Hoping to befriend other vegans...

Llamos4110

Believe it or not, this is the first time after three kids that I've been trying to lose baby weight after becoming vegan. The baby is two now and I actually gained weight when I first transitioned. Too much junk food, too many over-refined carbs. I have the knowledge to eat a plant-based diet and lose weight, but lack the motivation. I am hoping to make friends with many people here on MFP, vegan and non, but would really like to have and be support to others with similar concerns.

sarah456s

I'm not vegan, although I feel guilty that I'm not! It's my preferred way to eat, but I always seem to slip back to eating lacto-ovo-vegetarian after a while. Gah. I've been vegetarian for 25 years so at least I've been consistent with that.

Anyway, I'm going to try to ditch cow dairy again soon, as that worked well for me in the past, and keeps my overall consumption of dairy products down quite a lot, as there just aren't so many options with goat or sheep dairy.

Feel free to add me if you like. I've just started again trying to lose weight, so it seems like we're in a similar place.

WildlyCurly

I've recently given up eating meat and dairy for dietary reasons. It's for selfish reasons like improving skin, weigh loss and energy. I've adapted a vegan diet but I would not call myself a vegan now because my motives are selfish and not political. So I would feel morally uncomfortable calling myself vegan because I do own a pair of leather shoes and have leather on the handles of almost all my purses, purchased in my younger days when I was spoiled. Saying that out loud makes me feel guilty and horrible but I am not throwing them out because that's wasteful. I know for sure that I am never going to eat meat again, but I can't say the same for cheese and dairy though...

I was not always a big meat eater because I was kinda traumatized at culinary school. But I still had it occasionally. When I started on MFP about 5 weeks ago I have not really ate meat but I've had a lot of other junk with dairy products. I've managed to lose weight eating said junk but my skin and energy took a turn for the worse. So I've tried the vegan diet. It's only been less than a week but I see a difference in my skin and a huge difference in my energy. I don't have weird cravings like I used to. The hormones in animal products probably caused blood sugar spikes and hormonal imbalances that I caused me to have acne, cravings and low energy. I feel like I've turned my life around.

Kristhin

I've been vegan for 3 years. I lost 31 lbs but then I've gained back some, and I'm currently 11 lbs higher than what I'd gotten down to. Trying to get back to where I was. I'm vegan for the animals rather than health reasons, so sometimes I eat too much junky food.

leaaa92

I've been vegan for 2 months now, so fairly new to it. I love it so far, I feel healthy and I don't feel guilty about eating animal products. Feel free to add me, I'd love more vegan friends too :flowerforyou:

KyleB65

Relatively new vegetarian here. Still figuring it out and learning. Long term goal is to have a healthy, plant strong diet.

Giving up meat was my first step. Now slowly reducing dairy & eggs.

I started only after losing my excess weight. As I investigated food during my weight loss, I started questioning what I was and had been eating. What I read about agri-business made me uneasy. Especially with regards to animal products. So, my plant strong journey started.

stpetegirl

I've just started my transition to a raw vegan diet a week ago. So far I am loving it. And yes, I started it for health reasons and do not feel guilty for eating animal products. I would love some other vegan friends on mfp.

Llamos4110

I love getting to learn about all of you and it's fun to hear everyone's reasons for eating a plant-based diet! My own story is a combination. I realized when nursing my third baby that everytime I ate dairy, he got sick, so I quit eating it. I felt so good and realized for the first time I had been sick for years. I was tested for tons of things, and it turned out I was allergic to casein- the protein in milk. As I began to research the nutrition facts, I subsequently learned a lot about how animal-based foods are produced, the effects they have on our bodies, and that animal secretions and flesh are not only unnecessary for good health, but detrimental. So, for my sake- and the animals' sake, I cut out all meat, fish and eggs as well.

I haven't thrown out any animal based clothing, etc, but as my old stuff wears out, I am replacing them with plant-based alternatives.

I think it's really important that all of us who are anywhere on the path away from an exploitive, unhealthy lifestyle support anyone who tries to reduce their use of animal products, no matter how much or how little they do. We can only say with honesty that we are living without cruelty if that's also how we treat the human animals we encounter!

I'm so glad we're all here!