Hi I have been vegan for a little over a month. I feel like I keep messing up. I don't know any vegans in real life so I am learning everything on my own. I have accidentally eaten a few things I thought were vegan (like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at school) but it ended up not being vegan. I am a college student so it is hard for me sometimes. It is thanks giving today and I made my own vegan dessert and I was really excited about it. It has sugar in it, but it's sugar I bought before I became vegan and I just realized as I was eating that it isn't vegan sugar. I feel horrible.
Don't beat yourself up. It's not as if you accidentally ate a side of beef or a slab of bacon. LOL
"Live and learn".... it's all part of the adventure. I'm a mere vegetarian (gasp!), but a very strict one. Over the last year I've learned many things. So instead of getting down about any "slips," turn it all into an informative experience. But keep learning! Read this, Google that, inspire & educate yourself. You'll be just fine.... only wiser. :rockon:
One of the most common struggles among new vegans is trying to be perfect in every regard. You get so caught up in the fine details of being vegan that you lose sight of the bigger picture, the driving force for becoming vegan in the first place. What often helps is to focus on all the positives of being vegan and what it means to you, and focus on all the wonderful things you CAN have and experience as a vegan. Being vegan is not something one just becomes and then that's it. It is a way of life we strive to live and grow in everyday as we begin to live out our ethical values. It doesn't come automatically, though the longer you are vegan, the easier it will become, and the more second nature. If you had to use up old sugar to make a dessert, it's not the end of the world. No one is going to judge you, and you are not contributing to any further harm to anyone. Embrace the fact that you made a lovely dessert for Thanksgiving! No shame in that. Just do the best you can and keep learning!
If you're anything like me that is not going to be the last time
More than that though I still do things that are not vegan but are required to be a part of society. Things like paying taxes and taking public transit. Perfection is a good goal, but do realise it's a goal you will almost certainly never reach.
Mercy For Animals has a beautiful, well-written Vegetarian Starter Guide (it's actually vegan). The nutrition part of the guide begins on page 7: http://www.mercyforanimals.org/files/VSG.pdf
Depending on where you live, there may be a vegan social group near you. Try going to http://www.meetup.com, and do a search for "vegan" in your city.
Especially if you are in college and on a budget, it's really not necessary for you to beat yourself up over the sugar in jelly or traces of whey in school bread...while it's noble and valiant to give it your best shot, this kind of extreme guilt sometimes stops people from even trying to be vegan, even vegetarian!
PETA doesn't even hold its members to this standard. PETA approves "accidentally vegan" items that are 99.9 percent vegan (like chips, crackers, cereal or snack foods) because quite frankly it's impossible for anyone to be perfect. Especially when you first transition it helps a lot to have some familiar foods and it can be very expensive, and perhaps wasteful, to replace your old peanut butter and jelly with the "no refined sugar" brands...just make a note of what to buy differently on your next shopping trip.
I'm a lacto vegetarian transitioning to vegan or doing mostly vegan...and in my experience and studies, your health should come first...that doesn't mean go out and eat meat...but it does mean that you shouldnt be living off of iceberg lettuce and soy cheese to prove what a great ethical vegan you are.
There's also a very real condition that some people have called orthorexia, orthorexia is based on this kind of perfectionism and fear, whether the person is vegan or omni, they would rather starve than eat something that isn't organic, or go gluten free for no apparent reason...healthy veganism is definitely not an eating disorder, and there's no reason to turn it into one.
It's a learning process, and honestly I'd rather have an occasional bean and cheese burrito than walk around tired, hungry and cold, if I'm rushing around and don't have a lot of money to buy something vegan but more pricey.
I do my best. Everything in my kitchen right now is vegan. But I have huge Pinterist boards devoted to vegan nutrition and cooking. ..and when I was your age or a little older I was technically vegan for about three months, and practically went into debt with all the food substitutes, and still had anxiety. ..because I had no idea what I was doing...but it was an earnest try and a learning experience.
This is not to discourage you from complete veganism. It just means that it sometimes doesn't happen over night. It takes some people years. I've heard of people being vegetarian for 30 years before becoming vegan or even raw vegan.
I wish you well, and encourage you to learn about what is nutritious, vegan and affordable. ..and which staples you really will need.
I am new to veganism too. I am in high school and my mom doesn't know that I am vegan yet, so most of the food I buy I think is vegan until I bring it home. It saddens me sometimes, but I have to remember that a least I am trying. A lot of people say I'll wait until some time in the future and even though I can't fully become vegan because of my mom, I try my hardest. I think that's what you should do too. Just try your hardest, you are going to make mistakes because everyone does. I was buying this bread for all my lunches to find out a month later than it used eggs. I never even thought that bread would have eggs in it. And I learned from that. I learned that that brand of bread is not vegan. It's okay to make mistakes as long as you learn from them and try harder. Don't make yourself feel super guilty. I hope your veganism goes well for you.
Congrats on your decision and for making it a month so far Don't be too harsh on yourself for slipping up in the beginning, especially accidentally. Accidental 'slip ups' happen to EVERYONE, even long time vegetarians and vegans I can think of a few accidental ingestions of animal products in my 17 year journey as a vegetarian and vegan. Makes me cringe when it happens, but it's not the end of the world nor does it make me less of a vegan because I do not KNOWINGLY ingest animal products. I almost had a slip up the other day actually. My (omni) husband has been avoiding dairy and I got him these 'rice cheese' sticks. One would ASSUME *rice* cheese, available in the "vegan" section of the store would not include dairy, but when I checked the label they were actually just lactose free cheese sticks with rice in them. There's a lot of that going on too, so it's something you do need to watch out for. We do not live in a plant based society, and even though the range of vegetarian/vegan products is expanding, 99% of products still aren't catering to vegans or are outright deceptive. Just keep up what your doing, keep learning about ingredients and be diligent. Best of luck on your journey!
They process some cane sugar with bone char, making some sugars not vegan. It's also difficult to determine which sugar has or hasn't been processed with bone char as most sugar does not indicate on the packaging what process was used. This article includes some good sources of sugar brands that do not use bone char in their processing:
You can also use beet sugar (be aware most sugar beets are GMO though) or date sugar (my personal preference when I need sugar since it is just dates and not as toxic as refined sugars and not GMO).
its ok to mess up, nobody is perfect. just do the best you can. you can get all the nutrients you need from plants, except vitamin B. but theres sooo many supplement options, its crazy. anyways, dont be scared to ask questions. there are a few good groups on facebook if youre into that.
I think it's just the sugar used in the jelly they're talking about. I haven't seen any peanut butters with sugar as long as I can remember, so don't worry there. Actually it's hard to find jelly (jam) made with sugar instead of corn syrups or high fructose corn syrup (worse)
Some vegans watch for palm oils which a lot of PB's have.
I don't have time to comment on it, but just do a search.
I don't completely avoid it, but really try to avoid it-some say environmentally friendly but I don't know
The bone char filtered sugar isn't everywhere BTW, but does happen in america
In north america sugar is often processed with cow bones. I am guessing that peanut butter has added sugar? If it's from north america I personally wouldn't call it vegan but I don't think that's really important as pretty much everything isn't by my definition, including myself.
What you should be asking is is it vegan enough for you? Are the bones of animals too much for you? Even if they're just going to go to waste anyways? For me it isn't a yes or no. At home and anything I buy I will not accept bone char sugar but if I am over at someone's house for dinner and they have added bone char sugar to an otherwise veg meal I will still eat it.
You will need to figure out where you want to draw your line every time you buy something, and be prepared to move that line around as well.
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