Welcome!
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Hello!
I'm still in the transitioning phases of becoming vegan but my resolution this year is to be a completely clean vegan by the end of 2014.
I am the absolute WORST when it comes to cravings and such (cheese is my favorite food). Also gelatin and egg avoidance are proving to be more difficult than I thought.
Any low cal suggestions are also appreciated. I am a ballet dancer and need to keep a super slim figure.0 -
Hi,
I have been vegan for almost 5 years. I moved to Alaska 2 1/2 years ago and have been gaining weight slowly. I want to drop 20 pounds and focus on whole foods. I have lost weight in the past logging my food and know it works so that is my plan. Logging makes me aware of my portions which tend to grow if I let them
My family are not vegan 
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Just started my vegan journey about 2 weeks ago. It is one of the best decisions I have made in my life even if everyone I know doesn't completely understand. I have heard the most ridiculous comments and questions these past two weeks. The most shocking one was "When have you ever heard of a vegan living until they are 100? Get back to me in about a year when you are pale and sick from this lifestyle you are choosing." This was the most comical thing to me, I have researched for about two years before I made this decision.
I don't expect everyone to agree with me being vegan, but this is my choice and hoping to find others out there that are like me. The treatment of animals and my health are the number 1 reasons to why I chose this lifestyle. Just can't wait for that moment when I can tell people "told you so" when they realize that this lifestyle was the right one.0 -
Hi everyone!
I am currently transitioning to veganism and have never been more excited to get healthy, do my part for the environment, and respect the animals I love so much.
My transition has been a gradual one, as I have been researching and experimenting with ways to get healthy the natural way. I don't want to put artificial, disease-causing products into my body any longer. I realize that I have slowly been making the transition over to veganism over the last month or so, as I have been eating less meat and dairy products and a lot more fruits and vegetables. What really prompted my decision, however, was watching documentaries that have shown the cruelty and exploitation of animals. When I found myself crying my eyes out, heart breaking, I knew I had to make the switch. I love fruits and vegetables, so I don't feel like I'm going to be deprived of anything. I'm not unrealistic, though. I know there will be tough days, but I just have to remember what all this "food" is doing to my body. I'm getting back to the beginning...to the perfect diet that we were intended to eat. I'm focusing on actual plant-based foods and won't get into all the processed vegan food they have available in stores. I realize that eating processed vegan food is just as bad as regular processed foods. Kris Carr, well known author and cancer survivor, said it perfectly, "If it comes from the garden, I'll eat it. If it has a shelf life longer than myself, I won't eat it."
I can't wait to share my progress with all of you! Thanks for being here.0 -
Hi everyone! I just joined the group and am relatively new to MFP as well. I've been vegan for a little over eight months now, I made the jump from pretty much full-on omnivore, I just cut things out one by one so as not to shock my system too much. Eight months later and I feel great and am loving the changes in my energy, my body, my mental state, and so many other things. I did drop about ten pounds after going vegan just from the diet changes, but I'm now finally taking control of my health and taking it to the next level with serious workouts and calorie counting to get to my goal weight.
I eat mostly clean, unprocessed whole foods, though by no means am I perfect in that regard. I do a lot of cooking at home and so always love to share great recipes! Isa Chandra is basically my goddess. Oh, and I moved to Seattle about four months ago and let me just say, it is vegan heaven here!0 -
Hey fellow vegans!!
Im 20 and have been vegan for 6 years now I love it so much and just feel so great.
I'm also nut free, gluten free and dairy free
Can't wait to see if I can find any new meal ideas!!
Feel free to add me as a friend 0 -
Hi!
I started out vegetarian... a few too many late night documentaries on the excesses of the food industry and animal treatment as well as all changes in how our food is made and I couldn't do it anymore. I was tired of meat. I was tired of preservatives and I was just plain tired. I became vegan when I started having issues with my stomach. Yay allergies.
I feel so much better now.
I lift heavy things for fun and my trainer said he didn't think I was getting all my calories in for the day. I thought he was wrong. So I joined on here and started tracking... he was right. I have been no where near enough calories even though I am full and I eat many meals during the day.
I'm excited for new recipes and ideas for nutrient and calorie dense foods.
Feel free to add me!0 -
Hi,
I extremely new to vegan life.
Im not there quite yet but want the support
Vegetarian, trying to educate myself and learn to cook so I can be successful.
Veggie for moral reasons!
23, Australia 0 -
Hey everyone! My name is Jenna. I am a newbie to being vegan. I started about a month ago after a friend wanted me to join her in it. We read the The Kind Diet and it really opened my eyes to where my food was coming from. It was too easy to just go to the store and not think twice about what I was buying and the pain and suffering that it caused to bring meat to that point. I thought it was gonna be a tough transition to go vegan but so far a month into, it has been a lot less difficult than I thought. I wanted to broaden my vegan friend base to have people to talk to about it so here I am! Can't wait to get to know everyone!0
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Greetings! I am a chubby vegan. I became a vegetarian 23 years ago and have been vegan for the past 15 years. My whole family has always struggled with their weight and although we all went veg over the past 20 years, we each managed to gain weight... quite frustrating, considering that most folks lose weight and feel better after making the switch! In any case, I've accepted the fact that I have to follow a very strict sugar-free/low-carb diet in order to lose weight and am optimistically doing so. I just completed my first 7-day juice and found it an extremely positive experience - my energy levels increased greatly and my digestive system was the calmest it's been in years! Proud to be here and looking forward to sharing with all my fellow veggies!0
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Hi, all! I've been following a primarily vegan diet for about 14 months now. I started my veg journey primarily for health reasons after trying it for 8 month about 2 years ago. However, knowledge is power. The more I learn, the more I realize eating veg is more about compassion for myself, others (human and non-human) and the environment.0
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hi Jason...I recently joined mfp, and being a vegan now for nearly 4 years, looked for vegan groups and was attracted to your "unconditional love" write-up
I am getting on a bit....years young. I wanted to be in charge of my health, be proactive, rather than waiting for "something" to happen, and so far, so good. Initially I followed the Engine II diet, book and I love the food, but no nutritional info, then found Fat Free Vegan and have been enjoying her (Susan Voisin) wonderful recipes on-line. Gradually, about 20 pounds of unneeded Margaret fell away, but, I do have rather a passion for food, and need to reign in the portion sizes. I am really impressed with the technology on the mfp site and I am happy to have found so many vegan groups! 0 -
Hi I'm new here.
Been vegan for about 6 months. Would love some new supportive friends. Please add me.
My profile photo isn't me. Just would like to look like that one day
I became vegan for ethical/ moral reasons, then I personally, very soon after changing my eating and thoughts discovered the health benefits, I feel very good eating and living cruelty free, meat free, dairy free. (Earthlings, Vegucated, Gary Yourofsky, the china study, Speciesism, What came before, If Slaughterhouses had glass walls, Plant-based Dietitian, etc,)
The first 10 pounds came off effortlessly. All I did was cut out animal products. Still would like to lose a bit more weight. Maybe 20 pounds.
Cheers to veganism ! 0 -
Hi! Mine is a long story...
I went vegetarian when I was 10 years old. When I realized that I'm eating animals, and that someone killed them for me to eat (and I denied it for quite a while and told myself stories about they were obviously not killed for this purpose) I couldn't eat animals anymore, and I was stubborn enough for it to work despite my parents' objections.
When I was 15 I reached a website about the horrors of the animal industry, and I decided I should go vegan. Back then (about 10 years ago) nobody here knew what "vegan" meant, there were no suitable products and my cooking abilities included rice and pasta and that's pretty much it. So not having the support of my family, it was very difficult. I managed to keep a vegan diet that wasn't healthy or balanced at all for about a year, and then came back to vegetarianism in my despair.
Last year I decided to go vegan again, and this time, being older and independent, and it being so much easier because everyone knows what it is and so many of my friends being vegan and there are so many options - there's no way I'm going to fail. Gladly, lately I haven't even felt like I want to eat animal products. It looks less and less like food to me, the same way it happened with meat.
This time it's for life. 0 -
Hi, my DH and I have been going vegetarian on and off for about 4 years, DH brought home Forks Over Knife. We then watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead and then Food Inc. About two years ago, I found a naturopath that told me to watch Forks Over Knife, and Eat to Live. I bought the book Eat to Live and played with some of the recipes and did it for three weeks and lost a bit of weight. I just started Eat to Live again 23 days ago and started a blog journaling my progress. I lost 10 pounds in one month doing ETL 60-day aggressive which is primarily vegan. Although Dr. Fuhrman allows meat on his plan, I choose not to add it. I am looking for more recipes and more support. This place gets pretty crazy when vegans post on regular forums. Looking for like minded people who want to live a long healthy life!0
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Hey there, My name is Audrie and I'm a vegan.
I was a rebellious vegetarian for years, and then adapted to an over the road unhealthy lifestyle and diet... I was always interested in veganism, but never sure if I could give up cheese.. Well... Forks Over Knives, The China Study, Gary Yourofsky of adappt.org changed all of that. Plus, I discovered the Candle Cafe Vegan Mac n Cheese... and Daiya Cheese. OMG.. That inspired me to go all the way to NYC to visit the restaurant!
Basically, I want to feel good about every thing I put in my body and live a more conscious life.
With that said, I'm here on MFP because I've been up and down with weight most of my life, and as a 5"3 female, after being an over the road truck driver, I BALLOONED into something extremely unhealthy. I'm still working towards my heal goals.
Very happy to see some vegans on here, I'd love to have some new friends. Thanks!!0 -
Hey there, My name is Audrie and I'm a vegan.
I was a rebellious vegetarian for years, and then adapted to an over the road unhealthy lifestyle and diet... I was always interested in veganism, but never sure if I could give up cheese.. Well... Forks Over Knives, The China Study, Gary Yourofsky of adappt.org changed all of that. Plus, I discovered the Candle Cafe Vegan Mac n Cheese... and Daiya Cheese. OMG.. That inspired me to go all the way to NYC to visit the restaurant!
Basically, I want to feel good about every thing I put in my body and live a more conscious life.
With that said, I'm here on MFP because I've been up and down with weight most of my life, and as a 5"3 female, after being an over the road truck driver, I BALLOONED into something extremely unhealthy. I'm still working towards my heal goals.
Very happy to see some vegans on here, I'd love to have some new friends. Thanks!!0 -
Hello! My name is Lou and I have been vegetarian for a good year or so now, and a vegan since January! I am 21 years old and live in London, I adore cats and camels, and I am genuinely a happy go lucky sorta person! I would love to find some more like minded people- my experience hasn't been positive in the past on the MFP forums, in terms of my lifestyle etc etc! I kinda wanna fill my news feed with plant and animal lovers ^-^ and people who are interested in the overall message of vege/anism!0
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Hey there!
I'm looking for vegan support since I am officially becoming vegan... TODAY! I've thought about it for a long time for moral reasons, and have been a pescatarian most of my life. Giving up meat? Easy. Giving up cream, cheese, eggs, honey, and butter? Damn near impossible!
But I'm going to give it a shot. Any support I can get would be great. Thanks everyone.0 -
The goal is a plant-based diet. Some days I stick to that, other days I have some dairy. Nobody else who lives here (husband, son, granddaughter) is supportive. It gets me down sometimes. When I'm cooking dinner, I usually cook some meat on the side for them. But when one of them cooks, they don't give me the same courtesy. So I think I'll follow their example! It's only fair.0
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Hi I'm Nat from Australia. I have recently become a nutritarian vegan and so far LOVE it!! The reasons I've decided to become a vegan are 1. compassion for animals, 2. it's better for the environment 3. It's sustainable 4. Better health & well being for myself 5. It's delicious!!!
I'm an avid logger on MFP (approaching 278 day streak) and like to blog my recipes, meals, and journey along the way as well. I'm keen for other vegan friends for mutual support . I also use Endomondo app for fitness & wear a Fitbit & undies too (phew) !! LOL ;-)
Cheers0 -
I just realized I've never introduced myself on here! Shame on me! My name is Jennifer and I've been on mfp for about a year and a half. My log-in streak is currently at 371 days
In February 2012, I decided to do the Daniel Fast for Lent. I had been vegetarian previously as a teen, but fell back into old habits. I quit all animal products "cold tofu" and within 2 weeks, was feeling better than I ever had before (had to get past the caffeine withdrawals). I was focused on healthful eating.
As I continued on my path, I started reading more and more about animal abuse and factory farming. I watched the documentaries that most of you have seen - Forks Over Knives, Fat Sick & Nearly Dead, SuperSize Me, Fast Food Nation, and the most disturbing of all - Earthlings. From that point on, I did a 180 and now it is all about the animals. We have no right to kill them. It makes me angry.
I am 40 years old and have been vegan for just over 2 years. I have so many regrets that I didn't discover this world sooner. My children are 14, 17 & 18 and it pains and saddens me that they won't fully open their eyes. I truly wish I had realized all this 2 decades ago. I most definitely would've raised my children vegan from birth.
I cannot make anyone see things the way I do, but I can pray and hope that God brings me to people who are curious about my choices and if just one person changes their life from the words I share, then I know there are animals out there that would thank me.
I am a on here daily and welcome new vegan friends - whether you are a seasoned vegan or just starting out 0 -
Hi everyone, I'm new here and would love some vegan friends. I've been a vegan for 4 years and my goal is to lose 30 pounds. Please add me!0
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Hi Everyone. Started eating vegan three days ago..
I am strictly doing this for health. I'm realizing how hard it is to eat two thousand calories a day. I'm peaking at seventeen fifty. The immediate thing I've noticed is how full I feel. One thing I do differ on, is my lack of enthusiasm for recipes. I eat my meals deconstructed.
Weight goal is one sixty. Starting around 209. Will see how it goes!0 -
Hello. I'm Monica and I'm 29 from Newport Beach, CA. I have been a vegan for over a year now. I made the leap after watching what I thought was a movie about juicing, but really was about veganism (the movie was "Vegucated"). The movie changed my life and opened my eyes! I'm such a huge animal lover, always have been, and it just makes sense for me not to use animal products. Admittedly, in the past year I have gone back and forth between vegan and vegetarian (as in, I'll eat food that has eggs or milk in it), but I try to eat vegan 90% of the time. I'm happy to see that even in the past year that I've been a vegan, that it's becoming a lot more "acceptable in our society" and more and more people are making the switch. Heck, even my boyfriend the bacon lover loves to eat vegan meals on his own (he loves Native Foods Cafe).
Anyway, I love being a vegan and wish I had made the switch years ago, but you can't blame me for being uneducated. The only down-side to being a vegan is that I have gained a bit of weight because I tend to load up on carbs, but I'm working on that! I'd rather be a little chubby than go back to eating chicken and eggs all the time.
It's nice to meet y'all! 0 -
It's nice to meet y'all!
nice to see the word "y'all" has spread to california!!
when i lived in sf they said that word always outed me as to where I *really* came from.0 -
mfp said i took too long posting my info so I have to start over. once more with feeling.
My name is Stuart and I live in Austin Texas.
I became vegan in 1987 when I was 19. It happened as a result of a trip to San Francisco. I found all the meat and seafood I ate out there was either disgusting or overpriced. On the other hand I discovered vegetarian food in Chinatown that was delicious and cheap. At the same time I was heavily into punk rock and the anti-apartheid movement so those influenced me politically towards being vegetarian.
I moved into a co-op and had to declare my diet (for budget reasons i suppose) but given the experience in SF I decided to steer clear of the carnivore option. After that decision I stuck to it, even outside of my living arrangement. I quickly dropped any ingredients that were not vegan almost unconciously, so I decided to make it official and embraced veganism. (It helped that I was dating a vegan at that point.) Nowadays most of these dairy products I do not consider to be even vegetarian anymore, since the production of milk and cheese is typically apt to contain any of a number of meat by-products.
When I first became vegan the health food stores like whole foods and wheatsville seemed pretty hostile and often they seemed reluctant to even pronounce the word correctly... Alot of the health magazines they sold seemed to add to that feeling against veganism. But alot has changed since then. There are alot fewer seemingly non-dairy items that contain animal products, alot more newer vegan options are now available... and it seems like people are alot less embarrassed by the word vegan now. And now there are vegan bakeries, foodcarts, cafes everywhere.... and most restaurants (even bbq places) seem to have good vegan options.
My family lived in latin america when I was a kid and while we were not vegetarian there, there were an abundance of fruits and vegetables we were introduced to. My step mother is costa rican and never batted an eye over my diet because they grew up eating gallo pinto and fried platanos and so on....
I didnt join MFP to be vegan since Ive done that for years. But in spite of being vegan I had recently put on about 50 pounds that I could not shake. Recently a number of people in my dad's family have been having health issues tied to obesity and the focus on eating meat all the time is no doubt a part of the issue. My brother is a huge advocate of this website. He isnt vegetarian but he finds the diary and the app are good tools for watching your weight. After the Sochi Olympics I decided to get more exercise and got on here to keep track of what I was doing and what I was eating. I have found even though I do not have the smart phone app... my portions are more controlled and I am more concious of what foods I eat are higher in calories than others. knowledge is power they always say. Well so far its been a good thing... I am eating better, exercising more and the pounds are coming off. and though I attribute most of what Ive lost to exercise... Im surely more controlled about what I eat as well... and Im subsisting alot less on prepackaged junky stuff and eating more fresh fruits and vegetables.0 -
Hello, My name is Sophia. I am 19 years old and I live in the UK. I have been a vegetarian for nearly 2 years and a vegan for nearly 6 months. I have always been a big girl, coming from the stereotypical 'foodie' family. Everyone in my family is overweight and we are all doing this together. I am the only Vegan in my family which doesn't help when we diet together. I weigh 117kg and I am 5'11 I go to the gym 4-5 times a week and do heavy weight training and HIIT cardio ( Spinning) and I have recently started walking to college and work. I hope me joining this group will motivate me to get this extra weight off
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I use y'all all the time, and I'm a native Californian. I think it's a very functional solution to the 2nd person plural. Much nicer sounder than 'youse', which I also use on occasion.0
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It's nice to meet y'all!
nice to see the word "y'all" has spread to california!!
when i lived in sf they said that word always outed me as to where I *really* came from.
Let's see if if can do this right this time, so my response makes sense!
I use y'all all the time, and I'm a native Californian. I think it's a very functional solution to the 2nd person plural. It's a much nicer term than 'youse', which I also use on occasion.0
