Welcome & Introductions
henridw2095
Posts: 1,179 Member
Please take a moment to introduce yourself! Feel free to share as much about yourself as you feel comfortable so we can get to know each other!
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Hi everyone - I'm Eva. I started this group because I couldn't find an active group for vegans and vegetarians on MFP. I hope this will become a forum and resource for those on MFP who are vegans and vegetarians and those who are curious about the lifestyle. I've been vegetarian for at least thirty years (since childhood) and vegan for a few of them. Currently, I eat a vegan whole-foods-based diet, which I plan to maintain long term. I plan to lose about 15-20 more pounds and then keep using MFP for maintenance. I used MFP to lose 30 pounds about ten years ago, but I put it all back on (and some more) over the years after I stopped tracking. Since I don't have that much weight to lose, my approach is one that I can easily continue into maintenance: I eat at about 500 kcal net deficit a day and work out three times a week (lifting weights). Once I'm less overweight, I would also like to get back into jogging (5-10k distance). I love food and eat all my exercise calories back to maintain an active lifestyle and grow muscle. Once I hit maintenance, I will just eat at maintenance (instead of at a 500-calorie deficit). In the next few days, I will post some helpful resources and discussion topics! My diary is open to friends.3
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Hi Eva
We know each other already but it is so funny I thought your name was Henri and you was a man 😅
My name is Alice. 39 years old. 2 children. Passionate about sport (triathlon) and reading. I also love to cook. Vegetarian for 6 years. I have been vegan for a few months during the Covid pandemic (thanks to the Forks over knives meal planner) but otherwise find it too difficult to combine with social life.
I have had a long binge eating issue that I have finally resolved and I am really proud. I am in maintenance, I would be happy with 2-3kg less but at the moment I am too afraid to reintroduce restrictions.4 -
Hi, my name is Marilyn, am a senior citizen, and am just starting this journey re more vegetables / vegan lifestyle. I am in kidney failure and have been told 72 oz water, 10 minutes on the treadmill each day and for food nothing processed and especially NO SALT. So today is officially Day 1 of making these changes as I have played around with it for a bit and am now fully committed to the change. By the day I am overweight with a large amount to lose so it is going to be interesting to see how this lifestyle affects my weight along with helping heal my kidneys as much as possible.
Something about me. I live in Canada, married, 4 adult children, 8 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. Also have 2 very spoiled rescue dogs
Looking forward to getting to know everyone here - hopefully this will be an active group with everyone participating as the encouragement is very important. So we will see.
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Hi @Marilynsretired - so glad you decided to join the group! So sorry to hear about your health issues and hopefully MFP can help you get better. I very much hope this group will be active, there are always many users who don't continue on MFP, but there are also some who are committed to tracking long-term. Of course, you should feel free to start any new discussions, I will try to set up more as well, but things can get busy. Some of our new members also take part in the monthly Ultimate Accountability Challenge...it is a very active and helpful monthly group with daily check-ins and lots of information. I will post a link when the new group opens for October.1
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Hi 👋 I’m Nikki! I’m trying to switch to a vegetarian diet. I’m getting bored with raw veggies and am struggling with finding those quick meal options. Looking forward to this group and learning some tips along the way.4
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Hello, I'm Ann. I've been ovo-lacto vegetarian since 1974 - coming up on half a century! - but do eat many plant-based meals despite the dairy/eggs.
I used MFP to lose 50ish pounds back in 2015-16 at age 59-60, have been maintaining in a healthy weight range since (after about 30 previous years of overweight/obesity). I'm now 67.
I live in Michigan, USA (middle of the palm). I'm widowed (since 1998), no children or siblings. I'm also a breast cancer survivor. I'm pretty close to addicted to rowing (boats, the skinny ones like in the Olympics, except mine is slow), but also enjoy biking on the paved trail system here. In Winter, I machine row and stationary bike, even though those aren't nearly as much fun, so I can avoid starting conditioning from zero come next Spring. I don't strength train nearly enough.
I enjoy jewelry making (off-loom bead weaving, wire work, stringing, a bit of low-end metalwork), visual journaling, a few other misbegotten crafts projects, and occasional quixotic efforts to teach myself to play bluegrass banjo. I like weird plants, both houseplants and outdoor weirdos.
My biggest weight management problem is that I'm a hedonist with FOMO. Calorie counting has worked well for me - so far - to balance current happiness/enjoyment with future happiness/health.3 -
Welcome Ann @AnnPT77 - I'm so excited you joined!! I already read some of your posts elsewhere and always thought they're so insightful and knowledgeable. I'm in Chicago, so not that far from you. I love machine rowing so much that I'm considering to give the real thing a try at some point, they have rowing clubs in Chicago as well. I only do brief interval "sprints" on the rower to get a quick cardio workout at the end of my regular workout. It's great to have vegetarians here too!2
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Welcome Nikki! @Nikki_letsgo! I'll start a new discussion about what people actually eat - for me, it helps to have a few go-to recipes (maybe 5-10 I make often). Currently, I'm actively looking for recipes to add to that.1
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Hi - I'm Marisa and I've been a ovo-lacto vegetarian for a little over 30 years. I'm retired now so I have a lot more time to cook and plan meals as well as get my exercise in. I've gained weight as a vegetarian and lost weight as a vegetarian, so MFP calorie counting is an important part of maintaining my 35-40 pound weight loss. My two biggest things I focus on daily is getting enough fruits and veggies and enough protein. Left to my own devices, I can easily slip back into a high carb, high fat diet that put the weight on in the first place.3
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enlightenme3 wrote: »Hi - I'm Marisa and I've been a ovo-lacto vegetarian for a little over 30 years. I'm retired now so I have a lot more time to cook and plan meals as well as get my exercise in. I've gained weight as a vegetarian and lost weight as a vegetarian, so MFP calorie counting is an important part of maintaining my 35-40 pound weight loss. My two biggest things I focus on daily is getting enough fruits and veggies and enough protein. Left to my own devices, I can easily slip back into a high carb, high fat diet that put the weight on in the first place.
That so much resonates with me. I've been vegetarian (and high plant intake) since 1974, but only at a healthy weight for a bit at the start of that, and for the last 7+ years. I got fat, then obese, while vegetarian; then stayed overweight for decades as a vegetarian; then lost weight eating pretty much the same range of foods (in different portion sizes, proportions, and frequencies).
Possibly dangerous admission to post in this group, but multiple times there have been threads in the general Community where people post that they're going vegan/vegetarian to lose weight, and I try to convince them that it isn't a weight loss method.
Don't get me wrong, there are many excellent reasons to be vegan or vegetarian - obviously I think that since I've been veg for 49+ years now . . . but it isn't some automagical guarantee of weight loss.
Given common eating patterns here in the US, many people will do better (health and satiation both) if they eat much greater amounts of fruits/veggies, sure. But weight loss? Not necessarily going to happen. Like any other eating style, reasonable calorie intake is the foundation that will lead to weight management. If vegetarianism/veganism makes that easier for someone to do, it's a good strategy, but there are also great reasons to go that route for reasons completely unrelated to body weight.4 -
Welcome @enlightenme3 - so glad you joined us here! I agree with you and @AnnPT77 that being vegetarian or vegan is not linked to losing weight. Even eating only healthy foods, it's easy to pack on the pounds. It's also easy to have a really unhealthy vegetarian/vegan diet, if only eating convenient foods. So in terms of weight loss and health, it comes down to carefully watching what I eat here as well.3
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Yeah ! fully agree
Peanut butter is definitively not a weight loss food ahah
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@Maya440 your struggles with peanut butter reminded me of growing up in Germany. Peanut butter was only available sometimes and when I found a jar, I would just eat it with a spoon until it was empty…typically in one day 😭. Having it always around now, I am less tempted. I normally have a big spoon on my oats in the morning. My preference is for crunchy unsweetened peanut butter…1
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I am also ok to have it around. And I use it regularly to avoid labeling it as a restriction food.
However if I am tired or ravenous it can slip out of hands 0 -
Haha, I was trying to figure out if you were Henri or Henrietta too! I'm Susan, 62 years old, vegetarian since Jan 2nd, 1990, kind of slid into mostly veganness a couple of years later, but I'm not strict about eggs/dairy. I generally eat wfpb, but I love sweets, so that's always a struggle. I've been a thin vegetarian and an overweight vegetarian. I came here around 2015 to lose 30lbs I put on when I was going through menopause. I'm maintaining now but I still need to log for the most part, because I am very fond of over-eating if I think I can get away with it. The food diary lets me know I can't get away with it very often. Good to see so many plant-eaters all in one place here!5
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@Zinka61 Susan - so great you joined!1
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Hello, just came back to MFP today. Lost & kept off about 35 lbs on MFP. I'd like to lose another 5 to 10. I went off the vegan diet because I got lazy - husband is a meat eater & I hated all the cooking. But I'm trying to get back on it! I'm retired & also have kidney problems but not failure & no special diet.1
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Hello Rhumax
Nice to have you on board 😊0 -
Welcome @Rhumax67 !0
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Hi all. I'm Jodi. I have been vegetarian (aspiring vegan) for over a decade. I'm back to MFP after regaining all the weight I lost
. Need to get back to focusing on healthy food and finding time to exercise. I'm so excited to find an active community and hope to connect with all of you for motivation , support and sharing recipes. 3 -
yay! Welcome, Jodi @jfp420 , sending a friend request as well…0
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Hi all! So glad to find this group, I'm re-connecting with MFP again after a bit of a break. I started a vegan diet in January this year and have been trying to find my way via online recipes since then, but a group like this is fantastic!
I'm a 45yr old, happily married, work at home mum in the UK...but seem to have lost my exercise mojo somewhere in the last few years!!
Just updated my 'about you' section for those who'd like to be friends. I've got an open diary and would love to connect with other WFPB/Vegans, particularly with open diaries too for inspiration.
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Hello to everyone--I've found most of the Veg groups on MFP are inactive and then I saw this link and was stoked! I'm a lacto-ovo vegetarian most days of the week, looking to transition to full vegetarian then vegan. It's been slow for me as hubs is a meat-eater--but I actually have him trying a few veg dishes now, lol. I work a few days a week at a farm animal sanctuary (the owners are complete vegan) and it has really made me question my eating choices this past year.
Anyway, it's been a while since I've been on MFP, and I'm looking to lose weight in the most vegetarian way possible. It's crazy and I never understood it until lately, but you can be vegetarian or vegan and still junk out. The clue bird has landed. I live in NC with Mr. Red_B1rd and one very spoiled hound.1 -
@Red_B1rd, yeah, I've been vegetarian since 1974, and mostly overweight/obese until 2015. In my case, not so much junk as portion control issues, and too many calorie-dense treats. But 100%, vegetarianism is no guarantee of weight management!
I was married to an omnivore - a hunter, even - for 20+ years (happily married - widowed, not divorced). I was lucky, though: He was not only willing to eat vegetarian meals, he was happy to cook them once we started alternating who cooked dinner. He did eat meat, but usually at other meals when we weren't together, or when we ate in restaurants. When we first started living together, he wasn't a very adventurous eater, but evolved to the point where he loved to try new things . . . even scary meat-type things: Tripe, chicken feet, various seafood with tentacles, etc. Veg stuff too, though! 0 -
@AnnPT77 : We're both retired (I don't consider my work at the sanctuary a job, just fun and sweaty), so I have a ton more time to experiment in the kitchen, but some days it's hard to break out of the "meat and potatoes" sentiment, lol. I will give him credit--he's come a very long way since we've been married. I'm sorry to hear about your spouse by the way--he sounds like he was a lovely man--I hope you're doing okay.
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@AnnPT77 : We're both retired (I don't consider my work at the sanctuary a job, just fun and sweaty), so I have a ton more time to experiment in the kitchen, but some days it's hard to break out of the "meat and potatoes" sentiment, lol. I will give him credit--he's come a very long way since we've been married. I'm sorry to hear about your spouse by the way--he sounds like he was a lovely man--I hope you're doing okay.
@Red_B1rd, thank you. I'm fine . . . it's been a long time: He died at 45 when I was 43, so back in 1998. I still miss him, but life has reshaped itself, and things are good for me now. I'm lucky in so many ways.
There are so many delicious plant based meals! I'll bet your husband will come around. If he's open to adventure, there are so many international cuisines with a strong vegetarian/vegan tradition one can draw on: Various Asian cuisines, African ones, Indian, South/Central American, and more. I love trying new-to-me veggies and fruits, too.0 -
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Hi there, I'm Liv! I've been vegetarian most of my life, and vegan for almost a year now. I love running, recently got into swimming (as a consequence of getting a running injury, yay) and want to get into strength workouts. My diet is on the healthy-ish side, but I've been struggling to stay on track with cooking my own meals lately, and my snacking has been kinda out of control (especially crisps, omg), so I'm hopeful that joining MFP will help me become more deliberate with my food choices.
Looking forward to getting to know you guys and exchanging tips on how to be healthier on a day to day basis!
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Hi Liv !
Quite the same as you. Running, swimming, doing strength training. I just also do biking in addition 🤪
Love eating healthy but sometimes snacks get in the way.
I hope this small community will help you reach your goals 😊1
