do i go vegan?

MikePfirrman

happytree923 wrote: »

I am a former vegan and I struggle with binge eating. I gave up veganism because it made my binging worse. At first I had the same experience you did and I dropped a lot of weight but over time the binging came back. Because vegan 'treats' like desserts and fast food are so rarely available I would end up binging whenever I had them. Like if I was at a vegan restaurant that had a lot of things like veggie burgers, fried chik'n sandwiches, cupcakes etc. my thought process would be ok, I won't have access to these things again for a long time so I need to get everything I want to eat.

Veganism is a very restrictive diet and I don't think most people could stick to it without any ethical motivation to do so. Personally I have a much better attitude towards food when I don't have any category restrictions. But this is just my experience and you may find you enjoy eating vegan after you figure out what staples you enjoy.

I'm actually quite respectful/envious of people that can go Vegan for ethical reasons and eat healthy. I've moved a lot more plant based in the last few years, but my wife and I eat meat a couple of days a week. I do find that the three or so Vegan days I do a week now, I can eat a lot heavier or binge. I mostly binge on nut butters on those days. I do train heavy and intake quite a bit of protein, so if I have a SunWarrior protein drink during the day, that helps quite a bit.

I don't think it hurts anyone to plan a few plant based meals a week. The same way we used to look at our homecooked meat and potato meals, we are gaining more and more plant based favorites all the time. I'm all into Vegan Buddha Bowls now. Love them.

If someone can go entirely Vegan and do it with more vegetables and less processed food (and have knowledge of dietary supplements like zinc, B-12, Vegan Omega 3s and other potential shortfalls of the vegan diet), then that's fantastic. More power to them.

janejellyroll

nowine4me wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

nowine4me wrote: »

There is a crap ton of vegan garbage food out there, including the fake meats you mention. I’m WFPB — and yes, it’s restrictive. Can be very hard to eat in restaurants. But to me, it’s worth it. My skin and digestion are drastically improved.

It's so weird to me that vegans can look at what other vegans eat and call it "garbage." I'd like to think we have more in common than not, but stuff like this makes it really difficult to sense a common community.

Let’s face it, any WOE has crap food. My point is, being vegan isn’t a silver bullet for weight loss or health. Many of the vegan processed foods are just as calories dense as their regular counterparts.

There are also non-processed foods that are calorie-dense. For what it's worth, calorie density doesn't make something "garbage."

fruitypoison

Stockholm_Andy wrote: »

If you are going to live on shakes and vegan nuggets then no I don't think you'll see any benefits over eating chicken nuggets and shakes.

Either diet sounds unhealthy to me.

I second this! You’ll be just as unhealthy as before if all you eat is vegan junk! Like any other way of eating, vegans can be just unhealthy if all they eat is substitutes. From my experience I’m a lot healthier on an 80% raw and other 20% cooked vegan diet. Everyone is different. But if you can’t get most of your nutrients from Whole Foods, I wouldn’t recommend a vegan diet. You can be healthy on an omnivorous diet too, but with my health problems such as hormone imbalance and infertility, it wasn’t resolved until I switched to vegan diet.

lililomo2

happytree923 wrote: »

I am a former vegan and I struggle with binge eating. I gave up veganism because it made my binging worse. At first I had the same experience you did and I dropped a lot of weight but over time the binging came back. Because vegan 'treats' like desserts and fast food are so rarely available I would end up binging whenever I had them. Like if I was at a vegan restaurant that had a lot of things like veggie burgers, fried chik'n sandwiches, cupcakes etc. my thought process would be ok, I won't have access to these things again for a long time so I need to get everything I want to eat.

Veganism is a very restrictive diet and I don't think most people could stick to it without any ethical motivation to do so. Personally I have a much better attitude towards food when I don't have any category restrictions. But this is just my experience and you may find you enjoy eating vegan after you figure out what staples you enjoy.

this was me when i went vegan. i was bingeing on crap food and miracle of miracles, i ended up with major appendicitis, went septic and was hospitalized for a week. i eat far differently now, lost 20 lbs and would never go back to that way of eating. each to their own but i need to log my food daily or i'm SOL. , for me that's the bottom line, and my gut is much happier. good luck to everyone on their health journey!

kellykat2

My daughter and I gave up all animal products over a year ago. It’s not hard, and there’s more food to eat than you can imagine. Our grocery bill was cut in half too. Now if you eat all the processed crap that’s vegan, then it will be expensive and unhealthy. At first it was hard reading every label, but it just became a way of life. It takes more food prep, but the difference in health is amazing. I lost 30 lbs and lowered my cholesterol in 3 months without dieting! I never counted a calorie! I eliminated the need for a statin. My teenage daughter’s face cleared up almost immediately! It was amazing the difference in her skin. We have way more energy and did not get one cold or flu in over a year!!

Now I’ve put in a few pounds because I’ve been lazy and eating prepared snacks, pasta etc. the past few month. But it’s now time to cut all that out. I’m. salty snacked chips nuts etc. I’ve been eating way too many chips. But it’s an easy fix, I need to snack better, with wholesome food grown from the earth.

I was vegan for 13 yrs before I became pregnant with my daughter. I found it hard to get enough protein, so I added dairy which doesn’t exactly agree with my stomach to get the necessary protein.

We have no problems without animal products. Most restaurants have vegan menus if you ask, or you could always order sides. It’s not hard to adapt.

What are your reasons for going vegan?? I’m not vegan because I still have leather purses and shoes. My daughter however is full fledged vegan because of her outrage at the treatment of animals in commercial farming. Watch What The Health, Vegucated, and Forks Over Knives to see firsthand the benefits of getting rid of animal products.