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Hard time after 3 months vegan
Started
by AliC
on August 13, 2012
Hi fellow kindfooders. I have been vegan for 3 months. I have fallen a little off the wagon. Cheese is the problem. No other dairy, just cheese. It's been a week of troubles. 3 times I've had cheese. Pizza( vegetarian) bagel with cream cheese and a veggie burger with goat cheese. I have found some great other options the Daiya soy free vegan cheese is wonderful. I know I shouldn't be trying to replace things so does anyone have any suggestions for me. I guess 100% vegetarian and 95% Vegan is great but I would prefer not to let this be a slippery slope to being a vegetarian
Thanks for your thoughts
AliC
First off I just wanted to say I'll be 3 months vegan in 2 days so congrats to us both! And secondly sounds like you are doing well to me if you've only had cheese 3 times. I personally was suprised at how little I think about cheese. But that doesn't mean it's a bad thing that you still want it so go easy on yourself! It's a big transition. I'm not sure why you've chosen to eat cheese. Maybe you are with friends/family that aren't vegan? It was hard at first bc I was almost embarressed to tell my meat/dairy loving friends/family, but I've started to bring my own food and they've just sort of expected that I won't be eating whatever they may be making:) My suggestion start packing a little something with you....even your vegan cheese if you are going to a friends/families home. I love hummus so that's my go to snack to pack along:) Hope this helps! Remember Alicia tells us to just start over the next day when we fall off the wagon:)
thanks for the support and congrats to you as well.
I am pretty good at packing. I work shift work as a paramedic so I always pack my lunch and spend a lot of time at the cottage and bring my own full coolerof food for the weekends etc. Starting over the next day is a great idea. I'll work on that. I have eaten the cheese mostly because I just really really wanted it. I guess sometimes you cant help that.....maybe it will take some time.
Crystal said "I'm not sure why you've chosen to eat cheese", which made me think. Maybe your body is getting a protein from cheese that you haven't learned to replace yet and so this is why you want it. Maybe take stock of the amount/types of protein you're eating and see if you can add in something that will fill the cheese void and, theoretically, you wouldn't want it anymore.
I miss cheese more than anything. I love cheese so much that we had a cheese plate at our wedding rather than desert. But I never thought about the fact that cheese = veal. Once that fact sank in, I knew I had to give it up or find a farmer I could buy from directly where I could see how her cows were being treated..... What makes worse for me is that I really dislike vegan cheese.
How I cope: I think about the cows. To try and satisfy the craving for for the savoury fatty deliciousness, I eat a lot more avocados. especially spread onto a baguette. Also hummus. The question about what your body is craving is interesting. Think about fat in addition to protein.
Have you ever tried nutritional yeast? For me it has been a God send! It has a cheesy flavor, kind of like parmesan cheese, and if you add it to a bagel with some Earth Balance butter it tastes just like an Asiago Cheese bagel! When added to pasta sauce it tastes like a vodka or pink sauce. It's a good source of protein, fiber and B12.
I was a cheese-aholic before going vegan and now the idea of eating cheese turns my stomach. I really think the key is going cold turkey. Within the first month of going vegan I had cheese a couple times and it just made me want more. My number one life saving dairy replacement is cashew cream. There are a million recipes out there, but basically you just soak them and then put them in a blender with some water, lemon juice and maybe salt and pepper. It gives you a fatty, creamy thing to add to any meal that makes you forget you ever even liked cheese. Good luck!
It is commendable that you are striving to be dairy-free. You are not perfect. Take Kathy Freston's suggestion and "lean into it." Don't give up and don't beat yourself up for slip-ups. Just keep on trying. http://veganamericanprincess.com
Thank you so much for all the love and support. So many great suggestions. I haven't tried the cashew cream/cheese yet but I will. Also the Avacado idea is probably very true. I have noticed meals where I eat avacado to be wry satisfying.
I will keep you all posted!!! Thanks again
AliC
when i first went veg 5 yrs ago i lived off of cheese i never thought i could quit cheese so when i decided to go vegan i was gonna go all vegan except cheese, lol. I watched the movie 'Earthlings' and quit cheese cold turkey, if u haven't seen it u should. I've been vegan for 8 months now and decided to eat cheese quesadillas a week ago, i ordered them and only could take 2 bites because of flashbacks from the movie and the fact that daiya cheese tastes way better to me now
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