I thought about it and I think I can take my veg*nism to a new level by going vegan. I've already stopped eating eggs. I think I'm going to start with the easier changes (for me) first:



1. Since I decided to stop eating eggs on the 10th of this month, I'm going to see if I can (I have no doubt I can) go the rest of month without eggs.



2. I'm going to then starting in the beginning of May switch over to Silk in my morning cereal rather than cow's milk. When I was at college, I would always use Silk, but as now I am a volunteer tutor and my parents are supporting me until I start teaching in June, I am going to give an extra 10 dollars a month for Silk in May until I start getting my stipend for the summer in training, and then paycheck in teaching in September.



3. This is the hard part....phasing out cheese. I'll solicit advice when we cross that bridge.



4. Cut out dairy and egg byproducts in foods (might need to be aware of where they sneak in)



So, I was wondering, do you think this incremental approach works better than going full-fling into. My diet is pretty heavy in dairy and eggs and I think a slow transition would work best for me.

I can't see not eating cheese but a year ago I wouldn't have seen myself as a vegetarian! How does organic cheese taste? Silk is awesome I've been drinking it for 3 years now and It makes cow's milk taste like poison! I suggest if you haven"t made the switch do so! Im not a vegan but close I can't stop wearing leather!

Cheese is so very overrated. Once you start making real food you will forget about cheese. For me it wasn't a big deal. But my g/f loved cheese. She thought she would have a hard time. It was difficult at first since we were trying to replace cheese with something. I recommend against this. Just cut it out completely. Do not try to simulate it for at least a few months. At which point you probably won't even care.



She also tells me to say this: If I can do it, anyone can do it. I LOVED cheese. I was a cheese addict. And now, I don't miss it and find it disgusting. Give it a little time and you will begin to find it disgusting. It also helps to have someone there to keep you in line.

You don't need to slow your transition. that's just you trying to avoid going all the way. Why not start now, and if you falter a little tell yourself "it's okay"



You should go sooner than later

I did the one-two approach.. I found out about veganism a night or two before I became vegan, and I ate vegan imbetween. (I just wasn't "set" on it until a few nights later when by then I'd learnt more and evaluated how I felt about animal rights and veganism, as before then I'd never given it any thought at all.)



I think it was a lot easier for me to do it this way--but I can understand why a slow and steady transition would be easier.



It sucks that Silk is more expensive than regular milk in the states.. who would have known that the inflated milk prices in Canada would have benefited me in the end, heh.

I was totally in love with cheese... seriously, it went on everything. Now, aside from the occasional, "Ooh, I'd kill for a little bite of Brie" followed by "Yes, but it's so nasty!" I don't even think about cheese. I tried going LO again after being vegan for about 5 weeks and it was just too odd and gross for me, sort of like eating a carmelized cricket or something.



I have to agree with not trying to find soy replacements for cheese.... just eat other things than cheese. You won't miss it, honest.

If a transitional approach is what works for him and is what gets him there, why are you insulting it?

He asked for opinions.



It doesn't make much sense to me why he would cling to overt animal products if he's already decided that they're bad and it's not so logistically hard to get rid of them.

Some people have difficulty with transition. Comments like these are precisely why I wouldn't ask for public advice on continuing my transition to vegan.

It's better for people to ease into veganism and stay vegans than to cut out all animal products overnight and later go back to lacto-ovo or even non-vegetarianism. If "cold turkey" worked for you, great! Others take a different approach, and it doesn't make it "lesser" if it's what makes them vegan in the long run.



Shaved women, I applaud your efforts! You're doing a good thing, whatever way you do it. I like that you have specific goals for what to cut out when.



Cold-turkey can be good because if you are inclined to make excuses, you haven't given yourself room to make any.

Gradual can be good because it's not such a big switch all at once.

How was my statement in any way insulting? I even told him if it's hard to keep his chin up (not those words). I think this is actually you reading into this, in no way whatsoever was I being insulting.



I think trying and faltering would be transitioning. but you'll never know until you try.



what benefit other than personal preference could waiting bring?






I don't recall anyone myself especially using qualitative words such as better or lesser. The negativeness of my response has only come from people reading negativeness into it.



Also Skylark, I didn't say if you go back to veggie its not a big deal. I said if you falter, meaning eat some animal by-product. I was trying to say it's gonna happen just keep trucking, every day is a new day

I think your plan sounds good. That's kinda what I did. I went somewhat slow...but I did make a plan, as before the plan I was wishy washy and it seemed like I kept making excuses to eat this and that. I made a 3 week plan. 1st week no more grocery shopping of non-vegan. 2nd week no more snack/cafe purchases, 3rd week no more restaurant purchases of non-vegan food.

Someone here gave me good advice which really helped me into my adventures into veganism, so I'm passing it along. Don't think of non-vegan food as food...if you think of them in terms of stuff you would never eat such as cockroaches or pig's milk or disgusting stuff like that you can get over them faster. It's the way we look at food. For example we'd never climb a tree and take a robin's eggs out of her nest and make an omelet with it, but we have no problem doing that with a hen's eggs. We wouldn't think of milking our dog for our cereal, but yet cows are okay. That really made me get over eating anything that had animal by-product! In fact, I was a cheeseaholic too and my fav. was brie! I still have a whole wheel of it in the fridge...and although I have stopped buying anything non-vegan I was still going to go eat what I have in the house. However, that I can't make myself eat....it's just too much. The whole idea of eating that makes me sick to my stomach.

I also agree about not substituting, as it's usually disappointing because it won't taste the same...such as soyogurt: yuck! However, find new products, such as soy pudding: Yum!!!

I think different ways work for different people. In my opinion, I would say do whatever you are most comfortable with and what method will be most helpful to ensuring this change lasts in the long run.



Personally, a month ago I decided to go from full omni to vegan gradually. I didn't have a timeframe in mind by any means, but knew that I wanted to become vegan but was not ready to do it overnight. I then slowly eliminated food products like fish, eggs, etc., until a few weeks later, it just hit me that I was no longer going to knowingly eat trace amounts of milk/meat products (the last hurdle I had).



I would use the incremental approach and as soon as you feel the need to get rid of another item from your diet, do so. And since you have a heavy dairy portion of your current diet, going gradual would probably make more sense to make this a lifelong change.

My vegetarian diet was very dairy heavy and I found it best to switch overnight. If a gradual approach doesn't work for you I'd recommend quitting all dairy for a couple of weeks and seeing if that helps. It's very addictive stuff!

i used to consume huge amounts of cheese with almost every meal; it was my favorite food, and before i knew the real cruelties behind all forms of dairy production, i said i could never give it up. once i knew what happened to all of the cows and their young babies, though, i had to make a change. what worked for me was lugging around a mental picture of a veal calf and thinking of the anguish caused to both mother and baby by dairy production. i knew for sure that i didn't want to be part of that. and every time i saw dairy items i would make the connection that consuming them would *make* me part of it (i thought of how i'd feel if i were the one with the bloody blade in my hand poised to slit their throats myself...no way would i ever do it. so HOW could i pay for someone else to do it on my behalf by buying a chunk of cheese?!). helped me ditch the stuff overnight. never looked back. never even missed it.



In that vein, another thing you could do is take my sig. file as your mantra. ;p

Hey, that was me!

*does happy dance*

I'm glad you found it helpful.

Hahaha...well I must thank you! It helped me sooo much!

*joins in the happy dance*

Hmm....thanks for all the advice. I think maybe making more of an effort to limit dairy while still using the gradual approach would work best for me.



I guess all I could ask for to help with the transition are some good links to websites/videos that show the cruelties of the dairy industry, because to be honest, I'm not really that familiar with the abuses. A big part of the reason why I decided to transition to vegetarianism was that my friend Adam repeatedly told me more and more about factory farms and then gave me a copy of Meet Your Meat.



Another would be what would be the best vegan cookbook in your opinion. I heard Soy not Oi! is really good. (Of course, I could also check the Food forum here )

a few links about dairy that might be a good basic overview:

http://www.peacefulprairie.org/outre...anicDairy.html

http://www.peacefulprairie.org/outre...nicDairy2.html



there are lots of great cookbooks out there! (as well as recipes here and all over the net, as you said.) you may be able to check some out of a local library (mine in my little town surprisingly had several!). vegan planet by robin robertson covers a lot of ground, so if you're going to go for one as an all-purpose book, that could be a good choice.

http://www.vegansociety.com/html/ani.../dairy_cow.php got me set. "Separation is a distressing process as mother and calf form a strong maternal bond. Dairy cow husbandry expert, Professor John Webster described the removal of the calf as the "most potentially distressing incident in the life of the dairy cow". Webster points out that "the cow will submit herself to considerable personal discomfort or risk to nourish and protect her calf" "



Congratulations on your decision! For a cookbook, I would recommend "Vegan with a Vengeance" and "Veganomicon" 100%! They make life delicious.

Congrats on going vegan!



There are so many quality vegan cook books today. Way more than ever before. I suggest going to your local book shop and thumbing through the ones they have in stock and seeing which dishes sound appetizing to you. Good luck.