Trying on Veganism - seeing if it fits.

whatever floats your boat.

I would never try it. If there isnt some sort of dead animal on my plate then it is not considered a meal.

I also recently switched to eating vegan about a month ago to try to lose weight. I am not as strict as you're going. I cook with oil sometimes and things like that. However, I have lost 23 lbs so far. I work out about an hour a day six days a week as well. The first week I had cravings like crazy, but not since. I also stopped tracking my calories cuz somehow I ended up eating more when I tracked them. I'm kind of different though, so that may not be the case for you. Anyway, you should at least try it. And if you slip up once in a while that's better than just eating bad all the time right?

Hi.
I've been a vegetarian all my life, and I do it for the animals (anyone that has ever seen animals off to get killed with that "Won't somebody please help me?" look in their eyes is the same, from my experience).
I've been vegan for a week now. I think I'll stick to it. I just feel so much better, and can run so much further.
Food just tastes better too. There's something so calming and freeing about a purely plant based diet that I didn't realise I was missing when I kept dumping cheese on everything. It may sound odd, but I'm drinking a coffee right now with soy milk, and I realised that regular milk always tastes kind of...Slimy to me.
I feel better emotionally and physically.

Nothing is going to work for you, regardless of what you choose to eat, unless you determine the correct caloric deficit for your lifestyle. People can argue about it all they want but it is impossible to loose weight if a person is eating more calories than they expend. Another common error is overestimating calories expended during exercise.

My point is 3000 calories of asparagus is still 3000 calories.

Good luck on your journey.

The more I research - the more confused I get! Each side (vegan vs. paleo) is so passionate that they are right! However what they BOTH agree on is cut the PROCESSED food and the SUGAR!!! I've cut sugar, grains, and dairy to see if it works for my body. Feeling good and have dropped 4 pounds in two weeks. It's easy to stay below my daily calories and I get full easily. I really do think the key is the sugar and the processed junk!!!! It's gotta go - what ever program you follow!!!

Ahhh lemme know if it works, I've been reading up on doing that and am really curious if it actually works!! Good luck!!
Kayleigh Anne

I've been vegan for several years, with some days of eating cheese. It's easy to eat poorly as a vegan. Oreos, crescent rolls, and french fries (most) are vegan. What it will do is make you realize how little vegetables you ate previously, and how much of the typical diet consists of meat and refined starch. Starting out, I'd suggest doing some reading on protein profiles of different foods. Learn what foods to pair with what to make sure you get essential amino acids. Continue to track your diet, and watch for B12 or Vit. D deficiencies. A good multivitamin can help, especially if you're under 2000 kcal/day.

Started a vegan diet this week and am loving it. No cravings what so ever. My biggest enemy was cheese and baked goods. Vegan ism has made those difficult to come by. I already ate 80% vegetarian so the switch wasn't difficult. I hope it works for both of us. I have only committed to doing it for a couple of weeks to retrain myself when choosing meals. I want to reach for tha avocado over the dairy and the veggies over the bacon. I think this will train me to make bettera no more sustainable life choices. I hope it does for you as we'll.

I'm a vegetarian, for ethical reasons. Will probably transition to veganism once this has stuck, but I'm still a brand new baby vegetarian. A month and a half old. :P
Fair warning that if you're doing TRUE vegan, there's no honey allowed, either. It counts as an animal product. Not sure if you included that in your original post, but if you're just in it for health reasons and not for ethical reasons, do it how you will.

I'm currently trying out vegetarianism - no real impact on my hunger levels, but I think my weight loss has stalled somewhat and I'm struggling to hit my protein macro.

Any quick and easy tips for getting more protein into my diary? I'm always on the go, so I live off things like pre-prepared salad, hummus, etc. I have a nut allergy which makes it difficult.

If I can't get this to work for me health-wise, it's going to have to be back to the meat...

I've been a vegan now for about 2 years, and I find that I have to be a "mindful vegan". When I focus on unprocessed grains (rice instead of rice cakes., e.g.), don't fall for "vegan" cookies, etc., eat 2 lbs of veggies per day, and 3 fruits...calorie intake moderates itself.

If I eat, e.g., some processed grain vegan cereal, a vegan snack bar., vegan/gluten free bread rolls, vegan cookies, I can actually gain weight.

For me, the key is combining unprocessed vegan choices with making veggies my focus.

You may want to investigate some of the groups on MFP: Perimeter Eater and, Eat to Live.

I guess you'd call me flexitarian. I've been vegan for a very short period (it's way too hard when you do it for ethical reasons). I was vegetarian for a number of years. Became a carnivore when I started working with small, independent family farmers who were trying to organize against the big factory farms. I figured if I knew the person who raised it, I knew it was humanely treated, etc. etc. etc., I could eat it to support their cause. Now, I'm back to a more vegetarian lifestyle. If I do eat meat, it's only at my evening meal, and it's usually lean protein like fish or chicken. I forgot how good I felt eliminating meat from my diet. Works for some. Not for others, but I'm really liking the 'flex' approach as I don't beat myself up if I enjoy some sushi. I'd say I'm vegetarian 95% of the time. And I gotta say, my weight problems didn't start until I started eating meat. I know, calories in, calories out. But I can eat 'more' in terms of volume being a vegetarian and feel satiated. Eating a steak was such a blow to my daily caloric intake. It was mighty tasty, but high in cals. I'd rather have roasted curried cauliflower with grains and nuts - a HUGE bowl is only 500 calories. In fact, I can rarely finish a full serving. I just like this lifestyle. I'd probably be completely vegetarian if it weren't for my husband who is 100% carnivore. He's more paleo/low carb. Makes meal time in our house interesting.

I'm currently trying out vegetarianism - no real impact on my hunger levels, but I think my weight loss has stalled somewhat and I'm struggling to hit my protein macro.

Any quick and easy tips for getting more protein into my diary? I'm always on the go, so I live off things like pre-prepared salad, hummus, etc. I have a nut allergy which makes it difficult.

If I can't get this to work for me health-wise, it's going to have to be back to the meat...

Seitan is my favorite for getting in extra protein, I like to think of it as the lean meat of the veggie world. I feel so much better if I can eat a couple of ounces of it throughout the day for a protein boost. It's made of gluten. I make my own but there's ready-made as well, Upton's is one brand and they do both packaged seitan like lunchmeat at lots of grocery stores and they have ready made sandwiches at Whole Foods too. I also like soy curls - similar to TVP but better texture IMO - but those require some prep.



Also everyone who eats vegan/plant based or even mostly that way needs to research vegan nutrition. It's not hard, but it requires planning, especially when you're restricting calories, and some things like B12 & D do not occur naturally in the vegan diet (actually D doesn't occur naturally in most people's diets because there aren't many naturally occuring dietary sources, but I digress).

http://www.veganhealth.org/ <--- run by a vegan RD, very good basic information. I am not vegan or vegetarian, but when I cook it's almost always a vegan recipe. The processed foods I eat generally aren't, plus I take fish oil pills, but I do what's sustainable for me.