans or lentils or tofu.

​

When I first became vegan, I was hit with the reality of vitamin/protein differences - I needed to purchase some vitamin supplements. Here's the list I have:

• Vitamin B12 (vegan source) - $5 a month - https://www.amazon.com/Deva-Vegan-Vitamin-Dissolve-Lozenges/dp/B001GAOHTS
  
• Protein Powder - $22 a month - https://www.amazon.com/Orgain-Organic-Protein-Chocolate-Packaging/dp/B00J074W94
  
  ​
  
  These two made a big difference in my life. About 3 months after going vegan I started having some troubles related to protein (I work out a lot and my body wasn't used to the lower intake). I try to hit about 90g of protein a day (I am a reasonably athletic 6' male). I think a lot of vegans downplay the issues involved with protein - it's the source of a TON of jokes in the vegan community - but the truth is a lot of vegans simply don't get enough protein. And then they fall back into eating meat because they didn't know better. Which is really pretty silly because it's incredibly easy to supplement if you can't get it in your diet.
  
  ​
  
  Other than what I've mentioned above, here's some things to consider (this list is HEAVILY biased towards a lazy, no-cook approach. If you have any cooking skill, just cook your own veggie meals, they're awesome, cheaper and fresher than anything listed below, but this is for the lazy days):
  
  
• If you like cheese, vegan cheese substitutes cost about the same as dairy cheese
  
• If you like milk, vegan milk (ANY type) is typically cheaper, better for you, and better for the environment than dairy milk
  
• Most oils, spices, salts, flavorings - are already vegan. There's no real change needed here. Butter costs more than vegetable oil anyway.
  
• Most BBQ sauce, buffalo sauce, spicy sauce, etc - all vegan generally.
  
• Most chips and junk food is already vegan. Except for the "flavored" sour cream/cheese type chips.
  
• If you like easy food/frozen food, Target sells a whole boatload of vegan microwave stuff (Gardein and others). "Chicken" nuggets, Fried "fish" sticks, "Chicken" wings, etc. Even Ben & Jerry's has a bunch of dairy-free vegan ice cream.
  
• Speaking of dessert, vegan desserts are cheaper and easier to make (and safer!! you can lick the spoon - no eggs!). And they taste way better.
  
• If you like burgers/hot dogs, check out Beyond the Meat. It's now cheaper than beef and is freaking amazing. They even sell it at Target now.
  
• Most bread is already vegan (just check the label). Vegan bread is generally cheaper than non-vegan.
  
• Most cereal is already vegan (just check the label).
  
• Most restaurants in the US charge less for veggie-based items. Although it is VERY true that you'll have a much more restricted menu choice.
  
• Fries are generally vegan, except for a few places (McDonalds, Buffalo Wild Wings, Smash Burger are the only ones around here that don't have vegan fries)
  
  ​
  
  Finally, there are a few things I'd like to point out in MY PERSONAL OPINION that might turn you "off" of vegan foods if you try them off the bat (a lot of people buy terrible choices and then say "vegan alternatives are bad". No, they are just poor choices lol)
  
  
• Avoid buying Daiya products if you want a realistic cheese/dairy alternative. They are the lowest common denominator. They are readily available everywhere for cheap, but they don't taste very good. Try to find Miyoko's or Follow Your Heart instead.
  
• Some substitute items are coconut based, or cashew based, or oat based, or whatever-based. There is a reason that 50 alternatives exist. Some people like some, some people like others. You know how you go to the store, and there are 50 different BBQ sauces, and the ONE you like is sold out, and you're super bummed? Yeah, same thing for vegan items - brand differences, tastes, and preferences exist - just because it's vegan doesn't mean it's any different than other products. Too many people say "vegan food" when really that lump-category doesn't exist.
  
  ​
  
  The best advice I can give is to JUST TRY IT. Just go a few days making vegan food. You don't need to say "I'M GOING VEGAN", you don't need to have some public moment - you can just privately try it out. It's pretty fun!

I worry about what it is going to be like being pregnant and vegan all the time, since I figure it's going to happen sooner than I think! So, I tend to remember some of the resources that I come across.

Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist, doctor, or medical professional, so these are suggestions for further resources, not scholarly advice.

When you say your diet is "pretty simple," does that mean simple as in a lot of "whole" foods where most of the preparation is done at home? If this is the case, eating a varied, calorically-sufficient diet will do a lot of good--that "well-planned" diet thing. Of course, processed isn't necessarily a bad thing--remember that basics like fortified nondairy milk, tofu, and even seitan are "processed." However, each of these can still be healthy (especially because baked tofu, rice, and veggies is easy and healthy for those nights you/your wife won't want to cook).

As far as supplements, B12 is of course the big one. For a complete look at general vegan nutrition, and some discussion both of vegan pregnancy/raising vegan kids, take a look at Vegan for Life, which is an accessible but science-based look at how to manage macro and micronutrient consumption while being vegan (including a look at supplements.)

You may want to take omega-3, but consult your doctor; I think research is pretty clear these days that they're good for you, but YMMV, especially during pregnancy. Ovega-3 has both DHA and EPA from algae sources; the conversion rate of ALA omega-3s, found in plants, is pretty low and not well understood, so flaxseed oil (while great) is probably not going to suffice.

Colleen Patrick Goudreau discusses supplementation and makes some suggestions for resources.

Pocket reference! The Vegan Guide to Pregnancy is pretty well-reviewed, from what I know, and I hear it recommended. Also, poking around Amazon from there will help you find some additional references. Probably worth it to have a few books on hand, as well as the internet.

Other thoughts:

• Find a supportive doctor! (This you'll probably have to Google.) While I/Reddit/the rest of the internet may kind of know what's going on, a doctor who knows you and your wife and isn't sneering at your diet will be invaluable. Veganism has become (somewhat more) mainstream lately, so you may be able to find resources for that.
  
  
• The people telling you/your wife that the baby needs eggs, milk and dairy probably (at least sort of) mean well, and everybody has a way they did it when they were pregnant, and just look at their little angel--it must be the best way! But most of them probably just don't know any better. So try not to get too upset with them (though if they carry on in such a way for the duration of the pregnancy, no one would blame you.) You can tell them that your doctor disagrees, your wife is in good health, the baby is fine, or something along these lines, and if they continue to harangue you, end the conversation. Arguing about it probably won't end well.
  
  
• Final note: The American Dietetic Association (now the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics), which is a large network of qualified medical professionals, publicly takes the position that a well-planned vegan or vegetarian diet is appropriate for all people in all stages of life, including pregnancy and infancy. The full statement is here. Long story short? The science/research is on your side here. Do your due diligence and get good prenatal care, and you, your wife, and baby will be fine.
  
  
  Good luck, and congratulations!

Looks like you got a jump on the basics but depending on how much you've researched the ethical topics below are some great resources to help keep you motivated. And once you understand the ethical necessity of a vegan lifestyle you'll find it is really a breeze!

earthlings - very graphic film but helpful to remove any doubts one might have regarding how we treat animals

eat like you care - a short and concise framing of the logic behind the ethical rational for veganism

Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows - another relatively easy read which lays out a bit broader argument

There are loads of other great books and films out there and I really suggest taking the time to educate yourself about the way we use animals as it will make the transition so much easier.

Good luck and welcome!

My staple dishes are curries, Indian and Thai most recently. I love some curry! You can use tofu, chickpeas, beans, lentils, etc. It's a great way to use up the rest of your veggies and clean the fridge. Curries are so flavorful and easy to make. There are even premade sauces if you don't want to make them from scratch.

• Patak's
  
  
• Archer Farms Curry Sauces
  
  
• Kitchens of India
  
  
• Thai Kitchens Curry Pastes
  
  My favorite cookbooks have been:
  
  
• Thug Kitchen: The Official Cookbook: Eat Like you Give a F*ck
  
  
• Vegan Richa's Indian Kitchen: Traditional and Creative Recipes for the Home Cook Her blog is really great as well: http://www.veganricha.com/
  
  
• Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen
  
  Some other blogs/youtubers I would recommend highly are:
  
  
• Hot for Food Lauren Toyota also has a blog: http://www.hotforfoodblog.com/ (My favorite recipe youtuber)
  
  
• Edgy Veg
  
  
• Mary's Test Kitchen
  
  
• So You're Dating a Vegan
  
  
• Sweet Potato Soul
  
  
• Show Me the Curry
  
  I am always branching out to new foods, Ethiopian is great for vegan cooking as is Indian, Thai, Italian, and Vietnamese. Soon you will take recipes you love and veganize them. Google search recipes you love and just preface it with vegan, the possibilities are endless.
  
  Build up your spice rack! Amazon is great for this, a great suggestion made to me was buy 1 new thing each time you grocery shop to expand your recipes and cooking.
  
  Thanks for your compassionate choice to join us and feel free to ask any questions you may have.

It was hard, until all of a sudden it was easy. My method? I learned as much as I could about the issues with animal agriculture. At first I continued to eat eggs and dairy (I'd already been a vegetarian for several years), but I'd feel conflicted and guilty afterward. Still, convenience or cravings would keep me coming back. But I kept reading everything I could find on the subject and one day, suddenly, no amount of tastiness or convenience could justify my continuing to support those practices.

Two of the main sources that informed my decision were the book Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer and Colleen Patrick Goudreau's Food for Thought podcast.

Eating Animals is an extremely well-written and comprehensive overview of the ethical, environmental, and health effects of animal agriculture. Food for Thought touches a lot on the "why" of veganism, but where Colleen's work has really been helpful to me is in the "how." She explains, among other things, how to make sure you're properly nourished, how to stave off cravings for old foods, how to respond to questions and confrontations, and how to really take joy and pleasure in your new lifestyle.

As far as specific advice, here are a few tidbits.

1. Learn to cook. Fake meats are fine when you're just getting started, but you're going to find yourself bored and dissatisfied with your diet really quickly if you continue to rely on them. Experiment with new cuisines and vegetables, don't let yourself get into a food rut.
   
   
2. Research nutrition. Vegan Health is a good place to start. You can be healthy and thrive on a vegan diet, but it does have different strengths and weaknesses than an omnivorous diet. As long as you eat a wide variety of unprocessed fruits and vegetables and get enough calories for your size and level of activity, you should get most of the nutrients you need in abundance. There are some things that you should consider supplementing: B-12 (absolutely essential!), omega-3s (recommended), calcium and vitamin D (better to obtain through diet, but can supplement if needed). Don't even worry about protein.
   
   
3. Don't avoid talking about your veganism, but in general it's better if other people initiate the conversation. Keep any dialogue brief and matter of fact unless people seem genuinely interested in learning more. Many people will become defensive because your behavior is making them examine their own more than they are comfortable with. Talk about your experience and your reasons, and avoid telling other people what they should do. Be happy and eat delicious food, and people will come around in time.
   
   
4. Build a support network. Ask questions and share experiences here or on other vegan forums. Join a vegan MeetUp group in your area. Volunteer with relevant organizations. It can seem intimidating to make different consumption choices than those around you, but do whatever you can to remind yourself that you're not alone and that you are making a difference :-)

im into fasting and raw foodism thought not 100% raw at all . every sunday 6pm i liquid diet for 24to48 hours . many times its just coffee , but when work loads to heavy , i do manual labor , i make seed n nut milks as theyre near a complete meal . but without adding fruit or pure maple syrup the milks can be bland for most . so to you ide say chart your nuts n seeds that you like and that are avaliable at bulk food stores cheap in your area to create a milk with the nutrients your needing to add . then make a big batch of milk tokeep in fridge for like 3 days . to this add fruit such as bananas for a blended smoothie . this becomes an energy providing meal that contains certain vitamin n mineral you need . the juice for me is more like a liquid vitamin drink . for example i bring over to my parents twice a week a juice i make with my champion , best for hard vegi n fruit , of carrot-apple-parsley-ginger root - celery -tumeric root . the carrot for A , the apple for C , the parsley for A, IRON , ETC . and so on . the juice being the important vitamin n mineral source , of course all raw (i'll link 2 VERY important book on raw , MUST reads ) . if make this vitamin juice twice a week to keep in fridge its only like say a 30 minute hastle twice a week but i'll be damned if it isnt worth it for your long term health ! im saying this to you as somebody thats just spent the past 25 years deeply self studying nutrition - medicinal herbs - natural healing methods while spending much time fasting and raw fooding . and the people i believe ins health outlooks mostly were introduced to me by my late neighboor whom spent 90 years as an avid reader and gardener interested in plants and natural health methods . she showed my from her vast library her faves . my point is im not talking about something i just read on an internet web site . heres the most important person my neighboor taught me abouts books , the late raw foodist norman walker . his way of seeing our bodies changed my veiw point on diet forever . though i add he wrote long ago when we'd not discovered as much as we know today so some of his opinions i disagree with such as colonics . but his base message about our cells needs for the enzymes , which i call sun lightheld in raw plant cells , that are held only in raw plants is health gold ! read these books over n over , theyre quick reads . in short time you'll get it set in your mind how important raw whoole plant foods are and it'll change the wrongful outlook on diet we all have been raised on !!! https://www.amazon.com/Vegetarian-Guide-Diet-Salad/dp/0890190348/ref=sr_1_6?crid=33CHSQKRHVJV9&keywords=norman+walker+books&qid=1574610006&sprefix=norman+walker+%2Csporting%2C153&sr=8-6 /////////// https://www.amazon.com/Fresh-Vegetable-Fruit-Juices-Walker/dp/089019033X/ref=pd_sbs_14_1/140-5337366-7873468?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=089019033X&pd_rd_r=223815f7-0da5-4958-916f-75bca491f33f&pd_rd_w=X4evv&pd_rd_wg=g1Dzs&pf_rd_p=5873ae95-9063-4a23-9b7e-eafa738c2269&pf_rd_r=X2KP2FA68MR1B4V3TTHN&psc=1&refRID=X2KP2FA68MR1B4V3TTHN

It helps to tell others that you were one like them, so you understand their lifestyle, however, having become aware of the ethical problems with eating meat and animal products you made a shift to more plant based way of living.

This helps to promote a more understanding approach and less of a "us against them."

Don't be afraid to give them resources where they can look for themselves. You need to make people feel like they came to conlusions on their own (based on psychology studies) and to do that, you sometimes have to simply offer the info and walk away to let them think about it. I hand out vegan outreach pamphlets, and I think it's a great way to advocate without being so confrontational and argumentative with people. Undoubtedly you can still get into arguments with people, but the key is to make THEM think about their actions, not simply tell that that they're wrong.

A famous method used by Socartes was to get people to realize that they already believe what he does, they just aren't acting on it. Most people already don't want to harm animals (or at least they don't want to be seen as a person that would, but their actions support that, and connecting them to that fact is vital)

A book you might like is "Why We love Dogs, eat pigs, and wear cows." by Melanie Joy it explains why we view different animals the way we do and how hard it can be to change people's perceptions.

A good follow up to this book is "change of heart: The psychology of spreading social change." where you can then apply psychological study implications to real world situations. The writer focuses on animal rights concerns a lot and how to get the most people engaged in this more ethical way of living. A good tip from this book is to realize that people make up rationalizations to justify their actions, rather than as we would normally think that many people make u a rational reason for doing something and then do it. If we can simply encourage more people to take the first step into eating more veg meals and it becomes more natural for them, they'd take to the reasons more heartedly.

It takes time. At one point I was like you, down, frustrated, and irritable. But when you seek for knowledge on how to become a better advocate for animals, you may get some happiness once more and more people come to you telling you they eat more veg meals or have gone vegetarian. When leafletting at my college, one girl told us that she had gotten a pamphlet last semester and then went vegan. Some people DO get it, but you have to be the connecting thread between people and the animals.

Tips for animal advocacy from Animal rights conference http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c6886_GXyg

I love being vegan, but I definitely didn't experience most of the health benefits you're seeing... it took me a while to adjust to the diet. Good for you nonetheless. Congrats on becoming vegan!

2) There are lots of good protein sources, and they'll add up throughout your day. Some major protein sources for me are beans, oatmeal, quinoa, peanut butter, peanuts and almonds, and soy milk. Veggies have some protein too. Also, I absolutely love Clif Builder Bars. They're vegan and have 20g of protein per bar. Perfect for when you can't cook.

3) When I was a few months into being vegan, I picked up Vegan for Life from the library. This book is amazing and gives you lots of meal ideas and solid nutritional advice for being a vegan in every stage of life. It told me a lot of things I wish I had known earlier, like getting omega-3s from flax and canola oil and where to get all my vitamins.

4) If you check the packaging first, there are many "accidentally vegan" snacks out there. Twizzlers, Wheat Thins and Triscuits, pretzels, Fritos, non-butter popcorn, lots of chips, Oreos, granola bars, Swedish Fish... the list goes on. Google "accidentally vegan" and look through some lists, I'm sure you'll find things you like. Not to mention you can find ways to veganize almost any baked good.

I've found the biggest reasons people quit veganism after deciding that it's the right thing to do is:

1. Not knowing what to eat or how to prepare it
   
2. Losing motivation
   
   I think that #1 is most important to nail down, because if you're already convinced that veganism is the right thing to do, you shouldn't have much problem sticking with it unless you run into food-related problems. This video covers just about everything you need to know about vegan food. Basically:
   
   

• Eat enough calories
  
• Have a few go-to recipes for each meal
  
• Use happycow.net to find vegan-friendly restaurants (virtually everything at Asian restaurants can easily be veganized)
  
• B12!
  
  Eating vegan won't feel hard or restricting at all if you know how, and what to cook. Just like non-vegan food, vegan food can taste disgusting or flat-out amazing. Don't be discouraged if the first vegan food you make turns out terribly, because it probably will. Figure out what you didn't like about what you made, and try to improve it for next time. Vegan cooking can be very different, and it will probably take getting used to.
  
  If you're willing to buy a cookbook, But I Could Never Go Vegan! should be perfect. It's recipes are split up based on common excuses or worries people have when it comes to vegan cooking ("But I love sea food!", "What about cheese?", "Why does vegan food need to be so healthy!", etc). Thug Kitchen also has a lot of great, and healthy, recipes. They have a trailer if you're interested in seeing the, uh, "tone" of the book. Lastly, there's Isa Does It. I'd say her recipes are a bit fancier and take a little more effort to prepare, but if you're willing to learn she'll teach you everything from what to stock your pantry with to how to the different ways to chop tempeh. There shouldn't be any problem following anything in any of these books if you're willing to read the directions.
  
  I don't personally watch a lot of vegan cooking channels on youtube, but it might be worth checking out TheVeganZombie, Peaceful Cuisine for asian food, and the channels here.
  
  On staying motivated, I think it's pretty much required to constantly be reminded by why you want to be vegan in the first place. Regularly visit vegan communities like here, watch vegan, environmental, or animal rights-related documentaries like cowspiracy, earthlings, or Forks Over Knives, subscribe to vegan youtube channels like Bite Size Vegan or The Vegan Activist. It takes a lot more willpower than most people have to stay vegan in a community where everyone around you hasn't given the ethics or environmental aspects of meat production much thought. Worst of all, they might even view you as... weird... for even bothering. Just try to keep in mind the reasons other people get defensive, or even hostile when bringing up veganism, stay calm, and all will be well.
  
  I wish you the best of luck, hopefully you found some of this wall of text useful :)
  
  
  

skinny white privileged vegan kid here (don't think I'm low on empathy or have a closed mind though):

wouldn't judge you for doing what you need to do, but a vegan diet is less expensive for a given quality (i.e. an organic, local omnivore diet is more expensive than an organic, local vegan diet; and a conventional omni diet is more expensive than a conventional vegan diet). There's a reason that the staple foods in third world countries (rice and beans, lentils for example) are vegan.

===

I'd aim for a high carb low fat vegan diet consisting mainly of whole foods, i.e. non processed foods. Per calorie these are also usually less expensive because you do the preparation. This will mean a lot of cooking on your own, and if you don't have time to do this and need to rely on processed foods, that's okay too, do what you need to do. I'd make meals out of bulk staples like rice, beans, and lentils; and then add whatever fresh veggies and fruits your budget allows on top of that. It will definitely be important for your nutrition to have a variety of fruits and vegetables, so the more the better, but these are typically more expensive than staple grains and legumes, so do whatever is possible. If you can't get fresh fruit, try Wyman's frozen wild blueberries.

===

You'll also need a b12 supplement and probably iodine as well, as going without them will lead to severe cognitive problems. Most people get b12 from meat because animals are injected with synthetic b12. This is a good b12 supplement because it has no additives and contains both methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin, but despite the fact that it'll last you a month, it's expensive (about $1 per day-- the price fluctuates though, and I've gotten it for $25 a bottle) so get whatever you can afford.

===

Dulse flakes are a good source of iodine and you can use these like you would salt, as is spirulina which is kinda like a whole food multivitamin (has some b12 too) which is probably your best bet to make sure you're covering all your bases, but again, whatever you can afford. I believe most salt is iodized so if you use an iodized salt that is probably good enough, though my personal belief is that the naturally occurring version is a better bet.

===


Good luck.

If you ever feel adventurous try this book for cheese otherwise the Daiya blocks are tasty. Cashew cheese is easy to make and super tasty

Quick foods:

Rice, beans, potatoes. These things can be eaten cold even, and are super easy to prep in bulk.I'm cooking 2 cups of brown rice as I type this, and when I leave for work I'll start a crock pot of black beans. I regularly bring potatoes with salt on long bike rides, and eat them cold. You can put anything inside a tortilla and it'll taste good. Beans, seitan, tofu, rice avocado, spinach, etc.

Peanut butter and banana sandwiches, agave, jelly, really whatever.

Green veggie and fruit smoothies are an easy portable, and nutritious breakfast.

Fruit, carrots, nuts are all easy snacks.

Chickpea "tuna" is delicious and easy to prep.

Oatmeal is filling, cheap and easy.

Pasta is easy. Start with whole grain, or a hardy gluten free pasta. I have some chickpea protein pasta right now for instance. Red sauce, maybe throw some textured vegetable protein in there.

Frozen vegetables are easy to prep.

The cheapest, dry shelf stable foods are generally vegan. They are also normally available anywhere.

If there's a specialty vegan item that you want there's always amazon. I bought chickpea flour there awhile ago.
Peas and franks red hot is actually pretty delicious.

If you're into faux turkey, my faves (in order): Match, Field Roast (uhh the en croute whatever ones), Gardein, Tofurky. Match (everything they make) is juicy and perfectly flavored. The Field Roast en croute turkey thing was amazing (I loove the crusty part). Gardein is mostly boring because they're my go-to faux meat brand so I'm used to the flavor. Also their stuffing has raisins and weird colorful rice in it. Ew. Tofurky's pretty basic, but they were what I always had before vegan turkey selection exploded, so I might just have nostalgia for them.

This green bean casserole recipe.

Mashed potatoes you make the normal way. Just through whatever vegan butter and milk in them with salt and pepper.

I use a pumpkin pie recipe from a cookbook and I feel weird about posting things like that, so PM me if you're interested?

I don't know how Canadians roll on holidays, and my family's pretty boring anyways (the only difference between what I eat and what they eat besides mine being vegan is they usually microwave a can of corn also) so I can't think of much else thanksgiving-y. Repeat for xmas and easter. Seitan might also be a good idea. If you don't have wheat gluten on hand, I've heard of people making it with regular flour (I think they let it sit longer so gluten bonds can form). I've never made it for holidays, but there's a lentil soup(ish thing) in Veganomicon that would probably be delicious/amazing with whatever you're having. From where I can see, you can see the recipe if you do the "Look Inside" thing on amazon, so that's why I linked it. Just scroll down through the table of contents, it's under soups ("French Lentil Soup with Tarragon and Thyme") and on page 141.

I tried to think of holiday food that didn't involve faux whatever, but I'm definitely not one of those vegans that scoffs at imitation meats and cheeses and whatnot. I eat them all the damn time.

I keep trying to end this and I keep failing: I've never had homemade shephard's pie, and actually never had it before going vegan (I'd never heard of it) but that sound like a delicious holiday thing. Since I've only ever had this premade microwaveable one, I'm linking because I imagine if you combined those ingredients with some yummy spices you would have positive results.

I'm really done this time D:

First of all, thank you and congradulations for supporting your daughter on her vegan journey! I wish more parents were supportive.

Check this out first: The Plant-Based diet food guide

Beans and greens should be the cornerstones of a healthy vegan diet. You want to cook lots and lots of legumes (beans, lentils, peas). They're the best vegan source of protein, as well as an excellent source of folate, calcium, and iron. Super important! Also, greens. That's where vegans are going to get most of their calcium (unless they drink a lot of fortified plant milk). You also want to make sure she's getting a tablespoon of either chia or ground flaxseed every day, for adequate intake of Omega-3. I put mine in a green breakfast smoothie to start the day with a kick!

I recommend you watch the documentary "Forks Over Knives." It will change the way you think about food. It's on Netflix. They have a companion cookbook that's pretty decent. I also like both of the China Study cookbooks, and the Health Promoting Cookbook. As you can see, I have a bias for the whole-food plant-based version of veganism. I'm going to assume that as a mother, you want the healthiest diet for your kids. She'll find plenty of delicious vegan junk food when she's out with her friends, so cooking whole foods at home is a great way to set a solid foundation for life. Good for the rest of your family, too!

Some great vegan dishes: beans & rice; bean burritos; chickpea curry (watch the coconut milk, it's high in fat and that's actually a much bigger risk factor for diabetes than carbs); lentil stew (which is awesome when you're short on time, because lentils don't require soaking; of course you can also use canned beans when you're in a hurry); tofu and veggie stir fry. You can also take almost any recipe and veganise it by swapping out the meat for tempeh or tofu, and using extra marinade or sauce. For snacks, raw veggies with hummus, nuts and seeds, raisins, and green smoothies are all really healthy and delicious. I start every day with a breakfast smoothie of kale, mixed fruit and berries, and flaxseed. I use a high powered blender (Vitamix or Blendtec) to break down the tough fibres and cells walls. That helps nutrient absorption as the food is already masticated.

While they're tasty and popular, I try and stay away from the fake meats and cheeses. They're vegan junk food. They might provide some protein, but you're far better getting that from whole plants like beans, chickpeas, and lentils.

As for the pasta-diabetes link, don't worry! A low-fat plant-based diet has been shown to halt and even reverse diabetes in even the most advanced cases. Check out the book "Starch Solution" by Dr. John McDougall. He's actually reversed diabetes in his patients by feeding them a low-fat vegan diet based on rice, pasta, and potatoes. He's got tons of videos on YouTube. My mom has been plant based for only a month, and her fasting blood sugar has already come down from 12 to 8 in just that short of time. But that being said, pasta made from refined white flour is complete garbage, it's basically table sugar with a multivitamin ground in. Yech.

>if even half of what it said was true then im dropping all animal products.

Yes it's all true. (The movie was dramatised, but the facts are all real). If you don't want to be associated with animal rights don't worry about it, just call yourself "plant-based" and do what's best for you (it still helps the animals anyway) :-)

>also do vegans eat durum wheat noodles, and what is your view on peanut butter?

You can eat any wheat products, but check that they have no egg or powdered milk in the recipe.

Peanut butter is fantastic! It's best to eat the 100% peanuts one, without the oil/fat/sugar/salt/preservatives. But you might want to combine it with jam or maple syrup if it's not sweet enough for you. (and then just use less, and less jam as you get used to the taste).


>how much fruit is too much if that random thing i heard is true?

The only time you could have too much fruit would only be if it stopped you from eating other healthy foods. Ideally you want to eat from every food group (fruit/veg/grains/beans/nuts) to get the best of everything. E.g. wheat noodles, with tomato/basil/lentil pure sauce (basically bolognase) and then have some diced apple and walnuts (they go really well together) for desert :-)



Try being plant-based/vegan for 3 weeks and see how you feel. You can always go back.
For more information go to pcrm.org/kickstart or any one of these books below are great, they are written by doctors(most of them were in What the Health), so you won't have to worry about missing anything, complete with recipes :-)

• https://www.amazon.com/Starch-Solution-Regain-Health-Weight/dp/1623360277
  
  
• http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7509230-the-get-healthy-go-vegan-cookbook
  
  
• http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3359298-the-engine-2-diet
  
  
• https://www.bookdepository.com/Forks-Over-Knives-Gene-Stone/9781615190454
  
  
• http://www.booktopia.com.au/the-end-of-dieting-joel-fuhrman/prod9780062249333.html?source=pla&gclid=CjwKEAjwsqjKBRDtwOSjs6GTgmASJACRbI3fVJLcA3KLprpPhk0X91TExviYldBux5vA1xJSSfc2uRoCxV3w_wcB
  
  
  >but then i thought about how steve jobs was crazy and ate only fruit or something then got pancreatic cancer.
  
  There is an excellent explanation about Steve Jobs' cancer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9B-A6X7Y4A
  

Hi backtoplant! I don't have a vegan weight loss story to share, but I wanted to recommend checking out some books on vegan nutrition. When I first switched to veganism, I read Vegan for Life by Ginny Messina & Jack Norris. I highly recommend it--it's easy to read and full of information, including what your nutritional needs are and how to meet them as a vegan. It includes some meal plans and some recipes. Both of the authors are respected vegan nutritionists. I know your goal is weight loss, but the book talks specifically about overall health and could help you feel less fearful of certain food groups and more confident that you are planning healthful meals that fuel your body properly! I know it helped me a ton.

Also, I think you hit on something very important when you asked about vegans maintaining their eating habits for 10+ years. When I was in my teens, I went from a women's size 14 to a size 4. It's been about 10 years since then and I have maintained my weight loss. I wasn't vegan when I lost the weight, but hands down the most important thing was teaching myself how to eat right for the long term (not just how to lose weight quickly!). I've only been vegan for 2 years, but I truly believe a healthy diet is easy and sustainable as a vegan. You can definitely lose weight at a satisfying-but-healthy rate as a vegan as well, but I'll let others with more experience cover that!

Either way, good luck with your goals! :)

Hey, that's awesome!

First and foremost, educate yourself about nutrition. Seriously, nobody wants to further affirm the stereotype of the malnourished vegan, especially as an athlete or with somewhat athletic ambitions.

For nutritional information I would recommend the following resources:

Vegan for Life: Everything You Need to Know to Be Healthy and Fit on a Plant-Based Diet: A book with a lot of nutritional information.

Veganhealth: Website that has all the information about nutrients that need attention in a vegan diet and more. (Especially read up about B12 and take a supplement! I take the one I linked, because it's super cheap and vegan.)

Learn about complete proteins.

 

There are websites aimed at vegan athletes like these:

Tips from a Vegan Athlete plus meal recommendations

Meal Plan, information and a real life vegan bodybuilder

Some possible problems and their solution


 

Other stuff:
List of vegan athletes: Great as an inspiration and for that moment when people will try to tell you that it's impossible to build muscle on a vegan diet.

I love tofu, which has a lot of (complete) protein and I especially like this recipe.

Eat tofu, seitan and for the cheapest option rice with beans, lentils, chickpeas etc. Also plant milks, bananas, spinach, oatmeal, nut butters...


 

As a new vegan, you might find some of the things useful I posted yesterday. Skip the text at the beginning and especially take a look at the things about nutrition. I like to recommend the accidentally vegan foods as well.

Good luck! If you have any questions feel free to ask :)

> I think some of the issues I'll have are egg cravings (I love eggs)

You should try to get your hands on some kala namak (black salt). It has a strong egg-like flavor and a little goes a long way. I bought this from Amazon back in 2012 and still have a decent amount left.

You can cut up some tofu into small cubes, toss with olive oil, kala namak, a bit of corn starch (not strictly necessary but helps it get crispier) and black pepper and fry on medium high heat to get something pretty fried-egg like (or at least as well as I remember it). Be sure to stir and scrape it off the bottom of the pan very frequently because it can stick, especially at first.

Another way to use it with some mashed up chickpeas, vegan mayo and kala namak. I'd add black pepper too. It's rather egg-salad like and suitable for using on sandwiches.

> not feeling full enough (I have very fast metabolism)

You'll probably find you need to eat somewhat more bulk of foods than on an omnivorous diet. Don't make the mistake of only eating veggies like broccoli or salad because those plants are not at all dense calorically. Foods like rice, pasta, nuts, oils, peanut/nut butters are high calorie. Beans are relatively energy dense as well.

> and not getting enough protein.

Is there a specific amount you're aiming for? The World Health Organization recommends 38g for men on a 3,000 calorie diet which is probably surprisingly low to a lot of people. It is quite easy to reach that number eating normally.

Foods like tempeh, tofu, beans, etc are pretty protein dense but generally somewhat less so than most meats so you'll probably need to eat a larger amount of them - which will indirectly help you avoid the not feeling full enough problem also.

One thing I don't see that anyone has mentioned yet is that if you stick with the vegan thing (thanks for giving it a shot, by the way!), you will either need to supplement vitamin B12 or eat foods that are fortified with it. B12 is only produced by bacteria and you won't get any eating just plants.
B12 deficiency takes a fairly long time to show up, so you won't have to worry about it in the span of a few weeks but the effects are unpleasant enough that it's not something you will want to ignore if you end up staying with veganism long term.

I could slap your beautiful face right now. But it's okay, because I know some kick ass cook books that will show you how to make yummy vegan food. Betty goes Vegan is a cookbook that vegan-izes classic american dishes. Also the Veganomicon might as well be the vegan bible when it comes to cooking. Every recipe I've tried in this one has been delicious. Personally recommend the Spiced Sweet Potatoes and the Herbed Scalloped Potatoes because they are pretty easy to make.

Also The Sweetest Vegan is a fantastic food blog that also has amazing food on it. It's another one where everything I've tried has been amazing. I haven't tried out anything on Vegan Dad but I know a bunch of vegans who love his stuff. He also has a cook book out but many of the recipes are online. The Vegan Stoner is good because he/she makes recipes that are cheap and fast. Another one that I haven't tried out too many on but I know is popular.

For raw eating I would head over to Fully Raw Kristina I buy food from her fully organic co-op and she is a huge sweetheart. She has several recipes and tips on her youtube page and she also has her own website with some other information. Also if you can't find the answer to a question you have about eating raw you can easily contact her via email.

This Melanie Joy lecture should be essential viewing for all activists.

There are a lot of different philosophies to vegan activism. read up on them from Animal Liberation Front to open rescues to Gary Francione's pacifism and his loathing of single issue campaigns to Nick Cooney's psychology-informed approach. There's a lot more, and don't feel like you have to be a professor in it or 'pick a side' before you do anything, but you'll find a lot of food for thought.

Also, of course, keep learning the facts about how animals are used, the philosophies of animal rights, how the environment is affected, etc. so you can speak with confidence and answer people's questions.

Podcasts are a great way to get insights to what other activists are doing and why they are doing it. I'm currently following The Bearded Vegans, Which Side, Vegan Warrior Princesses Attack, Not Your Milk, and Our Hen House.

The best thing to do is keep looking for others, facebook is a good resource. If there's not a group started, see if you can find other vegans to start one with.

There are small things you can do, like order business cards with positive messages and links to resources to stick under the sleeves of meat packaging or in egg cartons in supermarkets.

If you can't find others around you, it's possible that if you take a strong, uncompromising stance people will come and join you. See how Anita Kranjc started the Toronto Pig Save, she would persist often standing alone or with just a couple of others, and now there are hundreds that attend. However, you must be aware of how emotionally draining (but also rewarding!) being an activist can be, even when you are surrounded by a support network. So if you go down that road, be kind and look after yourself and remember that even if you do not have support where you are, around the world there are lots of us who admire you just for taking the steps you have taken so far.

IMO: don't announce to your parents. Make it a transition, phasing animal products out as you learn how to follow a vegan diet. That way you'll probably avoid fears about your health and other related things, and it'll be easier for you (and more likely that you stick with it).

You could say something like you're working to reduce your consumption if you're asked. The word vegan can be scary to some people.


Make fruit a staple would be my advice for diet. Super easy + healthy + tasty. Steamed potatoes (with other stuff if you like, but I like them on their own with a bit of salt and cayenne) are a super easy satisfying meal, which you will crave as you make the switch. Also be sure you're getting critical nutrients (not that a vegan diet makes you any more likely to be deficient than the standard american diet)-- b12, iodine, and omegas are the big ones I think (the linked brands are the best ones I've found). Those supplements are expensive, but it helps that you don't need a lot. A bottle of the b12 could last you two months, and iodine could last you a year.

Spirulina is also like a vegan whole food multivitamin/mineral and good source of easily assimilable protein.

Think about what you currently like eating, and then look up vegan alternatives. That was how I went about transitioning (omni to vegan). While I don't eat too much vegan cheese or "meats" anymore, it really helped to have those as a yummy crutch.

Also, make sure that you're eating enough on a vegan diet. It takes more of the good stuff to fill you up, and a lot of people quit because they feel weak and hungry.

For cheapness, check out The Starch Solution (http://www.amazon.com/The-Starch-Solution-Regain-Health/dp/1623360277). It's pretty much the cheapest diet out there, and you can always add whatever leafy greens are on sale on any given week. Edit - Not that you're doing this to lose weight, necessarily, but it's always nice to have dietary guidelines to follow at first to make sure you're getting everything that you need

When I went vegan I spent a lot of time watching things like Earthlings, and while I wouldn't necessarily recommend dwelling on things like that (it made for a very depressed easmsm), it will stick in your mind as a reason to refrain from dairy and eggs and meat. There are definitely more vanilla versions out there (check out Bite Sized Vegan on Youtube, she's an inspiration of mine).

I quit cold turkey and I haven't been back since. Thank you for considering this change! You're awesome.

Another edit - Check out the sidebar as well! The Beginner's Guide/FAQ are a great resource!

Congratulations! My wife is 7 weeks pregnant (woohoo!) so we are in the same boat, and we have tried to do our homework, well beforehand, and making sure we're doing well right now too.

Here is a great book for vegan pregnancies and infants http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Life-Everything-Healthy-Plant-Based/dp/0738214930

But really, there isn't much to it, and you can learn from online free resources
https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2011nl/jan/pregnancy.pdf

The healthiest way to eat for you and your baby is to eat a whole food plant based diet with a variety of whole grains, sweet potatoes, beans, vegetables, and fruits. It doesn't change when you are pregnant. But to many people, it's the one time they want to make absolutely sure they're doing it right :)

Keep in mind, a lot of women just eat whatever they can keep down during the first trimester. The body stores a ton of nutrients, and if you're feeling sick and can only eat a few things, just eat those things and trust that your body can provide other essentials like every other pregnant woman who can't stomach much. Eat well when you can, and if you are not able to consume everything every day, don't sweat it. My wife finds that she feels best when she eats small amounts throughout the day. Her morning sickness is kept down best that way.

Supplements: I do not suggest a mutli-vitamin. It's not the worst thing in the world, but it will have positives and negatives. Vitamins are concentrated isolated substances that in general overload receptors in the body and are not well-handled out of the context of real food. There are a few exceptions to take though: Take B12 (about 2500 mcg once per week) and iodine (150 mcg/day). And vitamin D (2000 IU daily) if you are not getting regular sun and live below 30 degrees latitude in the winter.

Despite what the whole world tells you, Folic acid is not a good substitute for actual folate in humans. Eat beans and leafy greens, which are great sources of actual folate. http://nutritionfacts.org/video/can-folic-acid-be-harmful/

Other than that, just eat a variety of whole foods, with lots of whole grains, beans, sweet potatoes and potatoes, and as much of vegetables and fruit as you can. That is the best thing you can do for your growing baby.

Also, keep your omega-6 to omega-3 ratio down by not consuming a lot of nuts, and If I were you I would totally avoid oils. Ground up flax is a great source of omega-3 if you aren't eating a lot of vegetables, fruits, and beans. (you can absolutely get all you need from those) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4TNhU3HR3o&index=1&list=PLchGiszWnMPjdtf47Bs4XIeE7gQptbX0q. If you still want to eat a lot of nuts and oil, you will need to bypass trying to get that ratio right (because no amount of flax will fix eating that much oil etc), take a DHA/EPA supplement http://nutritionfacts.org/video/algae-based-dha-vs-flax-2/

Your post inspired me to put up this awesome five ingredient tofu recipe over on r/veganrecipes. I'm calling it LPT: Life Pro Tofu as it's the best tofu recipe I've ever seen. The recipe comes from Miyoko Schinner's book and combines tofu with flax seed gel. The results are amazing; for me, truly mind-blowing. Thinking back, it's amazing how far I've come with good tools and recipes. Here's hoping you might gain some inspiration!

Welcome! The peace of mind and heart that goes along with it is a wonderful feeling. Let us know if we can help you in any way!

Our favorites from TJs:

Nuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds (I buy all 3 - raw, roasted and unsalted, roasted and salted), marinated vegetables, grilled artichokes in oil, hearts of palm, firm tofu (we buy 8 at a time!), sourdough bread, pumpernickel bread, peanut butter, almond butter, sunflower oil, arugula (if whole foods doesn't have it, I get most of my produce from aldi and whole foods), cashew yogurt, animal crackers, fried rice, japanese fried rice, black bean & corn enchiladas, multigrain crackers, rice crackers (I try to stay away from buying too many junky carbs but sometimes the kids come with lol and sometimes we'll get the soy ice cream), popcorn kernels, umami mushroom seasoning...there are quite a few other vegan things.

My friend loves the soy creamer (I just use unsweetened almond milk in my coffee).

Consider taking a b12 Methylcobalamin sublingual. You don't need a huge amount a day unless you're very low. https://www.amazon.com/Deva-Vegan-Vitamin-Dissolve-Lozenges/dp/B001GAOHTS/ref=sr_1_20?keywords=vegan+b12&qid=1569115000&s=hpc&sr=1-20

If you haven't watched any Earthling Ed https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVRrGAcUc7cblUzOhI1KfFg, he is our favorite right now to watch. Also Humane Hancock https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf_M41aNZ0tDeyP-32aPEIw

Feel free to message me anytime :D

Hey, I train 6-7 days a week, too. You should have no problem getting 60-70g protein a day just from whole foods, not even taking into account a protein shake. Though that also depends on your overall calorie intake, which you didn't mention. Just putting something simple together, 95g hemp seeds, 430g lentils, and 290g buckwheat is 2000 calories, 330g carbs, 43g fat, and 96g protein. There is plenty of room to play around there to swap out foods and stuff and still hit your protein macros.

1. Vegan totally tastes like ass. Funny enough, mixed berry is the only flavor I think is half decent. Taste-wise, my favorite is Sunwarrior. If you can afford Vega, you should be able to afford Sunwarrior. I like the chocolate flavor. Though my favorite is TrueNutrition's hemp/rice/pea blend. Tastes better than Vega, not as good as Sunwarrior, but it's much cheaper than either and tastes good enough for me. Favorite flavors are chocolate fudge brownie and mocha.
   
   
2. Sorry no recipe suggestions, I don't eat soy/tofu, but I eat a lot of beans and I just eat them with some spices or something, nothing fancy. Check out explore asia products - they're based on beans and have a lot of protein. Also lentil pastas are pretty good.
   
   
3. Nuts, seeds, beans/lentils - or processed foods based on these like tofu, seitan, tempeh, TVP, peanut butter, etc.
   
   
4. "Keep in mind I'm a broke uni student." You probably shouldn't buy Vega then :) Sounds like you have the bases covered. On top of oats, I might also add buckwheat, quinoa, and rice. Peanut butter is also cheap, very calorically dense, and has a good amount of protein.
   
   
5. I'm not iron deficient, but just check out high iron foods. Molasses is one I use as a sweetener for shakes and stuff and it has a lot of iron. Also I've heard good things about the iron fish.

I made a vegan gift basket for a friend and her boyfriend this last Christmas and it contained:

• The Homemade Vegan Pantry cookbook Essential.
  
  
• Dickinson’s Purely Fruit spread The blackberry one is my favorite.
  
  
• Bee Free Honee So good in a mug of hot green tea.
  
  
• Carrington Farms coconut oil Good for cooking, body care, or a silky and sexy massage!
  
  
• Some pretzels, fresh sourdough bread, and a banana loaf made with this recipe.
  
  
• Also some mason jars filled with chia seeds, hemp seeds, and flax meal.
  
  
• A few cute little strawberry shaped reusable bags.
  
  

That’s awesome. Glad you have a good solution, sounds like a rad store! Sort of related- If you haven’t ever made your own yogurt, I strongly recommend it, it blows the store bought stuff away. I usually use Westsoy Original soy milk, normally I like unsweetened but the fermentation cultures like the sugar so I get the original. One of these days very soon, I will try the feta recipe from that book...

You may eventually want to check out Miyoko’s “Homemade Vegan Pantry” cookbook. it came out pretty recently and the recipes seem a little updated, not as many in depth recipes on specific types of cheese but the recipes I’ve used out of there have been stellar and I find that I reach for it more often than the Artisan Cheese book. It really depends on what you’re into making. She includes the recipe for her cultured butter and the ice cream recipe is also perfect.

You can also look at tempeh and bean pastas like this one. Peanut butter powder (or just peanut butter), protein powder.

And whole foods like beans/lentils should be a staple, nuts/seeds (hemp seeds are great), and grains like buckwheat, quinoa, wheat/pasta, and oats.

You might also experiment with lower protein macros while maintaining overall calories. I know it's scary, took me the better part of a year to stop drinking protein shakes and try it, and I found I make just as much progress eating whole foods as long as I keep my calories in check. I still do protein powder, but mainly because I like the flavors they offer. I use true nutrition's vegan protein optimizer (hemp, pea, rice blend) and either chocolate fudge brownie or peanut butter cup flavor. Add that to a bowl of oats or something with bananas and it's amazing. You can add it to just about anything. I'll add it to a bowl of beans and add just enough water that it's thick/creamy like peanut butter. Tastes great.

The way we make change with veganism is by taking our money away from people who exploit animals and by raising awareness, so if I have an accident, and if fixing it wouldn't take back the money or improve people's regard for veganism, I just forgive myself and let it go. If I dispose of the non-vegan thing instead of consuming it, it's mostly just because I feel icky about it.

I recently went vegan after being vegetarian for a few years. It was hard at first to think of what to eat, but the breakthrough that made me feel better about it was reminding myself that I can still eat whatever I'm craving in some form or another. I try to imagine exactly what I would want for dinner if I weren't even vegetarian/vegan and then I google "easy vegan ___." This has led to some great things like vegan eggs benedict (yum). You're working to help animals, so you've got to make it fun and treat yourself.

I also take a vegan multivitamin and B12 supplement so that I can eat whatever I feel like without worrying so much about whether I'm killing myself.

I just checked out Minimalist Baker's cookbook and the Thug Kitchen: Eat Like You Give A Fuck Minimalist Baker was meh, but Thug Kitchen is amazing. A lot of the recipes use cheap, simple ingredients and the dishes are pure deliciousness. I'm currently borrowing these books from the library, but I think I definitely need to add Thug Kitchen to my collection.

I also have the Seitanic Spellbook by the Vegan Black Metal Chef. It's ok for some basic stuff, but I don't care for how it's organized. Also, he doesn't use measurements in any of his recipes, which is ok if you like to improvise a lot, but it kinda leaves me in the dark if I'm trying a new recipe.

Then there's Happy, Healthy Vegan Kitchen by Kathy Patalsky which is ok if you can get past her narratives and obscure ingredients. Like, bitch, I'm not getting six different unicorn salts to put on my toast.

I also have The Joys of Vegan Baking (meh), and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (haven't tried it yet).

EDIT: damn amazon links

It's true! She really made me feel positive and hopeful about advocacy. This talk gives you a bunch of simple tools that you can use to start making a big difference.

You can probably write to her through her website here. Or on her facebook page here. She seems super approachable and I'll bet she'd love to hear from you. She seems to be on a lecture tour...maybe she's coming to a city near you.

She has also written a book Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism.

And if you search for Melanie Joy on youtube, you can watch a few more of her presentations and interviews.

I think what you are planning to say is pretty good. Be aware that you aren't going to be able to use a one size fits all answer for every situation you encounter (but there are probably less than a dozen answers that will fit 90% of your encounters with omnivores).

I want to correct your use of the term "door-in-the-face". The Door-in-the-face technique is a tactic for getting someone to agree to a moderate request by first asking them for something significantly larger that they are unlikely to agree to. An example of this would be asking someone to go entirely vegan right away and then when they reject that request asking if they'd at least be willing to eat no meat on Mondays. Using this strategy is often much more effective for getting people to avoid meat on Mondays than simply asking them if they'd be willing to do that.

Your use of the foot-in-the-door technique is also a bit off. This is a strategy for getting someone to agree to a large request by first asking them for something small that they would be much more likely to agree to. For example you could ask people to put up a small sticker in their window that says "I support animal rights" then return a month later and ask them to give up meat. They'd be much more likely to give up meat using this strategy than had you asked them upfront.

The book Change of Heart by Nick Cooney (the founder of the Humane League) discusses many more strategies like this for being an effective activist. Another excellent book that I read on the subject of compliance tactics is Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion although this one isn't specifically about animal rights activism.

I'm a picky eater too and a new vegan. I feel like 90% of my diet is soy at the moment haha. I find that making alternatives of the foods I liked helps a lot. This book has been amazing the past few weeks. I like it because it shows you how to make staples to use in your diet instead of these crazy recipes that are overwhelming. I made the nuggets in the book the other day and they're super nice and I'm making some of my own mozzarella now!

Also train your taste buds and try new things. We are picky normally because of a mental block that causes us to be repulsed by certain foods and it helps to slowly break it down as much as possible. I personally have made a lot of progress with new foods in the last couple of years.

I hope this helps a little :)

The sausage food is a hard seitan, which is a vegan protein made out of wheat gluten. It was fantastic, but one of the harder seitan recipes I've made, so I wouldn't start with this one if you don't have experience. The cheeses are cultured cashew cheeses from this cookbook, and I've posted some recipes above.

If you want any help with your transition, feel free to reach out! I've helped a lot of my friends and even a few internet strangers with their transition to veganism, and am happy to answer questions; tailor shopping and recipe lists to your budget, tastes, and cooking experience; provide resources; or just shat about anything related to veganism and animal rights. Letting go of those last few things is easier than you think!

Eating Animals was a great expose of the meat industry but Foer isn't vegan, which irked me. He is more of an apologist, who advocates for welfarism. I'm more in the "total liberation" camp. Singer is good, but he argues that animal testing is necessary. (It's not)

I also recommend this one for understanding to the psychology of speciesism: Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows by Melanie Joy, PhD.

She has great TED Talks, too.

1. I read Eating Animals, by Jonathan Saffron Foer and could not find a rational argument against veganism as the ethical choice given my access to alternatives to animal products. I was reading a whole lot of books on all sort of food-related topics, had no intention of going vegan or even vegetarian, but that was that. Went vegan the following day (July 4, 2011)
   
2. My spouse is working on decreasing animal product use. He kind of tapered - he was avoiding red meat, then lacto-ovo-veg, now he's closer to 80% vegan with occasional LOV meals. He also found meat substitutes he likes so he can do burgers, tacos, and other foods that are comfort food to him. I don't really have much practical advice, I guess, except that meat substitutes / analogues are a perfectly reasonable option if those flavors/textures are significant to you.
   
3. I'm boring. On a typical day I have oatmeal and coffee with soy milk for breakfast, some kind of grain plus frozen veggies and either beans of chopped up baked tofu for lunch (I make a big batch, portion it out, and freeze it ahead of time for the week), and tofu and some veggies for dinner. All boring, all easy, all tasty and inexpensive. For good recipes, I recommend checking out the post punk kitchen. Two of my favorite cookbooks are [http://smile.amazon.com/Mediterranean-Vegan-Kitchen-Donna-Klein/dp/1557883599/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415407055&sr=8-1&keywords=mediterranean+vegan](The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen) and The Oh She Glows Cookbook.

I don't think you will have to worry about getting sick! Hopefully you start to feel more energy and less allergies if you stick to a plant based diet, which I definitely would recommend. Those substitutes might help you with your transition though, so don't rule them out completely if you feel like you are going to eat non-vegan to fulfill a craving.

I definitely recommend getting a good cookbook though or finding a good website, and teaching yourself to cook. Once you do that it is habit, and you won't think of cooking any other way. Check out this website:
http://www.theppk.com/

And I always recommend this book for newbies. It really helped me when I became a vegan!
http://www.amazon.com/Veganomicon-The-Ultimate-Vegan-Cookbook/dp/156924264X

I had the same problem when I became a vegan a few years ago so I went searching for vegan cheese recipes. I was actually surprised by how easy many soy and nut based vegan cheeses are to make, and I ended up putting together three ebooks with recipes from vegan cheese dips and sauces, to spreadables, cheesballs, to hard vegan cheeses for melting and slicing. I recommend people start with a cheddar dipping sauce - super quick and easy to make and delish over veggies or with pasta. You can find the collection at Plateaterbooks.com and I just went ahead and created a coupon code that will get Reddit readers a 20% discount. Just use the code "GetItReddit123" at check out, and do let me know your favorite recipe if you do. (You can also find them at Amazon, but no discount there).

I would also highly recommend Miyoko Schinner's Artisan Vegan Cheese cookbook. Her recipes are more on the gourmet side of cooking, more advanced cooking/complicated, but she has some amazing recipes!: http://www.amazon.com/Artisan-Vegan-Cheese-Miyoko-Schinner/dp/1570672830
Enjoy!

This sub pretends to be a pro-vegan sub but you read anti-vegan sentiment and crap like "do your research before being vegan" here all the time. Which is funny because of how frequently unresearched, unhelpful opinions from dude-bros and kewl grllls get upvoted all the time, while the quality info gets buried.

That said if you ate shitty highly processed junk food before going vegan and do the same upon becoming vegan, while just simply substituting overly processed and over-priced meat and cheese analogues, likely you won't be healthy and even develop health issues on a long enough timeline(if you haven't already). It doesn't have to do with being vegan per-say, but with making really poor food choices, which is something you admitted to while being a carnist anyway. To avoid that, yes, likely you will have to do research on what constitutes better food choices. I would recommend reading McDougall's newsletters or his book the Starch Solution. If you want to find a good dietitian to follow I would recommend Jeff Novick, not ethical vegans posing as those giving good dietary advice like Ginny Messina. A Jeff Novick forum post(his posts are written by JeffN) is usually better researched and backed up than a Messina or Jack Norris blog post.

For the b12 canard of an issue consult this topic and this post.

For B12, I pop one of these every few days. I've never heard of it being affected by alcohol/marijuana use. It might also do you some good to also take a vegan vitamin D supplement, since most people are deficient anyways.

The nausea is not likely to be related to any specific nutrient deficiencies (a B12 deficiency usually takes years to manifest in any noticeable symptoms), but it is very possible that since you're probably eating different foods now than you did as an omni your stomach hasn't quite adjusted yet.

I'd highly recommend this book as a guide for healthy long term vegan nutrition. It's full of reliable science and teaches you how to be healthy as a vegan as opposed to some resources that try to convince people that a vegan diet is a silver bullet for anything and everything.

At this point, your blood results will be more likely to reflect your previous diet than they are your new vegan diet, so anything you see next Tuesday don't go 'OMG veganism is making me anemic/deficient/etc' based on those results. Also if you do have any deficiencies there are vegan solutions for all of them, so feel free to come on back and ask for more advice :]

Cool, no problem. High protein macros on a plant based diet can be hard. For what it's worth, I really like this protein powder - https://truenutrition.com/p-1169-vegan-protein-optimizer-formula-1lb.aspx. It's just hemp/rice/pea protein, it's cheap (way cheaper than vega, at least half the cost) and you can pick the flavors. Nothing but protein concentrates/isolates, too, unlike a lot of vega products that have a bunch of other non-protein stuff in them.

I agree you should get your macros/micros from whole foods, but cutting weight while retaining muscle requires goofy macros, which in my opinion, require goofy foods :) You might also check out the explore asia bean pastas. Check out the macros - they're about 50% protein by weight. The black bean pasta is good but they make some others that have really great protein macros, too. And they're tasty and easy to make.

Hey there! Glad you made the switch :)
In an ironic twist of events, my love of cheese led me to veganism. I loved it so much that I decided I was going to learn how to make it from scratch as a birthday present to myself in October of 2015. I threw myself into learning everything I could about cheese production which in turn led me down a rabbit hole filled with awful, eye-opening information about the dairy industry. I was totally shocked. It had just never crossed my mind that all dairy comes from pregnant cows. The thought of inseminating an animal for the sole purpose of inducing lactation and then treating the baby as a by-product was just sickening to me. Went vegan overnight and haven't looked back. Best decision I've ever made!

Here are two vegan cookbooks I can't recommend highly enough:
Miyoko Schinner's The Homemade Vegan Pantry: The Art of Making Your Own Staples and Artisan Vegan Cheese

Here are some must-have apps:
Leaping Bunny: guide to finding cruelty-free products.
Happy Cow: guide to finding vegan friendly restaurants.

Helpful tips:
Before going out to eat, always check their online menu so you won't feel so pressured to find vegan stuff while the waiter stares at you.
Open a Pinterest account. Great place to collect recipes and vegan cooking hacks like this dairy-free conversion chart, guide to non-dairy milks & how to cook with them, What your food cravings really mean...for vegans and this Cheat sheet for egg substitutions.
My pinner name is Uma Vida Boa if you want to dig through what I've amassed.

Have fun!

The PPK (Post-Punk Kitchen, http://www.theppk.com/ ) is an awesome resource for tasty recipes, and the forum there is very welcoming. It's run by Isa, who was one of the co-authors of The Veganomican.

Vegan for Life ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0738214930/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0738214930&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwtheppkcom-20 ) is a wonderful resource for vegan nutrition and health in an easy to read package.

Aside from that you can go as cookbook crazy as you like. I strongly recommend all of Isa's cookbooks. They're entertaining to read (something I never thought I'd say about a cookbook) and full of tasty tasty food.

Find a good vegan cookbook. Heck, find three or four of them. I like the Veganomicon, which is a great general reference, but you can find one for everything, from pies to soul food to sandwiches.

Cookbooks will do two things for you. First, they'll provide a resource if you start to feel cravings for food you used to rely on: if you get desperate for burgers, or chicken parmesan, or mousakka, you'll find a great alternative that scratches that itch. Second, they'll provide an excellent resource to browse through and find recipes you'd never have thought of on your own. Expanding your palate is a surefire way to improve your diet.

Good question that needs several books to answer. As /u/Soycrates points out in a different comment, there is an important distinction between activism and advocacy. I have only ever tried activism once and it went really poorly. I now advocate on reddit and that's the extent to which I do anything. I do not believe that I can be an effective activist until I am able to give a better answer to your question.

I can share two things that have helped me to advocate, though. They are PETA's guide to effective advocacy and this quote:

>A long time environmentalist was speaking to an enthusiastic group of young environmentalists at a rally. He warned of the precarious situation the environment was in, the toll that corporate greed had taken on forests, and the dire consequences that lay ahead if serious changes were not made.

>He then shouted out to the crowd, “Are you ready to get out there and fight for the environment?”

>To which they answered an enthusiastic, “Yeah!”

>“Are you ready to get arrested and go to jail for the environment?”

>“Yeah!!”

>“Are you ready to give your life for the environment?”

>“Yeah!!!”

>“Are you willing to cut your hair and put on a suit for the environment?”

>The crowd fell silent.

>Whether this is a true story or a colorful fable, the lesson is one we should all take to heart.

I'd recommend she get Isa Moskowitz's vegan cook book "Isa Does It." She teaches people everything they need to know in that book, and she makes it SO easy. Like how to make things seem creamy, or cheesy using cashews... Plus, she emphasizes meals being easy and affordable. I've never had any meal from that book that wasn't delicious!

She has other cookbooks that require more time, but Isa Does It is a full on education for vegan dummies.

Oh, and her desserts are great too! Best homemade chocolate pudding pie, scones, etc. and all vegan.

https://www.amazon.com/Isa-Does-Amazingly-Delicious-Recipes/dp/0316221902

I got these two books (Frugal Vegan and Thug Kitchen)as a gift and they have really helped me get better. I was a decent cook beforehand but these have given me tips on making tofu taste better, good sauces to make, etc. I like the combo of these two books because Frugal Vegan is a lot simpler, generally not too many ingredients, and usually not some weird thing you've never heard of while Thug Kitchen can get a bit more elaborate which can also be fun.

If you want your tofu scramble to taste eggy, do yourself a huge favor and buy some [kala namak] (https://www.amazon.com/Spice-Himalayan-BLACK-Crystal-ground/dp/B001O1VDXM/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1466094545&sr=8-1&keywords=kala+namak) - the one linked I bought like four years ago and I still have a half a bag. Use in place of regular salt. It tastes like egg salt and it's bizarre but it really helps out in the scramble department!

Buy some extra firm tofu, smoosh/crumble it into an oiled pan, add in black salt, pepper, I like dill and basil as well, add in some sauteed veggies and soy crumbles, and top off with some good sauce!

there are many vegan cheeses that are fantastic - see Miyoko brand and follow your heart. Nut based ones are better in that they are less oily and processed. You can easily make gourmet vegan cheeses that will impress any omnivore w/ her book.

https://www.amazon.com/Artisan-Vegan-Cheese-Miyoko-Schinner/dp/1570672830

There is a product called Vegg - they have an egg replacer and one that is a yolk replacer. Both are excellent. You can make french toast that is insanely egg-like w/ the yolk product.

My [crockpot chili recipe] (http://www.voxpopnj.com/2010/12/512/) is as hearty as meat based chili and loved by vegans & omnivores alike! Simple, cheap, and a good way to ease into vegan eating, or serve when hosting people with a variety of dietary habits.

Also, highly recommend Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero - filled with great traditional dishes made vegan including an incredible version of mac-n-cheese called "Mac Daddy".

Sounds like you might find these four books useful:

Change of Heart: What Psychology Can Teach Us About Spreading Social Change
by Nick Cooney

How to Create a Vegan World: A Pragmatic Approach by Tobias Leenaert


Beyond Beliefs: A Guide to Improving Relationships and Communication for Vegans, Vegetarians, and Meat Eaters
by Melanie Joy PhD

Motivational Methods for Vegan Advocacy: A Clinical Psychology Perspective
by Casey T. Taft

I have an artisan vegan cheesemaking book by a woman named Miyoko Schinner. She has a good line of vegan cheeses in stores. She actually cultures her cheeses and has several aged cheese recipes as well.

I bring this up since you mentioned cheese making is a passion of yours. It might be fun for you to play with artisan vegan cheese making, and your background would allow you to easily tweak recipes to make cheeses you actually enjoy.

Miyoko has published 2 books with cheese recipes in them. I bought both books and got them signed AND tried many of the cheeses at her book signing party in NYC a couple months ago.

Artisan Vegan Cheese

The Homemade Vegan Pantry

Many/most of the cheese recipes are made from cashews and other nuts, and require some ingredients most of us have never heard of. I went through and found the recipes I want to try (all of them!) and rounded up all the ingredients (amazon for the obscure stuff).

In the cheese book there are 2 different Mozz recipes, one is meant to be for a fresh mozz type cheese (tried this one at the party, was just like the original and so delicious), and the other is more for melting like on pizza.

So far from the pantry book I have made Squeeze Bottle Yellow Mustard (perfect, but strong!) and the Oil Free Eggless Vegan Mayo. 2/2 both are great.

I had to change my plan about trying one of the mozz recipes today; still have some store bought cheezes I'm trying to use up, also have too much other stuff to do.

My favorites are the Veganomicon and The Homemade Vegan Pantry

Depending on your frame of reference neither is super cheap but I highly recommend them.

I've picked up a few free ebooks but I've never made anything from one. I guess my favorite free vegan cookbook is googling any item + vegan then making that.

From cookbook linked, which I highly recommend!

Shiitake mushrooms make a great substitute for clams in this dish, the perfect texture.

Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildly Delicious Vegan Recipes for Every Day of the Week https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316221902/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_p6rHzbPV4TDS4

I really strongly recommend reading Vegan for Life by Jack Norris and Ginny Messina. They're both registered dietitians and take nutrition seriously.

This book will answer the questions you posted and more. You're much better off getting nutrition advice from professionals than from a bunch of random people on Reddit (except for me ;).

For mock meat, I really like Gardein products. Their beefless tips are great for stir fries, the chicken breasts work great for all sorts of cooking, and they have a several different breaded nuggets/strips that are really good.

Yeah, I'm really quite disheartened. They aren't pretty (I guess just like real ribs) but they are really tasty. They are from Miyoko Schinner's Homemade Vegan Pantry, but if you can't get the cookbook it is pretty much just a complicated seitan recipe. Make seitan, slice it into steak sized pieces and sear them on each side. Bake them like you normally would for seitan covered with watered down BBQ sauce. Cut into rib-sized pieces, sear on each side again, then toss with more BBQ sauce! The cookbook also notes that they get even better if you let them sit in the sauce for a day or two in the fridge, and thats whats happening in the photo.

I should note that this is one of my all time favourite cookbooks and I really recommend it :)

So for vitamins and supplements.

https://www.amazon.com/Deva-Vegan-Vitamins-Multivitamin-Supplement/dp/B001GAOHVG/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&keywords=vegan%20multivitamin&qid=1483833460&ref_=mp_s_a_1_1_a_it&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0001VUQ0M/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1483833552&sr=8-1&keywords=vegan+b+complex

And then for eggs and brands it's pretty easy and skim through. Many brands say "contains eggs and milk" So, you can skim through and read what each has.

Some people take a shot of b12 but, many foods such as cereal and non dairy milks are fortified too!

You can easily find vegan cookies such as Oreos and others. It really depends on where you are located as well.

I would drink daily soy milk to keep up calcium but, you can eat greens which contain iron and calcium. Actually most multi Vitamins that are vegan contain iron. So, you won't need really a separate iron supplement.

Anything else just ask me! 😊

I've not used any recipes yet, but the books by Thug Kitchen look awesome. Really good design and high quality photos. I think even omnis would appreciate the recipes (and humour) in there.

• [Eat Like you give a fuck][1]
  
• [Party grub for social motherfuckers][2]
  
• Fast as fuck
  
  [1]: https://www.amazon.com/Thug-Kitchen-Official-Cookbook-Like/dp/1623363586
  [2]: https://www.amazon.com/Thug-Kitchen-Party-Grub-Motherf/dp/1623366321
  

It's from this book, I have it digitally on Google Play. It's very good and goes into a lot of detail on a lot of diseases and the foods that correspond to a lower chance of the disease or make the disease have less of an effect (spoiler: it's plant food well over 99% of the time).

All profits from the book go to charity, so I can't recommend it enough.

If you can't afford it, let me know, I'll try to fetch you some parts you might want. Most of the information is just condensed from his website where he condenses a lot of journal papers about nutrition. There's also a talk he did that you can watch that has some of the more interesting parts of the book, as well as an app that reminds you to eat the foods that are most common in reducing the chance and effects of many diseases (Daily Dozen, iOS, Android)

Congrats! I went vegetarian when I was 18 and taught myself to cook over the next few years (and I'm still learning, 9 years later). I would recommend picking up a beginner vegan cookbook (for example). I second retirethecow's recommendation of my all-time favorite the Veganomicon, which has a range of simple to more complicated (and DELICIOUS) recipes and tips for preparing veggies in a basic, every-day way.

Remember: The key to a truly healthful vegan diet is eating a pile of veggies every day. Get to know the produce department and impress your friends by knowing the difference between a turnip and parsnip.

I personally like Daiya mozzarella shreds, but you may be better off making your own. There are some great recipes for vegan mozzarella, ricotta and parmesan. It seems people get amazing results from Miyoko's recipes: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BUV8CZI/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3H0F5ZMG8R561&coliid=I32OQY1IJFAZEP

Also I'd recommend the "Eat Like You Give a Fuck" cookbook. It's awesome for beginners on a budget, and it's awesome for inspiration if you want to customize recipes to fit how picky you are
.

Thug Kitchen: The Official Cookbook: Eat Like You Give a F*ck (Thug Kitchen Cookbooks) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1623363586/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_unoWCbMZBV38K

It is clear, you should do both, help animals and become healthy and fit at the same time, without even lifting a finger. For some, the fact that you're helping animals may not be enough to "stay on course", you need that extra bit of motivation. Shedding all the fat and gaining energy, becoming sexy as AF is a great motivation.

I strongly urge you to order the Starch Solution. Read it and let it change your life. The fact that there's no "counter-evidence" on the starch solution which is common in popular "weight loss" diets such as paleo, lchf, atkins etc. speak louder than words.

The key difference is, you're not guided into "this is good, this is bad" but you get reasoning and evidence so you can make your own judgement calls with ease. I have yet to meet/talk to or actually even heard of anyone who didn't have their life change permanently from this book. I doubt you'd be the first.

FYI: I hate reading books in general, so I started by forcing myself to read just 5-10 minutes a week which I only had to do once. Afterwards, I read it daily and was looking forward to it, similar to watching a daily tv series.. Odd.

You can buy the book here:
https://www.amazon.com/Starch-Solution-Regain-Health-Weight/dp/1623360277

You can find free info from McDougall on youtube and here: https://www.drmcdougall.com/

Summary

I got the dough making technique from a book called The Homemade Vegan Pantry by Miyoko Schinner (https://www.amazon.com/Homemade-Vegan-Pantry-Making-Staples/dp/1607746778)

If you are interested in some hardcore vegan cooking, I STRONGLY recommend that book. It's worth the $15. I also used it to culture my own cheddar, and sweet Jesus... just... just trust me on this one.

You do need a pizza stone and a pizza peel for this recipe to work.

The pizza on the right used a sauce I improvised with two cans of tomatoes, two tablespoons of tomato paste, 7 cloves of garlic, half a white onion, a few splashes of balsamic vinegar, a tsp of salt, and a tbps of raw sugar. I just put them in a food processor.

I got the pesto on the left from this recipe here: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-recipe/artichoke-and-spinach-pesto-pizza/

Toppings included sliced white mushrooms, marinated artichoke, vegan sausage, fresh basil, and Daiya mozzarella (not much, just a sprinkle). The pesto is so rich, it doesn't need the cheese IMO.

The trick is not to let the dough rise until it hits the oven. What you need to do is put a pizza stone in, and let it warm up with the oven at 500F. After an hour, you can transfer the pizza onto the stone with a pizza peel and leave it in the oven for just 10 minutes.

You might really like a tool like Cronometer. It breaks down the daily micronutrients pretty well. You can log multivitamins on there too. I take half of one of these every day and come pretty close to most of the recommended daily values https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001GAOHVG

If you are interested in learning about eating well from a nutritional standpoint, I cannot recommend highly enough Vegan for Life by Jack Norris and Virginia Messina:

https://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Life-Everything-Healthy-Plant-Based/dp/0738214930

A friend who gets an Abel and Cole veg box gave me a spare copy of the Veg Box Companion. While not strictly vegan, all the recipes are based around seasonal vegetables and provide very straightforward ideas for preparing vegetables in tasty ways, with pics, and all the recipes are easy to veganise with a substitution or two, so I use this book all the time:

https://www.abelandcole.co.uk/abel-cole-veg-box-companion

The Veganomicon is very good. It doesnt have pictures and the recipes are a little USA-centric (not all the ingredients are widely available where I live), but has some great vegan recipes and some good advice about stocking a vegan storecupboard:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1059680.Veganomicon

Since we are all a little lazy... Here are links to all of the books in my stack:
Betty Goes Vegan (my mom got this one for my boyfriend - so not strictly mine - in hopes that he would cook for me. I am pressing the tofu right now at his request, so far so good)

Vegan Eats World

Eat Drink & Be Vegan

The 30 Minute Vegan

Thug Kitchen

The Lusty Vegan (my sister bought this one for me)

One-Dish Vegan

Fresh From the Vegan Slow Cooker

Vegan Brunch (second most used, the muffin recipes in here are crazy easy to customize)

Vegan Yum Yum

Twelve Months of Monastery Soups (not blatantly vegan, but almost entirely so)

The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook (My most used, and longest owned, the best of all. All super simple ingredients, only non-vegan ingredient mentioned is honey on occasion)

Why not read what vegan nutritionists have to say on the subject? I have read Vegan for life and there's a chapter on pregnancy there. In short, yes, a healthy vegan pregnancy can easily meet the nutritional needs of both the mother and the growing baby.

However, don't take my word for it, buy vegan nutrition books and become informed on what you need to eat and do in order to ensure a healthy vegan pregnancy. In the beginning reading these nutritional books might be overwhelming as the nutritional requirements for humans (omnivores and vegans alike) is quite complex, but after a while you'll actually be grateful you delved into the subject as you'll be confident in your choice for being vegan.

There's no better time to be vegan than now. There are so many products easily available that weren't even five years ago. The transition will get even easier the longer you stick with it. Really, it seems like you need something to get you fully committed. Watch some vegan documentaries like Cowspiracy and Earthlings. It'll give you the willpower you need to move on from your old diet. Eventually it won't matter what others think or say.

If you're looking for a cheese replacement, try this https://www.amazon.com/Artisan-Vegan-Cheese-Miyoko-Schinner/dp/1570672830/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=miyoko+cheese&qid=1566034413&s=gateway&sr=8-2

I've had the store bought cheese Miyoko's makes and it's incredible.

For half and half, do you use it for coffee? I recommend Silk creamer, the others I've tried aren't as creamy.

I love to make soups; black bean, split pea, chili, tomato, lentil, etc., and serve them with a big salad topped with avocado, and sometimes baked squash. Root veggies, avocado, and beans are my go to "fill me up" items.

I also like to grill a ton of different veggies and then mix them into the soups when I serve. Sort of like a vegan stew.

I can't stress enough how important the Veganomicon cookbook is for new Vegans. It is worth every penny.

Here are some great cooking sites and videos:

http://www.connoisseurusveg.com/easy-vegan-pho?

http://www.connoisseurusveg.com/39-last-minute-vegan-thanksgiving-recipes?

http://www.connoisseurusveg.com/50-cozy-vegan-fall-stews?

http://www.connoisseurusveg.com/butternut-squash-kale-chickpea-massaman-curry

https://minimalistbaker.com/

https://www.reddit.com/r/veganrecipes/

http://veganfoodlover.com/

http://ohsheglows.com/

http://www.isachandra.com/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF-ACPYNN0oXD4ihS5mbbmw

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCudzojQxnLAI7uQPVYJy_oQ

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr1PC384fLPw5PxyXecQDTw

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer might interest you. Almost seven years old now, but still interesting.

Maybe you would like something written by the animal rights philosopher Tom Regan. His Empty Cages are a great read, and he has written a very readable introduction to moral philosophy on ~150 pages: Animal Rights, Human Wrongs

If you like to cook, and are concerned with the environmental and ethical problems of the meat industry, I'd recommend picking up a copy of one of the Thug Kitchen books. Really funny to read, pretty simple recipes, and they are really good.

Only 9 bucks for a used copy!

https://www.amazon.com/Thug-Kitchen-Official-Cookbook-Like/dp/1623363586

Welcome! I am so happy you made this decision!!!

If you're interested, do some reading up like Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals.

Browse blogs for recipes. My favorites are Oh She Glows and Post Punk Kitchen.

Enjoy the vegan life :D

You need the Veganomicon. It has been the best for helping me learn cooking techniques, stock my pantry, and find foods I enjoy that are healthy. http://www.amazon.com/Veganomicon-The-Ultimate-Vegan-Cookbook/dp/156924264X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334275750&sr=8-1

Also, I keep track of my food intake and activities here: http://www.fitday.com
It has helped so much.

Welcome to the fold. :)

No problem! It can feel very overwhelming at first, but it gets easier once you have a few go-to recipes. As an addendum to the kickstarter (or the advice in this thread in general), make sure you are supplementing your diet with B12. The simplest way to do so is probably to just take a vegan multivitamin daily, or just a B12 supplement if you feel that your other nutritional needs are being met. Good luck!

For books I recommend Becoming Vegan and Vegan for Life. These are both U.S. based but the information should be okay for U.K. readers.

For websites I'd recommend checking out the nutritional websites from the sidebar: http://veganhealth.org/, http://jacknorrisrd.com/, http://www.theveganrd.com/food-guide-for-vegans. http://www.vegankit.com/eat is also a great resource.

http://www.veganfitness.net/home/ might be helpful for weight loss questions. It has a forum and it's full of athletic veggies.

That's the first time I've heard that reason to eat vegan. You must be adventurous!

Many current vegans started off for reasons other than animal rights (myself included). But it seems that once one stops eating animals (for whatever reason), your mind is able to open up to the idea that animals are not ingredients, but rather living beings. It seems strange to me that most people do not view farm animals as living things; then again, I once held that same view myself. Logically, it is clear that animals are alive and can feel pain. But when you eat them, there is a stubborn mental block that prevents this realization.

I'm glad for any reason that people eat less animals. Hopefully when your month is over, you can think about extending your time being kinder to animals and the planet!

If you want a great cookbook, get Veganomicon.

Whole Foods is a life saver if you have one around. I like to buy bulk lentils, Quinoa, beans, rice, nuts, grains etc. You can even find that (most of the time) organic veggies are easy to come by. I think a whole foods vegan diet is a lot cheaper than one that uses substitutes and replacements, that's where you get the more pricey stuff. It's junk food anyway.

For example, for lunch at least once a week I make some quinoa, steamed radishes, carrots and whatever other veggies I have, steam a bit of kale at the last minute and lightly throw on a tahini-lemon-dill sauce. It's just the little things. Get a copy of Veganomicon


Best of luck! After the first 2 months or so (for me) the desire to eat cheese was gone. I mean, it's expired baby animal food if you really think about it. YUCK!

Hi! If you want more science on this issue these two books might be interesting 1, 2. Diabetes 2 should be completely reversible. Make sure you get enough omega-3 (lowers cholestrol dramatically, found in flaxseeds which are very easy to work with) and B12 (because you won't get the B12 the animals were supplemented with). Have a great day :)!

1. If you're both great at going cold turkey when it comes to big changes, great. Otherwise, I suggest removing things from the diet slowly. I've found the social aspect can sometimes be the most challenging - what to eat when you eat out, choosing the next restaurant to eat at with omnivore friends, what you tell people or say in front of people to the waiter when you make sure there's no dairy/eggs, what to bring to social gatherings, how to find out what food is being offered, etc. and doing all of that without causing any tension to arise.
   
   
2. Vegan cooking can be so much fun. So many ingredients can be used in unexpected ways. Using nuts to make cream bases, quinoa/rice/tempeh to replace meaty textures, vinegar and soy milk in bread/cake recipes, etc. You can ferment seeds to make rejuvelac, a drink in its own right OR the basis for your own handmade cheeses.
   Here's a list from serious eats with plenty of interesting recipes.
   
   
3. Same as avoiding processed foods in a SAD diet. Vegetables are vegetables, processed foods are processed foods.
   
   
4. Like the others said. If you consume any fortified products like nutritional yeast, soy milk. etc,. though you should be fine when it comes to B12. But essentially the same as an omnivore diet.

>But for someone like me who already eats healthy

I doubt you're eating healthy (or as healthy as a plant-based diet) if you're still consuming animal products. I used to believe the same thing because I was eating a lot of chicken and salmon. There's just an overwhelming amount of evidence that a whole-food, plant-based diet is superior. Check out the book How Not to Die by Dr. Michael Greger. He cites thousands of studies you can take a look at if you're interested.

> Insults, shame, aggressiveness are excellent tools for moving people closer to 100.

How I wish that were true! Nick Cooney, an esteemed animal rights advocate, wrote a whole book about what actually does work. It's called Change of Heart: What Psychology Can Teach Us About Spreading Social Change.

Animal rights advocate and psychologist Melanie Joy has several YouTube videos about effective advocacy as well. This is a well-researched area. If we were planting seeds by being angry, insulting and shaming people, it would be a lot easier.

Chao cheese slices make an amazing grilled cheese! I like Follow Your Heart slices too, but holy cow, Chao blows my mind.

I've also read good things about Miyoko's, but I haven't tried them yet.

There's of course lots of recipes for making your own cheese too, and recipes for making things like mac and cheese from scratch. Miyoko even has a book on the subject.

I love Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer.

As for cookbooks, this cookbook.

If you have an ice cream maker/plenty of free time, I love this for vegan ice cream

Last year I shared the five course dinner I made, but I decided to up the ante this year.

The seven courses and their sources:

(1) Warm roasted beets with wild arugula, balsamic maple pecans and orange vinaigrette
[Vegan Secret Supper]

(2) Fennel portobello soup with smoke-infused olive oil, cashew gruyere grilled cheese croutons, radicchio marmalade and beer-battered pearl onions
[Soup, olive oil, & marmalade: Vegan Secret Supper. Cheese: Artisan Vegan Cheese. Croutons and onions: Dirt Candy]

(3) Roasted cauliflower tossed in black vinegar with kimchi cream
[Vedge]

(4) Crisped turnips with falafel crumbs and creamy sesame
[Vedge]

(5) Butternut squash and almond gnocchi, sautéed in sage garlic butter, tossed in butternut squash sauce and topped with fried sage leaves
[Gnocchi: Vegan Secret Supper; Butter and sauce: original recipe]

(6) Hearts of palm cakes with curried lentils
[Vedge]

(7) Six-layer chocolate hazelnut cake, with chocolate hazelnut butter, ganache, and hazelnut chocolate chip brownie crumble coconut milk ice cream
[Cake, brownie, hazelnut butter and ganache: Vegan Chocolate. Ice cream: Vegan Secret Supper, modified]

That looks scrumptious!

I must try the garbanzo flour.

Have you tried the salt that tastes like eggs?

The recipe I use is super simple and is included in the revolutionary Non-Dairy Evolution Cookbook by Chef Skye Michael Conroy. The uncannily eggy flavor in this recipe (and in many others in this feature) is achieved via kala namak salt, a highly sulfurous rock salt that tastes and smells just like eggs.

Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook is a pretty effing sweet cookbook. There are a number of vegan "cheese" recipes in it. I love them, but acknowledge my tastes are different from an omnivore's. I don't think of them as a direct substitute for cheese but as something else entirely (similar to how you shouldn't think of tofu as mock chicken...it's tofu).

But I definitely encourage you to experiment. My favorite "cheese" recipe involves cashews, lemon juice + other spices, and tofu (all blended together) to make a mock ricotta. Does it taste exactly like ricotta? I don't know...pretty sure it doesn't. Is it tasty? Damn straight.

I'm assuming from the brands you mention that you're in the US, so I can't make specific recommendations for that. However, if you feel up to venturing into the exciting world of vegan cheese making, Miyoko Schinner has a great book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1570672830/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_XtXSDb6S6C0G8

It's not as hard as it sounds, and a home-made, air dried and matured cheese is thousands of times better than most of the commercially available vegan cheeses, as well as being a lot cheaper if you're eating lots of it.

I just have to underline this. How Not to Die is amongst the best books on nutrition ever. As long as someone is open to reading it, it's perhaps the best gift you can give them. Sadly, the folks who need to read it the most, are the most likely ones to ignore it.

Another book that is quite excellent, though a little older (but appears recently updated), is Becoming Vegan

Check out the lemon curd/bar recipe in The Homemade Vegan Pantry! It's made with a base of cashew cream, which apparently thickens in the same way eggs do into that glossy, thick curd, without the worry of accidentally scrambling them. I wish I could find a blog post of something to link, it's seriously amazing. Minimalist Baker has some good lemon bars, too, that are cool and creamy - a little less true to a traditional lemon bar, but definitely worth an evening to bake!

I agree Chao, Daiya, and Follow Your Heart are good. Here is a book I've always wanted to try some recipes from. The author is like the queen of vegan cheese or something.

I make my own cheese now. I still buy some at the store because it takes time to make it and the convenience is something I like, but it seems like you may need to go the homemade route. Here are two cookbooks that I use for cheeses.

Easier - This Cheese Is Nuts

More Advanced - Miyoko's

are you good with recipes? maybe a beginer level cookbook would be your jam.

peta's always good for cookbooks.
http://www.amazon.com/PETAs-Vegan-College-Cookbook-Delicious/dp/1402218850

and veganomicon is quite popular as well.
http://www.amazon.com/Veganomicon-Ultimate-Isa-Chandra-Moskowitz/dp/156924264X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416511134&sr=1-1&keywords=veganomicon

both are good starter level cookbooks.

i'd reccomend cooking in big batches and freezing stuff.

if this doesn't work, try your local asian or indian grocery store. they have a ton of instant meals for dirt ass cheap (like a buck or 2 each) many of which are vegan..


congrats on going vegan too, btw!

The quick, easy way is to blend raw cashews (soaked if your blender is not high powered), nooch, and whatever seasonings you want. I like to add a little white miso. A dash of lemon juice, vinegar, or hot sauce is good. Here is a good basic recipe: http://www.oneingredientchef.com/cashew-cheese/

You can make it thinner or thicker depending on whether you want to use it as a spread or sauce.

I have also used this one for pizza: https://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/melty-stretchy-gooey-vegan-mozarella/

If you Google "cashew cheese" you will get tons of ideas.

If you want to get serious and start making aged cheeses and stuff, Miyoko Schinner published a cheesemaking book. https://www.amazon.com/Artisan-Vegan-Cheese-Miyoko-Schinner/dp/1570672830

Just do 3 new things every grocery trip.
Muesli bars: try Clif bars instead, they have a billion flavors too. More from PETA
Tiny teddies: Not sure, I'll look next time I'm at the store.
Cheese: Just cut it out. Whole foods has some up and coming nut cheeses though like Kite Hill's. Also look this book has some great stuff, and they just announced a product line for this summer.
Crackers: There's a billion crackers and many of them are vegan. My mom loves these and they go good with a dollop of toffutti cream cheese.

Green is the new Red Is a great book about animal rights activism.

Change of Heart Is a great book about the psychology of spreading social change.

Edit: I'd also recommend watching Cowspiracy and Specisism: The Movie.

https://www.amazon.com/Isa-Does-Amazingly-Delicious-Recipes/dp/0316221902

Isa Does It. She's one of my favorite vegan chefs and this book has a good mix of recipes that span multiple cuisines. Good food takes time so there are some recipes that will take awhile, but not all of them. And she has a lot of great tips too.

> Fruits and vegetables are not remotely filling for me. Bread and rice is, I've been chowing down on that.

So what's the problem? It sounds like you answered your own question. Eat whole grain bread, whole grain pasta, brown rice, potatoes, lentils.

I'm just like you, I literally wrote a similar post earlier today. If I eat just a salad even if it is enormous I don't feel satiated. If I eat some corn or bread with it I'm fine.

It sounds like you discovered "The Starch Solution" on your own. Whole grain carbohydrates are GOOD for you so eat them!

https://www.amazon.com/Starch-Solution-Regain-Health-Weight/dp/1623360277

Thanks for posting! I would love to have sunny side up "eggs" again. People are getting so damn clever with recipes. Did it really taste like eggs? I put the black kala Namak salt in my tofu scrambles. It does have a good egg flavor.

You can buy that special salt on Amazon 11 bucks for a pound of it. (That's a crazy amount but you can share it.)

Veganomicon is a good one: http://www.amazon.com/Veganomicon-The-Ultimate-Vegan-Cookbook/dp/156924264X

But, there's no perfect cookbook. I do the majority of my cooking by searching for a recipe online and adding the word "vegan". I highly recommend watching Earthlings -- it's more effective at ending meat cravings than any recipe book.

Yeah, artichokes are pretty much the filet mignon of vegetables. And what about mushrooms? Mushrooms are genetically more similar to animals than to plants, and have that glorious meaty taste and consistency. Not just portobellos, but the wealth of culinary mushrooms that everyone seems to forget about: oysters, maitakes, morels, cloud ear fungus...

Eggplants rock too, especially when slow-roasted or baked with a high-end vegan nut cheese (I like Miyoko's brand).

Pro tip: if you're a meat-loving vegan, this cookbook will change your life.