Anyone a Vegan or Vegetarian

I see Oprah is doing a whole show in a Vegan diet today and Me and vinny have seriously considered going vegetarian, just wondering is it best to do vegetarina first then vegan or go right to vegan? And what is a good resource for recipes and such. thanks :)

Re: Anyone a Vegan or Vegetarian

I'm a vegetarian. It's a much harder transition to go vegan so I suggest starting as a Vegetarian and then slowly eliminating dairy and eggs. That's what I'm doing and it's working well. Congrats on switching to a healthier, cruelty free lifestyle !
As for recipes, I'm not a great cook so I'll leave to some of our other posters. Good luck!

Re: Anyone a Vegan or Vegetarian

I've been a vegetarian for three years - I think if I wanted to go vegan now would be the right time. It would be such a huge transition to go straight to vegan. Plus - I love my cheese lol

Re: Anyone a Vegan or Vegetarian

Congrats on choosing a healthier lifestyle!! I've been vegetarian (I eat fish so technically pescatarian?) for almost 3 years since reading "Skinny B!tch". They are PETA nuts who advocate veganism but it's just too extreme for me to give up eggs, cheese, milk, etc not that I eat that much of those things but it is a main source of protein for me now.

When is the show on? today?

I'm also a lousy cook but i'd like to point you in some direction in the supermarket. Try Quorn, it's neither meat nor soy but its called mycoprotein and they make it into like faux chicken nuggets and all kinds of other things and they are tasty and a good source of protein. Not all supermarkets carry this line.

Also Amy's makes great vegetarian (and some vegan) stuff.

Let us know how you are doing!

eta: and kudos to your dh too! mine thinks i'm off the walls, so does my mom!

Message edited 2/1/2011 12:13:39 PM.

Re: Anyone a Vegan or Vegetarian

I've been a vegetarian for 17 years, with occasional bursts of veganism here and there. IMO, it would be easier to start a vegetarian diet and wean yourself off of dairy, leading to a vegan diet.

It's really important to know what kind of nutrition you'll need in your diet and how to get it from different foods. I think that the Vegetarian Resource Group is a great source of information for new veggies: click me.

That site has nutritional information, tips, recipes, and restaurant information without being preachy.

Vegetarian Times is a great magazine to pick up - great articles and loads of recipes. I love this mag because it doesn't just focus on "mock meats" and a ton of soy products, but rather focuses on enhancing the natural flavors of produce, grains and dairy.

Let me know if you have any questions...it's a complete lifestyle for me (as in, no fur/leather, no products tested on animals, etc..)