Hi, Lorrie!
Don't get me started! I'm sure my internet connection will have disconected by the time I get done typing this! LOl!
I've been a vegan (with some rare lapses into foods with egg whites and whey in at the beginning) since around 1990. Before that, I was an "almost vegan" (about 90-95%) vegetarian since 1976. I quickly gave up either dairy or eggs (can't remember which anymore) after reading about the way it was obtained. But I couldn't keep on eating dairy (which is very much linked to the veal calf industry) or eggs (which is one of the most cruel products) after learning how things really work. Even if I could be assured that the eggs I got were from true free-range animals, living in peace and harmony on a small family farm, I wouldn't eat them. Humans just don't NEED to use animals to provide for our food and clothing and entertainment, and not using them for such allows us a different relationship with them. And with high demand (even for "organic"), comes more "efficient" (ie: profit-making) means of raising animals, that is also not "humane." The term "humane slaughter" seems like an oxymoron to me.
My most overwhelming motivation is to do as much as I can for animals, which I don't believe should be killed or basically tortured merely for our habits, pleasures, tastes, amusement or "sport". My second reason is health, though the "whole foods" part of my veganism is motivated by that more than the veganism itself. I figure if I'm concerned about other creatures, I should be concerned about myself as well...don't you think?
I don't really pay attention to macronutrients (I think if you follow a whole foods diet for the most part, and eat a variety of foods, things pretty much take care of themselves), but I'd say it's close to 60% carbs (whole food sources), 15% protein, 25% fat (maybe more fat than that...that's an area where I could cut down!). From what I've read, the healthiest populations (avoiding the chronic illnesses Americans and populations in other developed nations now suffer from in epidemic proportions) have a minimum of 50% carbs in their diet (the maximum would be around 75%, to allow for enough protein--though those needs have been highly exaggerated--and fat). A protein ratio of around 12-20% is good. That's with some leeway as well. More than that is just not necessary. Fat: ideally 10-20%, but that's my downfall!
Social outings can be difficult if you expect to eat a full meal, LOL! I usually eat ahead of time, and see social outings as just that: a time to be social rather than a time to eat. If I go to someone's house, I let them know ahead of time that I'm vegan and what I do and don't eat, and either suggest I bring a dish, or figure out what I can eat there. Luckily, most of my socializing is with my department colleagues, and they are very open to veganism (one is an "almost vegetarian"--though he calls himself one and it bugs the @$@ out of me--who eats chicken and fish, and he and his wife usually have at least one vegan option when they host parties. Several of my other colleagues make sure to make vegan foods, or make my portion vegan---I don't even ask them to do it!) A good book for dealing with "non-vegans" is "Vegan Freak". I got it through
www.veganessentials.com.
I'm usually pretty strict, though there are times I will go for milk chocolate. When I do, I make a conscious choice to do so---which I think is one thing that veganism is about: being aware of what you are consuming and making choices based on "full disclosure" rather than consuming mindlessly. I'm not perfect, but I'm trying to be!
I don't wear leather or wool or silk or pearls, or use things that contain them,(I wore leather and wool as a vegetarian, always finding a rational for it, until I attended one of Ingrid Newkirk's sessions at a veggie conference. After that, I divested myself of wool (gave the good stuff--like sweaters I had knit myself--) to my stepmother) and either gave away my leather shoes, or wore what I had until they were no longer wearable.
I usually buy cosmetics and personal care that has no animal testing or ingredients (I look for "against animal testing" or "no animal testing" labels rather than just the "we don't test on animals"--which could mean "but other companies do it for us"-- or "this PRODUCT not tested on animals" -- which could mean "but the ingredients were").
As for tastes: There are definitely tastes that you will miss at the beginning especially (when I became a vegetarian, my stepmother kept making all the foods I liked when I visited--polish sausage, pork chops--but I refused them. When she offered me a pork chop, she said "it won't kill you." My response was "but it killed the pig" and that was that. Thinking about polish sausages now--greasy, fat polish sausages--makes me almost ill!)
Thinking about where milk comes from (and that the US allows a higher level of pus in it's milk than any other country) doesn't make milk or dairy that appetizing, as well as the fact that it's inextricably connected to the veal calf industry (the idea of talking about living animals as part of an "industry" --though "producers" see them as machines rather than sentient beings--is somewhat absurd!). Humans are also the only animal that drinks milk after weening (and the milk of another species at that--even though domestic animals may drink it, it's not in their natural diet).
If you want the taste of butter, Earh Balance makes a trans-fat free margarine that tastes very buttery (either in stick or tub form). For milk chocolate, there are vegan chocolates that are very yummy (though I've cut down on my chocolate consumption, which my acupuncturist advised me to avoid, since it contains some type of acid that interfers with the area in the intestines that are linked to the immune system--that and coffee, alcohol and soft drinks, which I don't use anyway). I just gave out "treat bags" to my colleagues for Halloween, and I included a couple of dark chocolate vegan bars in each--from a halloween pack that was at a food coop I go to). They thought it was delish!
Rather than thinking of what you will/do miss, think of all you have to eat! So much more, IMO, than most people who eat a SAD. Others may see your diet as being one of deprivation, but I certainly don't think of it as such, and neither should you!
Some good books to start with:
"Becoming Vegan" (an excellent reference that also gives good dietary guidelines, and also has references to other books).
"The RAVE diet and lifestyle" (DVD and book, available at
www.ravediet.com . I don't agree with everything the author says, but the DVD is excellent, and a good overview of a healthy vegan diet)
Some good places to get "stuff"!! (I like to give my business to vegan-owned companies, and they've already done all the research to find out if a product is truely vegan, including no animal testing):
www.veganessentials.com (they are in Wisconsin, I'm in Illinois. I've placed orders on Friday morning, received a shipping notice on Friday afternoon, and gotten my package on Monday!).
www.veganstore.com (Pangea vegan products)
VegNews is my favorite veg*n magazine. Neither "straight-edge punk" like "Herbivore," nor "recipe collection" and mainstream like Vegetarian Times, it is very uplifting and positive. You can get a free copy at their web site (
www.vegnews.com ), where you can also find a whole list of on-line resources for buying everything from vegan "junk food" to vegan sex toys!).
