Vegan Lifestyle for 31 days. Need experienced help!

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Fighting4Healthy
Fighting4Healthy Posts: 336 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hey everyone! In an attempt to make myself healthier i have decided to lead a vegan lifestyle for 31 days starting today. The thing is that I have no clue where to start! I wake up late in the day so I haven't started eating yet, but i figured I'd be safe with fresh fruit and veggies our quía cereal and almond milk for my first meal but what about the rest of the day? Week? Month? I need recipes! Not just for me but my kids too! And they have to be healthy, not to much oil or anything fatty. Rumor has it that vegan "meats" are high in fat. Any recipes or advice? If we can do this for a month, we may just stay vegan!
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  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
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    Step #1. Get rid of all tasty food.

  • Fighting4Healthy
    Fighting4Healthy Posts: 336 Member
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    Really?
  • socioseguro
    socioseguro Posts: 1,679 Member
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    Hi:

    You can try to join one of MFP vegetarian/vegan groups. You can find them under the "Group" option under the dark blue banner. Here is a link
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/45-happy-herbivores
  • janjunie
    janjunie Posts: 1,200 Member
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    I don't know how much fat is in vegan "meats" but I'd be more worried about the sodium content. Vegan does not always equal healthy. If you want healthy shop the outer isles of your grocery store and know that not all fats are bad for you.
  • Fighting4Healthy
    Fighting4Healthy Posts: 336 Member
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    I know that there at fats that are not bad for you but I'd prefer to have a plant based lifestyle and stay away from processed foods. I'll eat a veggie burger but only once in a while. I do look forward to experiment with salads though.
  • Zinka61
    Zinka61 Posts: 523 Member
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    Beans, grains, leafy greens, vegetables and fruit, nuts and seeds. You can get B12 via fortified plant milk, cereals, or Red Star nutritional yeast. Don't forget healthy fats like avocado, nuts/nut butters, ground flax , olive oil... Vegan food can be delicious and healthy, but it can just as easily be yucky and unhealthy, like any food. There are junk food vegans, too.
    Besides beans, you can include tofu, quinoa, seitan, and tempeh in your diet. Check out the Vegetarian Resource Group's website for basic nutritional info. Other good sites include Forks Over Knives, Oh She Glows, Fat Free Vegan, Vegweb, Vegsource...so many! Nothing wrong with the occasional fake meat, and many are low fat or even fat free. But they are really not the basis of a whole-foods vegan diet.
  • Gska17
    Gska17 Posts: 752 Member
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    I'm not fully vegan but I got into it using Thug Kitchen recipes. NSFW language: http://www.thugkitchen.com/
  • Laurend224
    Laurend224 Posts: 1,748 Member
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    Check out websites like happyherbivore.com and fatfreevegan.com for some recipe ideas. Tofu and homemade seitan are great protein sources, and if you make the seitan at home, you can control the amount of sodium. They are also not high in fat. Also, look to beans and lentil dishes. Don't try to live off salads for a month, you won't be satisfied (I'm guessing) and will deem the experiment a failure.

    Good luck. There are actually quite a few of us vegans on these boards, I'm sure they will come up with some more great ideas for you.

  • jddnw
    jddnw Posts: 319 Member
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    So you have committed to leading a vegan "lifestyle" (whatever that means), before you actually know what you are going to eat? Interesting approach. (Another approach would be learn one meal at a time, and ease into it gradually one meal at a time as you learn new meals, but that's admittedly not as hip as making a trendy "lifestyle" change.)

    It sounds like what's more important here than recipes is to announce your new lifestyle to everyone you know. Have you posted to facebook, linkedin, and twitter yet? Have you obtained a "Plant Powered" T shirt? I would do that first.
  • lpinator13
    lpinator13 Posts: 1 Member
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    Id say go looking for vegan blogs. Theres a large amount of recipies and they make them lower in sodium since they're usually upped in them. Its also surprisingly easy to switch your diet for a month, you just need to plan. Plan. Plan!
  • Fighting4Healthy
    Fighting4Healthy Posts: 336 Member
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    @jddnw i say lifestyle because I don't like the word diet. It makes me think of a temporary way to get skinny, and I'm trying to get healthy and fit. My original plan was to eat just fresh fruits, nuts, beans and veggies but figured i would try out some recipes using other things like tofu and other things, so i figured I'd ask. Yes i am announcing a new lifestyle. I figured I'd give a bit of a background rather than posting "any vegan recipes??". I'm the kind of person that likes to jump into things to see if they work for me. I am sorry if this post offends you or anyone else, it isn't meant to bother anyone,
  • Fighting4Healthy
    Fighting4Healthy Posts: 336 Member
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    Oh and no, i haven't posted anything about this i only have facebook and don't go on it much. I do the mfp blogs but haven't done any posting in forever.
  • Laurend224
    Laurend224 Posts: 1,748 Member
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    Fighting4Healthy wrote: »
    @jddnw i say lifestyle because I don't like the word diet. It makes me think of a temporary way to get skinny, and I'm trying to get healthy and fit. My original plan was to eat just fresh fruits, nuts, beans and veggies but figured i would try out some recipes using other things like tofu and other things, so i figured I'd ask. Yes i am announcing a new lifestyle. I figured I'd give a bit of a background rather than posting "any vegan recipes??". I'm the kind of person that likes to jump into things to see if they work for me. I am sorry if this post offends you or anyone else, it isn't meant to bother anyone,

    You can be healthy and fit as an omnivore, and while I would never discourage anyone from attempting to eat less animal products, I just want to put it out there that you don't have to for health.

    When I hear people use the term vegan lifestyle, they are usually referring to becoming an ethical vegan, and as much as possible eliminating all animal products from their lives.

  • Fighting4Healthy
    Fighting4Healthy Posts: 336 Member
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    Thank you all for your input. I will check out all of the websites and blogs and recipe books tonight.
  • Fighting4Healthy
    Fighting4Healthy Posts: 336 Member
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    @Laurend224 i understand about being healthy as an omnivore, this is just a change I'm making for my own reasons and health is a big one.
  • Fighting4Healthy
    Fighting4Healthy Posts: 336 Member
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    @Laurend224 sorry not everything i wrote was posted. I understand what you mean about the vegan lifestyle , you are right, i am adopting a vegan diet not lifestyle. Thank you for the clarity.
  • jddnw
    jddnw Posts: 319 Member
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    way-of-eating (woe) is a popular alternative to the word diet, which is a word I'm not too fond of either, probably for the same reasons as you.
  • Charliegottheruns
    Charliegottheruns Posts: 287 Member
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    Fighting4Healthy wrote: »
    Hey everyone! In an attempt to make myself healthier i have decided to lead a vegan lifestyle for 31 days starting today. The thing is that I have no clue where to start! I wake up late in the day so I haven't started eating yet, but i figured I'd be safe with fresh fruit and veggies our quía cereal and almond milk for my first meal but what about the rest of the day? Week? Month? I need recipes! Not just for me but my kids too! And they have to be healthy, not to much oil or anything fatty. Rumor has it that vegan "meats" are high in fat. Any recipes or advice? If we can do this for a month, we may just stay vegan!

    Vegan-ism is a lifestyle change, not just a 31 day diet change, educate yourself, take it slow and give your body a chance to adapt, learn how to cook and where to shop, otherwise you'll find yourself eating the same things over and over, vegan-ism takes time.
  • Fighting4Healthy
    Fighting4Healthy Posts: 336 Member
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    @jddnw thank you I will start using that term.
    @CharlieRuns7225 you are right, that is why I was asking for recipes, as for shopping there are two whole foods stores in my area that I was planning on shopping at.

    Maybe I should buy a vegan cookbook and pick a recipe or two to cook out of that everyday. I understand this will take time and will be difficult but it is something that I am going to try. so far today has been going well. though after doing a lot of googling I have found that foods that I thought would be vegan friendly aren't :( . But shopping day is tomorrow so I am compiling a list to start.
  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
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    Oats, veggie/tofu scrambles, pasta with "meat"balls (I've made them with quinoa/mushroom), stir fry with rice, veggie burgers and fries, vegetarian chili, a variety of soup, root vegetable stews, pot pie made with just the vegetables and crust, sloppy joes made with lentils, cheese-less pizzas, wraps with hummus and vegetables, veggie burritos, etc.
    I'm not crazy about temporary "fixes" but I would definitely get in the kitchen and start cooking!

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