Vegan looking for new vegan buddies

Yippy!! So glad to see other vegans on here although I do eat eggs right now. So I guess I'm really an ovotarian. I live in a small, rural town and get my eggs from free range farms. I am also gluten-free. I'm allergic to egg replacement products, so if anyone has a suggestion on what to use to sub for eggs, I'd be so happy!! I just started MyFitnessPal today. Tried it a long time ago, but decided to get serious about it this time! I need to lose a lot of weight too...around 45 - 50 lbs.

Hey! I'm vegan and want to lose 35lbs. Struggling to get my protein in! Would love vegan powered support!

This thread doesn't seem to be getting enough attention! I'm in sort of the same boat. I've been a lifetime vegetarian, but have moved to a vegan diet as of the first of March. Since moving away for school, I've gained about 50 lbs and would love any vegan support and/or ideas to make this transition and weight loss more bearable.

Me, too--24 years vegan-leaning vegetarian or imperfect vegan, depending on how you look at it. Feel free to friend me.

Oh, and I have at least 60 lbs. to lose.

Hey, all! I've been vegan for the past year, and was vegetarian the year prior to that. Since going all out vegan, I've had way more energy, better sleep, absolutely no digestion issues, and generally feel awesome.

I work out 5 times a week doing cardio and weights. I've gained quite a lot of muscle, and my functionality is amazing. I eat piles of fruit and veg, and I get my protein from chickpeas, beans, lentils, and fortified organic vegan products like Field Roast sausages, veggie dogs, Gardein chik'n strips, and veggie burgers. Loooove veggie burgers!

For those of you worrying about 'where to get your protein', beans, lentils, nuts, tofu, seitan, tempeh, and fake meat products are fully loaded. Point of fact--humans generally eat way too much protein anyway, and I have literally never heard of a protein deficient person. Like ever. So don't get hung up on that!

Essential vitamins and minerals are what you have to watch out for, particularly iron and b12, because our bodies only absorb it at a rate of 50%--meaning you need to take in double the amount of plant iron as opposed to animal iron. This can be easily solved by loading up on iron-rich vegetables (IE, spinach in smoothies) and taking a supplement. I check up with my doc regularly to make sure I'm not sliding into iron or b12 deficiency. So far, so good.

Luckily, many vegan products now are b12 fortified, such as plenty of nut milks on the market. Almond milk is my staple for those of you wanting an alternative to soy milk. And my favourite cheese alternative is Daiya for pizzas, and Tofutti for baking or sandwiches. I met a local lady recently through my city's vegan meet-up group who makes insanely fantastic cheese, so I can't recommend her, BUT, you may find someone like that in your community! If you're savvy and you have a food processor, you can also make your own.

Some great resources for recipes can be found online or in your local bookshop! My favourite cookbooks are ISA DOES IT by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and OH SHE GLOWS by Julia Liddon. All of these recipes are highly accessible, easy, and delicious! Smoothies are also a miraculous way to get piles of fruit servings, plus a bajillion vitamins and minerals, and they're yummy to boot! Also helps those who aren't big fans of breakfast get something healthy down. Bananas are your friend!!

Basically, my best advice is to just see what works for you, cut out the junk, and try to eat unprocessed as much as possible. My big thing when I went vegetarian was that I ate a ton of cake and cheese because OMG IT WAS VEGETARIAN, which lead me to gain 20 lbs. I've since lost 22 lbs, and feel way better physically and mentally. Now when I want cake, I have to make it myself

I'd be happy to answer questions or help anyone who has any questions! I'm not a registered dietician or an expert by any means, but I can relate what worked for me.