teen has decided to be vegan

[Anonymous]

Do you have other kids? I would have no problem with one of my teens choosing to be vegan, but at this point I don’t think the other 2 would eat most vegan food TBH (teen boys who are still growing and play a ton of sports, and need to eat a ton). My meat and potatoes DH would also not be willing to make many changes. It would really be a big challenge for us at this stage of the parenting game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teach your teen to make her own food. She can still eat with the rest of the family, but don't let your child force her chosen diet upon the rest of the family. She can prepare several meals ahead of time if she doesn't have time to make her meals daily.

This. You should not have to cook vegan meals. Let her do the work to cook vegan and see how much she wants to do it.

+1. I'd be happy to purchase the ingredients for her meals and the vegan meals at the restaurants we ate at as a family. On her birthday and other milestones, she could choose a vegan restaurant or a caterer. O

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teach your teen to make her own food. She can still eat with the rest of the family, but don't let your child force her chosen diet upon the rest of the family. She can prepare several meals ahead of time if she doesn't have time to make her meals daily.

This. You should not have to cook vegan meals. Let her do the work to cook vegan and see how much she wants to do it.

Right. Kids with intolerances, allergies and picky kids should not be catered to either. Just like the vegans. No exceptions.

You are equating veganism with intolerances and allergies? You just lost your credibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would just make your normal meals and use a vegan meat substitute for her portion. Most of them are precooked and just require reheating in the microwave, so it's not super inconvenient. Field Roast and Morningstar are the best tasting brands.

Vegan is more than just using fake meat. It also means no eggs or dairy, and a lot of recipes do not work without eggs, milk, or cheese.

Eggs and butter are hard to substitute. Milk is easy! I cook almost nothing that requires milk (I dislike baking sugary junk), and anyway you can easily use oat or almond milk instead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you have other kids? I would have no problem with one of my teens choosing to be vegan, but at this point I don’t think the other 2 would eat most vegan food TBH (teen boys who are still growing and play a ton of sports, and need to eat a ton). My meat and potatoes DH would also not be willing to make many changes. It would really be a big challenge for us at this stage of the parenting game.

NP. I don’t have teen boys, just wanted to say that meat and potatoes is a pretty crappy diet.

[Anonymous]

I am not vegan, but 2/3rds of my meals are salads, good bread and fresh fruit, so I would have no problem with a DD like that.

[Anonymous]

This seems not that hard. I would make sure to have something you can eat as a family mea twice per week with super minor adjustments. Pasta with homemade marina and vegetables/or primavera, some grilled chicken and shaved parm on the side. Something like that. On nights when you can separate out, have Buddha bowl type ingredients available to her

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just keep an eye on it. Becoming vegetarian and then vegan was definitely the way I was able to hide my ED from friends and family for so long.

Same. My family was vegetarian for years so that wasn't triggering or bad, but I definitely used veganism as a way to be sure that I could eat under 1k calories a day and remain pretty virtuous in the eyes of others. Like, yeah I'm skeletal and missing my periods, but you're in favor of animal cruelty! Other people eat trash and I only eat good food! I was NOT alone in this in my teenage years, so while I would be supportive generally I would watch for this. On the other hand, I have a vegan cousin who seems to live on Oreos, Fritos, and potato chips and is overweight. Seems very unhealthy to me, but is not indicative of a starvation tactic.

[Anonymous]

My DD (almost 11) became vegetarian just after she turned 7. The rest of us are not vegetarian. The reason I think she isn’t vegan is it would just be too hard. Also, needing to limit soy (for estrogen purposes) and eliminating eggs and dairy would really reduce options. We told her we’d support her as long as she ate a varied diet and stayed healthy.

We have two vegan dishes we all love. One is basically a chickpea tagine (you can find recipes online) and the other is pan-fried tofu with whatever vegetables, lots of ginger and garlic, some lemongrass, some soy sauce and rice vinegar. We typically mix that in with rice noodles. I don’t think we could do a vegan diet though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not vegan, but 2/3rds of my meals are salads, good bread and fresh fruit, so I would have no problem with a DD like that.

I’m not sure salad, fruit and bread is a great diet for a teen girl.

[Anonymous]

Vegan is hard!

I suggest aiming for two truly vegan meals a week, 2 that are non vegan, but her portion can be made vegan, and then 1 or 2 night where she cooks for herself (or everyone) or you have convenient vegan alternatives (you could make a large batch of vegan soups and stews and freeze individual portions). I am assuming you go out or do take out also. This will allow the family to support her but also enjoy other good. Over time perhaps the rest of you will want to do more vegan food or she decide it’s not worth it.

You might also want to insist that she gets blood work done every 6 months. Most people I know that went vegan went back to eating some non-vegan food for health reasons. It can be a healthy diet, but it takes work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not vegan, but 2/3rds of my meals are salads, good bread and fresh fruit, so I would have no problem with a DD like that.

I’m not sure salad, fruit and bread is a great diet for a teen girl.

It’s a crap diet for anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not vegan, but 2/3rds of my meals are salads, good bread and fresh fruit, so I would have no problem with a DD like that.

I’m not sure salad, fruit and bread is a great diet for a teen girl.

It’s a crap diet for anyone.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This seems not that hard. I would make sure to have something you can eat as a family mea twice per week with super minor adjustments. Pasta with homemade marina and vegetables/or primavera, some grilled chicken and shaved parm on the side. Something like that. On nights when you can separate out, have Buddha bowl type ingredients available to her

You can just bake, air fry, grill something like tofu instead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Vegan is hard!

I suggest aiming for two truly vegan meals a week, 2 that are non vegan, but her portion can be made vegan, and then 1 or 2 night where she cooks for herself (or everyone) or you have convenient vegan alternatives (you could make a large batch of vegan soups and stews and freeze individual portions). I am assuming you go out or do take out also. This will allow the family to support her but also enjoy other good. Over time perhaps the rest of you will want to do more vegan food or she decide it’s not worth it.

You might also want to insist that she gets blood work done every 6 months. Most people I know that went vegan went back to eating some non-vegan food for health reasons. It can be a healthy diet, but it takes work.

They just need to take a vitamin b12 and d supplement.