Any Advice?

[BenjisMomma]

I was a vegetaian for many years but now,sadley,am not. I want to be vegan,i know its better for my health,but i love food and currently,animal products as well(so sorry everyone). any tips for me as to how to slowly gat back to being veggie only?

[Erin Pavlina]

Here's what I would do:

1. Make a list of things you really like to eat that are vegetarian or, preferably, vegan.

2. Make sure you're eating those foods 80% of the time. Eat meat 20% of the time. That way you haven't suddenly cut off your "source of pleasure" if you know what I mean.

3. Start looking for new, yummy, delicious, recipes for vegan foods, and slowly start replacing the meat with the new items. Make sure these new items are just as enticing to you as the animal products are.

4. Next, use some NLP techniques to resist your cravings for meat. What i used to do was picture a Big Mac, with a bright light on it, looking perfect and juicy and delicious. Then I would imagine a feeler coming up over the back of the burger. Followed by a leg or two, then a face. A cockroach! The big old cockroach comes up over the burger and then a whole bunch of roaches come spilling out of the center. In no time at all, Big Macs disgusted me. Took the craving right away!!

Anyone else have ideas?

[BenjisMomma]

well thats pretty easy to do seeing as i worked in fast food a few years back and its pretty much like that....haha

[Erin Pavlina]

hahahaha, don't tell me that!! I'll have nightmares. ;)

[BenjisMomma]

ok...so im proud of myself...i went to the grocery store tonight and the only animal products i bought for myself were cream cheese and yoghurt!....im getting closer...this store didnt have any soy fake cheeses except deli slices....oh well,but my son(2 yo) will be enjoying a vegan breakfast for the first time tomorrow morning(kashi and rice milk,vegan 'bacon')...yea!

[Erin Pavlina]

That's great! It's an excellent step forward.

For vegan cream cheese, see if you can find Tofutti's Better Than Cream Cheese. My non-vegan family members ate it at a brunch I had and were amazed that it wasn't the "real" thing.

Also, for yogurt, try Whole Soy yoguts. Delicious! And your son will love them too.

If you need any product recommendations for vegan versions of your favorite non-vegan things, let us know. I'll bet we can find something satisfying.

[BenjisMomma]

anything that is not vegan and has a vegen equivelent is important to me. thanx.

[Erin Pavlina]

Well thankfully in the past few years a LOT of great products have come on to the market that are delicious and great substitutes for our old favorites.

Yesterday I shared a veggie burger with my toddler that was fantastic. Gardenburgers Flame Grilled veggie burgers. I added ketchup and thousand island dressing (Follow Your heart brand) and it was delicious.

Instead of mayonnaise, we use Veganaise (also by Follow Your Heart)

For cream cheese we use Toffutti's brand.

We use the new vegan mozarella cheese from Angel's Earthkind Kitchens to make pizza or pizza bagels.

For dessert we usually have Newman O's mint cookies, Soy Dream ice cream, Fig Newmans, and once a month we get a shipment of Allison's Gourmet organic vegan cookies as part of her cookie of the month club. If you want a real treat, join the cookie of the month club because you save a lot of money over her regular prices the longer you are a member.

www.allisonsgourmet.com

I could go on and on. Tell me what you're missing and I'll give you a substitute.

[Teejay]

You have probably already found Lightlife products which you can buy in most Big Bears or Krogers & they are not even that expensive. (Mostly they are meat-substitutes.)

There are also "Amy's" frozen meals/items which we can get in Kroger's health food section. They do vegan pizzas, fantastic enchiladas, little shepherd's pies and corn-topped pies and so on, which you can heat in the regular or microwave oven. If you are in a hurry these are good, though they do cost a little more than the non-vegan equivalent. So we don't eat them all the time but keep them for those times when you're in a rush or going out somewhere.

You can also get some fantastic food items from online stores like Pangea and Vegan Essentials -- amazing vegan donuts for instance, which we ordered for my child's birthday party and no-one could tell that they were "different". They also sell replacement items of all kinds, e.g. replacement parmesan, ranch dressing, mayonnaise etc.

The main thing is, while you are making this transition, not to get down or put off by the occasional "slip", mistake, or going back -- going back once or even twice or even three times doesn't mean, "Oh, now I have failed and I can't be a veg*n". You will get there gradually, because you want to. Wanting to is the strongest element -- without that (if you were just doing it for someone else) it would be much harder. You're already halfway there by having the desire and ambition to do it.