Vegan Vs. Bacon

giantruss

yep i eat bacon usually twice a week with eggs ( no toast)

lost over 42lb in 14weeks , i eat chocolate too!! lol

Jorra

veganbaum

So . . . you could just follow a plant-based diet. All around better for you, other animals, and the planet if you make the center of your dishes plants and anything else a side/condiment.

Nopedotjpeg

11/10 times bacon wins. How is that possible? BECAUSE IT'S BACON DAMMIT!

nrdoty

As some have mentioned a vegan-style diet just means not eating animal products & doesn't guarantee you are eating healthier. High Fructose Corn Syrup & Bleached Wheat Flour obviously come from plants but are banes of the average American diet. Cutting out meat isn't bad; but be careful not to replace it with fillers or you may end up worse off than before.

Anyway, as for your question:

My wife & I are in the process of adopting a plant based diet. When we plan meals we go for vegetable/wholegrain based with as much nutritional variety as we can add including many fruits. We dodge refined carbs & sugars whenever possible. But if/when we eat out or go to a friends house we'll still try to eat healthier, but not sweat the details.

I try & live by an "Everything in moderation" philosophy. For the most part you can do/eat just about anything occasionally & in small amounts without much harm. But too much of any one thing can sometimes turn bad even if seems to be a "good" thing.

Your body/health is going to reflect what you eat the majority of the time. If you have 3 meals & 3 snacks a day that's 42 decisions a week. If 1 of those you choose to eat a moderate amount of whatever you want & the other 41 you go with plants, I would bet you'll have no trouble hitting your fitness goals.

enewsome2

I am a freak of nature and probably shouldn't even mention this on this board: but I really don't like bacon much, so this may be biased.

You could try subbing for turkey bacon (a little lighter) or make bacon out of tempeh (vegan). I think you can find tempeh bacon recipes if you google it. It will *not* really taste totally like bacon, but it is really good imho.

I believe that all things in moderation is key. I love red wine and cheesecake, so I don't cut it out of my diet, I just don't eat it every day.

If you're only having bacon once a week, I'd say, change nothing. Enjoy your life & your crispy BACON.

kate_sunflower

So I continue to feel like going vegan is a great way to loose weight and get healthy. I just can't get past the idea of not being able to eat warm chewy maple flavored bacon on Sunday mornings. Thoughts?

you can lose weight and be healthy and eat bacon every sunday morning. all of these things are compatible. going vegan is irrelevant for weight loss and health.

Bacon is one of god's gift to mankind... don't deprive yourself! And really... going vegan won't guarantee weight loss over any other WOE.

kate_sunflower

At first I thought this thread was a showdown between the two and I was thinking is that a serious question? Bacon would kick vegan's skinny b*tch *kitten*!

rml_16

So I continue to feel like going vegan is a great way to loose weight and get healthy. I just can't get past the idea of not being able to eat warm chewy maple flavored bacon on Sunday mornings. Thoughts?

Going vegan is no healthier and will not help you lose weight any more than eating a balanced, healthy diet that includes animal products.

Every time I hear the idea that being vegan will = being thin, I have to point out that a vegan can still eat an entire bag of potato chips.

I support being vegetarian (I am one) or vegan, but thinking that it's a magic cure-all is silly. And if you do decide to go vegan, you need to do serious research to make sure you're getting your necessary nutrients. You will probably have to take supplements daily to replace the B vitamins, monitor your iron intake and ensure you're getting WHOLE proteins.

groomchick

Have NEVER seen this..... LOVE it!

dmf80

Vegan is no more conducive to weight loss or good health than eating an omnivorous diet. Heck, plenty of "unhealthy" foods can be vegan. Cookies, candy, soda, ketchup, cheetos, potato chips, all vegan.

If you only want to do it because you think it will make you lose weight, don't do it. It will be a waste of your time, as it won't help you lose weight anymore than a sensible non-vegan diet would. And you'll probably be unhappy due to the severe restriction and forced elimination of foods you like. Why do that to yourself?

Most candy is not vegan. Most candy is made from white, bleached sugar. To achieve this "bleached" look they tumble the sugar in animal bones....rendering a non-vegan product. GOOGLE is your friend.

daffodilsoup

At first I thought this thread was a showdown between the two and I was thinking is that a serious question? Bacon would kick vegan's skinny b*tch *kitten*!

Unnecessary. There's really no need to bash people's lifestyles because they happen to be different than yours. My "vegan b*tch *kitten*" can probably bench press you.

OP, as a vegan, I will tell you that going vegan does not necessarily mean weight loss. While it does cut out a lot of typical "pitfall" foods, keep in mind that weight loss comes down to calories in vs. calories out. Veganism can be a compassionate, beautiful and healthy way of life if the person sticks to veggies, fruits, whole grains and plant-based proteins, but if you're a vegan that eats Oreos and a box of pasta every night, it might not work out. Just like omnivorous diets, veganism is all about good food choices and maintaining a reasonable calorie deficit.

Also, tempeh bacon.

tabulator32

I went totally vegan for about six weeks when I started with MFP. It was completely worth it and I feel so good and energetic.

Certainly, it is not the only reason I lost weight. In fact, it is easy to be vegan and stay fat! I was doing it for health reasons and for educational reasons. I was doing it for the experience.

It was awesome.

I am not going to let it keep me from having an occasional piece of bacon...although, honestly, I have yet to have bacon since I tried veganism. I HAVE resumed eating some chicken and fish. No dairy or eggs for me, either. Its all about health choices for me.

If denying yourself the occasional piece of bacon is causing you to think about it too much...enjoy a couple slices of bacon!

kate_sunflower

At first I thought this thread was a showdown between the two and I was thinking is that a serious question? Bacon would kick vegan's skinny b*tch *kitten*!

Unnecessary. There's really no need to bash people's lifestyles because they happen to be different than yours. My "vegan b*tch *kitten*" can probably bench press you.

OP, as a vegan, I will tell you that going vegan does not necessarily mean weight loss. While it does cut out a lot of typical "pitfall" foods, keep in mind that weight loss comes down to calories in vs. calories out. Veganism can be a compassionate, beautiful and healthy way of life if the person sticks to veggies, fruits, whole grains and plant-based proteins, but if you're a vegan that eats Oreos and a box of pasta every night, it might not work out. Just like omnivorous diets, veganism is all about good food choices and maintaining a reasonable calorie deficit.

Also, tempeh bacon.

It was a joke? And how do you know that I don't like vegan food? I actually was vegan for a while and enjoyed making raw and dehydrated food but decided that it wasn't for me. I happen to love a lot of vegan food... chill out before you freak out on a little joke I made.

2April

Vegan and Bacon are on opposite ends of a spectrum. Why not try to add some more vegetables to your meals and go meat free a couple of days a week. Most vegans I know had been vegetarians for a long time before making the switch.
I could never do it because I not only love meat, but also eggs, butter, and cheese. My younger sister recently stopped eating meat and her Christmas dinner looked so sad. Had she been a vegan then we would have had to separate her potatoes before adding the milk and butter. Some people make a vegan lifestyle work but it is a huge commitment and not necessarily healthier.

iuangina

Bacon tastes good. There is no reason to go vegan just because you want to lose weight. I enjoy meat and still am losing weight. The vegan lifestyle by itself will not cause you to lose weight. It's still about calories in vs calories out.

daffodilsoup

It was a joke? And how do you know that I don't like vegan food? I actually was vegan for a while and enjoyed making raw and dehydrated food but decided that it wasn't for me. I happen to love a lot of vegan food... chill out before you freak out on a little joke I made.

Not really sure how my response constitutes a freak out, or how I was supposed to infer from text that it was a joke. Sounds like somebody needs to take their own advice.

coliema

I saw the word bacon.....and I had to come visit.

TracyGA

Why does it have to be all or nothing? If you want to eat vegan most of the time and have your beloved bacon on Sunday mornings I don't see anything wrong with that.

I know that a lot of people who choose a vegan lifestyle do so because of animal rights issues and they are very passionate about not consuming animal products at all. If that is what you are passionate about, then you will have to make the choice to cut out the bacon.

If you are wanting to eat vegan simply because you feel it is a healthier way to eat, then don't worry about splurging on some bacon every once in a while. Everything in moderation.

I am very open-minded and intrigued when it comes to different styles of eating. I'll give anything a try, but at the end of the day I try to eat whole, real foods and try to avoid the processed stuff.

I don't mean this to be offensive, but something that has always made me curious is why somebody would choose a vegan lifestyle and then eat a "mock" hotdog or "mock" chicken nuggets. To me, that is still a form of processed foods.

I once heard somebody say "don't eat anything that your great-grandparents wouldn't recognize as food." To me, that makes perfect sense.

I think we all have to do what feels right for each of us and we have to stop beating ourselves up so much for not following rules that we make up for ourselves along the way.

HMD7703

Is there no tofu option to bacon? Granted, IMHO there is no option to bacon except turkey bacon. LOL