I've been a vegetarian for a little over a year. I'm almost 15 now. My parents let me go vegetarian pretty willingly, they wanted me to eat seafood, but I kept saying no. But now I realize that if I really do care about animal rights and don't want them tortured, I need to become a vegan. I know that they wouldn't let me go vegan because it's hard to get all your nutrients and find food. But I really want to. Any advice that you could give me would be appreciated! Also any links to websites would be great! Thanks! Also, I LOVE cheese. It's like my favorite food. Any advice on giving cheese up? You should be proud to make this choice so young. You should also be proud of your parents for supporting you so far. Your parents are likely to be very resistant to this next big decision. It is not hard to get all of the needed nutrient on a vegan diet if your parents are willing to learn with you and provide you with everything that you need.
There are many cheese alternatives, my favorites are the singles by Toffutti. There are also many recipes for cheese alternatives to try if you have the right ingredients available in your area.
There have been vegan Olympic gold medalists and a vegan woman can create an ENTIRELY NEW,HEALTHY HUMAN BEING INSIDE OF HER. Many of these children stay vegan and grow up to be perfectly healthy adults. So just keep yourself educated about what you eat and don't let anyone tell you that a veg diet is lacking anything essential.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Lewis
http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada...
Here are some more veg people:
http://www.mikemahler.com/index.html
http://www.vegetarianbodybuilder.com/ind...
http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/?page=b...
http://www.andreascahling.com/andreas-ab...
http://www.billpearl.com/career.asp
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-23...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_Danzig
http://www.scottjurek.com/career.php
http://www.nfl.com/players/rickywilliams...
http://www.brendanbrazier.com/raceresult...
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That is great that you want to become vegan. My biggest word of advice is to study a balanced vegan diet and learn how to cook/prepare everything that you will need to keep yourself satisfied BEFORE you start to label yourself as vegan. This is important in keeping yourself healthy and working towards a fit body that can redefine vegan stereotypes.
Your journey as vegetarian was just the beginning of a longer one to a plant-based diet with no animal products. This should be due to the reality of factory farming in which animals that are kept alive to produce milk, eggs, etc suffer much more and longer than animals that are raised to a certain weight and then slaughtered.http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/
http://meat.org
Some people use the word "vegan" in reference to this idea, but be aware that applying that label to yourself should always come with the inclusion of wise activism and advocacy.http://www.veganoutreach.org/advocacy/in...
Two extremely important examples of this are that you should never speak to someone about vegetarianism/veganism without their consent and genuine interest or as a comment on what they are eating AND your dietary beliefs should never be used as an introduction or explanation of who you are as a person. Veg*ism should be something that comes up AFTER people get to know you and they offer you a situation that makes it confusing to withhold the information/discussion. Also, if you are presented something that you choose not to eat or you are
ordering food/eating together somewhere/picking the best place to eat.
A responsible vegan ALWAYS studies the subject of their own health and how to keep their body completely provided for in every sense. http://www.veganhealth.org/sh
To neglect their body is to define a plant-based diet as unhealthy and is the opposite of helping the animals.
When you you hold off on the subject until it's necessary and then act like it isn't a big deal at all, people are usually surprised and WAY more interested and curious than if you were to bring it up when someone's eating or just using it as a conversation starter.
A balanced plant-based diet includes grains(breads, pasta, rice,cereal), legumes(soy, beans, peas, lentils), fruit and vegetables.
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/f...
http://www.peta.org/accidentallyVegan/
http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/ea...
Being vegan can be an art, one whose challenge is to take things that involve the suffering of the innocent and change them into something free of cruelty.
A vegan woman can create an ENTIRELY NEW,HEALTHY HUMAN BEING INSIDE OF HER. Many of these children stay vegan and grow up to be perfectly healthy adults. So just keep yourself educated about what you eat and don't let anyone tell you that a veg diet is lacking anything essential.
Technically the term "vegetarian" does imply that you don't consume anything that comes from the body of an animal that requires killing it. Many ingredients such as gelatin and glycerin are found in many candies, Fig-Newtons, and many of other foods as well as rennet found in many cheeses.
http://www.happycow.net/health-animal-in...
The best thing to remember is to take your time so that for example: when you are comfortable not eating whey and casein you can then give up sodium stearoyl lactylate and L-cysteine when you are sure you can make the commitment permanently.
Depending on your age or reliance on parents or regional options, it may not be best to give yourself a label. The important thing is to do your best to make progress and be committed to your compassion towards animals. Never put your focus onto what you or other people use to describe yourself.
If you meet someone that talks down to people for eating meat, dairy, etc or to you because they think they are "more veg" than you, laugh in their face and tell them they are a disgrace to the entire philosophy. People like this only hurt the idea of veg*ism AND the animals. The point of all of this is to live compassionately and and as free from cruelty as you can, all the while maintaining your health and a positive attitude. People who don't maintain either, need not open their mouths and represent our beliefs.
If you actually choose to read all of this, I hope it helps. If not, feel free to e-mail me if you have questions.
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I'm vegan and these are some of my favorite things to eat:
Breakfast: bananas, cream of wheat with brown sugar and soy butter, cereal, pancakes or french toast with real maple syrup, vegan "sausage" patties, smoothies.
Snack: BRUSSEL SPROUTS =) no joke
Lunch: vegan "sausage" sandwiches, sandwiches with vegan deli slices(Tofurkey is the only one that's kinda funky), fruit, dinner leftovers, couscous salad, vegan sushi, potato or pasta salad.
Dinner: sloppy joes, "sausage" and gravy with homemade biscuits, Spaghetti and Trader Joe's "meatballs" or TVP, lasagna, Thai pad see ew, pad khi mao(drunkard's noodles), pad prig king, tofu+eggplant with basil sauce, yellow thai curry with tofu or vegan chikn and veggies and jasmine rice, Indian dal with homemade roti or dosai, channa masala, aloo gobi, vegetable or minestrone soup, pizza, STEAMED "PORK" BUNS with potstickers or spring rolls, sweet&sour/orange/lemon chikn, vegan pho or wonton soup, baked tofu, BBQ homemade seitan (tastes like BBQ'd ribs), kabobs
I use these sites to find recipes:
http://www.foodnetwork.com
http://vegweb.com
http://www.recipezaar.com
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There is a Japanese analogy/proverb that goes like this, "The nail that sticks up is the one that gets hammered down". People are like this everywhere. When you tell your family that it is your personal belief that animals should not be eaten, they take a look at themselves and it can be subconsciously translated into, "What you do is wrong and I choose to be right."
Your parents have probably been taught a huge amount of misinformation by their parents and their teachers while growing up. You really need to research vegetarian diets and health before you even think about saying the "V-word" in front of your parents or anyone else.
When you have gathered enough information and feel confident in a vegetarian diet's ability to maintain or even improve health, you may mention to them that you have made the decision. They may be shocked, angry, worried, curious or many other things, but you must NEVER react to their behavior and always stay calm. If they are able to speak to you and respect your choice, please tell them everything and answer all questions. If they are rude, inconsiderate, judgmental, violent, or verbally abusive, refuse to continue any conversation until they can speak to you with respect.
The best advice is to study everything that you can about a healthy vegetarian diet and keep yourself in good shape (better than most people your age or than your friends/family if possible). If nobody that you know shows a genuine, positive interest in your choice, don't give them the privilege of the knowledge that you have gathered. Work your way around any attempts they make to trivialize your beliefs and if possible, go shopping with your parents and buy things that aren't obvious veggie fare. Instead of trying to sneak fake meat into the cart, toss in lentil soup, peanut butter, pasta, fruits & veggies or anything else that you have learned is needed to fill any gaps in your diet. You can get all the nutrients you need, you just need to try a little harder, and maybe take some vitamins. Just eat a variety of things, and you should be fine.
Also, they sell fake cheese (made from soy and the like) and other vegan foods (like fake meat, mayo, eggs, etc).
I'm not sure, but if you look up "follow your heart" on google (t is a restaurant that sells vegan foods) you can probably order stuff, they definitely sell the mayo. If not, just go to any local health store.
Like others said, you can probably talk to a doctor or nutritionist with your parents about this to get all the info.
However, do not try to get anyone else to do what you want. It is their life and their choice, and no one has any right to infringe upon that. why would you want to do that just like join a group or something that helps animals but dont give up cheese!!!!!
Or Eggs theyre pretty cool if i do say so myself LOL Going vegan has to be a personal choice you cannot convince anyone. well just do it.
and vegetarianism means:
NO meat and no ANIMAL product.
it's NOT hard to get your nutrients when you eat a well balanced vegan/vegetarian diet.
there's no protein scarcity!
get it?
whoever started that crap was trying hard to scare people from vegetarianism and veganism.
and to those who think dairy doesn't mean harm? they don't get out enough. but ignorance is bliss.
why not key up VEGAN and VEGETARIAN in google.com?
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=veg...
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=...
then read up.
eggs, milk, cheese... are also against the rule of vegetarians...
those who laugh... well they're fat and dying.. slowly... it's amazing what is put in meats, dairy.. other foods. processed is pretty nasty stuff.
once i stopped many of my health problems ceased. (not all) and i've lost quite a bit of weight... my teeth aren't trying to fall out any more... my acne is gone... (adult acne is pretty nasty) feeling tired all of the time isn't a problem any more..
much improvements in all areas. ;)
i went fresh.. as much as possible.. i am weary of organics.. since i found out most organics are just the regular product with a different label.
want organic? make your own garden, but it's much more high maintainence without the chemicals to help it along.
oh yeh.. fishing does hurt... :D and besides fish is an animal... if you're going to do the veggie thing.. go all the way.
http://fishinghurts.com/
http://www.milksucks.com/
oh and unfortunately watch out for some soy products... they're not all vegetarian/vegan. tell them that there are enough nutrients in vegan food such as seeds, nuts, veggies and fruit to maintain a healthy balance. The vegetarian way : total health for you and your family / Virginia Messina and Mark Messina.
by Messina, Virginia.
i am a new vegan, 3 months. i was a vegetarian for a year before hand. i read this and thought is a really great book, very informative. it says vegetarian on the cover, but don't be fooled. the main focus is on nutrition for vegans. for all types of vegans infact [if you read it you'll see what i mean.] you should have some of your family members read specific parts that you think will interest them, if they aren't willing to read the entire book. it could definetly give them insight to the health facors of veganism, if done right. if they are the type of parents who don't care about animal rights. btw, cheese is actually pretty bad for you, i know, it's sad. but that's why they invented fake cheese! haha.
oh and you should also shop at your local natural foods store if you have one. try going to farmers markets to get your fruits and vegetables when you can. it's better on the enviornment, bc there is less pesticides.
take a look: best idea is go to the doctor WITH your parents present - easy painless - let the doctor know why you are going when you call to make the appointment - the doctor will clear up any concerns for your parents and give you tons of ideas on supplementing your diet - i did it and it will be fine - http://www.vegan.org/going_vegan/eating_...
There's a good site for going vegan.
It's not as limiting as you'd think. You can fully get what you need nutrition-wise on a vegan diet, and there's always multivitamins. Do you seriously believe any animals were hurt during the making of cheese? I don't think so. You can also try soy milk and rice milk/ice cream. I believe they have soy cheese, but I'm a little too scared to taste it. You will still be robbing your body of certain nutrients, but I'm sure you'll live. Your parents know that being vegan is expensive and you probably are not going to continue to do it for long AND that its not all that good for you cuz GUESS WHAT? you are an animal that eats other animals....you need meat. Just don't eat bunnies, veal and pork and you will be fine. |
