The KInd Life Community Forum

I am NOT vegan YET, I just want to make that clear. I want to be. Badly. I have been reading the Kind Diet. I have done my fair share of research, and have two great friends that have gone vegan. The recipes make sense. I am ready to change my entire life right now. I am studying nutrition in school, and just all the negative connotations associated with any kind of meat has grossed me out beyond belief. I take culinary classes as well, and have cooked every kind of meat. When I learned about veal, it broke my heart. Watching how animals were treated, butchered, meat grinded, baby chicks discarded, salmonella on egg shells and every other bacteria found in meat just disgusted me. I was horrified!

Also, I have a selfish motivation. As a teenager, I struggled terribly over my weight. I maintained a perfect figure. 118 lbs, Then, I had three babies in a row. I had a really bad relationship where I was tied down, stayed home, and got lazy. I have gained a considerable amount of weight. I always have a heavy pit in my stomach. As Ive made some gradual changes, I already feel lighter. Im ready to make the jump, but am having a hard time having two small children. I need to make sure they are ready to make the change as well.

How do other vegans get around school lunches?? I cant imagine packing a lunch for both every single day. I dont have alot of money, and honestly they get free lunches at school. I also cant imagine making them eat the pb and j every day either. They both are huge milk/cheese/yogurt fans. I can see cutting out meat, no problem for them. My son wont barely touch meat anyways, and he loves the vegan hot dogs. But, how do you transform your childs diet into being vegan?

Also, how did everyone else get started as a vegan? Was it a gradual thing? Jump off the cliff and go for it? Headaches or withdrawals? How do you eat out? How do you cope with cravings? Whats a go to snack when you dont feel like preparing a big meal? I can ask a million questions. I just want to know how established vegans have done it.

Thanks in advance, and I look forward to gaining support here. :)

Hi Jessilyn,
We were vegetarian for a long time, most of my kids lives, really. So going vegan didnt seem like that big of a step. For me personally, it was harder to try to ease into it. I had to go "cold turkey". Like Alexia said, dairy especially is pretty addictive, so having it once in a while just seemed to increase my cravings! Also, I found that staying away from even the dairy substitutes for a while helped. Eating "fake" cheese just made me want the real thing more for a while there, but now I can have it and appreciate it for what it is without comparing it too much to the real thing. Now, for my kids, we are STILL easing into it, honestly. My kids are huge dairy lovers as well - cheese, yogurt, etc. There are some really good soy (I like WholeSoy, I think its called) or coconut yogurts out there. Some soy yogurts you can really taste the sort of beany soy taste, so you may want to start with coconut. My kids don't really drink milk, but like almond milk or rice milk best on their cereal and stuff. Cheese, there just really isn't that great a substitute for. Daiya is the best for melting and texture, but my kids don't like the taste. My kids do like things sprinkled with nutritional yeast.Chloe Coscarelli has a great recipe for vegan goldfish crackers that my kids do honestly like better than the real ones - its www.chefchloe.com I think. She also has some fantastic dessert recipes (and a new dessert cookbook coming out). My kids right now are only vegan "at home". They are vegetarian all the time, for sure, but when they go out or to friends houses, they do eat cheese pizza, mac and cheese, stuff like that. Even though I know its probably making them crave the stuff, I also want them to make their own decisions. My kids are a lot older too - 14 and 11, so I feel like they need to have a say in their choices as much as possible. I figure that being vegan most of the time is a LOT better than the way most kids eat though!

I have always packed my kids lunches every single day. They went to a tiny school that didn't have a lunch program for a long time, so it just got to be a habit. And now they pack their own lunches - saves me a little time in the mornings. If you do go that route - the Thermos will be your best friend! My kids often have leftovers, soups, mac and cheese (there's a really decent kind of boxed vegan mac and "chreese" that they like - can't think of the name but its at most health food type stores). We've packed burritos, veggie dogs, even veggie burgers (all stay decently warm when wrapped in foil), even a vegan cheese "fondue" in the Thermos with veggies and stuff to dip into it. Honestly they NEVER have pb & j's! But if your kids get free lunch at school, that's tough to argue with. My kids do go to a school with a lunch program now, and there almost always is a vegetarian option. You might look into that? It is definitely more of a challenge going vegan with kids, just be kind to yourself about it and remember that even vegan some of the time has a huge impact! Hope this helps a little!

Thank you for the awesome comments! I do feel like this isnt going to be as hard as I thought! Today for example, I made a mixed fruit salad for breakfast with celery and pb, lunch was a giant salad with a black bean burger wrapped in lettuce, which I must say, it was awesome!! Filled me up so I didnt snack all afternoon, but tasted so so good. I literally ate it all! Dinner, homemade red sauce with some vegan pasta from the organic section. I bought some almond milk and my kids never knew the difference! I made a huge salad, and my daughter asked to put brick cheese in it. I "forgot" ;)

Tonight, as I sip on some tea, read some more, Im feeling full, but not like I have a brick in my stomach. Im really looking forward to this new adventure in my life, and I really think my kids are going to love it! Im definitely thinking they can eat vegan at home, but vegetarian at school. This is just awesome. I feel like I can do this. Im ready to give my body the nourishment it deserves! To stop eating like its comforting me, when really its depressing me, and keeping that vicious cycle going. I wonder if dairy was the cause of my depression and IBS?