Dairy or candy cravings

[speedylemons]

Alright, so I've been a vegetarian for almost 7 years now, and recently [the last two months or so] i've been trying my absolute hardest to go vegan. Sometimes I will do very well, and I'll go days without dairy or candy with gelatin in it or anything with animal products.. and i love the feeling.. it's a good energy going through me knowing that nothing i consumed harmed another animal. I am really disappointed in myself though because i keep giving in and eating mass amounts of dairy or candy at once.. almost like a binge. I really could use some advice.. because i want to live a vegan lifestyle more than anything. Thanks

Hopefully you can help me out,

Ashley

[foxytina_69]

maybe trying so hard to be 100% vegan right away is making you feel like you need to binge on non-vegan foods. why dont you just adjust slowly rather than quickly? that might help you. allow yourself some non-vegan foods each day, allowing yourself to slowly adjust to eating less of them, that way you can slowly 'wean' yourself off of animal products and not want them anymore. theres lots of vegan foods to replace dairy products and candies

[mophoto]

if you live anywhere near a wholefoods they sell bulk food. some of the foods are labeled vegan. they have the best junk food. candy and chocolates. it makes it so much easier when they have a giant orange sticker that says vegan.

[Stu]

What dairy products are you eating? Maybe we could point you in the direction of some dairy-free alternatives.

[speedylemons]

What dairy products are you eating? Maybe we could point you in the direction of some dairy-free alternatives.

Mainly cheese and candy with gelatin in it or chocolate. I think one thing i will do is go out in search of some vegan chocolate to keep on hand in case of an emergency.. but another thing, i've tried a few brands of vegan cheese and they just don't taste good. also, the only vegan parmesean cheese that my local grocery stores have has a skim milk protein in it! so that's not vegan. it's confusing. Any suggestions on websites that sell various nonparishables? i.e. parmesean cheese, nutritional yeast, and other things...or brand names that i could look for in the cheese category that are relatively good tasting? thanks!

[puffin]

Have you always eaten geletin sweets while being veggie or is it something you have started craving since trying to be vegan?

[harpy]

I made the transition from veggie to vegan over a few weeks or months (can't remember the exact period), and concentrated on finding vegan things I liked before phasing out non-vegan things. You might find that more gradual approach leaves you with you fewer cravings, even though I do understand the rationale for doing it faster.

I do eat vegan "cheese" now sometimes but I don't think it's that much like dairy cheese. Rather than finding substitutes for "forbidden" foods maybe you could explore some alternative foods to begin with? I'm rather fond of hummus for instance and it will often do when you might have had cheese, e.g. as a snack with crackers.

Good luck and don't give yourself too hard a time.

[eclectic_one]

There are a couple of Yahoo stores that sell non-dairy chocolate (something I'd find nearly impossible to give up is chocolate) and other "snack" foods for vegans. One is food fight and one is vegan unlimited. (In Yahoo shopping, I just put in "vegan chocolate" and those are two of the stores that come up.) I don't know where you live in the US, but in some cities in the South (Asheville,NC, Columbia,SC, Knoxville, TN), there is a store called "Earth Fare" that has some vegan foods. I love going there, even though I spend a ton of money there when I do! I've just been switching to veganism for a few months now and I definitely feel less mucousy (one of the main things dairy does). I know reading a couple of books--mainly the China Study--has helped me ignore my cravings when I think of the consequences at times.

[Want2BVegan]

Soy Delicious Peanut Butter Zig Zag "ice cream"

/droooool

Tastes better than chocolate regular cow milk ice cream and I should know, I used to be addicted to the stuff.

[abrennan]

Dear Theashleybeyer

I hope you coming to grips with your slippage. I hoe to see you posting more threads

Antony
Ausstralia

[Gliondrach]

Have you found any vegan chocolate yet, Ashley?

[Hasha]

I don't know if this applies in your case, but when I first went vegan (a little over a year ago), I didn't have a hard time staying away from non-vegan food on a day-to-day basis; but if I thought "I will never have another ice-cream again" or "I will never have another pizza again" (yes, I know there are vegan alternatives, but you know what I mean), it invariably creeped me out and made it all look oh-so-difficult. So I just stopped thinking about it. I stopped trying to be vegan and just was one. Basically, I was taking it one day at a time, and doing it that way made it all surprisingly easy.

[Northchild]

I like Newman's Own dark orange chocolate. Too bad my damn car's in the shop and I can't get to a store where they sell it. Sigh.

[medus]

You're right Hasha. At the beginning it's seems that all minds are about food (can I eat this? Is there some milk in it? ohh, it looks tasty but it's not vegan...). But then I said to myself "it's just food... relax and enjoy beeing vegan" So, if I see something tasty and know that it's not vegan, I say "doesn't matter, I'll find something similar and vegan".
Why to eat milk chocolate if there is dark chocolate? Why to eat butter cookies if there are cookies made with vegetable oil? Why to eat candys with gelatin if there are candys with pectin? etc. etc... alternative always exist.

And... don't be too harsh for yourself. Good luck..

[speedylemons]

I've just been taking it a day at a time but planning out many or most of my meals for now, and i bring food to work and leave all money home now so i dont have a need or way of eating there. I'm doing preetttty well.

[abrennan]

Yay!!!!

[treehugga]

I also used to be a huge dairy snacker . It all takes time. I found finding some good recipes for cakes, cookies & snacks useful and always have some on hand. You do get to enjoy pizza without cheese after awhile. Try topping with some pinenuts or a soya white sauce with some fake chicken stock in it to give it flavour for a creamy cheesy texture. You just need to experiment. If I get a hunger craving I drink some soya milk with soya protein powder in it and the craving is gone or I eat protein balls made from nuts and seeds, soy protein powder with peanut batter, malt syrup and maple syrup to bind. It's hard to give up anything whether it's ciggies, alcohol or a type of food unless you find an alternative to what you have given up. I know as I have given up all these things and now feel heaps better for it. Good luck and remember small steps can lead a long way

[princessemma]

I too am finding things hard ! I've been veggie for 11 years and since going to a vegan food fare yesterday have decided to go vegan. To start with I am going to try different soya milks and find one I like and make 3-4 of my evening meals vegan. But even thats hard ! Is pasta vegan ?

[Gliondrach]

Get lots of recipes for varied types of food. Read what Treehugga said, just above your post.

Some pastas are made with egg. I'm not a pasta eater, so I don't know which ones these are, or which ones are vegan.

A vegan food guide book would have that information or someone on here can tell you.

[Pilaf]

This might sound sappy or unbelievable, but I went straight from Omni to Vegan. The words of a young girl moved me deeply... I was 20, and she was 15, and she floored me with her humility and wisdom, to the extent I embraced the lifestyle on ethical grounds. It's amazing, really, to think of how people can turn away from the facts of the foods they eat.

Please, whenever you eat something, this will help. Imagine what went into that food. If you're eating foods with gelatin, visually imagine those animal bones as the flesh is being violently ripped from them. Visualize the blood.. the agonizing screams of those living things in slaughterhouses as their throats are slit. When you drink milk, imagine the little calves whom were bred only so that their mothers would produce milk, and then they're violently ripped away, and made into veal. When you keep these things in mind, how could you not embrace veganism? I hope that helps.

Remember..visualize daily. When I eat cabbage or peas I can do so guilt free, because I know I could grow and harvest those things myself. I could never imprison and torture an animal to extract its bits to eat, however.

[thecatspajamas1]

Maybe you could put some animal rights pamphlets on your refrigerator, or an easy to see place. If you haven't seen any pictures or footage of the egg and dairy industry, you should definitely do that, it will make you never want to eat them again. You can see a lot of pictures/videos at peta.org or just by browsing around online.

If you have cravings for certain things, buy vegan replacements. Have soymilk in your cereal. Treat yourself to some Tofutti ice cream. Even my omno friends have a "food orgasm" when they try Tofutti for the first time- it is so ridiculously delicious. You can get a vegan version of anything. And try new recipes, treat yourself to vegan cookies for the first few weeks of veganism, spoil yourself until you are completely used to eating no dairy/eggs. After awhile you will not crave them anymore, really. You will find them to be gross.

I went from omni to vegan overnight, and I didn't have any desire to eat animal products because I was so disturbed by pictures and footage that I had seen.

To fully educate yourself about the reasons WHY you're going vegan will ensure that you will stay a successful vegan.

Good luck!!! You can do it, babe!

[Cherry.Chops]

hi.
as a new vegan myself i know what your going through. cakes are the thing for me. i just think about the suffering of the animal and that milk has pus and blood cells which may pass into other products with milk in it. Totally grosses me out and im instantly put off. Also im a diabetic so im not meant to eat choc or sweets anyway.
Good luck and im sure you will succeed with everyones help an d your own will power.