Going vegan, advice?

[azom]

Get used to reading ingredient lists. Every ingredient counts in veganism.

Be careful of things with gelatin in them. Gelatin isn't vegan.

 

[YankeeFan]

That said, you can go on an all oreo and pop tart diet and call yourself a vegan.

...

You can be a really unhealthy vegan, eating a variety of crappy, processed foods.

A friend of my wife visited from out of town last year. She was described as a vegetarian.

So, we took her to the farmers market, which is spectacular, and where there's a crepe stand that makes awesome crepes, with fresh market ingredients.

We walked over to Whole Foods for lunch one day, and went to a fancy vegetarian restaurant for her birthday.

Turns out, while she doesn't eat meat, she's not much of a vegetarian. She's more like a mac-and-cheese-etarian.

She ate like crap. Scarfed down cookies and candy, and barely ate vegetables. She was completely unadventurous. She didn't get a crepe. (I don't think she got anything at the market.) And, she picked at many of the dishes at the vegetarian restaurant. (We did a multi-course tasting menu, and everything was delicious.)

 

[Iron_chet]

Be careful what beer you drink!

I think I may have told this story on here before. I have a really good friend who has been a hardcore vegan for 15+ years. He stopped drinking Molson products IIRC because he found out they used fish oil to clean the lines in the brewery.

He joked that it seemed over the top but said if you are comitted, you're committed.

ETA Vietnamese and Thai restaurants are now probably your best bets for eating out.

 

[YankeeFan]

ETA Vietnamese and Thai restaurants are now probably your best bets for eating out.

Indian too. Italian is very easy too. Plenty of pizza and pasta dishes you can do.

 

[The Big Ragu]

Be careful what beer you drink!

I think I may have told this story on here before. I have a really good friend who has been a hardcore vegan for 15+ years. He stopped drinking Molson products IIRC because he found out they used fish oil to clean the lines in the brewery.

He joked that it seemed over the top but said if you are comitted, you're committed.

ETA Vietnamese and Thai restaurants are now probably your best bets for eating out.

There are a lot of things like what you are talking about. ... If you don't eat meat, but eat dairy (so not vegan), most cheeses you buy at the store are produced using animal rennet to speed up coagulation.

 

[JayFarrar]

Vegans can't eat pasta, right? To make the noodles, you'd need an egg, or two, so eggs would make pasta on the bad list.

 

[The Big Ragu]

Vegans can't eat pasta, right? To make the noodles, you'd need an egg, or two, so eggs would make pasta on the bad list.

Well, they won't eat egg noodles, or pasta that has egg added for flavor. But basic pasta is simply semolina flour and water. You can make pasta with a whole wheat flour and water, too.

 

[swenk]

Not vegan in any way, but to address the "How'm I gonna get through this" concern:

I'm currently doing a 3-week Carb Detox program for a project I'm working on. Lowest carbs possible, pretty much only fish/poultry and greens. Designed for elite athletes, but anyone can do it for weight loss, performance, overall health. The physical symptoms of sugar withdrawal are interesting, but the mental component of fighting cravings and breaking habits is more challenging.

Advice: Don't overthink it. You can get through a week of anything, it's just food. You're not making a lifestyle change, you're doing this for a specific end result, to see what it's like so you can accurately write about it. Prepare a plan for what you're going to eat and when, so you're not blindsided by lack of food options. Keep snacks with you for when you get a craving for something on the NO list, so you're not tempted to cheat. Take great notes on what you ate and how you felt, because you're going to forget later.

And then be grateful you're not giving up all your carbs!

 

[Buck]

I think it's an interesting assignment.
I've known people who try to become vegan or vegatarian but end up eating a lot more junk food. Might be interesting to do a week of each - healthy and unhealthy approaches ti veganism.

On principle, if I was going to follow a vegan diet for a week I would dress in leather, head to toe, every day.

 

[The Big Ragu]

On principle, if I was going to follow a vegan diet for a week I would dress in leather, head to toe, every day.

That seems like a pretty good middle ground.

 

[Buck]

On principle, if I was going to follow a vegan diet for a week I would dress in leather, head to toe, every day.

That seems like a pretty good middle ground.

Fish is the middle ground.

In fact, that should be the new tagline for the seafood industry.

 

[old_tony]

Just make sure you write the story from a "I'm better than you" point of view or it won't be accurate.

 

[Beef03]

Just make sure you write the story from a "I'm better than you" point of view or it won't be accurate.

I am now officially vegan.

For the next seven days anyway.

And Tony I definitely will write it from that view point

Thank you all for your suggestions and tips, some definitely useful tips in there. I am going to go all out on it -- I'm not going to sit and eat PBJ sandwiches all week. This means tofu at least a couple of times and no leather jacket, shoes, etc. Two big issues I'm hitting right now is my wallet, though I have got to have a canvas one around here somewhere, besides they're easy enough to find. The other is a belt. Just finding a standard leather one in my size is tough around here not holding my breath on a non-leather one. Maybe I go the always classy suspenders route.

Toying with the idea of a diary/blog for the week. Would be pretty simple to do, would also supplement the story and make it easier when it comes to writing it.

 

[Beef03]

Not vegan in any way, but to address the "How'm I gonna get through this" concern:

I'm currently doing a 3-week Carb Detox program for a project I'm working on. Lowest carbs possible, pretty much only fish/poultry and greens. Designed for elite athletes, but anyone can do it for weight loss, performance, overall health. The physical symptoms of sugar withdrawal are interesting, but the mental component of fighting cravings and breaking habits is more challenging.

Advice: Don't overthink it. You can get through a week of anything, it's just food. You're not making a lifestyle change, you're doing this for a specific end result, to see what it's like so you can accurately write about it. Prepare a plan for what you're going to eat and when, so you're not blindsided by lack of food options. Keep snacks with you for when you get a craving for something on the NO list, so you're not tempted to cheat. Take great notes on what you ate and how you felt, because you're going to forget later.

And then be grateful you're not giving up all your carbs!

I actually went on a paleo diet for about two years and want to get back on it. I know it is not the same as giving up all my carbs -- there are carbs in a lot of things that you don't think would have them, you just have to be very selective in what kind of carbs your getting when you do eat them, but I strangely didn't miss them that much. Bread was easy for me to walk away from, the hardest was pasta. I love pasta, but went almost two years without any. This also meant no pop -- which was surprisingly easy to give up -- or sugar, etc. My one cheat was every couple of weeks I would have a pint, sometimes two. That was it.

I was very successful with the diet, lost almost 100 pounds.

Good luck with your detox, Swenk.

 

[The Big Ragu]

Just make sure you write the story from a "I'm better than you" point of view or it won't be accurate.

I am now officially vegan.

For the next seven days anyway.

And Tony I definitely will write it from that view point

Thank you all for your suggestions and tips, some definitely useful tips in there. I am going to go all out on it -- I'm not going to sit and eat PBJ sandwiches all week. This means tofu at least a couple of times and no leather jacket, shoes, etc. Two big issues I'm hitting right now is my wallet, though I have got to have a canvas one around here somewhere, besides they're easy enough to find. The other is a belt. Just finding a standard leather one in my size is tough around here not holding my breath on a non-leather one. Maybe I go the always classy suspenders route.

Toying with the idea of a diary/blog for the week. Would be pretty simple to do, would also supplement the story and make it easier when it comes to writing it.

I didn't imagine you were going to buy all new accessories for an assignment -- and one that is only a week.

I have gone through a variety of non-leather wallets. The latest is called the All-Ett. For those who hate bulky wallets, it's actually pretty good. Light, nylon material, but it is really tough. And not silly looking like a velcro wallet made for a 12-year-old. It holds a ton and is really thin. http://www.amazon.com/All-Ett-Original-Black-Billfold-Wallet/dp/B000E1GRIO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384598938&sr=8-1&keywords=all-ett

On belts, I have a couple of hemp belts, usually go without a belt. When I need to get dressed, I have a couple of belts that I got from a vegan store (I feel stupid just saying it) that sells overpriced things, but is local. Nobody can tell the belts aren't leather. I am not sure what they are made of. I took their word for it that it wasn't made from leather (actually said it on the manufacturer's label), but I wouldn't be surprised if they sold me a leather belt, told me it was not leather, and hiked up the price -- laughing at me as I walked out the door.

 

[SpeedTchr]

Wallet? Don't you have pockets?

 

[YankeeFan]

Yeah, I don't use a wallet. I just wrap my cash around my credit/debit cards and ID.

Ragu, I always thought of you as a vegetarian for health issues, not moral issues. You avoid leather too?

 

[93Devil]

Find a good middle ground and call it a day.

Or once again show lack of understanding about something.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pescetarianism

You REALLY want to revisit one of your stupidist moments on here (and for it to reach the top of that list, it must have really been dumb)?

People who eat fish aren't vegetarians. By definition.

They obviously aren't vegans either.

Only a dolt would serve fish to a vegetarian and sincerely think he was accommodating the person's dietary wishes.

Do you know why some people are vegetarians in the first place? They don't want to eat people with a face you pompous mother ****er. That's why some vegetarians will eat fish you *****cat.

If you can't put two and two together that there are people in the world who do things for reasons other than you, than you are the ****ing idiot walking around in a la la world of denial.

 

[93Devil]

On principle, if I was going to follow a vegan diet for a week I would dress in leather, head to toe, every day.

That seems like a pretty good middle ground.

About as good as making people you are a business big wig rather than devoting your life to creating ****ty newsletters.

 

[93Devil]

On principle, if I was going to follow a vegan diet for a week I would dress in leather, head to toe, every day.

That seems like a pretty good middle ground.

Fish is the middle ground.

In fact, that should be the new tagline for the seafood industry.

Derp....

http://vegetarian.about.com/od/vegetarianvegan101/tp/TypesofVeg.htm

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/the-different-kinds-of-vegetarians.html

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/pescovegetarian-3146.html