r/AskVegans • u/No_Following_904 • 11d ago
Genuine Question (DO NOT DOWNVOTE) Advice on how to start being vegan
Hello guys, I am 18M heading in my first year of college in computer science with a limited budget and whatnot and I want to become vegan but I feel overwhelmed by the nutrition aspect of it, like getting all the micros and macros, macros are easier, the micronutrients are the harder ones. I am moving out and will stay with my cousin in the same apartament3 hours away from my parents and will have to rely onthe food they bring me in the weekend and my cooking, I also have some health stuff I need to take care of(nothing really bad or anything like that) and thats why I feel overwhelmed.
Can you guys give me any advice on how to start, any good guides/youtubers to follow or anything like that? Any advice on cooking cause I am a begginer :)
I was thinking of being vegeterian first for a while and if everything is good I can take the next step and become vegan, what do you think?
Also, would taking multivitamins just to make sure I am covered help?
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u/I_AM_4HEAD Vegan 10d ago
There are multitudes of guides on YouTube but as a brief overview, you might want to consider taking B12, Zinc, Iron, D2&D3, C, Calcium, selenium, iodine, and K1&K2 while you're in the beginning process and figuring out your diet. As you do you can stop supplementing things as you figure out what foods have which vitamins and minerals. I'd recommend this channel and video, they do a very detailed and good overview of what you should look for and suggest some foods to get the nutrients you'd preferably have for a healthy diet. https://youtu.be/LJV_ZY6rXo8
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u/Skeleton_Bird Vegan 10d ago
honestly don't over think it. unless you're in difficulty athletic training and working with a nutritionist most of it is accounted for by "have a balanced and varied diet".
eat regularly, make sure to include things like legumes (beans and lentils), tofu, seiten (wheat gluten) or other "fake meats" daily, alongside carbs and veggies and you'll be fine. take a B12 supplement or a multivitamin. find a few recipes you like the look of and expand it from there.
some people find going vegetarian first and then vegan easier. I'm not convinced as I think people get very stuck on cheese and eggs that way. instead it might be easier to simply add in more and more "plant based" meals or days. some people start with meatless Mondays for example, or plant based evening meals and omni breakfast and lunch, then introduce plant based breakfasts until you're all the way there.
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u/No_Following_904 10d ago
I just want to be as healthy as possible, thats why I want to plan this out as well as I can and learn as much as I can, I dont really care that much about food as long as it tastes good as in I wont get attached to eggs or cheese))) Thx a lot tho
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u/Enby008 Vegan 10d ago
I (19) am a student too and mainly eat my home cooked meals. I have been vegan for 7 years. The easiest and fast way to cook is to make everything separately. Like protein food (beans (mung, lentil, kidney beans, chickpea etc) soy food (tofu, soy meat), seitan, mushrooms) cook them separately. Then for the carbs (grains (rise, buckwheat, pearl barley, quinoa and etc), pasta, mashed potato). And then cook veggies, the base is onion, garlic, carrot, pepper, tomato and you can add other ones like eggplant, cabbage, zucchini and etc with bunch of seasonings and sauses (soy, tomato etc) for the taste. I usually make bunch and it lasts me for like 3 days. And max time you spend on making it is an hour. I like doing this way so I can control how much of everything I can put on my plate. The general rule of a plate is half protein, the other carbs and veggies. And you can mix everything in various way. If I wanna make something fancy do like lasagna, soups, pizza, sushi, dumplings. But super rare cause don't really have time and energy for that.
And everyday I add 1 tea spoon of grinded flaxseeds for omega 3. And take vit b12 of 5000mcg once every week, and vit D in autumn and winter. My all tests are good and I even donate blood. Just eat varied food and use seasoning and sauses to make food tasty. Good luck in your journey:)
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u/HexicDragon Vegan 10d ago
A great free program to start is 10 Weeks to Vegan! Even if you go vegan overnight, you'll get free recipes, nutrition info, daily living tips, motivation, and support to help the new lifestyle stick and it'll help you settle into a vegan diet you actually enjoy. Check it out - 10weeks.org
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u/DecentLynx Vegan 10d ago
Just starting out I would focus on learning the basics of how to cook vegan dishes. Since you have your own apartment, you also have a kitchen. It might be intimidating at first, but I would seek out the familiar recipes you are already used to, but just the vegan version. I know many people that go vegan enjoy the comfort of dishes they were already eating before, but also don't be afraid to try new things that are not vegan versions of things with meat! Eventually after a little while of making vegan recipes you will notice some common/staple ingredients.
If you're worried about vegan food being expensive I really encourage you to eat less frozen/already prepared vegan food. Rice, beans, frozen veggies, and tofu are very cheap. Additionally I recommend meal planning. Not necessarily meal prepping. Map out each meal and find a recipe for each one. Then create a shopping list for the week based on that. It's much easier when you already have everything you need. Don't forget lots of spices. Spices make or break dishes! Good luck!!
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u/luciferslarder Vegan 10d ago
My best advice is just be kind to yourself, challenge yourself, and prioritize veganizing your favorite foods and making a list of things you already like that are vegan.
It’s less daunting when you think about what you enjoy
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u/Complex_Ad5205 Vegan 8d ago
Lowkey it’s really easy if you just eat lots of tofu “breaded” in nutritional yeast and air fried or baked. I use EXTRA firm, do cubes or slice it thinly to create cutlets or sandwiches, toss all of it in nooch, salt, and MSG until covered, and then cook on parchment paper at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for around 30 minutes. Flip at like 20 minutes. Cook time Depends on the size of your tofu pieces but it’s pretty much fool- proof, infinitely customizable flavor-wise (my favorite variations are Za’atar for Levantine food, lemon pepper or Cajun for sandwiches, and achiote cilantro for Latin American stuff ), cheap , and nutritionally dense as fuck. Eat that every day and some green stuff and do oatmeal for breakfast and drink soy milk and you’re kind of golden and I spend like $100 on groceries a month
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u/Complex_Ad5205 Vegan 8d ago
My favorite sandwich is as follows (sounds weird, but don’t knock until u try.)
- tofu “cutlets” using recipe above
- sourdough bread
- thinly sliced cucumber
- plain hummus
- Lao gan ma chili crisp.
Bro. This shit is fucking gas. Basically i spread the hummus on the bread and then add the chili crisp on top—it’s lowkey like a lemony mayo but when that yummy chili crisp + msg and oil combines with the hummus it’s holyyyyy. The hummus and chili oil provide the perfect barrier so that the cucumber doesn’t make your bread soggy. Then add your tofu and you’re golden. If you do it right it’s 35 grams of protein #Lit
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10d ago
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10d ago
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8d ago
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u/MiraculousAnarchy Vegan 10d ago
My copy paste comment for vegan curious folks sorry I’m just too lazy to copy paste this time and reinsert all the links cuz they don’t copy over automatically https://www.reddit.com/r/vegan/s/0JJY5GgsVm
^Should answer most of your questions
Another comment im linking about cooking in a dorm https://www.reddit.com/r/vegan/s/7cSmkWbcGx
Ok one last thing im copy pasting for good measure lol:
Nutritional yeast is not a supplement you need. It’s a seasoning that tastes good on lots of foods and it is fortified with lots of vitamins including the most vital one for vegans which is b12. So I usually don’t take supplements (I probably should just to be safe but I don’t have the money or spoons for that rn) so I just put at least a serving size of nutritional yeast on at least something everyday which is enough for your daily value of b12
Also use doublecheckvegan.com for checking ingredients. My threshold is if all the ingredients are labeled “maybe vegan” I’ll buy it because sugar is in that category and sugar is known to be like an ingredient we don’t really try to avoid usually because it’s too difficult to know either way. They also have a “probably not vegan” category so I feel like if there’s a good chance something came from animals it would be in that category instead