Vegetarian

Just curious how many of us vegans are on the site.

Maybe just say if you are vegan, for how long, and why you made the choice?

I've been vegan for 5 years... made the choice for only ethical reasons (but now it's ethics and health).  I went cold turkey (no pun intended) from eating meat to being vegan....

o/

Going on seven years here!

I was raised vegetarian. There was a couple years when my parents started eating some meat (fish and chicken) and I tried it, decided not happening, and went back vegetarian when I was ten. I have been vegan now for 5 years. Mine was ethical and health reasons.

Hi All,

I'm not a Vegan but might like to become one for health reasons.  I currently eat no meat except fish (2x a week) and don't do milk or eggs anymore (for about 6 months).  By chaning my diet and reducing certain types of fat/cholesterol/sodium, I've lost 68 pounds and lowered my cholesterol from 249 to 122 (no lie!).  I eat a lot of soy and beans, but am allergic to peanuts and bananas.  This makes for very creative meal planning since I have the tendency to get anemic and have some electrolyte issues. 

Any suggestions for "meat/protein substitutes" other than tofu, tempeh, seitan, and "boca" or "morningstar" products, nuts, and beans?  If you have any good recipes, I'd love them!  I'm in a small midwestern college town, and although we have monthly vegetarian dinners, there aren't a lot of vegans or eating out options.  :)

I love tofurky sausages and lunchmeat. And for thanksgiving I may get lazy and buy a tofurky roast instead of making my own.

I am not a vegan, but I've been a vegetarian for 14 years! I have reciently been reevaluating my diet and I reallt want to lose weight, so I might go vegan. My husband eats meat, but he usually cooks veggie things for us because he says its easier than cooking two meals! I just found a sweat vegan restaruant in Tacoma, WA called Quickie Too, it was soooo good! If any of you all are ever in the area you should totally check it out!

Thanks Marcy. I live in vancouver wa. Its always nice to know where I can eat if I am travelling around.

Hey, I'm Fanny from Vancouver BC.  I'm a vegan and finding this site quite helpful. 

hello fellow vegans! i am vegan. ive been veggie since i was 11 (i'm now 20 in a couple days). i would change between vegan and veggie for the past couple years but have recently decided to make more of an effort to be completely vegan. the only real change i've had to make from veggie to vegan was reading the cracker and protein bar ingredients because i never really ate cheese or milk or other animal products. so yea...i love it! feel free to add me!

It's been almost a week for me now, I think! I made the choice because I came to the conclusion that I could no longer eat meat without a guilty conscience, and if I decided to go veg I would ultimately have to be vegan because that is something I couldn't do "halfway". But basically it boils down to ethical, health, and environmental reasons - i.e. there are more reasons for me not to eat animal products than to eat them.

My husband and I have been lacto-ovo vegetarians for a bit over 20 years now.  Our biggest hurdles have been finding food we can eat when out or visiting and convincing our doctors that our food choice is good for us.  Thankfully I have recently found a PCP (family) doctor and cardiologist who are both pro-vegetarian.  I even have a pharmacist who, for a minimal charge, puts my medications in non-gelatin capsules. 

I usually get two questions about my choice of food.  I would like to answer them here.  First,it IS possible to have a balanced, healthy diet and be vegetarian.  Secondly, no, I never get bored with my vegetarian diet.  There are how many kinds of meat?  Fish, poultry, beef, pork, lamb, generally.  Compare that to the vast number of fruits and vegetables, herbs, nuts and seeds and it should become a bit more clear.  I can make a different meal for our evening meal every night for years and not duplicate, if I wanted to do so. 

One last point that just occurred to me.  Vegetarian is cheaper, especially if one cooks and doesn't depend on commercially made products. 

I'm Vegan and I'm liking it very much sooo!! I went from eating meat to being Vegan. no biggie... i didnt eat much meat to begin w/... it was the dairy that took some getting used too!

I've been lacto-veg for 5 years. Tried vegan on and off, but would like to permanently convert as I hold those beliefs.

YEAH VEGGIES!!!!!

BTW: Whomever's dog is wearing that toupee(?)-cutest thing ever!!!

My name is Stephanie and I'm almost 14 (on the 14th!). I because a vegetarian in April 2005 and a vegan June 13th this year. So that's 1 1/2 years an Herbivore? I became a vegan because in 2004 my mom and I moved to a farm and got a bunch of farm animals. It really opened my eyes that chickens and pigs and goats and stuff have feelings too. Also I found out how they're treated in the factories and killed *shudders*. Normally when people ask though I say:

I can't watch my neighbors baby cows (their fence is hooked to ours) playing and running and having fun, and go inside and eat one.

Hey, I'm new here, but I'm vegan.  Went vegan 1 1/2 years ago and was ovo-lacto for 10 years before that.  Basically I turned because I got really interested in holistic health and nutrition and in all my reading I kept seeing great things about the vegan diet and how horrible animal products (especially dairy) are for you.  I decided to try it (my bf at the time said "you won't last a week") and I loved it.  Dropped 15 lbs and never looked or felt better.  I had dairy withdrawl for about a week and now I don't even crave anything.  Once I went vegan and liked it for health reasons, I started reading more information on veganism, and discovered the horrors of factory farming and even the torture that egg chickens and dairy cows go through (not to mention the connection to veal).  Just more reasons for me to be vegan.  I catch a lot of crap for it, but *shrug* whatchagonnado?  Does piss me off though when my bf's parents say "we've got to get you to eat some cheese!"  At those times I want to say "oh, so you want me to poison myself?  Gee THANKS!" but I just chuckle along with everyone else...gritting my teeth.

Hey there everyone! I started as a lacto-ovo for a couple years, woke up one morning and decided that veganism was the route for me...It's been about 6 years now, and I'm the still only vegan, of everyone that I know in the area (south of Boston, MA). So hopefully I will meet some others that will get excited about going out to vegan restaurants with me, haha.

I went vegan completely for ethical reasons, and now I'm also enjoying the health benefits as well. I'm very open minded about it however, though I completely believe in veganism for myself and am very strict in eating a pure vegan diet and to my best ability and knowledge, using products that are vegan-friendly as well.

I do not ever try to force my values on others...My boyfriend of 3 years, and my whole family (except my 17 year old sister who has been veg for a year now), are all hard core meat eaters...but we all have a mutual respect about our eating habits and do not get into discussions/arguments about it...so it works out well! :)

ColdTurkey as well in 2005 after seeing the meet your meat video and pamphlets.... I unlike so many others have a heart and can't ignore the unethical treatment of animals. Since then i've dropped around 15lbs and eat more than i did then!

Yup I'm a Vegan. Go Us!

20 year old vegan from washington, dc.

been vegan 6 years.

became vegan cause my vegetarian girlfriend said 'how can you live eatting meat'?

i replied 'how can you justify dairy if you can't justify meat'?

we've both been vegan since.

Vegan here! a chubby vegan, that sounds like an oxymoron. It's stupid. ha. about a year for ethical reasons, but feel in love with the health benifits! ^_^

Hello! Seeing this has just made me SOOOOOO HAPPY! I know like two other vegetarians (my sis and her boyfriend). So seeing this is great. I'm new to this site and would like to lose a bunch of weight. I too am a chubby vegan. I've been a veg head for about 11 years and I think about 9 of those I've been vegan. The main reason are  envirnomental and ethical ..and health....yeah health last but the first two tie for first.