vegans?

Trishkit

Vegan Loud and Proud over here LOL! Going Vegan was one of the easiest choices i've ever made (when I did decide to finally do it that is) and I've never looked back. I've never thought it was 'hard' or thought that I 'couldn't' have things I just chose differently. I've seen so many people tell me I 'can't' have this or that and usually in a negative tone and to that I always reply.. I CAN have those things, I just choose not to. At first going vegan was more so for spirit and health benefits but now its so much more than that. I absolutely loved reading Skinny ***** and Skinny *kitten*! So great and funny. Watching Documentaries and keeping informed on whats what, whos who and all that jazz has really transformed my life. Going Vegan defo is very rewarding (for me). Love that there are other Vegans here! One thing that I am determined to master is Tofu! hah.

I SO agree! When I first went vegan over a year ago, my mother-in-law was constantly saying, "Oh, well you probably can't eat that," and I had to reply with exactly what you said: "Actually, I can, I just choose not to." Some people just don't get it. (They still don't.)

So far, my favorite tofu recipe is from Veganomicon: baked BBQ tofu with apricot BBQ sauce. Absolutely delicious! The nutritional stats aren't too bad per serving, either, once you calculate it out. :-)

vegantriathlete

I've been vegan for 9 years and have been a triathlete for most of those. I was a healthier vegan then than I am now. I've become lazy: toast with peanut butter, veggie ground round and pasta, etc. One thing that I have struggled with is overeating while in training mode. It is difficult because I FEEL hungry, but am just not eating the right foods. That's why I'm here.

The problem about eating Vegan is that you tend to eat more processed foods. Processed foods make you gain weight. You have to stick with fresh fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains.

I don't necessarily agree with that... I guess it depends on what diets you are comparing. Most of the omnivores I know eat a ridiculous amount of processed foods. There are definitely some processed foods that vegans eat, like soy milk, tofu, and fake meats. However, I found I had to give up most processed foods because most of it wasn't vegan. That being said, if you compare a vegan here (ie. North America) as opposed to a vegan in India, you would be right in saying that we eat a lot of processed vegan food.

Right now I'm eating a Tofurkey sausage with a fresh salad - ahhh, it's all about balance right?

niknak356

VEGAN!!!!! Me too x

veganjeanie

Vegans! Good to see there is a few of us here! I am definitely not a health freak (if I was I guess I'd be skinny).

I'm new here, friend me if you want to share info! ( let me know you're vegan if you do)

-Jeanie

TonyaJ83

I'm Vegan!! I sent you a friend request, too!! Looking for more friends!!
I've been vegan 2.5 years. Best thing, EVER!!

TonyaJ83

The problem about eating Vegan is that you tend to eat more processed foods. Processed foods make you gain weight. You have to stick with fresh fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains.

I do not eat very many processed foods at all. I eat 90% more fresh fruits, veggies and grains than any carnivore that I know!

TonyaJ83

I've been a vegetarian for the best part of 20 years and have made attempts at veganism on numerous occasions. I've been milk free for a while and only eat the eggs from a friends garden (ex-battery hens). I am trying to cut out milk and eggs that are hidden in foodstuffs and tend to bake from scratch. Turning Vegan is the hardest challenge i have set myself (even harder than the losing weight issue)!!!

Cheese is def my downfall though. The fake ones smell like sick!

I read the book "Skinny *****" and went from junk food carnivore to healthy, clean eating Vegan on the SPOT! No turning back!

idylls

hi there. i'm a 5-year ethical vegan. i make a lot of soups and stews that i can eat for lunch and dinner, vegan spinach lasagna, the occasional stir-fry...and then a fair amount of processed vegan dinners like amy's, boca, etc. while i eat a lot of fruits, veggies, legumes, tofu and such, i definitely love my carbs and have a sweet tooth. i've been noticing i consume waaaaay to many carbs in a day, and have been trying to reduce that amount, but its especially challenging when something like a fruits like bananas have 25-30 carbs.

veganjeanie

Hi all, great to see some vegans and on-the-road-to-vegans out there! I've been an ethical vegan for 15 years or so, lacto-ovo for 20 years before that. I LOVE to eat, and to have my cocktails. I eat way too many processed foods. I'm staying within my calorie limits, but I tend to hoard my calories until the end of the day, after a workout, then splurge and eat most of my day's calories in 2 hours. really bad habits. Perhaps that should change, but I'm just happy to keep the calories down for now and keep working out every day. I'm losing weight and feeling more fit.

I'd like to have some vegan friends here for support. But looking at what I eat may not be a good example. But maybe we can share some decadent-tasting-but-low-cal vegan ideas.

@TonyaJ83, there has been great progress in vegan cheeses the past few years! Before that they were just awful. I was a huge cheese lover when I was lacto-ovo, it was the hardest thing about going vegan. My favorite cheeses are:

Daiya (mozzarella and cheddar)
Sheese (from Scotland, blocks and creamy spreads).
Tofutti slices

My favorite non-dairy milk is Blue Diamond Almond Plain Unsweetened. It is extremely low in calories (40/cup) and tastes the most like I remember cow's milk tasting like. All the other non-dairy milks are sweet and kind of weird to me.


-jeanie

mixmastermel_b

Vegetarian here! Have been planning lots of vegan meals lately! I have found that all vegetarian/vegan cookbooks are NOT created equal. What are you favorites?!

Any book by Isa Chandra & Sarah Kramer, I own every book they have written, and my friend just wrote a great vegan book;

http://www.vegangirlsguide.com/

i'm not vegetarian/vegan but i do try and make some of my meals meat free. i love melisser's blog (the urban housewife). i need to check her book out.

veganbecky

Hi! I am vegan and I just joined MFP a couple of days ago. I love to cook and one of my downfalls has been baking too many delicious vegan goodies. I eat healthy for the most part, I just need to watch my portions, cut down on snacking, and not bake quite so much.

I do think eating vegan is AWESOME and would encourage anyone to try it! It's simply possible to overdo it, just like you can as an omnivore. I also want to add that I did not gain this weight as a vegan, I gained it through my three pregnancies, and now that our youngest (and last) is 1 1/2 years old, I feel it is the perfect time to slim back down to where I want to be!

Rebekah

HeatherMarie1174

New vegan here - well, as of Jan 2011. I have been veggie for about 4 years now and decided to try vegan for 2 weeks for the new year. It was such an easy transition and I lost like 6 lbs, I decided to make it stick! The problem I run into is all the yummy processed junk food ... dang oreos! I need to start planning my meals out and not just looking around the fridge for something fast and easy. Never a good plan ...

veganjeanie

@hhicks74 It's amazing how much vegan junk food there is. I lost weight when I first went vegan about 15 years ago, but it came back as I learned how to cook as fattening as I used to. Lately I've been making pots of soups and stews so I always have something yummy and filling that fits into the plan. I'm still eating the junk food, but I portion it out to stay within my daily calories. I really have to have my cocktails and snacks at the end of the day or I just won't stick with the diet.

-Jeanie

emily859

I've recently become a vegan too. I'd been flirting with the idea for about a year, tried it fully for 30 days over last summer ( I lived in DC, it was really easy there) and decided to go back to eating meat, eggs, and some dairy after moving back to LA, since that was really easy too. Except, the first time I tried it, I ate so many vegan treats (too many) and so naturally, that's not gonna work long term. Since January, though, I've been working to eliminate animal-based foods from my diet. Let me tell ya, the process has been so EASY this time around. Its like intuitively, my body has decided that its had enough. I'm pretty political about it too (I've been eating organic and/or local foods for a couple of years for political reasons). MFP gives vegans great tools to make sure that we get all of our macronutrients in balance. I find that my sugar consumption is really low compared to when I wasn't eating vegan. Even well after I meet my goal weight, I will continue to use MFP just to keep tabs on the balance.

If anyone wants to add me, please do! I wish MFP had groups that you could join. We could have a vegan club.

These books helped me a lot: The Kind Life and the Thrive diet.

veganvengeance

I've been vegan for about 3 years and my darling partner became a vegan shortly after he started dating me (power of love i guess). The problem is: as he's gotten healthier i've gotten heavier. Although i try to stay fit my college/work schedule has kept me from exercising regularly. For example, last summer i ran 35+ miles a week, but over the last school year I'v struggled to do yoga more than twice a week. Meanwhile, Josh runs 13+miles a day so we cook heavier meals to keep his calories high and of course, i overindulge. So now we are both trying to keep high calorie or high carb items seperate from the meals we make so he can add them in and I can avoid them.