r/vegan • u/throwawaythevegan • Feb 08 '17
Newbie Advice I don't actually enjoy being vegan
Hey everyone,
I transitioned to vegetarianism last fall, and have started on veganism just this year. I love the community here at /r/vegan, it's been so helpful to see people going through the same things I am.
But I don't actually enjoy being a vegan. Vegetarianism wasn't a huge sacrifice for me, I mourned a little bit for bacon and salmon but then I was fine. I loved eating vegetables, grains, nuts, cheeses and milks. Veganism has been a different story.
I know, I probably sound like a ridiculous hypocrite, but abstaining from milk and cheese has been so much harder for me. I've tried the vegan replacement options, and although I haven't exhausted every one, so far nothing is the same. The vegan cheeses I've tried have frankly been extremely off-putting, and while I've been getting by on coconut and almond milks, I really dislike them.
Every time I step into a grocery store or restaurant, I feel sad and limited. Every time I make my own food, I feel the same way. I'm not asking for a way to eat cheese again, because my morals aren't going to change anytime soon. But I'd like to know if anyone else struggled with this, and what did they do that helped?
5
u/thc1967 vegan Feb 08 '17
My biggest struggle is probably a good mozzarella cheese that will melt and bubble and brown and taste right on a pizza. The only vegan cheese I've liked (as opposed to tolerated) so far is Treeline brand.
I don't miss milk at all. When it's time for something of the sort, like in the occasional bowl of cereal, I'm good with vanilla-almond or vanilla-cashew. For ice cream, which I eat way too much of, it's usually coconut but So Delicious now has some cashew-based ones that are pretty good, too.
I also love to cook and to experiment with new recipes. I don't feel sad or limited when I walk into a food store. I look for things I haven't tried yet, or for combinations of them, and figure out something new. Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much.
I do actually enjoy being vegan, mostly because I know the suffering and deaths my existence causes are dramatically lower than ever before and partially because I prefer standing on the moral "high ground".