Newly vegan!

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HappyHealthyHolly
HappyHealthyHolly Posts: 84 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm newly vegan & I really enjoy it!

When I'm home, things work fairly well. I'm still working out some kinks, but it feels pretty good. My biggest concern is making sure I'm eating the right foods to get the right nutrition.

Being vegan is only difficult for me when I'm out with my family or when I leave home for a few days. I'm good at taking food with me when I have time to plan, but spur of the moment eating can prove to be difficult. I know that the 'normal' kind of eating out tastes no better, if not worse than my home cooked, vegan version, but sometimes there are just not many vegan choices.

Anyway, just wanted to say hello & see if there were any other vegans out there looking for a new friend who could ask for some advice.

Thanks,
Holly

Replies

  • cheshirechic
    cheshirechic Posts: 489 Member
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    I'm not vegan but I've seen absolutely oodles of amazing blogs out there. This one isn't completely vegan, but her advice is usually sound and I love reading it:
    http://fitnessista.com/

    She has a lot of vegan and raw recipes on there. I also read this one occasionally:
    http://ohsheglows.com/

    That one is completely vegan.

    Good luck! :heart:
  • EyeCanSeeYou
    EyeCanSeeYou Posts: 23
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    vegweb.com
    I've been a vegan since I was 15, I'm 18 now.
  • GypsyWildflower
    GypsyWildflower Posts: 41
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    I have been considering going Vegan for awhile now. My doctor even recommended it not long ago, but the transition just seems so difficult, and more difficult seems to be getting my surrounding friends and family to adjust to my change. My fiance is a huge meat eater, and I admit I love dairy and eggs. But I do want the transition. Did you make the transition alone in your life?
  • sundancer1966
    sundancer1966 Posts: 478 Member
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    Hi, I have been vegetarian for over 10yrs and trying to go vegan, the only time i have slip ups is when we are at family functions, or out with family. Please feel free to add me as a friend,
  • nicothepotato
    nicothepotato Posts: 306 Member
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    I too am trying to be vegan. I keep waffling between eating dairy or not but it really bothers me to eat it. I just have trouble giving it up. I have most of my problems at restaurants when my will power is weakest. I love eating out with my vegan friends since we will always choose the vegan friendliest place.
  • VeganGal84
    VeganGal84 Posts: 938 Member
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    Hi, and welcome!!!

    I'm a vegan, too. I also have a blog, the link is in my signarture. I do have some vegan tips on there, but also feel free to ask me any questions that you may have.
  • HappyHealthyHolly
    HappyHealthyHolly Posts: 84 Member
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    Oh my gosh you all are so great!!!

    @cheshirechic Thank you so much for the info! I really, really appreciate it! :)

    @EyeCanSeeYou Congrats on your progress! And thanks so much for the info!

    @GypsyWildflower Dairy & eggs were the most difficult for me as well, but once I found alternatives, I love them! So now, when I'm home I can make almost anything that I used to make, only now it's vegan. I'll even make my vegan version when I'm with family or friends. So, being home is super easy, but being out is more of a challenge. I did make the transition alone. While my family & friends support me, none of them have the desire to be vegan. However, I've gotten my Mom & a friend of mine to try a few of my vegan substitutes, from which I've gotten positive & negative reactions. It all really depends on ones pallet & how determined they are to make the change & also if you can handle something tasting slightly different. It's really not that hard to get used to, or at least it wasn't for me. I wish you much luck in continuing your transition, it sounds like you're doing great! :)

    @sundancer1966 Great job with your progress! I definitely understand your difficulties. And I'll do that, thanks! :)

    @nicothepotato That's been the hardest part for me. And the going out of course! My family is addicted tp pizza, but I find it way to greasy for my taste. So it's usually most difficult if we go somewhere like a pizzeria where there aren't any vegan choices but a small, very plain salad, because I know that eating that is best, but won't get me very far, so then I usually get something not vegan to be sure I won't be hungry in 30 minutes. So I too love it when we go somewhere when I can have many choices. Then it's definitely not so bad. :)

    @VeganGal84 Thank you so much! I'm definitely going to be checking that out! :D
  • cupcakecarnivore
    cupcakecarnivore Posts: 267
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    I too am trying to be vegan. I keep waffling between eating dairy or not but it really bothers me to eat it. I just have trouble giving it up. I have most of my problems at restaurants when my will power is weakest. I love eating out with my vegan friends since we will always choose the vegan friendliest place.

    This is me exactly:) I keep flipping back and forth between vegetarian and vegan, but the yogurt and the cheese keep bringing me back to vegetarian....I don't eat a lot of dairy but do still eat it, and would eventually love to be completely vegan. Just finding the transition a lot harder than I thought.
  • taem
    taem Posts: 495 Member
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    Hello,

    I have also became a vegan (July 1) but I was transitioning before hand. Feel free to add me as a friend but know that I am a type 2 diabetic so I am very strict with my fruits and nuts and oils.

    The best advice I can give for newbies is to read Dr. John McDougall's Program because he explains how to live a healthy plant based, whole foods diet/lifestyle. He encourages you to eat as much as you want (of the good carbs) and explains how to exercise (which I thought was simple but didn't realize I was doing it all wrong). He also has a chapter on women's resistance towards losing fat and gives suggestions as to go about it. You can probably find it used at a bookstore or other online retailers.

    However, I do ask you look at one of his videos as he address a newly found vegan "error." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHYFOJBU434
  • HappyHealthyHolly
    HappyHealthyHolly Posts: 84 Member
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    @Cupcakecarnivore Ugh I know! I was really getting into eating a lot of yogurt before I made the switch. That was really tough for me. Now I eat Silk soy yogurt, vanilla is easier than plain. I also eat soy cheese made by Galexy, they have a lot of variety. I just use a little & find it works great. I also use vegan sour cream, cream cheese & even mayo.

    @taem Thank you so much for the information! I'm going to check that out right away. As for being diabetic, I have a family member who is also type 2 diabetic so I've been learning a lot about that as well.
  • sarahkatie28
    sarahkatie28 Posts: 58
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    I'm a vegan!
    To those of you recent vegans, welcome! I love being a vegan and I feel better and healthier now than I ever have. I can't wait for you to feel the same way. :flowerforyou:

    For those of you that are having a hard time giving up dairy, I totally understand. I still miss cheese sometimes :ohwell: To help me when I went vegan I went through my kitchen and got rid of just about everything (not everything because my husband is not vegan). As far as cheeses go, there are great substitutes out there. My favorite brand is Follow Your Heart. I love the mozzarella :heart: And the nacho cheese is fabulous on nachos. :love: Daiya is a good brand too. Both brands melt pretty well too :happy:

    For those of you that have questions on how and what you should eat, I highly reccommend Alicia Silverstone's book, The Kind Diet. This is the book that made me turn vegan. As well as my mother, and father. That's why my family gatherings are much easier, 3 out of the 6 people in my family are vegans and then we also have a vegetarian.

    Really in my opinion, as long as you are eating foods from a natural source you are going to be getting the vitamins and nutrients you need. Its very easy to be an unhealthy vegan if you eat potato chips, fried food, and vegan desserts you will not be getting what your body needs and you will also not lose any weight. Make sure that your daily diet has veggies, grains, and legumes. You will be getting the nutirents that your body needs.

    Please feel free to message or add me. I'm always here to help if any of you have questions.
  • nicothepotato
    nicothepotato Posts: 306 Member
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    What has helped me be a vegan at family gatherings is the fact that I'm a chef. I make super yummy vegan food and don't tell my very carnivorous family until after they have had some. Now they trust what I make for them. I'm still learning about getting all my nutrients from normal food but I do a protein shake that has complete nutrition while I'm learning. I bake a lot and I started a blog with what I'm trying out. I usually try to go healthy with very little fat and sugar but I splurge sometimes while keeping it vegan. you can check out the recipes at knockoutknicko.blogspot.com I forgot to mention that earlier.
  • HappyHealthyHolly
    HappyHealthyHolly Posts: 84 Member
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    @textbelle28 Thank you! Thank you! I also love those cheeses, although I haven't found the nacho one yet. Finding the vegan versions of dairy has helped me a lot! In the beginning I ate a ton of rice & beans! :( I love them, but it was getting so dull & boring. Then I found vegan versions of dairy & some fun stuff like chicken-less nuggets (which I love!) & that has made being vegan the fun, yummy, wonderful, good feeling thing I knew it would be! I just needed some variety is all.

    Alicia's book is also what gave me my final push to becoming vegan. I love it!

    @nicothepotato I keep meaning to check out your blog, but I keep jumping to things & getting distracted though. I'm determined to get there! I think today will be a huge reading day!!! :) Thanks for the info!
  • ppiinnkkmmoonn
    ppiinnkkmmoonn Posts: 418
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    to bad i cant find any Pescetarian friends lonely world for me lol been at it for 3 years and still.....................oh well:laugh:
  • HappyHealthyHolly
    HappyHealthyHolly Posts: 84 Member
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    @pinkmoon Thank you for teaching me something new today! I had no idea there was such a thing, just never occurred to me. There must be more out there, hmm...
  • ppiinnkkmmoonn
    ppiinnkkmmoonn Posts: 418
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    yep but i find very few if any that eat that way!:smile:
  • catecn
    catecn Posts: 84
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    Hi! i am new to this site and vegan! i would love any help you guys can give me in the best way to go about being vegan and losing weight (ive been vegan for 6 years)
  • HappyHealthyHolly
    HappyHealthyHolly Posts: 84 Member
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    @pinkmoon Well at least we've very good at mingling among our different eating styles. :-D

    @catecn Welcome! I'm new to the community part of this site, but I'm loving it more each day! The support is absolutely wonderful! I've been vegan since the middle of May, but I'm getting much more serious now. :) I'm still learning about certain foods, such as tofu, but I'm really enjoying everything that I already know! Now we can all help each other! So yay!!!

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