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[LuckyDuck]

its funny... when i ate meat, i loved using tomato sauce and i didnt like BBQ sauce... but ever since going vego almost 2 years ago (ive been vegan since last year), i love BBQ sauce... am i weird? lol

When I went vegan (the second - and last!! - time) I suddenly developed a liking for spicy food. :) You may be weird, but at least you're not alone! :lol:

[paulwalkersgirl]

When I went vegan (the second - and last!! - time) I suddenly developed a liking for spicy food. :) You may be weird, but at least you're not alone! :lol:

LOL damn, we're all weird :p That's pretty cool! I quite like spicy vegan food! I never really liked spicy meat though when I was omnivore... I've changed. Yeah man hehe.

[LuckyDuck]

LOL damn, we're all weird :p That's pretty cool! I quite like spicy vegan food! I never really liked spicy meat though when I was omnivore... I've changed. Yeah man hehe.

Yeah neither did I... but last night I made this delicious (three-alarm-level-spicy) faux chick'n curry. I LOVED IT. But it was about three or four times as spicy as I used to make curry. I think my tastebuds have just decided to like spice now, no idea why, but it really clears up a cold!! :lol:

[Dizzy]

dude, i am a new semi veggitarian working towards vaganism and my current road block is milk. soy milk is sooooooo blaaah! and i am a major cereal eater. help. any suggestions are welcome.

[Envy]

dude, i am a new semi veggitarian working towards vaganism and my current road block is milk. soy milk is sooooooo blaaah! and i am a major cereal eater. help. any suggestions are welcome.

You could try using almond or rice milk.

[LuckyDuck]

You could try using almond or rice milk.

+1 to that!!! Especially vanilla flavoured if that's still too bland for you. NOM NOM NOM.

[jonjan]

dude, i am a new semi veggitarian working towards vaganism and my current road block is milk. soy milk is sooooooo blaaah! and i am a major cereal eater. help. any suggestions are welcome.

soy milk helped me in my transition (good amount of fat, thickness, and heaviness(protein).. but eventually it became one of my biggest blocks (as I was adjusting overall to a less fat, more fluid, and more light diet).

rice milk, almond milk, and hemp milk are all good options. They add oil to the Rice Dream rice milk, which'd be my favorite.
Or you could go without cereal for a few days, and then your taste buds would be more open to new flavors.

[112inky]

good idea

[CRCox]

Greetings,

I am an overweight - not grossly, but enough to need a drastic change - late 30's male, who LOVES meat, eggs, cheese, and sugar. I have tried everything to lose weight and develop a life-sustaining diet that works for me, and I have yet to find one. I just watched that movie "the beautiful truth" and it got me very interested in the vegan lifestyle. Furthermore, I totally agree with the environmental plusses of this lifestyle.

I am also a hypoglycemic, and I have done exhaustive research on the subject, to the point of pointing out to doctors when they are wrong. Frequently they suggest taking in sugar when I have an episode, which is absolutely deadly in the long run. The only thing that has ever really made me feel whole again after a crazy episode is protein. Lately, I've been carrying around nuts and seeds to take the place of a burger or whatever.

One big question for you all: For someone like myself who really needs to reduce, not increase, the amount of carbohydrates in my diet, how should I approach veganism?

[Michael]

Welcome! :) You should probably post your question in a new thread if you haven't done so already. Most people probably won't see it in this one.

[Ronin]

Hi :)
I just became a vegetarian, about a week ago, I had another attempt some years ago, and failed miserably.
This time I watched some videos with how animals are really treated...I am so not going back...
I think this forum is great, up until now I pretty much just looked around, but I think it's nice that this forum exists, and that this thread exists as well.

[Natty]

I completely agree with you Michael about not having a go at people who are not 100% vego. We are raised in a society (in Australia, America, the UK anyway) that tells us from day one that we are superior to animals and that it is a natural part of the food chain to eat meat. What a challenge to break away from this widely supported belief.

It has taken me almost 10 years of trying to become completely vegetarian. And I have just since found out about the whole gelatin thing (I did actually learn this as a teenager, but must have forgotten!!). It is not easy. Animal products are everywhere. And what about leather. How do vegetarians get good quality shoes without them being made from leather?

If anyone knows of anymore of these little surprises (animals in non-animal looking food) please let me know. Besides wanting to know so I can stop eating or drinking whatever it is, I love telling others. Like the red cordial is made from beatles thing. Does anyone know the truth to this?

[LuckyDuck]

Hello, Natty! :)

Congrats on making the big switch! :D

You're right, manufacturers are sneaky. You'd never expect there to be gelatin in, say, roasted nuts or yogurt, but it is! (Almost always in yogurt, actually.) You'd never expect rennet, which comes from sheep stomachs, to be in most cheeses. Lard is still in many pastries as well. I'm a vegan, and you wouldn't believe the stuff they'll put modified milk ingredients into!!! Even most soy cheeses contain casein, a cancer-promoting milk protein (also, coincidentally, the addictive part of cheese - convenient how it's legal, eh?). Most chips contain whey powder... oh, but the list is too long to post here!

Billions of animals are slaughtered every year. They cost a lot to raise, and the industry recoups those costs by selling every conceivable part of the animal to be used in the most ridiculous, unnecessary ways. If you're buying something you're planning to consume, check the ingredients.

I got my synthetic running shoes from New Balance. They're affordable, comfy as heck, and guiltless! :D They look like just regular shoes, and have been put through a lot almost daily by me with no signs of unusual wear and tear.

A quick Google search turned up the following sites (I'm sure you can narrow the search criteria to your local area :)):
Moo-Shoes (http://www.mooshoes.com/)
Karmavore (http://www.karmavore.ca/)
Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe (http://www.cosmosveganshoppe.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=FWR&gclid=CJ3l7uPbyJsCFZJM5QodwGQoKw)
Veg.ca (http://www.veg.ca/content/view/174/101/)

It can be a pain in the butt at first, but it seems to me like you've got a good head on your shoulders! :) You'll stick with it, I'm sure, and sooner rather than later, it just becomes second nature!

Oh, and the cochineal beetle is pounded into red dye, you can read the wikipedia entry about it here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochineal).

[tetsuo29]

I realize that I'm responding to something that was written 4 years ago, but I have to make a plug for my favorite veg jerky. They're called Primal Strips and I buy them at my local Whole Foods. I love these things. They get me through quite a lot of between meal situations. They're high in protein, low cal, come in a bunch of different flavors, really stave off hunger for me and taste delicious. The only downside is that I absolutely have to floss after eating one (but, my dentist is always telling me to floss more so maybe that's a good thing).


This sounds like a good idea. so far,I've been a vegetarian for a month now and enjoying every minute of it. yesterday at work I was so hungry that I was ready to eat some form of meat. But it took every ounce out of me to stop that urge and I did it. It was a close call. Any suggestions on how to stop these urges?

[purplepunker321]

I am a recent vegan. like super recent. I havent gone shopping for food yet and there are not any health food stores near ( i searched on happycows.com) i was hoping to get some good suggestions to buy at chain grocery stores (shopnsave, save a lot, schnuks, ect.). I know the fresh fruit and veggies are a safe bet but i want to try more.

[LuckyDuck]

purplepunker321, just read the ingredients. It takes a little while while you move along the learning curve, but if you don't recognize the origin of an ingredient, go home and research it. If it's vegan, get it next time and add it to your mental list of "ok" foods. If it's not, give it a big mental red flag and don't bother with it in the future, and remember the name and source of the ingredient (food manufacturers use a lot of the same stuff in different combinations). You get used to it. For me, it's second nature to read the label of anything I'm going to eat. Friends and coworkers even know, now, and before offering me actual food they offer me the package to read! :p

Some no-no's that spring to mind are casein (including anything that looks like it has "casein" as a root, like "caseinate"), lact- anything (lactose, lasctase, lactic acid [unless specified plant source]), and whey.

Best of luck, I know you can do it! :D