New Vegan working towards Plant Based

[DaisyDiz]

Hi everyone, I am new to this group and wanted to post a bit about my current journey.

I have been GF for 8 years (due to a wheat allergy), I have watch What the Health, Game Changers, Knife over Forks, to name a few. Today marks day 19 of enjoying a full Vegan lifestyle. The hardest part for me was giving up cheese. The dairy withdraw gave me terrible headaches. I managed these headaches with Motrin and cokes. I know it is not the healthiest way, but it worked and am now not experiencing any headaches. Today is day 4 of no sodas, and I am managing. I am working towards being plant based vegan, however that is a big step for my lifestyle and I am taking it slowly because I want this to last. After I get past the soda withdraws I will be working on cutting out salt and added sugars from my diet. Last night I made homemade vegan cookies and maybe its because the only sweet I have had in the past few weeks were cokes, I found it way to sweet. It made me nausea for 2 hours after.

Some positive things since going vegan. My seasonal allergy's are way better, my Plantar fasciitis is almost gone, my psoriasis is getting better daily, my arthritis is almost gone. I feel better today than in the past 10 years. Every-time I see a pizza or something that make me reconsider I tell myself, nothing taste better than being pain free feels. Then I watch a clip from any documentary explaining the abuse the animals go through, even for milk.

I wanted to ask if anyone else has had withdraws after going vegan and how they handled them?

Thanks for reading and I am always looking for tips.

 

[Lou]

Wow!
Welcome aboard and good to have you here.

I know cheese can be addicting and if I had a nickel for every time someone said to me, "I could be vegan, but for the cheese" ...
but I've never heard of getting withdrawal headaches from cheese. I tried kicking my coffee habit by going cold turkey and got terrible headaches. Nowadays I drink about 12 oz on a daily basis and have no ill effects if I skip a day.

Anyway, Good for you.

I went vegan over such a long time period that I never had any ill effects or noticed any benefits, either.

One tip I can tell you about is how my sister got over her Plantar fasciitis.

She did see a doctor about it and he prescribed a boot to wear to bed. She said that the boot cured it in about 3 days. She also got some Rock tape. the Rock tape package has instructions or you can google it. She also got some special shoes called KURUs. The shoes are not that expensive or ugly. Now that its all better the shoes are all she wears and the boot and tape are on standby just in case it comes back.

 

[Forest Nymph]

Maybe it's not sugar but fat you're craving from dairy? Good replacements that are also GF are avocados or guacamole, hummus and tahini, peanut or almond butter, cashew "cheese" and of course the commercial vegan cheeses in the market, or a little olive or canola oil.

I have a cashew cheese recipe I love. Soak 1/2 to 1 cup cashews in warm water for at least an hour (depending on how much cheese you want to make). Drain. Add equal parts nutritional yeast and water to the amount of cashews you soaked in a blender or food processor.

While cashews are soaking, boil two to three small potatoes (skin on) or one large baking potato, with a carrot or two (chopped) until soft. I usually get my water for the blender from this pot, since it is warm, has nutrients and is less wasteful.

Drain veggies and add to blender as well. Add a TBSP or two of tahini for fat and texture (oil is okay too if that's all you have). Then squeeze the juice of 1/2 to a whole lemon in the mix (depending on how much you're making).

Now this is the tricky part: spices. I add more garlic than onion powder. You can get away with a teaspoon of onion but I usually keep adding garlic. Also salt to taste. Then my secret ingredient: smoked paprika. My roommate and I discovered it by accident but I swear by it.

Serve warm on toast, or since you're gluten free, maybe with corn chips or tortillas, or over broccoli and GF pasta.

 

[Mischief]

I didn't have any withdrawals when I stopped eating dairy and eggs. I didn't know that was even possible. Getting headaches from suddenly stopping intake of caffeine is something very real though, because caffeine constricts blood vessels and thereby changes blood flow. When caffeine intake is suddenly stopped, headaches result until the body adjusts to the blood flow changes.

I've always had much better physical health than average. That didn't change when I stopped eating meat, and it didn't change when I stoped eating dairy and eggs.

 

[Nekodaiden]

...

I wanted to ask if anyone else has had withdraws after going vegan and how they handled them?

Thanks for reading and I am always looking for tips.

I had a transition month where I messed up 3 times, once without even being conscious of it (woke up in the morning with mince meat cooked in a pan that I don't remember making), and cravings were more pronounced in the first few months as my body adjusted and my mind slowly started to catch up (I am vegan now for 2 years, no "cheating"). I am not sure about dairy "withdrawal", as I only used a tiny amount as an omni (a little milk in coffee) and I've always disliked cheese since I was a kid.

I think it's great that you already have a plan for eliminating multiple habits though may I suggest that you don't go full on too fast. Stay vegan first, keep mostly whole foods as your staples, and if you feel you can do it, curb the minor stuff (refined sugar, salt etc). I'm sure you would much rather see yourself stay vegan than push beyond your limits with the extra restrictions and then quit it all in frustration. It's only been 19 days.

 

[franklyveganaskash]

I had withdrawals physical and mental from cheese, and extremely mental from meat specifically chicken i think because it was suck a big part on my diet. It was harder to change my diet to plant based then quitting cigarettes. my fiance and i have quit a number of addictive substances before going vegan plant based, and each bad habit we quit together the better and more rewarding it gets.

 

[Andy_T]

My suggestion is when going vegan to completely stop consuming any kind of cheese for a certain period, e.g. one month or so. That way, you won't be tempted to compare vegan cheese to "the real thing" and be disappointed.
At least that was my experience when going vegan 9 years ago (after having been a vegetarian for 15 years and finally finding out what is wrong with dairy and eggs), not eating any cheese for some time allowed me to appreciate vegan cheese on its own merits...

 

[Emma JC]

welcome, Daisy, and congrats on day 20!!

Emma JC