Fellow Vegans or wanna-Vegans?

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  • DC_Veg
    DC_Veg Posts: 12
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    I started this today, I'm a day behind :)

    Last night I stayed up late to make the soup and couscous salad (used quinoa). So I made the oatmeal this morning and am on track. I had an early morning Van's waffle, but still. And tonight I have a softball game (no time to make food later) so I brought a big salad with tons of veggies and a little Goddess vegan dressing. Mmmm!

    I've been strict veg for a few months, just doing this to bring me back to eating healthy :D
  • crossarmant
    crossarmant Posts: 26 Member
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    I'm a vegan too, and seem to be one of the few male vegans here. I've been one for about two years now. I was a lacto-ovo-vegetarian for a year before, but felt that I was kind of halfing the effort; so went all the way and became a vegan (Well, I guess some more strict people would discount me since I eat honey, but I really see no ethical or environmental qualms with honey).

    Before I stopped eating meat, I was at an all-time high of 245 lbs. The Freshman Fifteen became the Freshman Seventy for me. I was 21 and tired of being heavy and also taking more interest in the environment due to studying resource Geosciences. After I became a lacto-ovo I lost 20 lbs. I was so happy, however, I was still pretty big and had replaced cheese for meat.

    After I became a vegan, I lost another 20 lbs. I was sitting around 205 lbs solely off of diet. I hadn't exercised since I was 17. Finally last February I embarked on the exercise videos, P90X. With those I was able to get down to 175 lbs, but I unfortunately gained 5 lbs of it back this summer due to living with my best friend, heavy drinking, and tater tot indulgences.

    I just restarted a new round of P90X yesterday, along with my fiancee (whom I live with now and who is a lacto-ovo-vegetarian), and am hoping to reach my ultimate goal of 165 lbs by New Years. Hopefully making for a three year total weight loss of 80 lbs.

    If anyone is interested in eating vegan or getting an idea of what a vegan eats, feel free to browse my food diary. I'll be updating it more often now. I rarely use fake meats and cheeses and try to eat a whole foods diet.
  • nikos1mom
    nikos1mom Posts: 6
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    Hey!! Vegan here!! I haven't been on the board for a couple months, but back now!!. I am your no animal products in ANYTHING I put in my body gal. Staying away from the home made whole wheat bread has made weight loss pretty tough, but getting there.
  • Mande_G
    Mande_G Posts: 599 Member
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    Hi all! I'm a long time on-again, off-again vegetarian (been veggie for about 6 mos now, not missing meat AT ALL, will never go back to eating it -- completely unpalatable) and I'm currently transitioning to vegan! My diet got way off track this summer, I was making too many allowances for "treats" like pizza, ice cream, and grilled cheese sandwiches and not giving my body enough REAL food -- I would eat 'til I was stuffed and still feel ravenous. I finally got it through my thick skull that even though I was feeding my body calories, I was starving it of the nutrients necessary for it to function! Plus, I'm quite certain I had more than I little bit of a sugar/carb addition going on. Apparently I'm one of those people who cannot have anything tempting in the house, because eventually I WILL eat it, and eat too much (sugary cereal, ice cream, excessive milk, etc.) and the only thing for it is to cut it out COMPLETELY.

    This will be my third day without ANY animal product in my diet (though I say "transitioning" because this is pretty new to me, and I want to leave room for slips ups -- that is, in case I eat something that has animal product in it that I'm not aware of.)

    I want to limit my intake of processed fake-y foods and focus more on whole foods. I feel incredible when eating minimally processed or unprocessed plant-based foods -- though I have found over the last couple of days I tend to quickly get tired/cranky when it's time to eat and then feel immediately better and energized after getting nutrition in me, but I would guess that's just my body detoxing from the over-processed, refined carbs and sugars I was eating earlier in the week and getting used to the new diet.

    The weird thing is, as short a time as I've been doing this -- I'm already finding dairy unpleasant (my husband likes caesar dressing on his salads... I was fixing him one night before last and the parmesan-cream combination smelled absolutely VILE). This coming from someone who was practically ADDICTED to dairy and NEVER thought I'd give it up. I guess that's lucky though -- better to be turned off by it, than fight cravings for it!

    Anywho -- that's my story in a nutshell. :flowerforyou:
  • rebmcg
    rebmcg Posts: 29
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    Day 3 on 21 day Vegan Quick start. I've been vegitarian for a year or so and vegan for a couple of months. I think this program will put be permanently on track.
  • rebmcg
    rebmcg Posts: 29
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    I started this today, I'm a day behind :)

    Last night I stayed up late to make the soup and couscous salad (used quinoa). So I made the oatmeal this morning and am on track. I had an early morning Van's waffle, but still. And tonight I have a softball game (no time to make food later) so I brought a big salad with tons of veggies and a little Goddess vegan dressing. Mmmm!

    I've been strict veg for a few months, just doing this to bring me back to eating healthy :D

    Yea I have a buddy. Good luck.
  • MrsVeg
    MrsVeg Posts: 4
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    Ima brand new vegan(about a month)...was a lacto vegetarian for 5 years before that. Feel free to add me, would love any vegan tips people have to offer:happy:
  • haskelljenn
    haskelljenn Posts: 2 Member
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    I live in a rural area where I can get lots of fresh produce BUT I am VERY limited on the options that I would be able to go FULL Vegan. I can only get soy cheese in american and cheddar. The only Vegetarian options in resturant here are fatty fried mushrooms or french fries. or a salad (and when you ask them to leave the cheese off they stare at you like you have 2 heads and assume the mouth breather stance) So tired of the non-veg friendly life
  • m2kjenn
    m2kjenn Posts: 1,671 Member
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    Hello all

    I am not a Vegan however am interested in making change toward that. I recently (from another thread here) was given a website with a 21 day jumpstart program for Vegans - I haven't officially started this yet but have found some wonderful recipes and meal ideas - so here is the link, you may find it helpful

    http://www.pcrm.org/kickstartHome/mealplan/index.cfm
  • MardellD
    MardellD Posts: 42
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    Vegan for years! And loving every minute of it. Feel free to add me and we can share tips and support :D
  • SugarDiva
    SugarDiva Posts: 403 Member
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    Hey all, I wanted to share this recipe with you. I just made this for supper. I found it online and I really like it.
    Adzuki Bean Stew
    125g adzuki beans, soaked and cooked (save the cooking liquid)
    olive oil
    1 onion, chopped
    2 cloves garlic, minced
    1 medium leek, washed, halved and sliced thick
    3 stalks celery chopped
    250g mushrooms, chopped roughly
    1 tbsp paprika
    2 tbsp whole wheat flour
    1 tsp powdered veggie stock
    chili sauce, to taste
    1 tbsp soya sauce
    1 tbsp tomato paste
    1 400g can tomatoes, chopped
    black pepper, to taste

    Saute the onions in olive oil until golden add the leek, celery, mushrooms and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes. Mix in the flour and paprika and stir for another minute. Add the remaining ingredients, including the beans and enough of the cooking liquid to half-cover the veggies. Stir well and cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. Add more liquid if it gets too dry.
    *I used fresh tomatoes instead of canned and I didn't have any leeks so I just tossed in some green pepper just to beef up the veggies. Also for my bf, I cooked off some stew beef and added that to his bowl. We both really liked it.

    Here's the break-down that came with the recipe
    Calories 250 10 calories from fat
    Sat. Fat .2g
    Sodium 578mg
    carbs 50g
    fiber 10g
    Protein 14%
  • Sevenm
    Sevenm Posts: 7
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    Have been eating a vegan diet for about 3 years and suspect there may come a time when most everyone does. Made a great vegy pot pie for supper tonight. So easy, so delicious.
    To the person who mentioned the soy cheese...watch out as most of that isn't vegan. It has cassien (sp?) in it which is from milk. For the most part I don't eat too much of the fake foods that try to mimic the meat eaters diet. There's lots of great stuff without it. That said I do love a treat of daiyu cheese when I can get it but I don't even really think of it as a cheese substitute. It's just another food. Anyway, here's to all the vegans out there and to all critters we've saved from a brutal life, to the improvements to our health as a result, and to what we done to help the planet!
  • madcatwechanged
    madcatwechanged Posts: 35
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    I am currently doing the PCRM 21dayvegankickstart as well. I could use all of the support and would love to help anyone else I can. I am going to throw out some friend requests if you guys don't mind.
  • crossarmant
    crossarmant Posts: 26 Member
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    It's good to see so many people trying to come to the Vegan side. On the mock cheese, it's amazing how much of it is not vegan, which is something just completely befuddling to me. Why bother making mock cheese if it has dairy in it anyways (I understand lactose intolerance, but they'd really open their markets up to those with milk allergies and vegans if they went without and mass marketed it).

    Also, I want to applaud all the new vegans and those attempting to be, you're making a great step in the right direction for your health and the environment.

    Side note: Am I the only one who sees Activia commercials and laughs at them? Dairy to help digestion? Come on. Hooray for being vegan and never having digestion issues or irregularity.
  • BMW6Series
    BMW6Series Posts: 124
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    I am a new vegan. I read a book recently about Lupus Recovery and since I am a Lupus sufferer and my medications seemed like they were hurting more than helping, I was willing to give it a shot. Basically the book was recommending a vegan diet, minus caffeine, white flour and certain oils etc etc.

    I have been doing it for about 2 weeks and am losing weight and am feeling better with my Lupus.

    Fortunately I was a good cook beforehand, and am enjoying cooking with fresh vegetables and fruits.

    I haven't tried the vegan prepared foods in the super market, but they don't really look that appealing to me.

    I love Indian and Mexican food, and that is pretty easy to do with a vegan diet.

    I will miss Pizza, Cheeseburgers and Cheesecake, but if that is what I have to do to feel better, then so be it.

    BMW6Series
  • creativekathy
    creativekathy Posts: 2 Member
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    Hello all,
    I have been a lacto ovo vegetarian for a year now. I am trying incorporate more dairy free foods into my diet because I am lactose intolerant... yet that fresh mozzarella pizza calls my name! I found a good recipe for lentil loaf which is pretty good: http://christinacooks.com/_webapp_3121464/Not_Your_Mama's_Meatloaf . Anyone else find some good recipes?
  • lidd8
    lidd8 Posts: 9
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    Hello! I've been a vegan for about 10 years (except for a few months when I was pregnant and ate cheese) and I guess I just manage to eat too much yummy vegan food because I'm overweight. Feel free to add me as a friend - would love to share tips, ideas, and support!
  • creativekathy
    creativekathy Posts: 2 Member
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    Daiya cheese is pretty good on pizza. It's a little creamy and 'stretches' like real cheese.
  • parterasd
    parterasd Posts: 1
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    Hi! I'm pretty new to this site and finding it so easy to use!

    I've been vegan for 14 years, since I was 15 years old, with occasional lapses to vegetarianism. As a long time vegan and a health care professional, I'm happy to answer any new vegan's questions.

    Happy plant eating!
  • BMW6Series
    BMW6Series Posts: 124
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    Do we have a link to where there are vegan recipes?

    I bought some Falafel mix today. I am going to use it to make veggie/grain patties rather than Garden Burger or Others that have dairy products in them.

    I just had some Pacific Natural Food Spicy Black Bean soup and added some chunks of avocado to it. Yum!

    BMW6Series

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