View Poll Results: How did you go vegan - and was it easy for you?

Voters
531. You may not vote on this poll
  • Omni -> vegan. Easy.

    154 29.00%
  • Omni -> vegan. Difficult.

    4 0.75%
  • Omni -> vegan. Somewhere between easy and difficult.

    48 9.04%
  • Omni -> lacto-vegetarian -> vegan. Omni to lacto-veggie was easiest.

    125 23.54%
  • Omni -> lacto-veggie -> vegan. Lacto-veggie to vegan was easiest.

    149 28.06%
  • Less difficult than it would have been to continue not to live according to my viewpoints (added July-06)

    51 9.60%
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Thread: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

  1. #151
    The Veganbetic's Avatar
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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    Quote rainbow View Post
    Oh dear, that was a long post! Sorry.
    I enjoyed reading it, but I do feel for you having to have gone through all that. You poor thing!

    In my own experience, it was a walk in the park to first give up veal years ago, as soon as I learned about the veal industry. Pork---never liked pork except bacon, so that was easy to give up. Never liked chicken much, either, and even when I was eating it, I'd gag as I prepared it. WTF, right? Why keep eating stuff that makes you sick to your stomach as you cook it? Lamb---never really liked it. Fish was easy to give up because I am an oceanophile and almost fanatically devoted to its conservation as well as to the protection of its creatures (this goes for freshwater ecosystems as well).

    Steak and burgers---that was a bit more challenging, as I loved me a bit of steak with Bearnaise. But it, too, went bye-bye.

    The hardest was giving up cheese and butter and cheese and ice cream and sour cream and cheese and cream sauces and cream cheese and cheese. LOL. Never liked milk, and it always affected me badly anyway. I was never an egg fan, and hated them unless they were baked into a cake, etc.

    Imagine my surprise when Dr. Neal Barnard of PCRM let slip that cheese and butter and other dairy products are addicting. Until then, I had had more success in permanently quitting a 4-pack a day menthol cigarette habit than I had quitting dairy!

  2. #152

    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    I chose "Omni to lacto-veggie was easiest."

    I was expecting it to be difficult but it was surprisingly easy. About 2-3 months later I went vegan. It was somewhat difficult at the beginning, not because of craving (I was never that fond of cheese) but just in finding vegan safe foods. After about a few months I had settled in nicely. The most difficult was in going raw (still working on it. not 100% raw yet but I'm getting there.) Giving up bread and pasta was the hardest part, but I did it.

    The only thing stopping me from being legitimately raw now are plant milks and canned veggies. But I'll eventually ditch em'!!!

  3. #153
    fiver's Avatar
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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    Omni -> lacto-veg required the most "effort". Although, I had started to form moral convictions which made it impossible for me to continue being omni. Aside from a couple of slip-ups , it wasn't so hard. Going from lacto-veg -> vegan was easy.

  4. #154

    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    Going from omni to veggie was easy - when eating out somewhere there was usually an option, and when invited to dinner somewhere, the omnivores I know were surprisingly willing to use quorn instead of meat (although there was one time I was given fish, because 'That's vegetarian! My vegetarian neighbour eats chicken and fish!').

    Going vegan was easy in one respect - it is, to me, the only possible way.

    Eating out is hard though, and so is going to someone's house for dinner. Most folk don't seem to understand what being vegan means, and I feel like I'm seriously inconveniencing them. If I offer to bring something for myself, though, they get cross.

    And, oh! The amount of people who ask me why I'm vegan, and then when I tell them, get angry with me for telling them?

  5. #155

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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    Hi all,

    an interesting study came up on my radar today, although it seems as if it has been around for some time:

    Don't know who else has already seen this. Seems there is a new 'study' out where ~ 2000 vegans were interviewed about whether they think veganism is easy, whether it helped them achieve their health targets and so on.

    http://perfectformuladiet.com/wp-con...nside-rept.pdf

    Didn't yet have the time to go into the details, but it seems that 65% of vegans see their transition to veganism as 'moderate effort' and some additional 25 % say it is 'no effort at all' - reinforcing the thought shared in this thread that it is NOT hard or impossible to go vegan.

    Best regards,
    Andy

    PS: I'm a bad example of this, as it took me 20 years to make the step from vegetarianism to veganism - am also in the camp of 'had I only thought about it properly earlier' :-(

  6. #156

    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    Born Vegetarian -> Vegan (easy/medium)

  7. #157
    Greyowl55's Avatar
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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    Quote Andy_T View Post
    an interesting study came up on my radar today, although it seems as if it has been around for some time:
    Thank you. Much as expected. I have made the traditional journey from the meat-and-two-veg upbringing to vegetarianism to veganism. Over a life time. I have found it an easy and natural process, a path which I embarked upon for religious, moral and health reasons. Yes, there are the odd lapses, but I am not going to beat myself up about those. My decision is a personal lifestyle choice which I do not seek to impose on others or take to extremes.
    "Nostalgia is not what it used to be"

  8. #158
    Abe Froman Risker's Avatar
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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    Quote Andy_T View Post
    an interesting study came up on my radar today, although it seems as if it has been around for some time:
    That bits kinda interesting, just a shame that the rest of the 'study' is about as scientific as homoeopathic medicine.

  9. #159
    LuvAllLife's Avatar
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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    I went from vegetarian to vegan so it wasn't to much of a stretch, found it very easy. My husband went from meat eater straight to vegan and it was easy for him as well. We did a lot of research to ensure we had all our nutritional needs covered. He actually enjoys grocery shopping now; it means a lot more when you are really excited about putting great fuel in your body! So bottom line: It was quite easy for us
    Animals are my friends... and I don't eat my friends.

  10. #160

    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    Actually making the change was pretty easy, especially after I started to 'feel' healthier. Getting support from family is a bit more complicated =/

  11. #161
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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    Unapologetic omni until late teenager, apologetic omni from 19-21 (I knew factory farming was wrong but I didn't stop eating meat, milk or eggs), vegetarian from 21-22 and now vegan.

    Once I really, truly 'twigged' that eating animals was wrong, I just stopped buying meat. There was a very short period during which I wasn't trying to be vegetarian but where I was conciously eating less meat for welfarist reasons. I was a guilty vegetarian for a year, making excuses for drinking milk and such. I think that was the most difficult bit - feeling like I was trying to do something good but knowing I was actually just closing my mind to things I didn't want to think about. Once I actually decided to go vegan, it was another easy transition.

  12. #162
    hermitwin
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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    Is it normal to have diarrhea when eating plenty of fruits?

  13. #163
    leedsveg
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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    Hi hermitwin and welcome to the forum.

    If you suddenly start eating a lot more fruit than previously (especially in one go), then you'd probably get a problem with 'the trots'. Best to increase your fruit intake gradually, spacing it out throughout the day. There could even be a particular fruit causing a problem in which case, cut back and replace with a more 'friendly' alternative.

    Leedsveg

  14. #164
    baffled harpy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    Hermitwin, I would also try scaling back the fruit and having more vegetables instead for a bit, as the acidity of some fruit can cause problems when you're not used to it. Also if you've suddenly started eating more raw food that could be a factor - so you could try having more cooked food for a while, just until you acclimatise.

  15. #165
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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    When I first went veggie (lacto-ovo) I used to think that I'd NEVER become a vegan. That was just too extreme. But after a while, I sort of realized the benefits of a vegan diet and lifestyle. But if I have to be 100% honest, then I have to say that lacto-ovo --> vegan was the most difficult choice, since it involved so much more! And Norway isn't really a vegan friendly country either... But now I am perfectly happy with this lifestyle! I will NEVER revert to become a meat-eater again, that's for sure!
    Why kill when you have the choice to avoid it?

  16. #166

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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    hehe, it was almost too easy that I wondered how in the world did I not miss meat a bit.
    P.s. This is my first post, and for some reason, this forum does not like my yahoo mail account(never received an activation mail but got one instantly after switching to gmail).

  17. #167

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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    I was rased vegan so it was easy in that sense but growing up especially as a teen I felt a lot of pressure from other children to try various things. I never had meat but I did try milk chocolate and various other things with cream in them. mostly I thought they were over rated

  18. #168
    Cakeaholic rainbow's Avatar
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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    @HellKat - wow, that's really interesting. I have often thought that animal products weren't so much intrinsically good as an acquired taste. We tend to like what we know and what we grew up with, much of which is habit, nostalgia and tradition rather than a genuine preference for certain tastes over others. Once I get out of the habit of eating things, they lose their interest for me. When I tell people that I intend to raise my children vegan, they consider this tantamount to child abuse and deprivation of all these wonderful things. I have never seen it that way and it seems that you weren't missing out on much by being raised vegan! (And you got exposed to all those delicious vegan foods from childhood and never got force-fed cruelty - lucky you!).
    Live and let live

  19. #169

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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    Quote rainbow View Post
    We tend to like what we know and what we grew up with, much of which is habit, nostalgia and tradition rather than a genuine preference for certain tastes over others
    I strongly agree with this, I often get nostalgic for food that I had when I was a child or pre-Vegan, if I make them or find Vegan versions they tend to turn out less tasty than I thought, the only exceptions bring trifle and Jammy dodgers.

    Quote rainbow View Post
    When I tell people that I intend to raise my children vegan, they consider this tantamount to child abuse
    People are pretty stupid sometimes, especially when by giving their children milk they are feeding them Pus, Blood and growth hormones (and I find that far closer to child abuse).

    Going Vegan for me was pretty easy, I was an omnivore, read about a famous Vegan, did some research into why someone would want to be Vegan and then decided that was how I wanted to live my life (although when I say decided I feel that there was no decision to be made, knowing what I do about animal issues I have to live this way)

  20. #170
    Abe Froman Risker's Avatar
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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    .

  21. #171
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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    Omni to vegan, BAM straight away. Really easy too. Like previous comments, once I saw the light and realized where my 'food' came from, there was no choice, it was no longer appetizing or appealing. Although my wallet hated me, as I had a lot of replacing to do, food and toiletries! My flatmates loved all the free stuff though.....
    Even the smallest person can change the course of the future

  22. #172
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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    A LOT easier than I expected! I had a few slip ups with milk chocolate at the start though, so I can't say totally easy.

  23. #173
    Vegan Joe
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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    57 years of age.
    5+ years a vegan.
    I start by deciding on a vegan diet for 30 days to beat a cholesterol test.
    Doctor wrote a note on my blood test results (cholesterol included) Said the were cholesterol pill at the pharmacy for me and would I take them and retest my cholesterol in 30 days.
    My Cholesterol was 246. After 31 day on a vegan diet it went to 167.
    During those 31 days I read and studied about veganism and a vegan diet.
    When I craved a hamburger, I would tell myself that in thirty days I can have thirty hamburgers, so just get something to eat and think about something else. This was good training because after my test results came back I was convince that a vegan diet and life style was for me. So it wasn't so bad. I'm old enough to know that it not important what other people think of me. I had no cultural or family cuisine problems I couldn't over come, This included being married with 4 kids. I'm the only one in my family but They are more educated about these things than most and it often influences some of their choices.

  24. #174
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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    My transition was Omni-> lacto veggie-> vegan. Over all, it was pretty easy for me. The easiest was the step from veggie to vegan. About 8 or 9 months ago I gave up meat. I had to deal with arguments and discussions from my parents, but everything went back to normal after a while.
    Then, at the beginning of this summer, I gave up dairy and eggs and everything that comes from an animal. I looked for some alternatives for cosmetics(the personal care ones) and I gave up make up, because there isn't any vegan brand here, where I'm living and because I've always wanted to do that change. Surprisingly for me, I find vegan food very easy here. It's not labeled as vegan food, of course, but looking through the supermarket I came across so many and they're not even very processed foods. And they have also some pretty accessible prices. So being a vegan here is way much easier than I thought. Too bad that there aren't so many here... yet.
    "We all love animals. Why do we call some "pets" and others "dinner?" - K.D. Lang

  25. #175

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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    I went vegetarian when I had just turned 15, and I found it fairly easy, although at first I missed certain foods, but my mum got loads of quorn food, etc, so it was fairly easy to adjust. Then I went vegan when I was 18 1/2 after I had already tried it for a week a couple of months previously, and I found it hard at first because I wasn't sure exactly what I could eat or not. I have been vegan just over a year and even now I find out some things I have eaten haven't been vegan, such as fortune cookies which contain egg, but I am careful to check products to make sure I can eat them. It was easy to go vegan because I just suddenly felt really dirty eating anything from an animal. The hardest part was knowing what I could and couldn't eat. For instance, last night I discovered a list of things from certain shops I can eat which I didn't think I could, so I am still learning, but I am happy being vegan ^_^

  26. #176

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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    I learn to motivate myself and enjoy what I am doing. Enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables, dried fruit, sprouts, raw nuts and seeds. The bottom line here is, you must know what you really want to make it easier for you to do it.
    Fawn McManigal
    Founder of www.meamoeba.com

  27. #177
    adam.rurka
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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    Easy for me. I went lacto vegetarian for about 5 months and gradually started reducing dairy, and one day I pretty much just went vegan. Been at it for about a month now (though I did have ice cream once!).

  28. #178

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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    My transition has been unapologetic omni to completely vegan. I can't say it's not been a little bit challenging - I LOVED meat and was an absolute cheese fiend, so it's been such a shock to the system - but I haven't felt the need to cave yet. I'm really enjoying learning to cook creatively, and I've discovered so many delicious foods that I previously dismissed. Physically, I feel amazing.

    I think my biggest hurdle will be ignoring the opinions of others. My mum and my friends are thankfully very supportive, but my "in-laws" scoff at veganism. Despite the fact that both of them are overweight, both of them drink too much, and his dad has heart problems, they both think veganism is terribly unhealthy. My partner and his parents recoil at the idea that I might make my son vegan. I'm not sure if I'll have the balls to put my foot down with so much opposition...I might wait til they can see the obvious health benefits in me first!
    xox

  29. #179

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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    i decided to be vegetarian at age 8, then vegan at 18. i found it easy as all i had to give up was eggs and dairy products in baked goods. i hardly ever ate milk and cheese because i have a slight lactose intolerant and slight eating disorder!

  30. #180
    MomOf2Gremlins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Going vegan - was it easy for you?

    "Omni to lacto-veggie was easiest" is my answer.
    Even as a kid I always hated the thought of the poor animal when I faced a piece of meat on my plate (good, old German household, Schnitzel and such were often!), in my 20's I cut out mainly red meat & pork for health reasons and then years later finally cut out all meat and it wasn't hard at all! I don't even have any big craving for any dishes.. somehow it's burned in my mind now which animal is behind the dish! (That being said, I used to love Filet Mignon almost rare when I was an omni I feel I'm a different person nowadays!)
    Cutting out dairy was a bit harder for me, I love(d) cheese and Greek yogurt.. but I'm learning to find other healthy alternatives and am just glad I'm not part of the evil circle anymore!
    Be the change you wish
    to see in the world.
    - Ghandi

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