How can I convince my parents to let me become a vegan?

I've been a vegetarian for about a year now (on the 8th of August it will be exactly a year). I really think I am ready to give up eggs and dairy from my diet, but my parents are dead against it. My mom told me that as long as I live with her, I am not becoming a vegan. But everytime I eat dairy or eggs, I feel guilty and grossed out. There aren't a lot of vegan-friendly foods in the house, except for soy milk. HELP!How can I convince my parents to let me become a vegan?
There is a Japanese analogy/proverb that goes like this, ';The nail that sticks up is the one that gets hammered down';. People are like this everywhere. When you tell your family that it is your personal belief that animals should not be eaten, they take a look at themselves and it can be subconsciously translated into, ';What you do is wrong and I choose to be right.';





There have been many vegans before us that have done their best to stay healthy and most have succeeded, but many have made mistakes, and luckily, people have been keeping track for those of us that wish to avoid those mistakes.


http://www.veganhealth.org/sh





Your parents have probably been taught a huge amount of misinformation by their parents and their teachers while growing up. You really need to research vegetarian diets and health before you even think about saying the ';V-word'; in front of your parents.





When you have gathered enough information and feel confident in a vegan diet's ability to maintain or even improve health, you may mention to them that you have made the decision. They may be shocked, angry, worried, curious or many other things, but you must NEVER react to their behavior and always stay calm. If they are able to speak to you and respect your choice, please tell them everything and answer all questions. If they are rude, inconsiderate, judgmental, violent, or verbally abusive, refuse to continue any conversation until they can speak to you with respect.





The best advice is to study everything that you can about a healthy vegan diet and keep yourself in good shape (better than most people your age or than your friends/family if possible). If nobody that you know shows a genuine, positive interest in your choice, don't give them the privilege of the knowledge that you have gathered. Work your way around any attempts they make to trivialize your beliefs and if possible, go shopping with your parents and buy things that aren't obvious veggie fare. Instead of trying to sneak fake meat into the cart, toss in lentil soup, peanut butter, pasta, fruits %26amp; veggies or anything else that you have learned is needed to fill any gaps in your diet.





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One of the most valuable steps is to study a balanced vegan diet and learn how to cook/prepare everything that you will need to keep yourself satisfied BEFORE you start to label yourself as vegan. This is important in keeping yourself healthy and working towards a fit body that can redefine vegan stereotypes.





Your journey as vegetarian was just the beginning of a longer one to a plant-based diet with no animal products. This should be due to the reality of factory farming in which animals that are kept alive to produce milk, eggs, etc suffer much more and longer than animals that are raised to a certain weight and then slaughtered.http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/


http://meat.org


Some people use the word ';vegan'; in reference to this idea, but be aware that applying that label to yourself should always come with the inclusion of wise activism and advocacy.http://www.veganoutreach.org/advocacy/in鈥?/a>


Two extremely important examples of this are that you should never speak to someone about vegetarianism/veganism without their consent and genuine interest or as a comment on what they are eating AND your dietary beliefs should never be used as an introduction or explanation of who you are as a person. Veg*ism should be something that comes up AFTER people get to know you and they offer you a situation that makes it confusing to withhold the information/discussion. Also, if you are presented something that you choose not to eat or you are


ordering food/eating together somewhere/picking the best place to eat.





A responsible vegan ALWAYS studies the subject of their own health and how to keep their body completely provided for in every sense. http://www.veganhealth.org/sh


To neglect their body is to define a plant-based diet as unhealthy and is the opposite of helping the animals.





When you you hold off on the subject until it's necessary and then act like it isn't a big deal at all, people are usually surprised and WAY more interested and curious than if you were to bring it up when someone's eating or just using it as a conversation starter.





A balanced plant-based diet includes grains(breads, pasta, rice,cereal), legumes(soy, beans, peas, lentils), fruit and vegetables.


http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/f鈥?/a>


http://www.peta.org/accidentallyVegan/


http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/ea鈥?/a>


Being vegan can be an art, one whose challenge is to take things that involve the suffering of the innocent and change them into something free of cruelty.





A vegan woman can create an ENTIRELY NEW,HEALTHY HUMAN BEING INSIDE OF HER. Many of these children stay vegan and grow up to be perfectly healthy adults. So just keep yourself educated about what you eat and don't let anyone tell you that a veg diet is lacking anything essential.





Technically the term ';vegetarian'; does imply that you don't consume anything that comes from the body of an animal that requires killing it. Many ingredients such as gelatin and glycerin are found in many candies, Fig-Newtons, and many of other foods as well as rennet found in many cheeses.


http://www.happycow.net/health-animal-in鈥?/a>


The best thing to remember is to take your time so that for example: when you are comfortable not eating whey and casein you can then give up sodium stearoyl lactylate and L-cysteine when you are sure you can make the commitment permanently.


Depending on your age or reliance on parents or regional options, it may not be best to give yourself a label. The important thing is to do your best to make progress and be committed to your compassion towards animals. Never put your focus onto what you or other people use to describe yourself.





If you meet someone that talks down to people for eating meat, dairy, etc or to you because they think they are ';more veg'; than you, laugh in their face and tell them they are a disgrace to the entire philosophy. People like this only hurt the idea of veg*ism AND the animals. The point of all of this is to live compassionately and and as free from cruelty as you can, all the while maintaining your health and a positive attitude. People who don't maintain either, need not open their mouths and represent our beliefs.





If you actually choose to read all of this, I hope it helps. If not, feel free to e-mail me if you have questions.





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I'm vegan and these are some of my favorite things to eat:





Breakfast: bananas, cream of wheat with brown sugar and soy butter, cereal, pancakes or french toast with real maple syrup, vegan ';sausage'; patties, smoothies.





Lunch: VEGAN ';SAUSAGE'; SANDWICHES, sandwiches with vegan deli slices(Tofurkey is the only one that's kinda funky), fruit, dinner leftovers, couscous salad, vegan sushi, potato or pasta salad.





Dinner: sloppy joes, ';sausage'; and gravy with homemade biscuits, Spaghetti and Trader Joe's ';meatballs'; or TVP, lasagna, Thai pad see ew, pad khi mao(drunkard's noodles), pad prig king, tofu+eggplant with basil sauce, yellow thai curry with tofu or vegan chikn and veggies and jasmine rice, Indian dal with homemade roti or dosai, channa masala, aloo gobi, vegetable or minestrone soup, pizza, STEAMED ';PORK'; BUNS with potstickers or spring rolls, sweet%26amp;sour/orange/lemon chikn, vegan pho or wonton soup





I use these sites to find recipes:


http://www.foodnetwork.com


http://vegweb.com


http://www.recipezaar.comHow can I convince my parents to let me become a vegan?
You should ask your doctor to talk to your mom about it. Once she gets accurate facts from him she can make an informed decision.
all milk will do is make you FAT and will caluse you:


digestion trouble


higher cholesterol


allergies


lactose intolerance


bacterial growth


bowel disorders


low blood levels of:


calcium


manganese


magnesium


zinc


iron


copper








and if you would like to read MORE buy the book called Moooove over milk and it will tell you every thing about dairy.





Also watch meet your meat that PETA made and get your mom to watch it with you !!


PETA has vegan recipes also go to www.goveg.com
Your going to hate me for this....but I agree with your mom.


Your still growing and it is imperitive that you get enough protein in your diet.


No need to feel guilty for eating milk and eggs, if you want ,you can buy happy cow milk and range free eggs.


I was a vegan a few years ago, just to lose weight.


I lost weight, I also lost my hair.
Dayummm, that sucks.


Your mom must be a btich, huh?


If I were you I'd get a job or do extra chores or whatever your mom ..allows you to do to get extra money to buy vegan foods for yourself. You said you have soymilk.


Now all you need is:


soy cheese,


egg replacer, and


soy yogurt!





E-mail me if you need any tips on veganism...


or how to deal with your mother.


Good luck!!! =)
You should do some serious research into how to be a healthy vegan and maby buy some books, you could also talk to your doctor and ask for some advice (take your parents along) and then your parents may see that your really serious about it and that you know exactly what you should be eating, its worth a try!! Good Luck!! (P.S. The link below is quite useful!)
i have the same problem :[
ALFyakuza, sh*t man, that's a long one. Yes, the nail.





Well, you gotta do what you gotta do. No matter if it's giving up animal products or wanting to take violin lessons instead of piano, just do it.





You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot force it to drink. They cannot force you to eat what you don't want to eat.





';my parents are dead against it';


Why? It's like ALFyakuza said, they see it as you going against their ways; against what they have brought you up with.





Please read this and related links:


http://ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/ind鈥?/a>





http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;鈥?/a>


http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;鈥?/a>