Vegans!

TheLast16

Hey everyone I wanted to now who is a vegan or at least has the diet for most of the time. Any tips you have would be great! I was a vegetarian for 2 1/2 years but started eating meat again. I feel sick and I've gained allot of weight. Anything you could tell me about being vegan would be great!

HerpDerp745

Try to not eat meat and eat lots of veggies. I think that's what most vegans do?

HollisGrant

Eat beans for protein. Lentils are easy because you don't have to soak them. One cup has the protein of 3 eggs. Look on the Happy Herbivores forum for lots of diet ideas.

LJSmith1989

Hey everyone I wanted to now who is a vegan or at least has the diet for most of the time. Any tips you have would be great! I was a vegetarian for 2 1/2 years but started eating meat again. I feel sick and I've gained allot of weight. Anything you could tell me about being vegan would be great!

Join a group

Barbs2222

I've added Chia seeds to my diet. Huge nutritional bonus for the calories. I'm not Vegetarian but I don't eat a lot of meat.

Tamira12

I am a vegetarian but do not eat eggs nor do I drink milk. Not quite a vegan yet. What do you want to know.

TheLast16

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm just looking for general tips or anything that has helped you keep that diet.

TheLast16

Try to not eat meat and eat lots of veggies. I think that's what most vegans do?

No?!

GirthGirl88

See if your local library has a copy of the book 'Appetite for Reduction' by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (or check out her Post Punk kitchen blog) http://www.theppk.com/blog/ The book's recipes are 200 to 400 calories per serving, and ready in 30 minutes. I've tried several recipes and some are really, really tasty (people at work want the recipe and they cook it at home), while other recipes are a bit more hit and miss for my taste buds.

There's also www.101cookbooks.com by Heidi Swanson (blog and books) and Thug Kitchen on Tumblr is funny (NSFW swearing), but also yummy recipes.

Once I get hold of my high powered blender next week, I'll be making vegan green smoothies, which are packed full of vegies and a little fruit, together with nutritional supplements such as seaweed, chia seeds, flaxseeds, etc. if desired. From what I understand, it's a quick, easy way to get your day's worth of vegies really quickly and simply (and retaining more nutritional value, because you can leave the skin on veggies instead of peeling). Search for YouTube clips using the terms 'Vitamix' 'Optimum' or 'Omniblend' recipes.

One of the 'problems' with vegan recipes is that while they're heavily plant-based, some of the more specialised ingredients (such as nutritional yeast) may be difficult to come across in your local supermarket, so checked out Asian grocery stores, online stores and healthfood shops for more unusual ingredients.

MorningWhispers

I am not Vegan but am trying vegetarian for 8 weeks - today is the start of my second week.

I already feel a lot more energetic and less sluggish. Need to find more ways to prepare beans though, ate bean burritos three times in the past week because they were fast and easy (too hot to cook lately).

TheLast16

I am not Vegan but am trying vegetarian for 8 weeks - today is the start of my second week.

I already feel a lot more energetic and less sluggish. Need to find more ways to prepare beans though, ate bean burritos three times in the past week because they were fast and easy (too hot to cook lately).

Thats great! I had great results with being a vegetarian and hate that I made the mistake of stopping. Good luck!

TheLast16

See if your local library has a copy of the book 'Appetite for Reduction' by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (or check out her Post Punk kitchen blog) http://www.theppk.com/blog/ The book's recipes are 200 to 400 calories per serving, and ready in 30 minutes. I've tried several recipes and some are really, really tasty (people at work want the recipe and they cook it at home), while other recipes are a bit more hit and miss for my taste buds.

There's also www.101cookbooks.com by Heidi Swanson (blog and books) and Thug Kitchen on Tumblr is funny (NSFW swearing), but also yummy recipes.

Once I get hold of my high powered blender next week, I'll be making vegan green smoothies, which are packed full of vegies and a little fruit, together with nutritional supplements such as seaweed, chia seeds, flaxseeds, etc. if desired. From what I understand, it's a quick, easy way to get your day's worth of vegies really quickly and simply (and retaining more nutritional value, because you can leave the skin on veggies instead of peeling). Search for YouTube clips using the terms 'Vitamix' 'Optimum' or 'Omniblend' recipes.

One of the 'problems' with vegan recipes is that while they're heavily plant-based, some of the more specialised ingredients (such as nutritional yeast) may be difficult to come across in your local supermarket, so checked out Asian grocery stores, online stores and healthfood shops for more unusual ingredients.

Thanks! I'll check it out!

WalkingMermaid_

I am almost a vegan, I eat organic eggs from my friend's organic farm, but other than that I don't consume any animal meat/dairy or by product. I can't eat gluten either (celiac) so my diet is quite unusual! I avoid processed foods and so I pretty much eat a plant based diet consisting of veggies, fruits, potatoes, rice, legumes, nuts etc. My health has increased massively and the weight is melting off

BobbyDaniel

Read your labels and look for the "allergy warnings, try to avoid processed foods as much as possible, stick with the produce section when shopping and visit your local farmers market, get some chia and flax seeds, and join some of the groups on here like Happy Herbivores or Team Vegan.

meeper123

Believe it or not there is actually a vegan food pyrimid its very helpful also avoid the processed vegan options aka soy cheese ect and go more whole foods

DaniettaF

I know exactly what you mean, I am vegetarian but often have vegan weeks for weight loss reasons. My boyfriend eats vegetarian food 95% of the time, and whenever he eats meat he feels awful, so I know what it's like!

If it's a massive jump to go vegan, I'd try and replace foods one at a time to get accustomed to it. I find milk easy to substitute as almond or other non-dairy milks are easy to find in supermarkets, tastes nice, and is often calcium fortified. Cheese and butter I need to go to health shops so I don't use that often. Also, replacing butter with oil is simple. There are many vegan recipes for baking to get around no butter and no eggs if you are wanting a treat.

Broccoli has a tonne of calcium in it and has stopped my body craving dairy, although I do feel the need to eat cheese sometimes, just from it being my favorite food :P

EvelynBfly78

Transition a little at a time from vegetarian to vegan. I let milk go first (now have almond milk), then eggs since I was only eating about 2 a month, then egg products in everything, then the rest of dairy (cheese, yogurt, butter, etc). Going slowly makes it easier than getting overwhelmed all at once.

Check out the Happy Herbivores Group on here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/45-happy-herbivores
I find this group very helpful in following a vegan lifestyle.

Feel free to friend me. Together we can do this!

SJVZEE

See if your local library has a copy of the book 'Appetite for Reduction' by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (or check out her Post Punk kitchen blog) http://www.theppk.com/blog/ The book's recipes are 200 to 400 calories per serving, and ready in 30 minutes. I've tried several recipes and some are really, really tasty (people at work want the recipe and they cook it at home), while other recipes are a bit more hit and miss for my taste buds.

There's also www.101cookbooks.com by Heidi Swanson (blog and books) and Thug Kitchen on Tumblr is funny (NSFW swearing), but also yummy recipes.

Once I get hold of my high powered blender next week, I'll be making vegan green smoothies, which are packed full of vegies and a little fruit, together with nutritional supplements such as seaweed, chia seeds, flaxseeds, etc. if desired. From what I understand, it's a quick, easy way to get your day's worth of vegies really quickly and simply (and retaining more nutritional value, because you can leave the skin on veggies instead of peeling). Search for YouTube clips using the terms 'Vitamix' 'Optimum' or 'Omniblend' recipes.

One of the 'problems' with vegan recipes is that while they're heavily plant-based, some of the more specialised ingredients (such as nutritional yeast) may be difficult to come across in your local supermarket, so checked out Asian grocery stores, online stores and healthfood shops for more unusual ingredients.

Amazon is also a great resource for hard to find items-that's where I'm getting my nutritional yeast

whitney_simpson

I would go back to vegetarian before jumping right in to veganism. That was my big mistake. I went from eating everything to veganism in one day. It worked for a few months but I ultimately realized that i needed to scale it back to vegetarianism before I was ready to fully commit to a vegan lifestyle. i work towards it everyday knowing that eventually I will get there.

_Zardoz_

Becoming a Vegan won't guarantee weight loss. I was and still am a fat vegan. As with and other diet moderation and healthy choices is the way to go. If you wish to see my good diary feel free to add me as a friend

lemonmon1

Feel free to check out my diary. I try to eat mostly whole foods and limit processed foid which I recommend. You can make your own sauces like cheese type sauces. Make vegan friends, if only on the internet, check out recipes and do some research. Try not to eat a lot of breads. Hmmm that's what I can think of right now!

savgar32

I've been vegan for about 6 months now and I guess the key to my success so far is dependent on a few things. I pretty much surround myself with it as much as I can- Initially, I told everyone that I was making the change (that has really helped keep me accountable), I started reading a lot of different vegan blogs for inspiration and sometimes I go to the bookstore and read the vegan cookbooks/ literature if I have downtime. As far as food there are the obvious things like avocado, beans, rice, veggies and the world of soy meats. It can get boring if you aren't willing to cook (that's my problem sometimes lol) but there are SO many great recipes online or if you have hankerin' for something you can just search for the vegan version - the other day I made vegan biscuits and gravy and it was rockin! You just gotta be willing to cook and I've found that it's really rewarding when ya do. Good luck!

ThePoppyFox

Staying on the Vegan diet is a lot easier to me then even eating meat but eating healthy. When I eat meat or animal products, I get hungrier faster, but when I am eating a vegan diet, I eat large amounts of fruits and vegetables and I stay full a lot longer and I really don't ever feel hungry. And the times that I do feel hungry, it's like a different kind of hungry. It's a hungry where I feel it but if I can't eat right away, it's not a big deal. When I was eating animal products, I would get hungry but it would feel like cravings and I almost always gave into them which isn't good and was quite annoying for me trying to lose weight.

Something else that made it easier to stick to was a change of the way I was thinking. When I was just trying to eat healthy, even as a vegetarian, it was all about the diet; all about losing weight. When I switched to being a vegan, it became about health and not contributing to the factory farming. I know that if I eat animal products, I AM contributing to it and I am NOT being healthy. Knowing these things contribute greatly to my willpower, and I know it's not worth it to give in.

Most days, I struggle to even get enough calories. I am usually full around 800 calories and I have to force myself to eat those last 400-500 calories, which tells you how much I am not hungry on a vegan diet.

One of my favorite things I have discovered so far is the simplest salad dressing ever. I was wanting to start making my own salad dressing because who knows what is in the store bought ones and I found that squeezing a lemon over my salad and then adding some black pepper and garlic salt is so delicious and probably the lowest calorie dressing you can use. I also always add avocado to my salads so it kind of mixes over everything and adds to the dressing. Super yummy.

Hope this helps!