Attempting Veganism

I have been a vegan for 5 days now and it's getting rather annoying - first of all I am bored with eating the same basic foods all the time and second I seem to hardly ever feel full. As I'm already rather thin I don't really want to lose any weight. I REALLY don't want to quit but I also don't need this additional stress / hardship in my life. - Did anyone else find it tough at first ? - What kept you going ? - Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

You need a psychotic aversion to most food.

 

Hail, Treefingers. =) Good to hear you are going vegan! If I may be of assistance, don't hesitate to PM me.

Firstly, about the same old boring foods: Go to the biggest supermarket you know of and go exploring. Look for "Amy's" brand products and try all kinds of different foods.

The key to not getting bored with what you eat is to eat different stuff all the time. If you're at all like me, you WILL get bored of salads, so go out and try some Just Like Chicken Nuggets or Boca Burgers. Just take a couple hours to explore specially-vegan foods. =)

If you're having problems feeling full, eat more pasta. Eat heavier foods: potatoes, any kind of pasta or carb-filled foods. Pasta (with the exception of egg noodles) is almost always vegan, and you can even make it with margarine or add tomato sauce just like always. And potatoes can be made a million different ways. Try some rice, and you can always default to french fries (yes, we vegans don't have to miss out on THAT much ...).

I'm very thin myself: Before I went vegan, I weighed about 130-135.

After I went vegan, I ate salads mostly for about a month, and went down to 125. I took someone's advice and loaded up on pasta (because I also didn't want to lose weight), and after 2 or 3 months I maxed at about 140, and even went up to 145.

Since then I've stabilized at the same old 130 to 135. Just vary what you eat.

I didn't find going from omnivore to vegan tough -- at all -- but some people do. Because of my childhood, I have very strong willpower ... if you have problems resisting meat or other things, I suggest this trick:

Instead of thinking "Oh, I can't eat that anymore," start thinking "Oh, I can't eat that."

As drumminmama said once, meat is like a lightbulb on a plate once you are vegan for a while ...

 

When I went vegan it didnt even phase me. I just thought I was gonna do it, and did, and that was that. Isnt really much to it.

Your just thinkin' about it man. You probly ate tons of vegan meals when you were veg and werent thinkin about it so you didnt worry about it.

But, since its a worthy cause Ill try to suggest some things anyway... Cereal with soymilk really fills me up. Always some kind of whole grain cereal, it isnt hard at all to find this. Its a cheap meal, plus it has all your vitamins in it and saves you cash there. Soy foods and fake meats and bean burritos fill me up. Amys makes a good organic burrito if you havent time to make your own. Combining foods seems to help fill me up to, just eating a little of a lot of diff. stuff. Experiment when you have time. Bananas also seem to help fill me up a lot. Soup is a good one too.

You get used to it, the same way you quit meat. In almost no time, youll be lookin at dairy products like you do meat and wont want to go near them. Just avoid straight up dairy for now if you have to, and drink soymilk and watch that.

And keep in mind what makes a vegan healthy for the mostpartorganic when possible) fruits, vegetables, soy foods, legumes+whole grains in all their wonderful forms. Theres LOOTS of vegan food out there, and you probably eat a lot of it without realizing it. Just do it one step at a time and remember why your doing it.

 

Going vegetarian was really easy for me. I mean, it was as easy as switching toothpaste brands, or something. However, going from vegetarian to vegan...wake me from the nightmare! When one becomes a vegetarian, they are only eliminating meats. When one decides to live a vegan style...they are giving up eggs, milk and milk products (cheese, ice-cream, yogurt, creamy sauces, and all that goodness), effing honey...effing everything!...I just couldn't do it. I was in a constant state of hunger...and all I thought about was food (like anorexics, a bit). To me, food should not be so important...but when one becomes a vegan, you're spending several hours in the grocery story examining all of the products. I never had a problem with being bored with the food choices, though. You just have to take the time to plan out your meals and find some recipes. I lasted a couple of weeks, or so.

Now i'm a full-fledge meat eater (forgive me). My mom made briscuit for a party...and I went over to the dark side. Damn. Now I've found it harder to go back to being a vegetarian. I don't know why. Maybe it's my lack of belief in it. I used to feel so strongly about it. Now I don't.

I don't think you should give up if you really believe in it. Surf the web for recipes. Go to a natural food store. Eat polenta (*sigh* but not the yummy, Italian cheesey polenta).

 

Ah, omg! Well the quote was about meat, and you were the one who did say it when I first saw it ...

Let me make amends ...

As drumminmama once said (while quoting Jezmund), "meat is like a lightbulb on a plate," to most of us vegans after a while.

 

First of all, RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH. I cannot stress that enough. And, I don't mean researching the way animals are treated, etc [although, doing that may help UP your motivation to stay vegan], I mean research your diet. Research, instead of what you CAN'T eat, what you CAN. You'd be surprised of some of the things that are "accidentally" vegan. Like, Reeses Puffs cereal. I recently discovered they are vegan. Boy, oh boy, am I glad they are, hehe.

Knowing what you CAN eat is a more positive way of looking at it, I think. When you dwell mainly on "I can't eat this, I can't eat this" think, "I CAN eat Reeses Puffs, I CAN eat most spaghetti pastas" etc.

I think the attitude, is the main thing to focus on. You have to make your attitude positive, thinking in positive tones rather than negatives... rather than I "can't" or "don't" etc.

Next, like Hikaru said, if you are having problems feeling full, not just pasta, but almost any carbohydrate should help you feel full. Breads, pastas, potatoes, cereals, oats/oatmeals, etc.

I'm not sure what your diet consists of right now, but I'm hoping you aren't kicking this off the way I tried to a couple years ago, which ultimately resulted in me not following through. It seemed to me, at the time, as if the only thing I could eat were actual veggies, fruits, etc. But, that's not all that's available to you. You can find almost anything you normally would have eaten in a vegan replacement form. Anything from butter, to egg replacers, to sour cream, to cream cheese, soymilks, etc.

Do a lot of looking around your local markets and such, do a lot of asking questions... if you can't find something you are looking for, ask, and if it's not available, it never hurts to ask if they can order some in. Most markets are more than willing to, because it's all about customer satisfaction. If a place knows they can keep you as a customer by doing something as simple as say, ordering in a box of "Amy's Asian Noodle Stir Fry" they'll do it.

For more "foreign" foods, you have to be willing to experiment. And, keep trying. Keep experimenting with different brands, different ways of seasoning things, etc. Also, because, your taste buds, through my observation anyway, tend to adapt to things you continue to eat, even if you may not have liked it before hand.

I used to HATE soymilk, the thick texture, the more bland taste, etc. But, I kept drinking it, I made myself adapt to it. Now, I go through about 3 quarts of soymilk every week, because I love it.

Don't be afraid to eat plentiful either. If you eat lots of low in fat vegan foods, you won't gain weight... in fact, I lost a lot of weight. I eat twice as much as I ever did, but it's all healthy.

At first, it DOES seem as if there are very little options, and that you keep eating the same foods all the time, but the truth is, the more you push yourself to experiment, the wider the variety your plate will become. That's the trick, just experiment, and don't be afraid to.

But, back to my first statement...research is the key.

If you have any questions or need some light shed upon the subject if you feel you're losing drive, just feel free to PM me.

 

Hey thanks for all the help guys ... I guess there are lots of different vegan foods out there - the problem is that the majority of it is not to my taste - I have always been a rather fussy eater and have always hated more foods than I have liked - Now I can't even eat most of the food that I do like. - As for giving up - I doubt that I even could... I'm now at a stage where I would rather eat dirt than an animal product - I guess I just need to trawl the food stores.

 

Your making it sound wayyy too hard. Dont focus on what you cant have... and fight the important battles first if finding other good food is hard for you. For example, dont worry about honey in the beginning, or whey or caseine in things. Just make the changes where it counts most. And then progress and learn at a rate your comfortable with I guess...Food is like evolution, or game, you learn more and play better as you go.

 

God, those Asian Noodle Stir Frys are NOT exactly what I call good. I prefer the Tofu Vegetable Bowls, with the rice. <3

Pathetic! I go through a quart per day. ^_^ Hehe

Hey, remember this: What you eat becomes what you like.

A few months ago, I decided to start eating lots and lots of really spicy foods, especially Indian food with lots of spices. It took a lot of determination, but with every bit that I ate, the spices became more and more of a reason why I liked it. Now I can't keep myself away from Indian food.

If you're a picky eater, all you have to do is literally start eating the foods that you don't like, and after a short while, you will like them, guaranteed. It's all in the mind.

 

I didn't have a problem going vegan. And, honestly, I gained weight, because I was trying all kinds of new recipes!

Make some high calorie dishes, like noodles with oil and seeds and beans and spices. Or order a pizza with no cheese and lots of veggies on it. Pizza fills you up.

 

LMAO! I know how you feel man.. It really sucks being a vegetarian. I sometimes miss the meats..But I am keeping myself strong..
I am thinking about being vegan recently,because my mother done brainwashed me (lol) into thinking milk is for baby cows..lol
I dont know though.. I cant give you info untill I am a full-fledged vegan.
Though, I can say I eat lots of soy..and it makes my tummy hurt.. I dont know why neither...

 

milk IS for baby cows...
what kinda soy do you eat?
tempeh or tofus the most natural i think. fake meat has lots of additives for taste...do you drink soymilk?? that seems to calm my stomach when its upset more than anything.

 

I used to be a very picky eater..until I went to college and had to buy my own food haha.
I agree with what Hikaru said - if you start eating more of the foods you dont like, maybe different combinations, you'll start to like them more. Just experiment.
I know there is a lot of vegan 'foreign' food that I like. Just keep a supply of random veggies, rice, pasta, beans...and experiment w/ different kinds of burritos, stir fry, curry, sandwiches, salads.
One of my favorite snacks - buy some frozen soybeans (edamame), boil them for a couple min (til they float), strain w/ cold water, add some salt for flavor, and then suck em out of the pods. yum