Going Vegan

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jbrooke17
jbrooke17 Posts: 16 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone! I'm thinking of going vegan, does anyone have any tips on making the transition? Thanks :)
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  • SexyPrettyMama
    SexyPrettyMama Posts: 76
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    Hello. I became Vegan and in the first 9 days I lost 13 lbs. It was hard the first three days, I would dream at night of eating buttery cake. But I would wake up feeling thinner. I drink only water and fresh juiced veggies. You will be amazed how much you can eat but still lose weight. After 12 days I had serious diarrhea, i read online that it was cleansing old fecal matter out of me, it subsided the next day. If you have any questions Ill be glad to help. Good luck, you can do it!
  • paygep
    paygep Posts: 401 Member
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    vegweb.com has all the best recipes!
  • SexyPrettyMama
    SexyPrettyMama Posts: 76
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    Hi everyone! I'm thinking of going vegan, does anyone have any tips on making the transition? Thanks :)
    I got carried away n didn't answer. If you have a sweet tooth stay away from fruit for a good week. Otherwise stock up on fresh organic veggies, tofu, beans, wheat tortillas, brown rice, veggie cheese, olive oil, agave sweetner, almond milk, sea salt, and herbs and seasonings. Stay away from Splenda it's bad for you. Google online vegan recipes and substitutes, you can make any and everything that is delicious and nutritious. Good luck!
  • jbrooke17
    jbrooke17 Posts: 16 Member
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    thanks to both of you!
  • redraidergirl2009
    redraidergirl2009 Posts: 2,560 Member
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    Is there anything particular you want to know?
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    Hello. I became Vegan and in the first 9 days I lost 13 lbs. It was hard the first three days, I would dream at night of eating buttery cake. But I would wake up feeling thinner. I drink only water and fresh juiced veggies. You will be amazed how much you can eat but still lose weight. After 12 days I had serious diarrhea, i read online that it was cleansing old fecal matter out of me, it subsided the next day. If you have any questions Ill be glad to help. Good luck, you can do it!


    Ummm.....most people that talk about going vegan aren't talking about doing a juice cleanse. ^^^This won't happen from a regular diet of vegan food.
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    What are you transitioning from? Are you going direct from an omnivorous diet to vegan? Why are you considering doing it?
  • monty619
    monty619 Posts: 1,308 Member
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    Hi everyone! I'm thinking of going vegan, does anyone have any tips on making the transition? Thanks :)

    for what reasons are you going vegan?
  • mwooderson
    mwooderson Posts: 254 Member
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    I went vegan a little over 3 weeks ago. I was becoming a vegetarian by default through making healthy diet choices for me and vegan wasn't a big leap. However, I have been STARVING!!! I eat tons of veggies, fruit and whole grains but I am still hungry most of the time so I have been consuming significantly more calories in the last couple weeks in grains whereas before it would have been lean meat. I'm trying to find my way because I do feel good and my energy levels are great. We'll see...
  • katechristine04
    katechristine04 Posts: 1
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    Personally I tried to go from eating an omnivores diet, to a vegan diet and I got very sick. The first three days were really rough, I am not vegan anymore but I am still a vegetarian. I was vegan for two months and I found that it really helped to have someone who was vegan for quite a while to answer questions or correct me when I got wrong information from the internet, it was pretty confusing for me at first. I will leave you with this just because the internet says something is vegan doesn't mean it is, always read the labels.
  • Markguns
    Markguns Posts: 554 Member
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    Why don't you just eliminate red meat first?
  • AuntieMC
    AuntieMC Posts: 346 Member
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    bump
  • Ange_
    Ange_ Posts: 324 Member
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    I did the PCRM 21 day Vegan Kickstart program.

    It is completely free and run by doctors and nutritionists. At the beginning of each month they run a new challenge. You just sign up to their emails and they send you recipes and eating guidelines and there are videos from famous vegan celebrities to encourage you along the way.
    They also have a forum so you can chat to other people doing the challenge or to ask the nutritionists question.

    http://support.pcrm.org/site/PageServer?pagename=21day_vegan_kickstart&JServSessionIda003=upegog3qg1.app234c

    Definitely a wonderful service they provide. I highly recommend you check it out and maybe before the first of the month, until then start experimenting with a few meals, as much as you can manage and trying new foods like tofu, non dairy milks and different bean dishes and find out what of the current foods you have might have hidden eggs or dairy in them.

    This program is HEALTHY low fat vegan. It doesn't rely on fake meats or other processed vegan foods which aren't actually healthy for you at all. If all you eat is vegan cupcakes, vegan cream cheese, and a whole bunch of fake meats, and then pour a bucket of olive oil over it all you won't loose weight. So focusing on being vegan for health rather than simply cutting animal products is key.
    I certainly lost weight doing this and i am now continuing to eat a low fat vegan diet.

    The benefits of eating this way for me is now i don't have to count calories and i continue to loose weight! Such a relief after being on my MFP for about 2 years now counting and getting nowhere. Such a relief! Because low fat vegan foods have a really high volume for the same number of calories as animal foods i feel as though i can now eat whatever i want and not count and i'm fine! It really works.
    The other benefit is i cured myself of asthma. Turns out the dairy was doing it to me. I had no idea. That is not why i went vegan, but it is a great extra bonus.


    I also recommend reading Dr John McDougall's book: The Starch Solution
    And there are lots of others out there too like 'The Kind Diet', 'The China Study' and 'Main Street Vegan' which are all excellent books about veganism.

    It might help to start following some healthy vegan blogs too where you can get some free recipes. One of my favourites is The Happy Herbivore.
    Her chocolate zucchini muffins are to die for!

    Good Luck. Friend me if you want some support.
  • SwimFan1981
    SwimFan1981 Posts: 1,430 Member
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    Hi, I have been a vegetarian since 1991 and a vegan recently. There is a group on here called Happy herbivores, plenty of advice and support from likeminded people.
    Are you currently a meat/fish eater?
  • tinyjaz
    tinyjaz Posts: 75 Member
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    Bump
  • Emeener
    Emeener Posts: 28
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    Hi! I went vegan at the beginning of my first semester of college, which was around 6 months ago (wow...). I think the most important thing to keep in mind is to eat A TON of fruits and vegetables. That way you will get a lot of nutrients in and you will feel satisfied, which will stop you from craving animals products. You can also get protein from all kinds of beans, nuts and seeds, and i would recommend incorporating chia seeds and/or flaxseeds into your diet as they have the omega 3's that you're probably used to getting from fish.
    There are a lot of fake meat products out there, as well as dairy substitutes (I love almond and coconut milk with a passion) so go ahead and experiment with them, but just be careful because you don't want your diet to rely mostly on these processed foods. Whole, clean foods should always come first. and just because something's vegan, doesn't mean it's healthy because there could be all sorts of added chemicals and oils that don't come from animals.
    one last tip: if you start craving animal products so much that you feel like you're punishing yourself by not eating them, just give yourself a break. It's not about perfection, it's about doing something great for yourself and the animals and the planet 95% of the time. You don't want to feel like you're trapped against your will, because then it won't last. So if you absolutely can't live without an ice cream sundae, or a piece of steak, and a vegan substitute won't do it, then just let yourself have it without feeling like you've lost all your progress.

    If you want to talk more about it or share recipes or food blogs or health tips, just add me!

    Oh, and also! Two amazing books I would recommend are The China Study and Eat to Live. They both have a lot of good scientific support for veganism and they give great advice on making the transition. The China Study is a bit more technical about disease prevention and studies on veganism, while Eat to Live is a bit more practical and geared towards weight loss. They're both great reads and they really changed the way I thought about food. Also, the documentary Hungry For Change is excellent, and it sums up what those books have to say. It's on instant netflix and I'm pretty sure you can find it for free online pretty easily too.
  • chooriyah
    chooriyah Posts: 469 Member
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    I would transition slowly, and learn to cook lots of delicious meals with beans, legumes and tofu before you make the leap.

    A lot of Japanese, Korean, Thai and Indian food is already 'normally' vegan - lots of meals you can make without substitutes and without feeling that anything is missing.

    Some good vegan blogs for ideas are:

    http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/

    http://veganyumyum.com/
  • Xiaolongbao
    Xiaolongbao Posts: 854 Member
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    Hi everyone! I'm thinking of going vegan, does anyone have any tips on making the transition? Thanks :)

    I'm not vegan but what helped when I went vegetarian was finding new and interesting recipes to cook. Some from just googling ingredients I wanted to use and others from keeping an eye on the threads in the recipe section of MFP.

    This http://www.chiaseedrecipes.com/quick-and-easy-cauliflower-chia-soup.php is a recent favourite (and it's vegan). That website has quite a few ideas that involve using chia seeds as egg replacements so would be suitable for vegans.

    Good luck.
  • cineshome
    cineshome Posts: 97 Member
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    bump!
  • jbrooke17
    jbrooke17 Posts: 16 Member
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    Thanks everyone for your responses! I was thinking of going 2 weeks vegetarian and then transition into fully vegan. I really want to go vegan because of the health benefits such as lower my risk of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. For those of you who are vegan what are some basic grocery items I should buy when I stop by the market this week?

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