Okay, so it's been approximately a month since I finally cut fish out of my diet, but...I really want to go vegan. I want to try and really ease my way into it slowly though (since I can't really cook haha), so I was thinking about going either lacto-veg or ovo-veg first (i.e. cut out one type of dairy).

So my question is basically...what do you think I should cut out, milk or eggs? What's easier? Cheaper? Less cruel?

I'm currently working on cutting out dairy and eggs too, and I think cutting out eggs is easier. Dairy is in so much stuff, whereas it seems to me that eggs are really only in baked goods and when you make eggs for breakfast. :) Of course I could be wrong and there could be eggs in all kinds of things I wouldn't think of, but that's just how it seems to me so far...


ETA - maybe you could also cut out some types of whole dairy, while not worrying too much about other types and trace stuff right now. That's part of what I'm doing as well. I cut out milk and switched to soy or oat milk. I'm trying soy yogurts instead of normal. Maybe say, ok I can't give up real cheese yet, but I will switch to fake milk and no eggs. Just another thought...

I'd say eggs are easier.

You can do eggs, then milk, then milk derivates (like whey, butter) then cheese.

I agree to try to cut out eggs first.. It seems to be easiest.. I just cut out everything that I know to contain milk/egg products but sometimes I will have a snack that could contain some version of them.. But I make it something good.. Like if I don't really want it, it's not worth me budging on.. Works for me so far! Good luck!

I think I'd go for dairy first, for the very reason that it seems to be in things more often. Once you've got the hang of that, eggs will be a piece of cake and poof- you'll have done it!

I still think you should do both. After a month, you will be right on track. Turn your back on those foods so that they don't have any power over you.

As Dr. T. Colin Campbell wrote in The China Study (about cutting out all animal products, but I think it applies to ovo-lactos, too):
It's more work to just do it halfway. If you plan for animal-based products, you'll eat them--and you'll almost certainly eat more than you should. Second, you'll feel deprived. Instead of viewing your new food habit as being able to eat all the plant-based food you want, you'll be seeing it in terms of having to limit yourself, which is not conducive to staying on the diet long-term.

Not sure which is easier - so do whichever feels best for you. Or you could try cutting out the 'whole' food for both but not worry about it as ingredients for the moment. I.e. don't have cheese itself or an egg but don't worry if you have baked goods containing egg or items containing some milk. Once you've weaned yourself of the main things, you can find substitues for the other stuff easily enough.

Good luck, whichever route you go down. I'm hoping to start edging back towards veganism too.

I cut out milk first, and just replaced everything with soy milk or rice milk. I'd say milk is easier to replace in your diet than eggs, like in baking for example.
Good luck!

Rather than doing one at a time, I cut out the obvious milk and eggs in one step, and the second, slower step is gradually reducing and removing the processed foods that contain them.

Replacing the obvious cowmilk is a snap. I just switched to Silk the same day I stopped eating meat and haven't looked back. It drinks just like cowmilk, and it seems to cook just like cowmilk to me.

I did pretty much the same thing with eggs-- I just stopped buying them at the grocery store and bought some NRG Egg Replacer instead. Eggs haven't been in my house since. NRG hasn't worked as well in cooking as soymilk-- it's a bit hit or miss, but I don't bake that much. It didn't work in pancakes, but it worked fine in muffins. Every once in a while at work I have a day where I just really feel the need for a hot breakfast, and I break down and get a potato & egg taco or kolache but that's pretty rare.

Cheese isn't so easy for me, since there's not really a satisfactory replacement. I can't even find soy cheese that doesn't have casein in it. So I consider myself on a cheese diet-- I try to make sure I have no more than one cheesy meal a week, and I only have it if I'm really craving it. I congratulate myself if I'm able to skip a week.

PS: Of course, avoiding them in processed foods is a whole different story, and that's what's taking me so long. Milk and cheese seem to crop up quite a bit more often than eggs. So I'd say milk is easier to cut out from a facial perspective, but it appears in more processed foods. Whole eggs are critical to more recipes in the kitchen, but they're not quite as common in processed foods.

So my question is basically...what do you think I should cut out, milk or eggs? What's easier? Cheaper? Less cruel?
Easier - eggs since milk and its derivitives seem to be everwhere. Cheaper - milk because it's in so much (think of all the money you'd save by not buying that stuff :deal: ). Less cruel - that's a hard one, but if pressed, I would say eggs but IMO, they're both the same in terms of cruelty.

I cut out milk/milk products and cheese first but I had a lot of help in the form of a pretty nasty dairy intolerancy. Eggs came next because I simply can't stand them (I can only tolerate them 2 ways and both are easily replaceable). Once eggs were out, I started working on the hidden ingredients and trace items.

It's been a long, slow process this but it's worth it. :)