Hi my names Charlotte and I'm 13 years old I'm vegetarian and don't know if I should take that extra step and go vegan. My mum has enough trouble making me vegetarian meals. Can people please give me some advice.d
That's very impressive to be vegetarian at your age, not an easy thing to do socially and within a family whom is not vegetarian. All it comes down to, is, what do you want? Would you like to continue being vegetarian or make that next step into veganism? Decide what it is that you truly want and then talk to your mum about it. Is she happy with you being vegetarian? If so, then maybe with research on your part into recipes you would like, then she can be happy about veganism too. It comes down to communication with your family I suppose, at your age it can be hard to make bold decisions when the funds for food will come from your parent/s. Do you cook? That could also be a way to delve into some new meals and to show your mum there are meals that can be easily cooked and that you can even cook yourself. There are so many recipe sites and blogs out there with vegan meals, have a good research and chat with your mum and see where that gets you. There are quite a lot of mock meat recipes too, that may entice your family to try and be interested in vegan foods.
A book that I love is "Veganomican" it has really extensive info on vegan foods, and great recipes, so that would be a great buy if you could.
Thankyou so much. I never thought there would be anyone out there like you with such helpfull advice.
You are very welcome! Feel free to message with anything you want to ask or talk about anytime... I know the position you are in and it can be very difficult, nice to have someone to chat to who is in your corner.
Hi my names Charlotte and I'm 13 years old I'm vegetarian and don't know if I should take that extra step and go vegan. My mum has enough trouble making me vegetarian meals. Can people please give me some advice.d
Hi Charlotte,
That's really cool that you've already made the decision to go veg (and it's also pretty cool of your mum to help out by making you vegie meals). If you'd like to go a bit further and not use any animal products I'd encourage you to go for it. To make it as easy and fun as possible (for you and mum), check out these tips specifically designed for people around your age: http://www.makeitpossible.com/kids/make-the-switch.php
I'm sure you'll also find plenty of support and advice here on the forum.
One thing I remember about being a teenage vegan is that it helps to be able to cook for yourself to take the pressure off your mum I know it's fairly easy to be vegan in a family household (salads, making pasta without the bolognese sauce, making meat/dairy/egg free batches of food and cooking the family a wonderfully delicious vegan meal) but one thing that stuck with me is the amounting pressure I put on my mum without realising it sometimes. She would come home from work and be upset that she'd have to cook ''differently'' just for me. Which, personally I was surprised because I didn't realise and still don't realise how hard it can be being a mother sometimes... SO anyway, I think it helps having vegan microwave meals in the freezer just in case
I encourage the switch to vegan, but being a vegetarian is still really impressive! You should talk to your mum about it, but after all if you REALLY want to go vegan just explain that to her and she'll probably understand. But you're still so young so you can always try just restricting the amount of dairy and eggs and then being more dedicated as you get a little older, just like i did
I know it's fairly easy to be vegan in a family household (salads, making pasta without the bolognese sauce, making meat/dairy/egg free batches of food and cooking the family a wonderfully delicious vegan meal) but one thing that stuck with me is the amounting pressure I put on my mum without realising it sometimes. She would come home from work and be upset that she'd have to cook ''differently'' just for me. Which, personally I was surprised because I didn't realise and still don't realise how hard it can be being a mother sometimes... SO anyway, I think it helps having vegan microwave meals in the freezer just in case 
