Any Vegans on here?

Welcome, MsWellington! I'm happy to help if I can. Do you have a nearby organic store? I love my trips to Whole Foods. I prefer trail mixes from a different store, but experimenting has given me increidble surprises (coconut milk-made ice cream is superb!) and some of the vegan tacitos taste worse than cardboard, but all in all everything is good. My wife makes a vegan lasanga, we use rice or soy cheese, and it's terrific. Eggplant, broccoli, etc. I find this to be a killer salad - I get the 2 1/2 (I think) organic spring mix plastic bin, and just use a handful in a large bowl, slice some cherry tomoatoes, an avocado, top with one can (15 oucnes) of organi spicy black beans and some organic vegan ranch or southwestern salad dressing and I am stuffed for lunch. Plus it's like 30 grams of protein and I feel light and free, even though being totally full and having no cravings whatsoever.

Brevislux, omlettes are great, I used to enjoy them. Particularly with mushrooms, green peppers, tomoatoes and salsa in them. Egg substitute can be used, I forget which one my wife bought (I can't make an omlette to save the world) but she put all the above in it and it was very good. I've had a boxed tofu scramble, I liked it, my wife raved about it. It was from Amy's brand.

I was vegetarian for a few weeks, but I wanted to end the dairy, as a lot of "vegan" things such as Oreos or "vegetarian" things like a ton of cookies, breads, yogurts and so on are sabotaging for someone like me. Plus, I can't say how much my cheating with cheese (almost always nacho cheese, which leads to sour cream, and possibly ground beef) leads me feeling terrible afterwards. It also seems to slam the brakes on motivation to move more. If I go 4-5 days of no cheating, I'm good to go and energetic, everyone notices. My goal for my dietary changes are to last until end of November, when the American holiday of Thanksgiving is. I discovered last year I'm a superb turkey maker (I make a BBQ one) and I'm making it with my family. That day, I'm going full-on binge without thinking about anything, but then again, having lamb for my birthday was a disaster, so I probaly won't feel up to it, to be honest.

Baby steps. I slip sometimes too, but the fact other people have a way of knowing that really makes that happen less often.

I'll drop by the organic store to have a look, that egg replacement thing sounds pretty interesting!

By the way, how do managed you're getting enough protein and calcium? I found it to be quite a big problem. Even food that generally has lots of protein like soy beans or lentils still has more carbs.

Protein is easy - beans have plenty. There are also leafy greens with lots of calcium. More info @ http://www.vegkitchen.com/nutrition/calcium/

For vegans I see B12 as being semi-difficult and needing its own supplement.

Just mostly vegan. (I eat some dairy and occasionally stuff with egg in it.) Anyway, if you're just starting out I highly recommend all of the Isa Moskowitz and Terry Romero books - start with Veganomicon, which will give you all the basics and a lot of solid everyday recipes, and then add the specialty books as they catch your fancy. I have two copies of Vegan Cupcakes and I think I'm going to have to get a second of Vegan Brunch because I can't find mine, but it has a really great tofu omelet recipe in it if you're looking for one. The website is a good resource too - http://www.theppk.com/.

I'll pick those books up, thank you so much for the recommendations!

I am. Most days I stick with Brendan Brazers Thrive Diet. Working towards Ironman in November.

That is so awesome. Scott Jurek was one of my inspirations for this. I wish you luck!!!

There are a couple of veg friendly groups here on MFP

"Team Vegan" and "Happy Herbivores"

Come join us!

Deal!

I've been a vegetarian at different points in my life, recently turning to veganism in May of this year.

Excellent omelette recipe: http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/09/vegan-omelette-for-one.html

Nacho "cheese" recipe: http://www.theppk.com/2011/11/cashew-queso/

Feel free to add me!

Vegan nacho cheese? I'm gonna cry lol

I've found that any vegan/plant based "cheese" isn't quite what I remember real cheese to taste like! That being said, I live in a very rural area and don't have access to things like Daiya or vegan cream cheese. I haven't tried the cashew cheese yet either, only nooch based cheese.

My wife makes vegan lasagna with rice or soy cheese and people prefer it to the "regular" lasagna. I've had a few really nice cheeses. Do you live near enough to make a drive every weekend (or now and then) to a Whole Foods? Internet companies deliver, also

@Janyben Well, I'm very much hoping you reach your goals, however much dairy and meat you consume along the way. I think that a lot of people find it so easy to say soemthing like "Oreos are vegan" in a means to discount the healthiness of the lifestyle. For me, it's just about the nutritonal value of veganism, it's more my world-view these days. Support would be awesome to have, but if you don't have it (at this time) from home and your closer circle of friends, I'ms ure many of us would be very happy to help encourage you. I'm amazed at how nice it is posting I did ok on my food, or exercise or something and people say something back. I see someone had a nice run, or lost weight today, I post for them some few, but heartfelt words of encouragement.

Together we can help each other. Our goals don't have to always line up perfectly, or the means we use to attain them. Since you are going light early (breakfast juicing, etc) I IMPLORE you to eat something with it, or a big hearty lunch. Before I took out eggs, I was having a breakfast of 3-4 organic eggs, spinach, 1/2 lemon squeezed in, and topped with a big tblespoon of salsa. After that I'd have some juiced vegetables or sometimes something a little funner, but for me it was just important to have something in my stomach so I had a reasonable lunch which in turn made a reasonable dinner. If you see my posts, you might see that I'm having a HARD time eating ENOUGH (according to this site) but let me have a puny breakfast that has me hungry and my lunch hour will be a drive to Taco Bell for 7-layers add Nacho cheese and 2-3 other things. Then an evening of self-loathing. Knowing this is where I mess up, I'm trying to walk early in the day, gettign my exercise in, walk during the day (in circles around my desk while doign tech support) and getting a nice breakfast after my walk/run, a nice lunch in and then often, I eat just a few bites, if anything for dinner. I used to binge every night at the end of my shift though...so that alone made a big difference and helped me lose 22 pounds from Jan 1 until I joined here.