Ain't Easy Being Vegan: Exploring Veganism & Celebrity

This year my new year's resolution is to improve my lifestyle, both through going to the gym more often, and through diet. One way that I'm looking to improve my diet is my experimenting with a vegan diet. Yes, I want to experience weight loss via a vegan diet, but I'm also hoping to feeling better physically, since I know eating junk makes me feel like crap. I'm on day five of my 30 day experiment with veganism, and I'll be honest, I've cheated every day so far. Let me tell you, it ain't easy being vegan.

Despite that, there are actually a lot of famous people who are vegans! Just to name a few famous vegans: Sara Gilbert, Woody Harrelson, and Ellen DeGeneres are all vegans. Some vegan musicians you might know are K.D. Lang, Moby, Sinead O'Conner, Alanis Morrissette, Erykah Badu, and Andre 3000 Benjamin from OutKast. Even Pamela Anderson, formerly of Baywatch fame, is a vegan. (Let's hope those implants are vegan-approved, eh?) Check out Happy Cow for a list of many, many more famous vegetarians and vegans.

Whether you want to be a vegan because you care about animals, because you think a vegan diet will help you lose weight, or you want to learn more about veganism, here are a few important things you need to know about the vegan diet:

1) First, vegans differ from vegetarians in that vegans avoid animal products of all kinds, not just meat. This means in addition to no bacon (mmmm.... bacon!), vegans use no milk and no eggs... in anything. Also, as I've discovered this week, animal products are in almost everything we eat on a daily basis, which is why being vegan is such a pain in the arse. Yes, so many vegans I've met have been pretentious jerks, but after 5 days on a vegan diet, I get it.

On my first day as a vegan-in-training, I discovered that one of my favorite candies, a British yummy called Jelly Babies, contains the ingredient "Beef Gelatin." And, I'm lucky, in fact, that the candy came from England, but American candy companies aren't legally required to list the ingredient with the word "beef." What that means for you, as a would-be vegan, is that you are going to have to research just about everything you put in your mouth. Time-consuming? You betcha. Worth the effort? Well... that's your call.

2) A vegan diet is much less expensive that a traditional American meat-and-potatoes diet, but only if you can cook. If you can't cook and you rely on prepackaged commercially-prepared vegan food, you are going to spend a fortune on food pumped full of preservatives and fat that's probably just as bad as the regular meat or animal products version. And good luck getting a decent vegan meal at your favorite restaurant! In fact, unless you know that the restaurant you're visiting specifically caters to vegan diets, you might as well stay at home, unless you like eating salads and french fries for dinner. Oh, yeah, vegan choices are restaurants are typically high in fat (think those afore-mentioned french fries) or low on the satisfaction quotient.

Seriously considering the vegan diet? I have four words for you: Vegan With A Vengeance. This hardcore vegan tome by vegan chef and creator of the Post Punk Kitchen, Isa Moskowitz is -the- essential vegan bible: it has all the information you need, it has attitude, and it has easy and delicious vegan recipes. Learn how to veganize your favorite recipes, including baking without milk and eggs, cooking for guests, and more.

If you love this book, you'll want to check out the whole library of Moskowitz books include Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook, The Vegan Brunch, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, and Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. These are recipes are so good that you'll never miss your meat, milk, or eggs, I promise. Your local library will probably have them for you to borrow, if you want to save your pennies first, but don't be surprised if you decide to splurge and buy your own.

3) A vegan diet is healthy, if you watch the added fats. Sometimes those vegan cupcakes are so delicious because of all of the canola oil that went into the batter. Yes, you can lose weight by following a vegan diet, but you can also gain weight if you aren't careful. Don't kid yourself into thinking that just because it's vegan, it's good for you. That's just not going to work. Margarine is vegan, but does that mean you should slather it on your double fiber vegan toast each morning? Hell no!

A vegan diet is not a magical cure-all diet: your usual healthy eating rules apply: watch your portions, up your veggie intake, and lower your fat intake. And don't forget to exercise to burn off all the fat your acquired before your switch to a vegan lifestyle. I had a friend who became a vegetarian and promptly gained 50 pounds because of all his grilled cheese lunches. The same could happen to a non-careful new vegan.

If you want some nutritional advice to help with your vegan diet and information about nutrition information for vegans, check out the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine for some great information about following a vegan diet for weight-loss. This site recommends following a fat-free vegan diet for three weeks in order to lose weight. You might like the Veganizer, which offers ways to turn your favorite meals into vegan meals. The site also provides a lot of easy-to-follow vegan recipes. (I really like the Tofu Scramble).

If you're concerned about Vitamin B-12 and other vitamins and nutrients that you might be missing as a vegan, check out Vegan Health. This site offers information on nutritional issues of particular concern to vegans and vegetarians. If you plan on sticking with the vegan diet long-term, you'll want to consider the information on this site. You should also talk to your doctor about vegan diets. This page is also translated into a lot of different languages, so if you have vegan friends who don't speak English, this might be a good resource for them.

Whatever your reasons, trying out a vegan diet might be good for you. Or, it might not. Whatever you choose, remember that every person has the right to explore their own lifestyle. Don't turn into one of those vegans who looks down upon non-vegans; instead, live your life, subtly introduce vegan recipes to your non-vegan friends, and deal with the difficulties inherent in a vegan lifestyle. Don't expect your spouse or family to follow your new lifestyle, but there's nothing wrong with introducing vegan recipes into their diets. Take it slow, take it easy, and experiment. Find recipes you love and stick with 'em. If you don't like tofu, either don't eat it or find ways to cook it that you love (believe me, it's possible: I'm a hard-core tofu hater, but I just ate some delish BBQ tofu on my pizza that was awesome.) Enjoy!