Vegan Journey Begins

Great post. I have dabbled in the world of Plant-Based Nutrition but fully committed to the Vegan lifestyle. This year I considered making Veganism, or at least plant-based diet a resolution. Even though I ultimately decided against such a change, your posts have made me reconsider.

Excellent post by fluxduster, this is exactly as I found it when I cut eggs and dairy from my veg diet 4 years ago. Fitter/healthier now at 54 than in my 20s too.

I'm just posting here to learn more as well. I'm actually trying 12 diets over the next 12 months to find an eating plan that works for me. One of the plans is Vegan before 6:00. I figure that will give me some flexibility to trying more vegan options before going full vegan. Going vegan seems like it will be hard for me, but I want to explore the option more. Would love for people to follow me on my blog, if you're interested. whatdietnext.com

whatdietnext wrote: »

I'm just posting here to learn more as well. I'm actually trying 12 diets over the next 12 months to find an eating plan that works for me. One of the plans is Vegan before 6:00. I figure that will give me some flexibility to trying more vegan options before going full vegan. Going vegan seems like it will be hard for me, but I want to explore the option more. Would love for people to follow me on my blog, if you're interested. whatdietnext.com

Vegan before 6 that's interesting. I too am interested but it would be very limited due to other food allergies like soy and wheat which rule out a bit of things.

Good luck, Russ!

fluxduster wrote: »

I switched to a vegan diet about three years ago and it very much changed my life for the better. I am healthier now at 47 years old and feel better than I did when I was in my 20s.
My main advice is to dedicate some time to meal planning. There are a ton of online and other vegan recipe and cookbooks available. Most of the better ones will help guide you to some common staples you will want to have in your fridge and in your pantry. Initially, it can be difficult as any change can be. But trust me, in time, you will open your tastebuds up to so many new foods and tastes that you will quickly forget about the foods you have given up. As an added bonus, you will feel healthier because you will BE healthier.
In my case, since plant foods contain no cholesterol at all, my cholesterol levels dropped significantly. Once my body was purged of years of animal fat clogging my arteries, my resting heart rate dropped about 10 points as well.
I wish you well in your journey. You will benefit physically, mentally, and even spiritutally.

No. Vegan will not make you healthier by itself. Also, I have seen many over weight vegans-how is that "healthier"?

Two months into veganism here. Did it overnight... and from a low carb style of eating even! Also, my 9yo daughter joined me about 1.5 months ago and talk about dedicated!

I highly recommend checking out youtube for great vegan tips on nutrition, dealing with questions or haters, recipes etc. Some of my fave vegan youtubers are Bite Size Vegan, Unnatural Vegan, Happy Healthy Vegan, The Friendly Activist, That Vegan Couple, Vegan Revolution and Jov Venus.

Also, looking for vegan friends on here!

elphie754 wrote: »

luckytruck6 wrote: »

elphie754 wrote: »

No. Vegan will not make you healthier by itself. Also, I have seen many over weight vegans-how is that "healthier"?

True, there are many types of vegans. I worked with a guy(junk food vegan) who just ate vegan pizza, burgers, oreos and bean burritos...not healthy at all. Ideally with a vegan lifestyle you would concentrate on whole nutrient dense foods and minimize highly processed foods.

Still doesn't make it automatically "healthier" than a non-vegan diet.

Not to mention that eating "whole foods" and minimizing "processed foods" are decisions that have nothing to do with veganism. They're ways of eating that can be used by anyone, including non-vegans.

It's like saying that spelunkers will be healthier than non-spelunkers because ideally spelunkers won't smoke cigarettes.

fluxduster wrote: »

I switched to a vegan diet about three years ago and it very much changed my life for the better. I am healthier now at 47 years old and feel better than I did when I was in my 20s.
My main advice is to dedicate some time to meal planning. There are a ton of online and other vegan recipe and cookbooks available. Most of the better ones will help guide you to some common staples you will want to have in your fridge and in your pantry. Initially, it can be difficult as any change can be. But trust me, in time, you will open your tastebuds up to so many new foods and tastes that you will quickly forget about the foods you have given up. As an added bonus, you will feel healthier because you will BE healthier.
In my case, since plant foods contain no cholesterol at all, my cholesterol levels dropped significantly. Once my body was purged of years of animal fat clogging my arteries, my resting heart rate dropped about 10 points as well.
I wish you well in your journey. You will benefit physically, mentally, and even spiritutally.

I'm Mostly Vegan (cut out meat and full-fat dairy, but still eat fish and non-fat dairy), and actually did it after researching studies looking at reducing serum cholesterol through diet alone (what studies there are out there - it's shameful how few there are). My LDL "bad" cholesterol went from 202 (qualified me for drugs without any other risk factors and drove me into a google-panic) to 115 in about 5 weeks. I feel the healthiest I ever have, and DH has even cut out cheese after I told him it was much easier than I expected. He used to get through pounds of the stuff.

I follow food blogs mainly. OneGreenPlanet is a really good one. Or just google "top vegan blogs". I like the pictures.. Happy Cow is a handy app - it lists restaurants. Also in apps like Yelp or OpenTable you can search for vegan-friendly restaurants.

I tend to make batches of plain beans, lentils etc in my slow cooker, which I add to meals, flavor with spices and mix with other ingredients. Other than the beans, vegan cooking is liberating since it's quick, mixes easily together and you can go crazy on spices. You'll find that you can add more fats to food than you might expect like nuts and seeds as well as oils (since you're not eating meat products). Using tofu, seitan or tempeh is a matter of taste - I like them because they're easy and soak up strong flavors quickly, and I love the flavor of tempeh just by itself. I would avoid faux meat-products like "hot dogs" - honestly, they're pretty gross and have limited nutritional benefits.

janejellyroll wrote: »

dopeysmelly wrote: »

fluxduster wrote: »

I switched to a vegan diet about three years ago and it very much changed my life for the better. I am healthier now at 47 years old and feel better than I did when I was in my 20s.
My main advice is to dedicate some time to meal planning. There are a ton of online and other vegan recipe and cookbooks available. Most of the better ones will help guide you to some common staples you will want to have in your fridge and in your pantry. Initially, it can be difficult as any change can be. But trust me, in time, you will open your tastebuds up to so many new foods and tastes that you will quickly forget about the foods you have given up. As an added bonus, you will feel healthier because you will BE healthier.
In my case, since plant foods contain no cholesterol at all, my cholesterol levels dropped significantly. Once my body was purged of years of animal fat clogging my arteries, my resting heart rate dropped about 10 points as well.
I wish you well in your journey. You will benefit physically, mentally, and even spiritutally.

I'm Mostly Vegan (cut out meat and full-fat dairy, but still eat fish and non-fat dairy), and actually did it after researching studies looking at reducing serum cholesterol through diet alone (what studies there are out there - it's shameful how few there are). My LDL "bad" cholesterol went from 202 (qualified me for drugs without any other risk factors and drove me into a google-panic) to 115 in about 5 weeks. I feel the healthiest I ever have, and DH has even cut out cheese after I told him it was much easier than I expected. He used to get through pounds of the stuff.

I follow food blogs mainly. OneGreenPlanet is a really good one. Or just google "top vegan blogs". I like the pictures.. Happy Cow is a handy app - it lists restaurants. Also in apps like Yelp or OpenTable you can search for vegan-friendly restaurants.

I tend to make batches of plain beans, lentils etc in my slow cooker, which I add to meals, flavor with spices and mix with other ingredients. Other than the beans, vegan cooking is liberating since it's quick, mixes easily together and you can go crazy on spices. You'll find that you can add more fats to food than you might expect like nuts and seeds as well as oils (since you're not eating meat products). Using tofu, seitan or tempeh is a matter of taste - I like them because they're easy and soak up strong flavors quickly, and I love the flavor of tempeh just by itself. I would avoid faux meat-products like "hot dogs" - honestly, they're pretty gross and have limited nutritional benefits.

Since veganism is an ethical position on the exploitation of animals, it would be more accurate to say you're mostly on a plant-based diet.

Whatever. I stated my reasons up-front and can call how I eat whatever I choose. The OP isn't looking for reinforcement of any personal beliefs but suggestions on things like recipes, which is what I provided.