Going from omnivore to vegan?

[Geigerin]

Did anyone make the transition straight from omnivore to vegan? Or eliminate dairy prior to eliminating meat?

A little background: I was raised California-vegetarian (that's what we called it-only seafood and dairy). I was always healthy. Anemic, but a healthy weight, very open-minded about food. The main reason was for health, but I was well aware of the treatment of animals. When my husband and I got married, I started eating local, humanely raised, antibiotic/hormone free meat.

6 1/2 months ago, our daughter was born. We quickly discovered she could not handle the dairy in my diet, among other things. Since then, I have been free of dairy, soy, peanuts, broccoli, some beans, caffeine, and limited sugar. As a result, I've been eating more meat. I've had a ton of intestinal distress, and I think it's from the meat.

Maddy has finally outgrown her intolerance to dairy, but as soon as I reintroduced it to my diet, I felt like crap. I feel sick and tired, an the only think that's changed is a little milk and cheese.

I honestly think my body is having a hard time with the meat, and now I'm afraid milk has become a problem. Also, I don't want to do soy anymore. I really try to do whole foods.

Soooo...Anyone have a similar experience? What are your favorite resources? I have a million vegetarian cookbooks, but nothing vegan. Would love to hear your thoughts!

Thank you!

Amie

[remijo]

Sorry I don't have time to post a detailed reply but I went straight from omnivore to vegan. I am also gluten and soy free because those were definitely causing me problems as well. There are so many resources out there and once you start feeling better, you won't even notice you made the switch!

[Geigerin]

Thanks for responding! I didn't realize how good I felt until I reintroduced dairy. And I'm sure going back to veg will be even better.

[remijo]

Back to say that I went raw vegan right away and had practically everything that I was struggling with health wise cleared up (including losing those stubborn last 20 postpartum pounds). However, about a month or so into being totally raw vegan, I was having issues with low protein and it got me concerned because I am still breastfeeding (practically exclusively, DD is a picky solids eater). So I am adding in beans and cooking some starchy veggies. I also eat quinoa on occasion and fish if I feel like I really need a boost. And that is basically all I eat. I must say though that I eat alot of fat in the forms of nuts and nut butters which I know would be killing me (and adding on the pounds) if I weren't breastfeeding but if I try to cut them down my body craves them like crazy and I just give in. I will have to experiment a little more when I'm done breastfeeding but for now that is what my body wants. I also don't eat alot of cruciferous veggies like broccoli because i have a severe thyroid problem that can be worsened by those. But they're better if cooked and full of nutrients so I will probably add them in once in a while. Good luck! I know my body can't handle alot of meat and definitely not dairy or gluten.

[Naturopath Mom]

I am a vegan and became a veg first. I think most people do the meat first becasue, ethically, it is easier to see the connection to the meat. However, dairy is usually more problematic to the diet than meat and is also more addictive. So people have a much harder time eliminating it (usually) and the meat isn't as hard. Gluten is a bad one too, people can be very sensitive to it.

Nutritional yeast is a good cheese sub, I agree it is good to stay away from lots of soy. Focus on vegetables and seeds, IMO.

In peace & health
Kimberly

[red and lulu]

i nixed the dairy first because it made me feel like poo. i was newly pregnant and mostly dairy free (i ate cheese occassionally), but the fact that i'd be nursing really turned me off to dairy, philosophically speaking. (cows nurse from cows. human babies nurse from human moms. but humans drink cow's milk?!) i still ate a little fish occassionally but the more i educated myself about veganism and vegan cooking, the more ethical undertones my diet took and the more inclined i was to turn down seafood. like remijo i am also gluten-free, which has been the case for several years (except for a few months during my pregnancy when all i could eat was toast and crackers). i am also finding that limiting soy works best for me — i've found i've become incredibly sensitive, and so while no dairy or gluten helps my digestion incredibly soy has begun to cause me a problem.

i think that every body is different and you have to experiment to see what works for you. for me, a vegan, gluten free, low soy, high fat, high raw diet works really well. but it's been a couple years of trial and error to figure that out, and there's still much to be discovered.

as for resources: i get a lot out of macrobiotic books (i love modern day macrobiotics by simon baker, any books from the Kushi Institute, and alicia silverstone's new book, the kind diet, is surprisingly good too). veganomicon is great. what to eat when you can't eat anything is also great.

hope some of that was helpful! good luck!

[Cuddlefluff]

I went from omnivore to vegan overnight when I was 15. I was vegan for 4 years, but I've now regressed to eating dairy and eggs again. I try to avoid them, but at the moment I'm not trying very hard.

I'm glad I went from omni straight to vegan. It was pretty easy being vegan, and I think if I'd been vegetarian first I would have been too caught up on cheese to make the switch to vegan comfortably (that's the state I'm in now since I started eating dairy and eggs). That might not be so much of a concern for you, if you want to cut out dairy for health reasons rather than ethical reasons, I don't know.

Of my small collection of vegan cookbooks, I found these most useful:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lantern-Vega...9&sr=8-3-fkmr1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vegan-Cookin...6730090&sr=1-1

I also enjoyed looking at http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/ I was vegan at the time when the author was updating regularly, but the archives are good to sift through. Lots of nice ideas and a few recipes.

[SummerLove]

i went vegetarian first, the vegan a couple years later...

[marsupial-mom]

Regarding nutrition, here are some helpful websites:
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/food_groups.html
http://www.theveganrd.com/food-guide-for-vegans
http://www.chooseveg.com/vegan-food-pyramid.asp
http://veganhealth.org/

[Geigerin]

Thank you for the nutrition and recipe tips! I am officially on day 3 of my vegan lifestyle, and I love it! I've been cooking vegan meals without telling my hubby, and he's loved it! (it's easier to persuade him once he's used to it...lol)

Also, I feel amazing! I have more energy than I've had in years, and I'm enjoying my food more than ever. Didn't expect such a huge result so quickly. Thank you so much!