vegan cheese: This is my third day being vegan. I'm doing it in secret (not telling my parents) for a little while until I'm used to it because I know if I tell them right from the beginning they'll try and convince my not to do it. It's not that hard to say no to things if I just think "No. I'm vegan now. No more___", but I still crave cheese pizza and mexican pizzas from taco bell;) I'm addicted to my Silk vanilla soy milk now, and I find cow's milk to be pretty disgusting to me now. But I still get really frustrated when I look at the ingredients of my favorite food and realize I can never eat it again. Does it get easier over time? Is there ever a point where you find milk, cheese, eggs, and all of that to be disgusting? I haven't eaten meat for 2 years and now I think it's gross, and i hope that I'll lose the appetite for dairy and eggs soon. Once i tell my parents I'll be able to make new things like a vegan cheese pizza or find vegan chocolate, but for now I'm just living off the foods in our pantry that just happen to be vegan.|||I've been vegan for over 20 years, and it gets much easier. I used to love cheese so much I thought of myself as "the dairy queen." But I took the cheese out of my diet and started walking an hour a day at the same time, and my 5 extra pounds melted away overnight. There were no packaged vegan cheese substitutes at the time. Now I can't stand the smell of cheese cooking. And I could never stand the smell of cooked eggs. The hardest thing at the time was giving up cheese. Fortunately, a year or so after I became vegan, "The Uncheese Cookbook" by Jo Stepaniak came out. I made my own cheeze/cheeze sauce recipes and they were--still are--delicious. Fortunately there are now good-tasting packaged cheeses now too: Daiya cheese (mozarella and cheddar) that melt and Follow Your Heart brand cheeses. You could make your own pizza or partially make your own by buying a crust and tomato sauce, and then adding mozarella Daiya cheese. The Daiya cheese is 1/3 less fattening than regular, but I'm pretty sure doesn't have calcium, so you'll need calcium from other sources. For ice cream, there is decent packaged ice cream, but the best is the kind you make yourself. The best "cookbook" for making your own ice cream is "Vice Cream" by Jeff Rogers. You'll need a high-powered blender though for grinding cashews + an ice cream maker. And yes, there's plenty of vegan chocolate. Don't load up though too much on bread, vegan cheeses, and vegan ice cream. The real nutrition density is in fruits and vegetables, and nuts in moderation.|||Why did you become a vegan ? Anyways try and find substitutions like: Chocolate : 70% Dark chocolate (most people find it gross but i love it) Pizza: HOME MAKE THE PIZZA!!!! just buy the powder bake it and add the things you like on it with out cheese =P And maybe make a menu using the foods you can eat ( 2 week menu)|||Its a lot easier when a) you tell your parents b) you find delicious vegan junk food- a great ice cream, or brownie recipe, for example- which makes you feel un-deprived For vegan chocolate, may I recommend Ghirardelli twilight Delight and Trader Joe's 73% Dark chocolate nonpariels? If you're a fan of dark chocolate like me, delicious :)|||it shouldn't be hard at all, depending on where you live. most places have italian and chinese restaurants so there should be at least 2 vegan options this should make it easier: http://www.happycow.net there is vegan versions of many of your favorites, whole foods supermarket sells a vegan cheese called daiya that is pretty good and melts like dairy cheese http://www.vegweb.com|||Yes. It gets A LOT easier, and you can live in the Soy and Vegan section of Whole Foods. That works to get substitutes. Get a vegan cookbook, and cook away! I have a vegan cupcake book. ;D|||Yeah it gets easier. Err.. actually I shouldn't be answering this, since my stomach gets sick at the thought of ANY food, but... yeah XD Get a banana addiction. Bananas are lovely =)|||Yes it gets easier. There's a couple times where you'll be like, "bummer, I wish I could eat that" but it's not that bad. Before going vegan I absolutely LOVED chocolate. Like LOVED it more than anyone else. I would eat it everyday. Bu now that I'm vegan I don't really eat it anymore and it's not as hard as I thought. The first week I went vegan I did what you did and didn't tell my parents :) When you do tell them, you can go shopping for a bunch of vegan food! It's so fun :D|||I found that if I though "Oh, i can never have ___ again! Or ____!" etc I would just get depressed and want to give up. I prefer to think "Wow, I'm glad I realized that _____ was the cause of so much pain in animals. Thank god I'm not a part of that anymore. Besides, this _____ is so much tastier, kinder, and healthier!!" I know it sounds silly, but changing your mindset really makes a difference. And it does get easier. I've only been a vegan for 6 months, but I find cows milk repulsive, cheese disgusting, and eggs slimy. I still get mini-cravings for things that don't obviously have milk in them (ie, cookies, etc) but those cravings are easily satisfied with the many vegan versions of said items. Good luck to you on the most fun, healthy, exciting, and kind decision of your life! :D|||It gets a lot easier. I've been vegan for seven years and was vegetarian for five years before that. Most semi-sweet chocolate is vegan. The earlier commenter suggested Daiya, a vegan cheese substitute. Daiya rocks. Seriously. But you don't have to rely on junk food vegan items. Now's a great time to kick your fast-food cravings at the same time. But don't be too hard on yourself. It's going to be a difficult adjustment period, and it's important to remember that you chose to be vegan. So don't think "I can't have ____", think "I choose not to have ___". And if you slip up? It's okay. And if you're finding yourself disheartened by looking at the ingredients of your favorite foods, start eating foods that don't have ingredients; items which are not packaged (like fruits and veggies). For breakfast you might try some steel cut oats with fresh fruit and soy/almond/rice milk. Or quinoa, prepared with some cinnamon and a milk substitute. Quinoa is a complete protein! Lunch could be a sandwich on some Dave's Killer Bread including avocado, tomato, sprouts, lettuce, cucumber, etc. You could even buy some meat substitutes if you were so inclined, such as Tofurky. There are a TON of easy soup recipes, too. Simplify the way you look at food and I think you'll find it to be a lot easier than trying to adapt a vegan diet to the lifestyle you already had. EDIT: I just remembered something! If you absolutely want some indulgent pizza, Tofurky just came out with a line. They taste like Red Baron and are about $7.99 each. You can find them at most Whole Foods or co-ops.