Being Vegan.

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I have been doing some research, and what I've read and seen has really opened my eyes, And has changed my feelings about eating meat and animal products massively.

So what I would like to ask is if you are a vegan, How did you do it? Did you do a drastic change and do it all at once, or did you make changes gradually, I am thinking of going Vegetarian and then vegan from there.

What do you lovely people think?

Bump...

Also how do you handle being vegan if going out to eat, or round friends or families homes?

It's never been easier to be a vegan, especially in restaurants. Pizza Express now do vegan mozzarella, for example. Use this link to help you veganuary.com/chain_restaurants/

Quorn have just started a vegan range and it is rapidly expanding, meaning you can cook meaty style dishes but with meat substitution products rather than just sticking to recipes and meals based on beans, nuts and tofu! The same applies to dairy products thanks to Alpro and supermarket own brands. Alpro now do a cooking range including cream and butter designed for substituting into normal recipes. So I'd say just go for it. Do as much as you can as soon as you can, every little helps.

My biggest piece of advice would be: prepare to be flexible regarding family and friends. Being willing to have a little bit of normal milk in your tea for example is likely to save a few relationships and keep you included in invitations. I'm sure they'll be understanding and try to accommodate you as much as possible.

Or you could start to like black tea?!!!

Have a look at the veganuary website, there are loads of resources on there from recipes to an eating out guide to chain restaurants.
You don't need to do it all at once as it's a big lifestyle change for most.

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my post
I will definitely give black tea and coffee a go.
Or could just have a cold drink instead of tea or coffee.

I will definitely check out that website, I know Wagamama do lots of vegan options., I've tried Quorn, i'm not too keen on it, but will buy the Quorn chicken nuggets for my dd's

Would your family be happy eating vegan meals? It’s so much easier if you don’t need to do different meals! I’ve not done it personally but think I would be tempted to take some time exploring more vegan recipes, find what you like and what you don’t and what dishes your family will eat and not rather than going in blind and feeling pressure to discover everything on the hoof (not sure if that makes sense!)

I'm not there yet but was already vegetarian so slightly easier. The advice I've found most helpful is that it's not all or nothing, but more about trying to make the best choice. So I found it much easier to be vegan at home then just choose the option with the least amount of dairy/eggs when out.

I found myvegansupermarket.co.uk so helpful.

I went straight to being vegan after watching some of the typical vegan vids (earthlings etc). I found it easy and 7 months on feel like I’ll never go back! I found it quite easy and most pubs and restaurants have vegan options or things that can be tweaked without seeming too fussy.

I use provitamil oat milk in my tea and coffee - it doesn’t separate or curdle, and doesn’t taste odd.

Do whatever feels best for you! It’s a good time to experiment with new ingredients . It’s worth getting some vegan supplements too, especially for B12. Good luck!

After being veggie my entire adult life I decided to challenge myself to a month of vegan eating three years ago. It was simple and I never looked back.

With veganism becoming more mainstream, alternatives are readily available in most places. The only area I’ve had issues is smaller independent restaurants where they don’t and won’t cater for the odd vegan and we get lumped with basic carbs and veg ie risotto or couscous stuffed pepper, but chains and larger independants will usually have more than enough to choose from. Including desserts.

Best vegan find was f&m vegan afternoon tea. Their vegan scones are the bomb.

Be aware of wine and champagnes though. Many many aren’t vegan. You’d be surprised.

It made my year (and broke my diet) when Ben and Jerry's brought out three vegan flavours.

Thank you Caken and Consider

Atleast My DP is on board and wants to go Vegan too, I will not push it on my DD's though, I will just let them try it and if they like it great, If not they can have their usual foods they like.

I am thinking of going vegetarian first, I think what I will miss most to begin with will be , Cheese, Butter etc, But I will get used to it eventually.

Rice You have made my day I love that I can still gorge on Ben and Jerry's.

800, Tesco do a sliced vegan Red Leicester chesse..lush

Say what now?!!! Lace I can't wait to try It. Thanks for letting me know.

My dd is vegetarian but dislikes most dairy products so tends to err towards vegan food. There's such a wide range and so many recipes available nowadays. A typical day's food for her is
Porridge with almond milk
A hummus and spinach sandwich and crisps
Quorn vegan chicken style nuggets or bean burger etc, vegetables and potato or rice
Ice lolly/sorbet
She snacks on fruit/raw carrots/a few squares chocolate (vegan chocolate is readily available)/peanut butter on toast.
Most restaurants and food places offer vegan choices.

And I recommend the recipe book 'Keep it Vegan'. Some lovely recipes in there!

Thanks Annabel I will definitely have a look at that book

Hi all. Can I just ask (as a vegetarian who has considered being vegan before) what do you all do when you go abroad? We like to go on holiday when we can to Europe (mainly Spain / Greece) and I already fine it difficult to eat out as a veggie there, and I imagine the language barrier makes it harder to communicate what a vegan is. As it is I generally find eating out abroad becomes a rotation of:

1. Margarita pizza.
2. Spanish omelette (if in Spain) or Greek salad (if in Greece).
3. Pasta in a tomato sauce.

Do you just self-cater? Or do you just try and do what you can and just try and eat minimal egg / dairy products?

KitKat, there is a website called Happy Cow which details all the restaurants/cafes at that offer veg and vegan options.

Kat1995 Hi all. Can I just ask (as a vegetarian who has considered being vegan before) what do you all do when you go abroad?

For travel the vegan passport means you can ask in any country, or show them the translation.

www.vegansociety.com/shop/books/lifestyle-books/vegan-passport

I have decided to go Vegan gradually, so I am starting off by going vegetarian, I have so many great vegetarian recipes I already do, so this should be an easy process, I have also got some Oat milk being delivered in my shopping so I can get used to not having cow's milk in my hot drinks.

My ds (aged 19) is what I call a pragmatic vegan. In that he eats a vegan diet wherever possible, but if its not possible he eats non-vegan. So he eats a vegan diet about 90% of the time, a vegetarian diet about 9% of the time and he eats chicken or fish once in a blue moon.

However, he is doing this for health reasons so doesn't have the moral issues to worry about. Eg we went for a meal in a restaurant recently, he asked for the vegetarian dish but without the feta (which was crumbled over the top so easy to miss out). The dippy waitress forgot to tell the chef and so there was feta on the plate. Ds didn't want to make a fuss so just ate it. A proper vegan would have sent it back.

He switched to this way of eating overnight. It helped that he's mildly lactose intolerant so had always had soya milk in cereal, tea etc. I think that would have been the hardest thing to switch if he hadn't been.

He started this earlier on thd year and since then has been to many places in Europe, including g Romania, and says he was able to eat vegan everywhere. He hasn't been to France since he switched though!

If we eat out, Indian and Chinese restaurants are really vegan friendly. There's usually loads of veggie dishes that don't involve eggs or dairy to choose from.