Hmm.. I thought I commented earlier.. I guess not lol.. Diane, if you can afford it, coconut water would be much better than gatorade for your electrolytes.. Not only does coconut water have a certain amount of all your electrolytes, it is high in Lauric acid which is very beneficial for the immune system. I generally drink it everyday. :D It took me awhile to transition from being a vegetarian to being a vegan (I still eat honey on occasion, so technically I am not fully vegan)... The last things I gave up were cheese and cookies!(not mixed together of course lol.. Bleh!) I have been eating this way for a little over 13 months. I used to think my diet was wide and varied, and that vegans were a little crazy, but that was pure ignorance. Once I became vegan, I started trying things I previously never heard of, and I am so happy I did because I was able to find and enjoy fruits I would have never thought twice about back when I was eating meat. Now I eat a mostly raw diet, with the occasional bowl of brown rice or roasted nuts/seeds. (neither things being the best things you could eat, but hey, we all gotta have our treats on occasion lol).. Stubby, I too have a garden. This year we have been growing some delicious heirloom tomatoes! If you are not yet aware of what heirloom plants are, they are pure-bred, open-pollinated fruits/vegetables, often with distinct features that most hybridized fruits/vegetables these days do not have. My favorite heirloom tomatoes this year have been Cherokee Purple tomatoes and Virginia Sweets tomatoes :D. Once I finally put pics up, I may also be putting up some pictures of some of the fruits we have grown this year :D. Nature is beautiful! which is one thing I didn't truly come to realize until I became vegan. It seems you really begin to gain a perspective of how important every life on this planet is when you get closer to nature. These days, I go out of my way to make sure I don't even kill bugs lol. I think nature has a way of showing you just how interconnected everything is. Believe me, just about 2 years ago, I was eating pounds of steak or chicken daily... Barely ever ate anything that wasn't from an animal.. And I would also (not exaggerating at all) drink about half a gallon of whole milk daily.. Always was eating all kinds of cheese and whatnot.. foods full with gluten, and all kinds of refined foods.. Taking all kinds of synthetically created body-building supplements..(I was really into bodybuilding at the time) It was bad lol.. I really began to feel it.. That is when I started really looking at what I was putting into my body. Believe me, I have seen both sides of extremes.. I was vegetarian for about 6-7 months before finally giving up dairy.. Cookies and cheese (especially pizza) were my biggest downfall/weakness.. The month after I gave up animal products was amazing.. The energy I ended up having then was outstanding.. I could do things I could not previously do before. When I officially started my transition from eating meat to slowly becoming vegan, one of the easiest things to do, was I just added more fruit/vegetables, continued to eat some of the things I would otherwise, and just slowly stop eating the meat/animal products. Try different fruits/vegetables.. Find something you really like! Personally, some of my favorites are fresh black figs, pineapples, mangoes, homegrown tomatoes and pretty much every type of melon lol. Another big thing is, is a lot of people have a hard time truly enjoying natural foods because their taste buds have been somewhat dulled due to synthetic/artificial flavoring. Try to cut out the stuff with that in it, and your joy for nature's food will more than likely increase at least a little.. One good vegan "energy/breakfast" bar I have found are Larabars! They are delicious! I love the banana bread ones and the coconut cream ones.. oh, and the cherry pie ones! They are all relatively good, and they are composed of pretty good ingredients :D I believe They are a great snack for the transitioning vegan/vegetarian.. If you are worried about vitamins, looking into herbs may not be a bad idea... I personally take Moringa, Chlorella and Oatstraw because of the calcium/silica content in the moringa/oatstraw and the iron content in chlorella. Dhealthstore.com sells herbs at a very reasonable price.