For those who are Vegan. How did you do it?

[i am knowledge]

I'm at a stage of my life where I want to eliminate animal products from my diet.  Eventually I'd hope to be able to remove them from my life period.

Now the truth is, the main reason I'd like to do it is for my health.  My weight my entire life has ying yanged like Luther Vandros, but I had some blood work done and while I'm "ok" my A1C number was a little higher than it needed to be.  I've made it through a lot of health problems, and I can't let myself becoem a diabetic or have some issues that are preventable.  And lately, my energy levels have been low.

But basically, I was raised in an environment where fried chicken and Newports can be seen in my baby pictures.  A lot of unhealthy things have become a part of who I am.

So my question is, how did you give up the unhealthy foods, and animal products?  Was it a slow transition?  Or did you go "Cold Turkey"?

Did giving up meat do anything to your energy levels?

For those of you that have been successful in this lifestyle transition, do you still have a taste for Popeyes?

 

[ogmikey]

I was in the same boat as you where as I've been overweight for the my whole life and just earlier this year I've been either cutting things out or limiting them to a couple times a month. I only have red meat once a week at the maximum. I've been lactose intolerant my whole life but despite it I would indulge in all cheeses under the sun, now I only have dairy (cheese included) once a week and have noticed significant differences in my energy level and my breathing. I don't think I could make the jump to going vegan or completely vegetarian because I love chicken and fish too much, but I'm definitely looking at more ways to incorporate veggies into my diet.

I'm interested in this topic as well, I wish there were more people contributing to the vegetarian recipes thread.

 

[kingjamesvehs]

its not something that happens over night
you need to be adventurous
you need not be one of those "hold your nose at green veggies" people
you need to have support

im not gunna say i gave up unhealthy foods in its entirety because without indulgence youll go right back to your old ways but you have to make good choices while youre making bad choices... you can make vegan pumkini pie, pie in general could easily be veganized because theyre all fruit based you just gotta get some vegan butter alternatives

i gave it up when my daughter was born, me and my wife wanted a completely healthy environment for her so we decided this would be the best way to go about it... i mean that amongst other things ... for me it was 55 percent health and 45 percent moral issues..
i remember the last meat product i ate was some chicken her mother in law prepared.. it was gross.. and we stopped eating meat that night and never went back... i think meat is the easiest part.. its the eggs and dairy youre gunna have to struggle with
or that i struggled with in my experiences so i guess meat was cold turkey and the rest came within those first two weeks

im also lucky to be interested in cooking, my wifes interested in cooking and we made a vow to never feed our daughter packaged crap so we we know everything that we put in our bodies

now heres the interesting part that most people struggle with
when taking anything out of your routine will lead to a withdrawl
i definitley had some depression issues and laziness problems that peeked around a month in... but then that was it.. i suggest you take some spiritual route to help you get thru it.. some people use jesus.. some people smoke weed.. i smoked weed and did yoga and it helped to curb any cravings or depression or w.e
after you get thru that youll get this burst of energy.. never in my life have i been able to wake up at 530 go to work get out around 5 and be ready to chill , do what i had to do and still be able to go to bed at like 12 and not feel like a lump of coal when i had to be up at 530

in terms of feinding for popeyes not one bit
i dont miss meat one bit
the smell of baccon on the other hand noone will ever get passed imo its the best smell on this planet lmao

its been over a year... i feel great.. i used to be one of those "protein bro!!!!!" people in the gym hardcoroe being as i worked there and what not but i lost around 45 lbs? i wasnt fat in the least so be ready for that

youre gunna either hate it or love it.. i love it
i eat at different ethnic restaraunts on the regular
i try a few new fruits and veggies every month
get crazy
fake meat kinda sucks to me but certain veggie burgers are awesome
idk im wall o' texting, so if theres anything youd like me to touch on that i havent already just ask

 

[kingjamesvehs]

also.. be ready for the hate... anything outside the norm is shunned in every community... my own family still makes wise cracks till this day..
people are gunna call you soft
eating cows makes you a thug..

just be ready cuz haters gon' hate

 

[hankmoody]

Tbh, I first re-read many of Meth's posts on the subject. Very helpful stuff. Plus one of my close friends in college helped me. I think the food aspect is not that difficult but the products aspect is. For example, if you are really vegan, Nike kicks are supposedly out of the question plus a whole bunch of other things I own. As you can imagine, choices like that are hard to make.

 

[ohdannyboy]

Ron Swanson would not approve.

 

[kingjamesvehs]

Originally Posted by HankMoody

Tbh, I first re-read many of Meth's posts on the subject. Very helpful stuff. Plus one of my close friends in college helped me. I think the food aspect is not that difficult but the products aspect is. For example, if you are really vegan, Nike kicks are supposedly out of the question plus a whole bunch of other things I own. As you can imagine, choices like that are hard to make.

this!

i didnt go and throw out all the leather and suede that i owned... but i make different choices i.e vans  toms etc when i cop kicks now
i use cruelty free soap etc
i try to stay away from companys that test on animals but that is something im finding harder and harder the more research i do on the subject
it seems that more and more companys do it soo if youre gunna be that extreme be prepared man

also theres things that will blow your mind like the fact that white sugar is made with bone ash
most beer and wine is filtered thru fish blatter -__-
things like this

then theres stuff like oreos that are so processed that theyre vegan.. so if youre stuck at a gas station with no nuts you dont have to starve yourself... but they use white sugar... it all boils down to how strict you wanna be

 

[DCAllAfrican]

Nice Blog I found. No Meat Athlete - http://www.nomeatathlete.com/about/