I like the name "Cryptomancer" I would say "welcome" but it appears you've been here longer than I have. Oh well, welcome anyway.
cryptomancer wrote:
As far as letting go milk, its just that I was raised with milk as a major part of my diet. However, since I first started posting in here I've made the switch to soy milk and even though I'm not likeing it that much, I think I'm done with milk for the most part, I'm not as strict about it just yet but I think I'm close to calling myself a full on vegan. Anyway, it might not seam like a big deal to some but its being hard for me.
I was also raised with milk and dairy products as a major part of my diet. As a teenager in Vermont, we had three small family-owned (and likely organic) dairy farms within a mile radius of our home and a milkman that delivered super-fresh milk once a week. It was so yummy and I was a hardcore milk drinker. I kinda thought sometimes that drinking something intended for a baby cow was stupid, but usually what I'd been taught about the importance of the "milk group" prevailed. When I moved far away to Atlanta 8 years ago, all the milk there tasted like crap and made my stomach hurt too, so I just quit drinking it. That was easy enough.
Cheese has proven to be much more difficult to give up, though. It's probably like 100x or more harder to give up than meat was, for me. Giving up cheese and everything else "cold turkey" wasn't working for me, so gave up everything else and have given myself a realistic amount of time (until the end of this year or until the 1/2lb block of raw cheddar in my fridge is gone, whichever happens first) to gradually transition the cheese out of my diet, too. I had never realized how many of my favorite comfort foods (like lasagne and pizza) were all about cheese, but I'm weaning myself and learning to modify the recipes. I'm also learning which of my favorite restaurants I can still eat at, since 90% of the meat-free appetizers and entrees seem to be based upon cheese.
This might sound weird, but what's helped me the most in this transition is to read vegan forums (here, on myspace, etc) online at least once every day. Surrounding oneself with fellow vegans would probably work better, but since I don't have any local vegan friends yet, this works for me. I'm sure there's some speculation at this point that I'm stalking some member here because I'm logged in so much, but actually I'm just trying to brainwash my brain to think "vegan" instead of think the "standard american diet" it's been conditioned to think for the past 35 years. It is working.
If all else fails, move to Atlanta for a while. All their milk tastes like crap, I have proof.
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