Vegans, help!

[FDRrocks]

I'm trying to go Vegan from Vegetarian.... and I'm having problems. I last about a month each attempt (2), and relapsed on pizza.

Maybe I'm grabbing at air, but do you guys have any advice? Did anyone else have difficulty cutting out the milk/cheese (I never ate eggs)?

[Cha]

1. May I ask why you are

"trying to go Vegan"? I do it for my health..it works much better for me so it is easier to cut out the cheese. Although it did take me about 10 years to wean myself!

[FDRrocks]

2. its a little contrived...

It's only cheese, really. I prefer soy milk. I am addicted to Pizza and 4 Cheese pasta sauce.

I have read how animals are treated in the factories and am disgusted. Vegan Outreach sent my a pamphlet stating that alot of sick shit ends up in the product usually (mainly, pus). I do not want to consume it for that reason, and also b/c of the dietary discipline involved.

So yea, I guess I do it partly for health, partly for conscience.

How is it as a Vegan, for you? I relapsed and gave up for the past month, read Fast Food Nation in the meantime and was PISSED AS HELL that there are animal products on McDonalds fries. Not like I would eat there after reading that, but I DID eat there. I can only imagine what other things have animals products in them that are unmarked.

I'm so paranoid about food anymore, lol.

[EXE619K]

3. Well....

It's not a mandatory condition for all pizzas to have cheese.

Don't add the cheese(because you'll fall for the lacto-ovo trap).

Try smoking the tomatos before you make the sauce. With enough garlic, the sauce will take-on a wonderfully savory quality, kinda like cheese flavor.

If you don't have the time to smoke the 'mats, liquid smoke works well too!

[FDRrocks]

4. Thanks for the rec.

RE: Tomatoes.

I tried making a sourdough crust pizza using Tomato and Basil sauce, and non dairy cheese.

The cheese didn't melt! The crust was hard!

It's the local pizza place here, Calabria's. Thier pizza is like GD crack. I'm sure I can shake it eventually. Plenty of other good stuff to eat, sometimes I just get unbearable urges.

Tell you this, kicking meat was like 1000x easier than the cheese.

[EXE619K]

8. Regarding the Sour dough crust thingy

If you are using raw sourdough, the crust will become too hard because there's too much yeast cultures in SD already....the consumption of sugars is too fast(in the dough that is).
I don't think it's a good idea....

What's wrong with having lacto products? I'm sure there are plenty of lacto goods that are made ethically(organic types).

But, then again, I really shouldn't be giving out "vegan" recommendations.

Forgive me, I enjoy eating tastey animals.

[ParanoidPat]

5. Thin slice 1 block of extra firm tofu.....

Fry with crushed garlic in olive oil until golden brown on both sides,
place the finished slices back in the pan and pour a jar of your favorite pasta sauce over it. Cover and allow to simmer for 15 - 20 Min's over a low flame. Grate soy Mozzarella over top and serve with egg-less pasta.

:evilgrin:

[Elad]

6. Well, without knowing too much about your current diet

it's hard to give specific advice. I've talked to a lot of people and find that everyone's very different in their approach and figuring out what works for them.

How long have you been vegetarian? What is your current diet like? Do you use a lot of dairy substitutes? Do you like soy cheese with casein (not vegan, but as close as you can get and still taste good)? Have you tried making your own pizza with soy cheese?

I ate soy cheese for many months before going vegan, and I found that very helpful. As a pizza and cheese addict myself, my experience was after a couple weeks of not eating real cheese, the soy cheese was just fine for me. I couldn't tell a difference. Unfortunately it's the casein (milk protein) in soy cheese that makes it so realistic, and 100% vegan cheeses are disgusting in my opinion.

However, before I went vegan, after getting used to eating virtually no animal foods because I would use dairy substitutes 80% of the time, and I hardly ever ate eggs, I would occasionally splurge on some Pizza Hut or something. It was freakin' GREAT going down, but it made me sick as hell a couple hours later.

This helped me wean myself off cheese. I could feel the negative affects on my body. My body was sending clear signals that, now that I was eating healthier, it didn't want that junk anymore.

I still crave pizza from time to time. I've considered "cheating" and making some casein-contaminated soy cheese pizza for myself, but haven't so far. I found going vegan to be very similar to going vegetarian. It was tough at first, but once I got used to it, it's just second nature and I don't even think about it anymore.

You need to think long and hard and make a serious decision. If you make up your mind once and for all, then hopefully that will give you the willpower to make it through those first months, after which I think the cravings usually die down.

[FDRrocks]

7. My typical diet...

consists majorly of pasta, salsa, apples, bananas, special k w/ soy, Amy's burritoes, boca burgers, tofu turkey breaks tacos (like crack), and thats about it. (edit: It isn't varied, but besides the pizza it really makes me happy. I take vitamins and have just starting taking Flax (thanks for the help btw))

I'm not that far. It's just the pizza, not even generally cheese. Thanks for the help.

Oh ya, been a Vegetarian for about a year. Never crave any kind of meat at all, really do find it disgusting.

[Elad]

9. In that case

I'd advise you start making your own pizzas with soy or rice cheese. It should satisfy the craving and is much, much better than real cheese.

After doing that for awhile, several months, try going vegan again. That's what I'd do at least. :)