Advice for a new vegan?

You should probably do a lot of research on how to get proper nutrition without meat/poultry/fish/dairy/eggs/ect...you don't sound as if you actually know very much...being vegan doesn't mean you're auto "healthy"...in fact, it's far harder to actually get your proper nutrients if you don't know what you're doing. I'd suggest some major googling....maybe some books and other research. What you're giving up in RE to meat/poultry/fish/dairy/eggs, etc isn't "unhealthy' in and of itself...maybe you need to think about why you're actually doing what you're doing.

It can be a very healthy lifestyle, but you have to pay far more attention to what you're doing to actually get proper nutrients.

Welcome to the wonderful world of being a vegan!

1) The best way to tell other people is to not tell other people until they ask. It's your business, and you'll always receive flack from others who may disagree with your lifestyle changes. On the contrary though, you will meet lots of people who are in awe of your decision and may even ask you for some health tips!

2) Lentils, lentils lentils. Lots and lots of beans. I live on quinoa. Please feel free to check out my diary, I'm 100% vegan and incorporate a lot of hot, filling, comfort type foods on a regular basis.

3) Restaurants can be tricky, that's for sure. Some you're just going to have to avoid altogether (Olive Garden, Applebees, Chilis, etc), but some are GREAT for vegans: Subway's Veggie Delite, Panera Bread's Veggie Soup in a bread bowl, Red Robin's Boca Burger, and PF Changs tofu dishes are my absolute favorites. Most restaurants are pretty accommodating for vegans if you need to hold the chicken and cheese on salads or ask for substitutions. Definitely do your homework, I Googled vegan restaurants and found an amazing website: http://www.veganeatingout.com/

4) I've lost 61 pounds in 6 months becoming a cold-turkey vegan overnight with exercise 3-4x a week. I will NEVER look back. For me now, it's not about the weight. I feel alive again. I felt just like you in the beginning when I weighed 233 pounds, now at 172 pounds, I feel better than I have in years!

Please feel free to message me if you have any more questions! That goes for all vegans, we are few and far between, so when I meet others I get super excited

-Danielle

Hi all! Hope your day is going a-ok so far.

I've recently taken the initiative to try a Vegan diet because even though I am usually a healthful person (and was actually vegetarian for around half a year last year), stressful sophomore year in college has been full of unhealthy snacks, late-night fast food, and vast amounts of caffeinated drinks. As a result, I am not feeling my best and feel groggy all the time.

I was wondering about some advice from your more experienced vegans out there?

1) What's the best way to tell other people if they do ask why I'm suddenly not eating meat or dairy?
( The amount of insensitive people is ridiculous: When I told friends I was going vegetarian, a few guys were like "Oh, you're not becoming one of THOSE girls are you? Don't tell me you're eating salads for the next month or so. Also, I told a girl today that I'm trying outing being vegan for awhile, and she just said "I could never do such a thing, I love food too much to go anorexic on you.)

2) What are the staples in your diet that you cannot live without?
( Currently, I've got plenty of fruits and vegetables. I find that sweet potatoes are delicious and filling, and I've got some tofu as well for a source of protein. But is there anything else that you guys like a lot that you would recommend to a new vegan? )

3) What do you eat when you go out?
( There's plenty of vegan restaurants, but if I go out with friends to a bar or something that doesn't offer special vegan options, what's the best thing to do? I'm sure no one enjoys spending $10 on a salad.)

4) What has been your experience with veganism and weight loss?

Thanks all

Hello there!

First of all, I'd like to congratulate you on going on this path of health (: Being vegan is tough, and it definitely took a lot of research in order to be done correctly, but you can do it! And you have several vegans out here who will support you without any judgement!

Although I'm no vegan expert, I'd like to share my experience with you that might answer your questions! You can take my advice with a grain of salt, of course, but my best advice for you is to do some trial and error on your part: no vegan is one and the same, so it's really up to you to know what you need more out of in your vegan diet! (For example, I need more iron in my diet as well as vitamin C)

Anyways, hopefully these might help as well!

1.) I think every vegan and vegetarian is going to have an issue with this. The best thing that I could tell you about this is to be calm and rational when talking to your friends about this: let them know why you want to go vegan, and assure them it's for you and not for them. I understand that there are some vegans out there who tend to be a little too headstrong about their lifestyle and push others into it as well. I would just constantly tell your family and friends that you're doing this for your health and you believe this is the right path. If they are still ignorant about that, simply know that you can't change how they feel and-- hopefully-- when they see a healthier and happier you, they won't be so prejudiced.

2.) I would definitely recommend Oreos for that sweet tooth! Sure, they're not healthy really, but they are vegan! It might help curb that sweet desire! Oh, and I always make sure to have some homemade trial mix for on the go too! I usually add granola, dried cranberries, banana chips, coconut chips, and almonds with it! The awesome thing about trial mix is that you can mix and match and do whatever you want! It's limitless!

I have a ton of other awesome recipe ideas too! If you want to message me, I'd be glad to share it with you (:

3.) It's a little more difficult with mainstream restaurants, maybe do a little bit of research before you go out to see if there are any options? I know it takes a little work but it'll definitely be worth it!

Also know that people tend to think of veganism as some sort of religion, but really-- it's okay to slip once in a while. For example, I try my best to stay as vegan as possible at restaurants, but if I get a bread roll, I'm not going to feel guilty. As long as you make an effort, it's fine! You're still trying to make healthy decisions and that's all that matters.

4.) My experience with veganism and weight loss is pretty good-- but it wasn't instant. It took me a while to lose the fifteen pounds that I did, but the best part about all of it was that I felt less groggy and a lot healthier-- but, I also did a lot of research too! I tried a vegan diet without knowing what to do and it ended horribly, actually. So I implore you to do some googling, read some books, and try out things for yourself! Understand your nutrient needs and where to get them, and I promise you will do so well!

If you need any support or any other advice, please let me know! Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it! I believe in you (:

.

You should probably do a lot of research on how to get proper nutrition without meat/poultry/fish/dairy/eggs/ect...you don't sound as if you actually know very much...being vegan doesn't mean you're auto "healthy"...in fact, it's far harder to actually get your proper nutrients if you don't know what you're doing. I'd suggest some major googling....maybe some books and other research. What you're giving up in RE to meat/poultry/fish/dairy/eggs, etc isn't "unhealthy' in and of itself...maybe you need to think about why you're actually doing what you're doing.

It can be a very healthy lifestyle, but you have to pay far more attention to what you're doing to actually get proper nutrients.

^^this.

You will need to be careful with you B12 intake specifically re micros. Nutritional yeast is a good source and is also a complete protein.

Check out the vegan groups on here, for example. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/45-happy-herbivores

You will probably get better advice there.

I am a vegetarian and when someone makes stupid comments about being one, I just deal with them the way I would any other stupid comment.

So wait, you're going vegan because you think it's healthy? :huh:

Artificially restricting your diet to exclude an entire subgroup of nutrient sources your body evolved to utilize and having to bend over backwards to compensate for the lack of that nutrient source doesn't sound particularly "healthful" to me.

So wait, you're going vegan because you think it's healthy? :huh:

Artificially restricting your diet to exclude an entire subgroup of nutrient sources your body evolved to utilize and having to bend over backwards to compensate for the lack of that nutrient source doesn't sound particularly "healthful" to me.

that's a hilarious post from someone who obviously has no clue about veganism. It really isn't as hard as people imply. The protein argument isn't an argument as you have to try very hard not to get enough protein. A vegan diet can be healthy or unhealthy like any other one' what you do find though is that vegans have made a concious choice, so know far more about their diet than most people. Vegan diets are generally lower calorie than animal based diets but you still have to be careful. I was and and still am fat vegan so being a vegan is no panacia for weight loss.

My main advice is don't preach to people. If they ask about your diet talk explain. In reality most puerile are more exciting than you think as long as you're not a preachy vegan. They are in fact more likely to ask you if they know you're not going to shove your choice down their throat. I'm a Vegan for ethical reasons and have been for way before mfp people ask about that of me because they know I respect their choices even if I disagree.

I'm not vegan, but my son has dairy and egg allergies and we don't eat beef or pork, so we have quite a few vegan meals. It's not difficult to do. We go with predominately vegetables for meals, but always include a legume (beans, chickpeas, lentils...). Nuts and seeds are also pretty necessary, but my son also has nut allergies which is one of the main reasons we keep chicken and fish in our diet. For sweets, I usually bake something. It's pretty easy to find vegan cake recipes... or banana bread... mmmmmm.... There are about a million vegan cook books.

Good luck! If we could eat eggs I would go vegetarian in a heartbeat. Veganism doesn't really appeal to me though. For me, it's too restrictive to be sustainable.

Also check out the websites for Engine 2, Forks Over Knives, Dr. MacDougall, Dr. Fuhrman.

This. I'm not vegan right now but have researched it extensively and have friends who are. These resources (except I hadn't actually heard of Engine 2 - going to check that one out) are excellent. They have a lot of information on being sure to find the right balance for nutrition and some great information on being careful about processed vegan "fake" foods (soy alternative products for meat in particular).

Best of luck! I still think I will do this some day. I'm just not prepared to deal with whining teenagers and husband or cooking two meals at this stage of my life!

So wait, you're going vegan because you think it's healthy? :huh:

Artificially restricting your diet to exclude an entire subgroup of nutrient sources your body evolved to utilize and having to bend over backwards to compensate for the lack of that nutrient source doesn't sound particularly "healthful" to me.

that's a hilarious post from someone who obviously has no clue about veganism. It really isn't as hard as people imply. The protein argument isn't an argument as you have to try very hard not to get enough protein. A vegan diet can be healthy or unhealthy like any other one' what you do find though is that vegans have made a concious choice, so know far more about their diet than most people. Vegan diets are generally lower calorie than animal based diets but you still have to be careful. I was and and still am fat vegan so being a vegan is no panacia for weight loss.

My main advice is don't preach to people. If they ask about your diet talk explain. In reality most puerile are more exciting than you think* as long as you're not a preachy vegan. They are in fact more likely to ask you if they know you're not going to shove your choice down their throat. I'm a Vegan for ethical reasons** and have been for way before mfp people ask about that of me because they know I respect their choices even if I disagree.

* ???

** Well, aren't we superior to all the unethical people who eat the precious little animals! Animals eat each other too, you know that, right? Yeah, if you're going with the "not preachy" motif, then you might not want to label everyone who isn't a vegan "unethical". :huh:

So wait, you're going vegan because you think it's healthy? :huh:

Artificially restricting your diet to exclude an entire subgroup of nutrient sources your body evolved to utilize and having to bend over backwards to compensate for the lack of that nutrient source doesn't sound particularly "healthful" to me.

that's a hilarious post from someone who obviously has no clue about veganism. It really isn't as hard as people imply. The protein argument isn't an argument as you have to try very hard not to get enough protein. A vegan diet can be healthy or unhealthy like any other one' what you do find though is that vegans have made a concious choice, so know far more about their diet than most people. Vegan diets are generally lower calorie than animal based diets but you still have to be careful. I was and and still am fat vegan so being a vegan is no panacia for weight loss.

My main advice is don't preach to people. If they ask about your diet talk explain. In reality most puerile are more exciting than you think* as long as you're not a preachy vegan. They are in fact more likely to ask you if they know you're not going to shove your choice down their throat. I'm a Vegan for ethical reasons** and have been for way before mfp people ask about that of me because they know I respect their choices even if I disagree.

* ???

** Well, aren't we superior to all the unethical people who eat the precious little animals! Animals eat each other too, you know that, right? Yeah, if you're going with the "not preachy" motif, then you might not want to label everyone who isn't a vegan "unethical". :huh:

People aren't allowed to have differing opinions about what they feel is and is not ethical?

I am a vegan. You should only go vegan for ethical choices. As a "diet" you're just as likely to get fat as a non-vegan diet. Trust me - I'm an expert on being a fat, junk food loving vegan.

People aren't allowed to have differing opinions about what they feel is and is not ethical?

*actually this is not true - I love eating dead animal but I refrain due to ethical concerns.

Still not seeing why eating animals is unethical. Lots of animals eat other animals. It's kind of the whole setup of nature—one thing snacks on another thing. And why is eating animals "unethical", but eating plants is ethical? Why the arbitrary moratorium on Animalia? And what about bacteria, fungi, etc.?

Honestly, I'm so sick of the cloyingly sentimental "it has a face!" argument. :huh: You want to feel superior? Knock yourselves out, but labeling the rest of us "unethical" because we eat other animals? I got a problem with that.

Wow, I hardly ever see posts about the vegan lifestyle on here! I'm a recently turned vegan. I wasn't even a vegetarian before this month, so it was a bit of a switch. And here's some of my "wisdom" ~

People who give you a hard time about it aren't worth talking to about it. There are going to be insensitive people about every dietary change. I think that as long as you're getting the right nutrients, no one has the right to judge you. And it's ridiculous that people automatically think that vegans just eat rabbit food. I work at a health food store, and guess what? They bake cupcakes, brownies, cookies, pies, etc. there. You can buy grains. You can eat Fakin' Bacon (or something similar. Though some meat substitutes are just vegetarian and not vegan -- look out for that!). Like you said, tofu. You can flavor tofu so differently between each batch that each flavor makes it seem like different food.

Sweet potatoes for sure! And pearl cous cous. I tend to make my own soup, and put veggies, sweet potatoes, pearl cous cous or pasta, etc. in it. If you want it creamy, coconut milk is great to add! I keep vegetable broth and crushed tomatoes (or puree) on hand for soup as well.

You have to look hard at the menu when you to go restaurants. Some restaurants (or diners) only have french fries as the vegan option. You CAN order salads, just ask not to have meat or cheese. Salad bars too. The other night at a diner, I got sautéed vegetables over lo mein. And last night I went out and got a veggie burger. You just have to really look, because a lot of restaurants don't have a "vegetarian" side of the menu, and even then, vegetarian doesn't mean vegan. And some menus don't put every single ingredient. A few weeks ago at a diner I ordered vegetables and pasta with wine sauce, and they put butter in the sauce, which was not on the menu. You can't really be the most particular person ever when you eat at restaurants, just be as careful as you can.

As far as weight loss, I hope it's helping me. I haven't weighed myself since the beginning of this month. But I do feel better about myself and what I eat, and honestly, I *personally* feel less gross inside now that I'm not eating meat and dairy (not saying this is everyone's experience, it's just mine).

Good luck to you! And feel free to add me/message if you want to talk about it!

So wait, you're going vegan because you think it's healthy? :huh:

Artificially restricting your diet to exclude an entire subgroup of nutrient sources your body evolved to utilize and having to bend over backwards to compensate for the lack of that nutrient source doesn't sound particularly "healthful" to me.

Do you mean protein? Because there are a lot of vegan sources for protein. A LOT of them.

You should probably do a lot of research on how to get proper nutrition without meat/poultry/fish/dairy/eggs/ect...you don't sound as if you actually know very much...being vegan doesn't mean you're auto "healthy"...in fact, it's far harder to actually get your proper nutrients if you don't know what you're doing. I'd suggest some major googling....maybe some books and other research. What you're giving up in RE to meat/poultry/fish/dairy/eggs, etc isn't "unhealthy' in and of itself...maybe you need to think about why you're actually doing what you're doing.

It can be a very healthy lifestyle, but you have to pay far more attention to what you're doing to actually get proper nutrients.

^ This, too. Really, really do your homework. Vitamin B12 & Vitamin D are found in animals primarily, so I have to take supplements. It's vital to a vegan's overall health to ensure you're getting adequate vitamins you're missing from animals. Definitely invest in those vitamins, do some research on how much you should be taking. Also, nutritional yeast is a vegans best friend, it's this yellow, powdered supplement found in health food stores. It's absolutely amazing in every way, I buy iy by the pound and put it in and on everything for an extra B12 and Manganese boost. Chia seeds, hemp seeds, and maca powder are also good vitamin booster.

You do know that vitamin D isn't naturally found in animal products, right? They fortify them with it.