NEWBIE-successes and stresses

[NowVoyager]

Hey all, my name is cindi-aka-NowVoyager. Have officially been a vegetarian for 4 days now. Made it thru my first family dinner of steak, without caving.
so proud of myself, it gave me stregnth to say no, and to just calmly smile while being ridiculed, and questioned, knowing in my heart this is right for me.
Have discovered VT magazine, and am really excited to make my 'non meat' burgers for 4th of July dinner. still have a lot of reading to do here, experimenting, and learning. Have found that I quite like flavored soymilk.
Also bought some sprouting trays, I've read that alfalfa is particularly nutrient filled.
Anyway, now that i've made it past telling my family, I think the rest will be easy....couldn't bring myself to watch the meet your meat video though, I know I'll cry, and I just can't cry today....maybe later.
Thanks for the support,
nv

[TabbyR]

Welcome to VB. Congrats on your first explanatory dinner with the family. Just remember that many people will ask lots of questions and sometimes it gets irritating, but many are asking because they've thought about it before. My example is when I spent the night at a friends house and they had a BBQ. I brought some boca burgers and the guy grilling drilled me every question there is to being vegetarian. I calmly explained to him and suddenly this whole family started talking about how they had thought about it at one point. If I had answered with hostility I would not have represented the good side of veg*nism.

Sounds like you are at a great start with it, and good luck!

[karenlovessnow]

Hi and welcome to VB! :)

[harper]

Way to go :up: Keep it up. There is a lot of information and support on these threads!! :)

[Michael]

Welcome! It's a learning experience for sure but dealing with family and friends is the biggest obstacle, sounds like you've made it that far. :)

[paganveg]

CONGRATS on getting this far!
Dealing with family can be tough at times, but just keep reminding yourself why you are doing this and you'll be fine. :)

[truepeacenik]

Welcome to the world of herbivores, NowTraveler (cool handle).:bobo:

I'm sure you will have zillions of questions, and we are here for those (but do a search on them first!).
You didn't say how old you were or a rough location.
I started on this journey in 1980 in Texas. yea, that was fun.
But there comes a point where being veg is just part of you. You'll probably stumble, you'll probably have the hidden ingredient bit pulled on you, or simply not yet know where animal ingredients may lurk.
you have to read fine print :deal: a lot, but hey, we want to know what is in our food.

What led you to this choice?

[NowVoyager]

Thanx for the support all!!! I am late 30's, and live in Utah (don't hate me for it!!!:eek: ) My reasons are posted on the 'intro' thread, but here is the short version:1- always loved animals,
2- meat doesn't smell or taste like it used to
3-had a few 'animal sightings' that really touched me
4-Conscience set in
Texas eh? Bet that was fun!! Sure wish I'd done this in 1980!! :doh:
Am off to the store to buy ingredients for my 'greek' veggie burgers for tomorrows celebration....hope the cow burgers & hotdogs I'll have to see and smell don't make me:spew: (sorry, just really wanted to use that smiley)
..HAVE A GREAT 4TH EVERYONE!!!

[sleepydvdr]

Have officially been a vegetarian for 4 days now. Made it thru my first family dinner of steak, without caving.

I'm impressed. It took me well over a month to stop craving. Well, I still crave now and then. Faux meats come in handy on those occasions.

Thumbs up!

[truepeacenik]

I'm one state east on the Front Range, and even with Boulder, it can get challenging unless one is specifically at a veg -friendly to all veg place. Reactionary, I'd guess.
I'm trying to think how difficult Moab was. I recall eating pizza, so I'm thinking at dinner was tough but the breakfast place was awesome with scrambled tofu to kill for.
Wendover was basically hell. I was stuck there for a week with a dead van in July a couple years back.
I think i lived on toast.

[NowVoyager]

Hey, I did some time in Colorado(military, not jail)around the Aurora area,
and was born in Fort Carson. Loved the drive from Col. to Utah going straight east, beautiful. Yeah, Wendover would be tough on a veggie, I imagine even the potatoes are soaked in animal fat. I'm actually much more toward Idaho, and looking in the stores yesterday, we've got a pretty great selection of just about everything I've read mentioned on this site, and in VT mag.
Am excited to make Greek style, lentil and chickpea burgers tonite....my daughter might try one, just to support me, hope their good! Well have a great 4th All.
nv

[NowVoyager]

hey, i'm going on being a veg*n for about ten days now:hump:. on the 4th I ended up making 'chicago' burgers(from VegTimes), and they were pretty good. I froze the rest to use later. Am eating more fruits and veggies than I have EVER in my life, but this is a good time of year, with all the fresh stuff growing right here in my area. So far, so good. Still need to conquer the 'dairy' issue, but overall the first 10 days have been good.(oh, also lost 6 pounds;) ). Thanx for helping me get started, might not have jumped in if not for the veggieboards.
peace to all,
nv

[NowVoyager]

Ok, a few good things to report....I survived my 1st run in with tofu(pretty good!!!).....in 14 days of being veg*n, have lost 8 pounds!!!
Started out lacto/ovo....in the last 2 days have gone to NO NO NO dairy or eggs(reading about the dairy cows did it), and am considering the 30 day vegan challenge.
Went shopping with my daughter today, and was amazed at how I breezed by all the crap I would have bought before the veggie boards.....milk, butter, eggs, cheese, sandwich meat, sausages and weinies, the entire bakery area, and found myself looking to see if all pasta had eggs or not...it was really fun:naughty: ...we ventured into the 'gourmet sauce' isle, and got black bean paste, peanut sauce, cajun sauce(for veggies), and bought a variety of spices we'd heard of but never tried.....looked for no dairy ice-cream...the only brand they had had tapioca something or another in it, and I wasn't sure about that ingredient...will probably have to go to 'natural foods' store for that.
Am stuck in a bit of a dilemma though.:ymca: ....my fam is big time omni, and it's been my job to cook for them all these years(part of my 'rent' agreement.). Now though, I feel hugely guilty buying and fixing any of the meaty stuff for them. Maybe I'll just take on the power and electric bills , in exchange for them buying their own animal products and fixing them...I hate to do that, 'cause I know they'll just order pizza or fast food everynight, they are not cookers at all.....can I sacrifice their health, for my conscience???:worried:
I will of course share my veggie dishes with them, but they really don't eat veggies except for peas, corn and broccoli......
My daughter will eat whatever I fix, but I'm worried about the other two.
Still haven't experimented with grains much, but have bought a rice cooker...
we'll see. Thanks for listening.:love: ....cindi nv