New Vegan, New Life

Birdy1471

Hi everyone!

I am a chubby girl who decided to go vegan after a period of phasing out animal products. I am looking not only to lose weight and to feel better but to learn how to get adequate nutrition on my new type of diet. Would love support from vegans or anyone really!

I also feel I should mention that I have had a hard time eating many calories recently, a) because I am a very short girl and b) because all my favourite junk contains animal products. I'm looking to change this, because I don't believe in starvation. But please be patient if it doesn't happen immediately. I want to eat enough!

zhidecitta

Hey,
I'm a vegan as well. There are three things I think might be good to keep in mind starting the vegan change. First, it's easy to buy highly processed substitutes. Just because it's vegan doesn't mean it's healthy, and it really helps to know what you're eating. It's a really easy transition because you don't change your eating habits, but it isn't where you want to end up. Second, don't neglect legumes (beans and lentils)! They're an awesome food. They're super cheap (2-3 meals for 79 cents) and high in protein. Lentils are like ramen noodles for vegans (*edit* yeah, ramen noodles are vegan, but i mean HEALTHY vegan diet!). Don't forget though, that you should try to keep a diverse diet. Third, learn to use spices in cooking! Veganism in general might not need many spices, but if you're used to powerful flavors, and find your food dull? Learn the kinds of flavors you can throw on them! Your tastes will change slowly as your eating habits do, but you can always spice things to get the kind of flavor and intensity you're looking for.

When you bring it all together, it's something like this. Instead of a processed veggie burger and a starch for dinner, whipping up a pot of masoor dal (Indian lentil dish) is just about as fast, and is flavored from curry, cumin, ginger, turmeric, and salt. Cook up a side of veggies, or throw something great in with it like mushrooms and onions, and you've got a way healthier, WAY more filling meal than a veggie burger. You can cook an entire pound of frozen veggies and get less than 250 calories. And the greatest part, is the next day instead of masoor dal flavor, you might add a little rice vinegar, tomato, sage, thyme, and marjorum, and suddenly? It's a totally new dish. There's never a reason to starve on a vegan diet when you can get 5 pounds of veggies in without going over a calorie limit.

Birdy1471

This is so useful! I went for a wander in the vegan section of my local supermarket and I have to say, I am wary of some of the fake stuff in there. The lentils sound so amazing, thanks!

gargisingh

Hi
I am phasing out animal products, albeit very gradually. Would like to have support too!
And I agree with zhidecitta on legumes. They are regular part of my diet. I add a bit of tofu here and there and I get all my proteins that I need! (+ I feel great.)
Sometimes, however, I do slip and drink milk here and there. That is why I need some support.

Yogi_Carl

Same here - good to know there are people on here woring towards the Vegan lifestyle.

littlelily613

I am a vegetarian, but my goal is to be vegan by the end of this school year (still have to phase out free-range eggs, cheese, and yogurt). The problem with vegan cooking is that it is VERY easy to get caught up in the processed things. If you go to a bulk store though, there are lots of items there that aren't processed and great for vegan cooking. So many different kinds of grains and beans to experiment with. Also, you should try TVP if you haven't already. It is soy protein that is great in things that you would use ground meats in (so you don't have to go buy fake ground meat). Tofu is great too, and I recently bought some tempeh but haven't tried it yet. I think those are processed, but not to the extent of fake meats.

Yogi_Carl

One thing that this website has done for me is to be more aware of what is actually in the so called health foods in our wholefood shops - very revealing.

A well known dry sosage mix contains a staggering 20 calories for a one burger serving; most of this being something called non-hydrogenated vegetable fat - yummy!

This has moved me to learn how to make and freeze lentil sausages and continental lentil burgers - far higher in protein and far lower in fats.

redraidergirl2009

I say the processed vegan foods are good to help transition and to keep around if you are pressed for time. I have a couple vegan meals in my freeze in case. They've been there like 3wks though lol.

You can snack alot and be vegan and not go high on calories. I found these amazing things called seaweed snacks, some grocery stores have them but so do asian or healthfood stores and they are sooo good. They sound gross but they are thin and crunchy like chips. I eat them like chips and the whole bag is 60 calories and it's a great source of vitamin A and C.

I also am liking carrot sticks right now. I make my own so it's cheaper.

There are lots of great veggies on sale right now like summer squash and red bell peppers. You should check out what's on sale at your local grocery stores and just experiment. I like to make wraps, burritos, I even made veggie enchiladas the other day.

I eat less calories now than before I was vegan but I eat more food and its so good and nutrient dense I don't feel like I'm on a 'diet'.

shoneybabes

you are welcome to add. I have properly become vegan since January and haven't noticed that much of a difference ( I was pretty much vegan before but would occasionally eat meat when out at restaurants)

You should always keep a carton of soya milk or almond milk in the fridge so you don't have those slippages. I can't eat dairy so I don't have that issue. It is easier if you don't have the items in your house that you keep failing on. My sister is a veggie and has tried a few times to go vegan but her kids eat meat and dairy so she keeps eating it.

Veganism is simple at home but is harder when eating out.