[Rant]

(Original post by there's too much love)
I'm a vegan, and believe me, it is not necessarily healthier. It can be, but it depends on what you're current diet is and what your vegan diet will be.

A vegan can live off junk food, whilst a meat eater eats a balanced diet, and in that instance I'd argue the meat eater will most certainly be a hell of a lot healthier.
On the other hand the exact reverse can often happen as well.

If you don't want to lose any weight, then be a healthy vegan who eats enough. Aim to hit 2500 kcals a day if needs be. I'm hoping you can eat nuts as they're one of my favourite foods.
Make a **** load of spaghetti, rice with your curry, if you're worried add a bit of vegetable oil to your meal. Peanut butt is one of the most calorific things you can get from an everyday shop (that you can eat in fair quantities).

Aim to eat 7 different fruits and vegetables a day. Add beans to sauces (I only do this with curry) get some baked beans in (if you don't like Heinz like I don't, there are all sorts you'll find if you look, many organic, so better environmentally).

Also if you want to be healthy do some mild exercise at the least, from a few crunches and press ups a day to a walk (preferably both).

I'd also advise you on buying some veg 1:
http://shop.vegansociety.com/product...es8qsul502u2s6

Rice dream is a good brand of rice milk (although it's run by religious nuts, and he said unto Moses, go out and start a health food company, and rake in the profits )

PM me your email address and I'll give you some cool resources.

Also the vegan society has some good **** on their website.

Everything becomes easier after a month or two.

I wrote a short post with the inklings of what I have against vegetarianism from a cruelty point of view.

Above all:
Veganism=/=healthy
Veganism=/=expensive
Veganism=/=weight loss diet.
Veganism as a term incorporates a potentially massive range of diets. It's just a lot of non-vegans believe that it can't because it's restricting the potential diet down ever so slightly. But most of us seem to be creatures of habit, how far outside our normal diet do we usually proceed? You just get used to new foods, that's all.

Thanks for the advice.

One of the big things I'm concerned about is the availability of vegan food abroad - I'm planning on travelling in about a year's time and I'm guessing I might struggle with this. Have you had any experience with eating vegan food in other countries? Also, how strict are you? Do you avoid anything with gelatine in (I've heard this can be quite hard)?

Oh yeah, and I got negged for starting this thread, anonymously... good ol' TSR!

[SophiaKeuning]

(Original post by PinkGothicLady)
If I've read it right you're not yet completely vegetarian due to it being difficult doing it whilst living at home. Before making the jump to complete veganism why don't you try and be a strict vegetarian when you leave home first and see how you find that? The jump from semi-vegetarian to complete vegan seems quite large to me..

Placebo! I love them to bits.

[there's too much love]

(Original post by Rant)
Thanks for the advice.

One of the big things I'm concerned about is the availability of vegan food abroad - I'm planning on travelling in about a year's time and I'm guessing I might struggle with this. Have you had any experience with eating vegan food in other countries? Also, how strict are you? Do you avoid anything with gelatine in (I've heard this can be quite hard)?

Oh yeah, and I got negged for starting this thread, anonymously... good ol' TSR!

www.veganfitness.net
www.vegweb.com
www.veganforum.com (if it's still up I had bad experiences with the admin of that site)
http://www.vegtalk.org/

The last one came up from a web search.
The first two are alright for sure (actually the first one is brilliant).

Those are the best places to ask.
I had issues in Sweden because I didn't know where to go to get things and was staying in a hotel. I finally got taken after living off junk food for 3 days to a lovely veggie all you can eat (which had a wide selection of vegan foods). It was Stockholm (I was going to a wedding). The city is stupidly clean and I found everyone was kind and helpful to the tourists, including people shooting up in the loos.

It all depends where you're going though. India would be fine for most vegans, Cuba might not be as easy, Thailand Japan and China I'd expect to be great, France if you're cooking for yourself and know basic French is easy (in fact if you're going to France I might be able to put you in touch with some French vegans, if they're willing).
Eastern Europe I have no idea, but Germany shouldn't be that hard.
Africa I'm clueless.

A few years ago I went to a holiday in Greece and it was fine.

Edit:
I'm VERY strict and I don't find it hard at all. You find out which specific products you can and can't have, and it just becomes second nature. You memorise specific products, learn to ring up supermarkets if need be and most e-numbers are on-line saying if they are, aren't, or can be but aren't necessarily vegan or not.

[there's too much love]

(Original post by faile)
I can see that another vegan has already given good links and explained that it is possible to eat a healthy and balanced diet as a vegan (thanks "there's too much to love"), so I'm just going to tell a few things from my own experience.

I've been a vegan for more than a year now and I haven't lost my hair, I don't get head aches often nor do I have any other problems with my health due veganism.

I live in the Netherlands, but I am from Finland and I travel a lot, but I haven't had any real problems with finding something to eat in any country. I recently spent a month in Japan, and even there I managed to be a vegan without any problems even though my Japanese is not that good (I admit that I was lucky with my host family, but still it is possible). Generally, it is not difficult to be a vegan and find things to eat. When you go out, you can always call the restaurant before you go, but also it is possible to ask when you are already there whether you can have the salad without the chicken etc. As for cooking, I fortunately happen to enjoy it (trying new things etc), so that's easy for me too. I don't think making everyday vegan foods it takes any more time than making other foods, especially when you get used to it.

The only food that I have even slightly "missed" has been sushi with fish, but even that I definitely would NOT want to eat, because I'm a vegan for ethical reasons and I prefer not to eat anything with central nervous system and the ability to feel pain. I would think that other people with the same incentive don't really have that much trouble being vegan either.

Welcome to TSR , lovely first post *high five*.

[PinkGothicLady]

(Original post by SophiaKeuning)
Placebo! I love them to bits.

Aha great. Totally not what I was expecting to see but always glad to find another placebo lover

[FlippinEl]

I'm planning to slowly turn from vegetarian into vegan. I don't want to end up not getting the right nutrition. Atm I don't eat enough fruit so that's what I'm concentrating on.
I have a lot of chickpeas, beans, lentils + tofu. I have chickpeas and tofu a lot in a tomato sauce for pasta and I have lentil curry with rice and roasted vegetables (courgette, mushroom, peppers, carrots, aubergines). I have a dark salad with dinner every day, and try to use soya milk for tea/coffee and cereal. I'm planning to get some vegan cheese because I eat cheese aloooot, and I'm also trying to cut down on bread.

OP just make sure you're well informed on nutrition so you don't end up just eating oven chips and bread. Take your time as you adapt to the foods. But go for it

[The Dynamic Uno]

Being a vegan is taking it too far imo.

[Rant]

(Original post by The Dynamic Uno)
Being a vegan is taking it too far imo.

Why is this? Seriously, I'm interested.

[there's too much love]

(Original post by The Dynamic Uno)
Being a vegan is taking it too far imo.

What a solid piece of reasoning with a well articulated argument and a conclusion to fit it all.
Why would anyone care about a passing opinion, either post how you came to that opinion though logical reasoning that people may actually think "oh, that guy has a point, I never thought about it like that" or don't post like a troll .

[callum9999]

(Original post by Rant)
Thanks for the advice.

One of the big things I'm concerned about is the availability of vegan food abroad - I'm planning on travelling in about a year's time and I'm guessing I might struggle with this. Have you had any experience with eating vegan food in other countries? Also, how strict are you? Do you avoid anything with gelatine in (I've heard this can be quite hard)?

Oh yeah, and I got negged for starting this thread, anonymously... good ol' TSR!

Plain vegetarians can't eat gelatine either. Gelatine wasn't particularly hard to avoid as I already know the sorts of things it's in from the UK (mainly sweets etc.). I've been abroad in America, Canada, Spain, UAE and Australia and haven't had huge amounts of trouble. None of those places have the range of vegetarian items that we have here though (Australia was particularly bad as they didn't even use the V symbol very much, but it was improving as I left). I'd imagine the same would apply to vegan food.

Not surprised at that - there are a surprising number of people who seem to have some sort of problem with vegetarians/vegans etc. Pushy ones who try and force others to convert I can see, but people just asking for advice makes no sense at all!

[missygeorgia]

The traveling thing could be really difficult, I would advise that you be flexible on that.

From my experience, if you really want to get into the traveling and the culture it would be near impossible to be vegan. Eating out is a big social thing when you're traveling, and a big cultural thing, and it would be super difficult to explain to people with little English what you can't have. I've only really traveled in Asia but the food there is full of hidden stuff- fish sauce, fish paste, dried shrimps, ghee, butter, yoghurt. Can you imagine explaining to a non-English speaking guy in a ramshackle restaurant in India that you want your meal cooked in a separate pan from dairy products, or asking whether your beer was clarified with animal ingredients?

It does depend where you're going- I imagine it might be easier in western countries, and much easier if you speak the language.

[Angela_Beth]

(Original post by Persephone9)
I heard that vegans have psychic powers, because their brains aren't all filled up with curds and whey :P

It's a well known fact. Something to think about, definitely.

[callum9999]

(Original post by missygeorgia)
The traveling thing could be really difficult, I would advise that you be flexible on that.

From my experience, if you really want to get into the traveling and the culture it would be near impossible to be vegan. Eating out is a big social thing when you're traveling, and a big cultural thing, and it would be super difficult to explain to people with little English what you can't have. I've only really traveled in Asia but the food there is full of hidden stuff- fish sauce, fish paste, dried shrimps, ghee, butter, yoghurt. Can you imagine explaining to a non-English speaking guy in a ramshackle restaurant in India that you want your meal cooked in a separate pan from dairy products, or asking whether your beer was clarified with animal ingredients?

It does depend where you're going- I imagine it might be easier in western countries, and much easier if you speak the language.

Not necessarily, eating out when I was travelling invariably involved fast food!

Although thinking about it, vegan alcohol would be very difficult. I just gave up where alcohol was concerned and risked anything, especially as its rarely labelled.

[Crazy Paving]

Make sure you know what you're doing before you start completely. Phase yourself in. Good luck, I couldn't do it.

[missygeorgia]

(Original post by callum9999)
Not necessarily, eating out when I was travelling invariably involved fast food!

Although thinking about it, vegan alcohol would be very difficult. I just gave up where alcohol was concerned and risked anything, especially as its rarely labelled.

It really depends on where you're traveling- I suspect America/Australia etc are worlds apart from Asia and Africa.

[chloebee]

Everyone's already put loads of great stuff up, so I'll be short and sweet.

I was vegan for two years, I needed to shake up my diet and that's how I did it. It allowed me to really appreciate the ethics and now, although I'm not strictly vegan or vegetarian, I hardly ever eat meat. (I'll eat it if someone forgets to do a veg option, which is rare...)

Dealing with restaurants etc - scout about for good ones, get to know the options on chain restaurant menus, and search vegan forums if you want lists and such. Seeing as not having to buy meat will save you money, and every student needs to know how to cook, try books like Vegan With A Vengence or How It All Vegan from Amazon (root for 'new and used' for cheap ones).

Make sure you buy fortified soy milk/marg/similar to get all your B vitamins (inc vitamin B12). Include a source of protein in every meal (soy/legumes/quinoa/meat replacement). And eat loads of different fruit and veg. Don't eat the same foods all the time - vary your protein sources and vary your veg and you should hit your vitain quotas. If you're concerned, get a multivitamin supplement - I work in a national chain chemist and we have guides which detail all our vitamin products (and whether they're vegan-friendly). Ask in a pharmacy! If you're a girlie-wirl, make sure you get 14mg iron EVERY day.

[callum9999]

(Original post by missygeorgia)
It really depends on where you're traveling- I suspect America/Australia etc are worlds apart from Asia and Africa.

Yeah I was thinking about that. As long as you keep it simple it should still be feasible though (eating out would be very hard without knowing the language though admittedly).

[there's too much love]

(Original post by missygeorgia)
The traveling thing could be really difficult, I would advise that you be flexible on that.

From my experience, if you really want to get into the traveling and the culture it would be near impossible to be vegan. Eating out is a big social thing when you're traveling, and a big cultural thing, and it would be super difficult to explain to people with little English what you can't have. I've only really traveled in Asia but the food there is full of hidden stuff- fish sauce, fish paste, dried shrimps, ghee, butter, yoghurt. Can you imagine explaining to a non-English speaking guy in a ramshackle restaurant in India that you want your meal cooked in a separate pan from dairy products, or asking whether your beer was clarified with animal ingredients?

It does depend where you're going- I imagine it might be easier in western countries, and much easier if you speak the language.

India wouldn't be an issue, at all. Other countries yes, but really, not India.

[there's too much love]

(Original post by callum9999)
Not necessarily, eating out when I was travelling invariably involved fast food!

Although thinking about it, vegan alcohol would be very difficult. I just gave up where alcohol was concerned and risked anything, especially as its rarely labelled.

Well all German made beers are vegan, and San Miguel is, as well as many others.
Whilst it is an issue, if you like beer and it's German made... .

[missygeorgia]

(Original post by callum9999)
Yeah I was thinking about that. As long as you keep it simple it should still be feasible though (eating out would be very hard without knowing the language though admittedly).

I think you'd just have to know the language. You can't eat out, because you can't explain to the people at the restaurant/stall what you can't eat, but if you buy stuff at shops you can't read the ingredients. Unless you stay in heavily westernised areas, or always stay somewhere with a kitchen and cook with really basic ingredients, you either need to be flexible about what you eat or know the language well. (Obviously this isn't relevant for western/English speaking countries).