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  Posted by Robinwomb at 01/03/16 04:58:57

  I actually really didn't have any fears, but I spent a good month researching veganism and plant based nutrition before making the overnight transition from omnivore to vegan. That was five years ago and I have never looked back! I was fairly strict in the beginning, but eventually relaxed a little and by the six month mark everything came naturally and automatically. After a year or so I was making my own recipes and not needing to follow recipes for lots of stuff.
  
  I did fear others reactions though, and it took me about a month of being vegan to "come out" and tell others. By then I was very confident in what I was doing, believed in it 100% and was committed. It was just disappointing all the negative reactions I had to deal with even though I shared it in a positive way. Over time and seeing my success and improved health as well as great and varied dishes I shared, people have warmed up and I get way less of the naysayers. I even leafleted and tabled colleges and high schools and have gotten tons of positive responses and interest! My checkups and screenings have been awesome as far as good iron, hemoglobin, LDL/HDL/cholesterol levels, triglycerides, glucose, B12 status, even vitamin D levels. But I am not going to lie that I have lost bone density dramatically in the years of being vegan. However, I was very underweight part of that time (as well as before becoming vegan), lost my ovaries many years ago and have lived in surgical menopause, have suffered and been treated for hypothyroidism for 27 years which also contributes to bone loss. In the last two years I fought an eating disorder, put on 20 lbs, have become much stronger with weight lifting (I can now carry a 50lb canoe over my head for a quarter of a mile and paddle a good distance afterwards too), cycling, etc, and eat far more and am more proactive in getting bone building nutrients in vegan style (sesame seeds, broccoli, beans, figs, blackstrap molasses, plant milks etc). I have my next DEXA scan in March so hopefully with all that I will see an improvement.

  
  
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  Posted by Thalassa4 at 01/14/16 18:10:50

  Ten years ago I was afraid of the typical things people were afraid of then: I won't get enough B12, this is too expensive, this is too extreme. ..my only regret now is that it took so many years for me to overcome the ignorance of Internet misinformation and the ignorance of the people around me. I didn't trust myself at that time, and I think that's the saddest thing of all.
  
  That's one of the reasons I'm so persistent now with scientific facts, documentaries, nutrition and product advice...I wish someone or some people had been more persistent with me. Not with shreiking that I should feel guilty about animals. ..but with providing real solid information,encouragement, and strictly debunking my most ridiculous excuses.
  
  I'm really happy I'm so informed now, in fact I seem to be completely over cheese, which was my biggest hindrance, so I think any recent fears I had were more like my own lack of self control, or of other people pushing food on me or "making them feel bad."
  
  
  It feels great to be completely transformed, though it took until my 30s to happen, at least it was now and not later or never...I'll do anything I can now to help others the way I wish someone had supported or corrected me back in my 20s.