How do you start eating vegan?

futurethin2014

Just some suggestions ... last nighy snacks are the hardest for rme!

Behlor

tpt1950

kgeyser

I would recommend doing some research on vegan diets so you get a sense of how to meet all your nutritional needs and to be sure that you like enough foods to be able to meet those needs and have enough variety to stick to it long-term. You can be vegan and unhealthy just like you can eat any other kind of diet and be unhealthy. There are some vegan groups on MFP who would probably be a great resource.

LifeNewandImproved

I would start slowly - like one meal per day or one day per week where you try to be completely vegan if you're totally new to it. Or cutting out one food group per week until you are vegan. Common problems with veganism are not getting enough protein or enough B12 - but they are easily overcome if you're willing to experiment with some foods not part of the Standard American Diet. I personally like soy and soy products like boca burgers and edamame, seitan (you can make this yourself for about 3 min of labor for way cheaper), beans for big protein sources. Nutritional Yeast from Red Star is good too and it's fortified with B12 in a vegan way so that's a good staple too. (it adds "cheese" flavor to things)

Good luck, way to branch out

DavPul

Looking for late night vegan snacks? That's easy.

skullshank

Meerataila

Looking for late night vegan snacks? That's easy.

You're the very devil! :laugh:

Try the produce section instead, OP!

daterminedfatburnerX

If you choose raw vegan just eat fruit and veggies with a few nuts. You don't even have to count your calories just make your micros 80/10/10

SonicDeathMonkey80

Step 1: you must announce it to everyone you meet. As in, within the first 5 minutes, or it's not worth it.

skullshank

If you choose raw vegan just eat fruit and veggies with a few nuts. You don't even have to count your calories just make your micros 80/10/10

why dont you think you have to count your calories?

do you think that one cannot gain weight on fruits and vegetables and nuts?

DavPul

If you choose raw vegan just eat fruit and veggies with a few nuts. You don't even have to count your calories just make your micros 80/10/10

how will i know i'm at 80/10/10 if i don't count my calories?

_Zardoz_

If you choose raw vegan just eat fruit and veggies with a few nuts. You don't even have to count your calories just make your micros 80/10/10

Errr so explain how I became a morbidly obese 333 pound Vegan?

Op I'm a Vegan been one for 15 years feel free to add me as a friend

Akimajuktuq

I would recommend doing some research on vegan diets so you get a sense of how to meet all your nutritional needs and to be sure that you like enough foods to be able to meet those needs and have enough variety to stick to it long-term. You can be vegan and unhealthy just like you can eat any other kind of diet and be unhealthy. There are some vegan groups on MFP who would probably be a great resource.

^This. You need to do a TON of research. Also, I would recommend reading the experiences of Lierre Kieth and Denise Minger. They were vegans for a long time and their health experiences are very relevant. You don't really give the impression that you know what you are doing. I think that it might be possible to be healthy and vegan (short term, long term?), but the effort and knowledge required is a lot.

If you are going vegan for any reason other than religion, it's not a very logical choice. Imo (and that of some former vegans), it is not a healthier diet for the long term and it's not even any more "ethical" than any other lifestyle. Recent research on plants is highly suggestive that they, as with all living things, are sentient. They certainly have awareness, ability to communicate, and complex behaviours/life strategies. Plus the agricultural practices of farming without animals is very detrimental to the environment (research "nutrient cycle").

Just my opinion; take it or leave it.

Braincatcher

Well, if you want to know which late night snacks are vegan, PETA has a web page called "Accidentally Vegan" that lists all the junk food you could want. (My favorite: Ritz crackers. Can't leave them alone. And then there are Oreos. And beer.) For healthy vegan snacks, I've been eating edamame, toast with guacamole and tomatoes, or peanut butter & jelly sammies.

And ignore the haters, and the well-intentioned naysayers. Rock on, veggie!

rbiss

I think going vegan will be very difficult unless you have an ethical reason behind it. In the short term, why don't you start slowly. Like maybe eat one vegan meal a day while you are learning or slowly eliminate eggs, then cheese, then milk, etc. It is a completely different way of cooking and can be very unhealthy if you don't plan ahead.

I like Diet For A New America, Forks Over Knives Cookbook, The China Study, and Main Street Vegan. There are so many great books its hard to remember them all, but those are some I have on my shelf.

I should probably mention I'm a vegetarian, not vegan because it can be very difficult if you don't plan. I try to eat vegan at home but the quick fall back is always pizza. I would LOVE to be vegan, but every time I try, I end up eating crap. Just be careful about nutrition and do what is sustainable for you.

ironanimal

Tie them down first

Cadori

MFP endorses doing so part time.

olehana

Read Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer (it is INCREDIBLE) and get a really amazing vegan cook book (/or follow a few vegan blogs) and you will be absolutely joyous to grab a gorgeous vegan burrito, a slice of blueberry pie with coconut ice-cream, or a baguette with any kind of soup or stew you can imagine.

For me personally, being equally parts enraged / ideologically inspired and totally excited to eat the vegan food I had around is what has made it possible. If you have a fridge & cabinets filled with delicious stuff you CAN eat (and not just salads and steamed kale, but pizza, ice(coconut)cream, soy milk and cereal, vegetable-fat pie crust pies, vegan muffins, veggie burritos, etc.) its much better than feeling like you're limited or restricted in some way.

cingle87

Start by not eating animal based products, you are welcome

Dofflin

Grab vegan.
Bite vegan.

Unknown

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Squishchips

Late night snacks - booja booja icecream (better than dairy icecream!), baked fruit, raw chocolate, nuts, nakd bars and obviously fruit/veg as well

My current favourite is either veggies with houmous or baked banana (banana in the oven with some almond milk, raisins, cinnamon).

Loads of recipes out there, take a look at some of the vegan blogs. And if you fancy something, try make your own but substitute the dairy for alternatives such as almond milks, cashews etc.

SingRunTing

If you choose raw vegan just eat fruit and veggies with a few nuts. You don't even have to count your calories just make your micros 80/10/10

how will i know i'm at 80/10/10 if i don't count my calories?

You and your logic :laugh:

cavewoman15

i'm not vegan/vegetarian but i consume a mostly vegetarian diet.. my favorite snack is vegan though.. fried plantains! sliced apple and peanut butter also does it for me. good luck!

fullersun35

Check out some vegan recipe blogs. My favorite is ohsheglows.com. She just came out with a cookbook this spring too.

Mischievous_Rascal

If you choose raw vegan just eat fruit and veggies with a few nuts. You don't even have to count your calories just make your micros 80/10/10

I was going to make a wisecrack about using your internet browser, but this is advice is just so wrong it took all my sarcasm away...

Do some online research about the lifestyle to see if it would be sustainable for you long term, otherwise it will be a waste of time for you. If that is overwhelming (there's a LOT of info out there), just try searching some of the groups here on MFP for advice and sending FRs to some of the people you find through there. Best of luck getting healthy!!

glenmchale

i thought it said "how do you start eating A vegan" and was going to suggested shaving them first because burnt hair smells horrible

aedreana

Amy's brand products always mark their products that are vegan as vegan (at the top of the ingredients list). All Silk brand products are vegan. All Tofutti brand products are vegan except for blintzes. Two companies that sell vegan products online are Vegan Essentials @ www.veganessentials.com, and Pangea @ www.veganstore.com. ALL of both of those companies' items they sell are vegan. At Subway, the regular white (plain Italian) bread is vegan. Nayonaise and Vegenaise are two vegan mayo substitutes. Ezekiel makes vegan breads.Earth Balance makes vegan margarines. Hormel Vegetarian Chili is vegan. The Minute Rice microwave rice packaged in single-serve round containers-- the white, the jasmine and the brown rice of this type are vegan. Do not expect to be able to tell by reading labels. The additives are of uncertain origin and most of the time, even the manufacturer will not know whether the additives are of animal origin. They say that their suppliers say it is proprietary info. Do not make any assumptions. The enzymes in modified food starch are often of animal origin. "Synthetic" or "natural" ingredients are often of animal origin. The FDA does not require all ingredients to be listed on a label. Only if a bread says it is "100% whole wheat" is it wheat that hasn't been enriched with FDA-mandated additives so, if the label says flour, wheat flour or unbleached flour it might contain nonvegan additives. Do NOT trust the PETA list of so-called vegan products!!!! PETA terms products containing 2% or less of animal ingredients as "vegan." PETA is a mass murderer of precious animals. They kill 97% of animals they "rescue." Do not ever trust PETA. They are not vegans (or 98% vegans) because of any love for animals. It is because they believe no one should own nor breed animals. They are not the only organization that mass murders animals in the name of "animal rights"-- I do not purchase Tofurky vegan products because they are affiliated with the Humane Society.