How does one start a vegan diet?

I just recently decided to become vegan...a few months ago but I still remeber what it was like...it was tough, but it would have been tougher if my school didn't have vegan food (my school has vegan desserts, vegan tacos, chicken fajitas, soup, etc....you name it). Really, it was a big help.



It was still difficult for me though--it is not something I recommend doing overnight; it took me a few days to transistion, and it was hard when I didn't eat meals on-campus.



FIRST-- I got used to reading labels on everything, because thats just what you have to do. You will be surprised at what products have eggs, milk, etc in them. If I thought I couldn't handle not eating something because I was too surprised at the ingredents, then I went ahead and ate that food for the last time.



Also, a lot of vegetarian frozen foods aren't vegan, and this was ery difficult as well. You can't have alfredo pastas or veggie lasagna (the cheese)...and a lot of Morningstar and Boca products aren't vegan either--many have eggs and milk in them, but some do not; check to make sure. I know Gardenburger is mostly vegan, and their foods taste pretty good.



Another issue is milk; if you drink it often and don't like the taste of soy or rice or almond (there is most likely one you will favor), then it will definitely be hard. Personally, I have been drinking soy milk for years and I love it, BUT I remember I used to hate it....eventually, you will get used to it. I hated the taste of skim milk so I got turned to alternatives early. But don't worry, you'll get used to the soy milk.



Coffee--almost every coffee place will replace regular milk with soy milk, just ask and they'll do it



desserts- yeah....you'll have to make your own :(



vitamins: I take more vitamins than when I did when I was a vegetarian. I take a multi, a calcium, a C, a B, and a D vitamin. DO NOT TAKE VITAMINS WITH A MEAL IF YOU DRINK SOYMILK---the soymilk lines the stomach, preventing proper absorption of vitamins, so I suggest have one meal a day where you don't drink soy milk.



for protein, if you get sick of imitation frozen meats, I just eat a lot of peanut butter and jelly or a can of mixed nuts every day.How does one start a vegan diet?
http://www.vegan.org/FAQs/index.html



This a a really good websiteHow does one start a vegan diet?
Just do it one day. Stop eating meat, dairy, eggs, etc. and start eating fruits and veggies, whole grains, legumes, etc.

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