Going vegan :/

lightbluebear
lightbluebear Posts: 21 Member
in Introduce Yourself
My parents thought me being vegetarian was such a huge problem. Now I told them today I don't want eat dairy or eggs. I want to lose weight. My family loves comfort food... I told my mom I gained 20 pounds in 2 years. She told me well one time you ate two frozen meals. Blaming me for gaining weight like always... My family is all overweight except my older brother. They don't even try to improve our diet of pizzas, pastas, and eating out... They think taking a walk will help us lose weight. If we don't eat healthy how will we ever lose weight? I am going vegan to avoid the pizza, desserts, and cheesy grossness. If anyone can relate going vegan, vegetarian or same family situation send a friend request. I love to talk about it more.

Replies

  • CafeRacer808
    CafeRacer808 Posts: 2,396 Member
    edited February 2017
    Are you going vegan because you genuinely don't like meat, fish, eggs and dairy? Or is it only because you're trying to lose weight? Also, how old are you?
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    edited February 2017
    This content has been removed.
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    All of the above.

    OP, I was vegetarian for 4 years and was also at the highest weight I've ever been. I wasn't vegetarian for weight loss, though.

    I wasn't counting calories.

    Weight loss is all about calories.
  • kewkat
    kewkat Posts: 2 Member
    Hi I am vegan and have been since August 2016, so on the new side. It is easy to eat bad as a vegan as well you can do it wrong. MyFitnessPal pal is amazing for tracking calories so you're on the right step. Being vegan however will be difficult for you when there isn't a support system. I would suggest sitting down with your parents and watching a few documentaries: Cowspiracy (on Netflix), forks over knives (on Netflix), Fat sick and nearly dead (on Netflix) and Earthlings (free on YouTube). This may help not only you have a solid reason for going vegan but also may help them understand that their own diets have impacts on not just themselves.

    Now actually eating healthy on vegan is possible. If you can get your parents to purchase extra veggies (broccoli, peppers, garlic, onions, carrots), fruits, beans, and tofu. I am very poor and I cannot afford meat anymore anyway, I do not struggle to get protein. Look up Thug kitchen recipes and start learning how to cook if you're old enough to do so. If you do vegan you will need a B12 supplement. The way our food is harvested it's removed from it, animals eat the b12 and that's how a lot of people absorb it. However that doesn't mean that vegan is unhealthy. People that consume meat have been known to have b12 deficiencies and people over 50 are advised to take a supplement. The holy grail of vegan cooking is an ingredient called Nutritional Yeast, healthfood stores usually carry this.

    I hope this was some help, if your parents are not receptive you may have to wait until you're on your own. At least try putting those documentaries on and that might help.
  • lightbluebear
    lightbluebear Posts: 21 Member
    Hey all thanks for the advice! Also I been vegetarian for almost a year. I done it mostly for the animals. I try to make a quick post so sorry for the confusion. I am still in highschool to answer the age question. My family just doesn't seem to care what they are eating. Like you only live once kind of mindset. So I been watching tons of vegan YouTube channels and got inspired to be vegetarian. My goal was always going vegan. I been doing okay on counting the calories. Really helps you eat less. I will try to let my mom understand more why I want to be vegan. I am just scared she will get mad at me or refuse to watch the shows @kewkat. Thanks again for the amazing replies! Really has cheered me up.
  • attiyaabbas
    attiyaabbas Posts: 5 Member
    Feel free to add me,my family eats very unhealthily too and they mock me generally for my no nonsense approach to food and nutrition...I have recently been considering veganism too
  • lightbluebear
    lightbluebear Posts: 21 Member
    attiyaabbas wrote: »
    Feel free to add me,my family eats very unhealthily too and they mock me generally for my no nonsense approach to food and nutrition...I have recently been considering veganism too

    I sent a request :). Hopefully we can support each other through it all. Thanks again. I always thought I was alone on the family support situation. You think they be happier that you want to eat healthier :/
  • kewkat
    kewkat Posts: 2 Member
    Feel free to add me as well, I share the recipes I make so my husband can easily log them. I think the best thing for you to do is start learning how to cook. You can YouTube videos on several different things from boiling water to chopping veggies.

    I understand the fear though of parents. I actually have blocked all contact with mine due to their abuse and toxic behaviour. Like I said if they are not supportive maybe wait on going vegan until you are able to be on your own. For now just count your calories and maybe just reduce your amount of dairy that you yourself add to things. If they are going to cause you too much grief for doing the right thing then just lay low about it. I found when I started out that the vegan subreddit was very helpful.
  • Barbs2222
    Barbs2222 Posts: 433 Member
    My daughter is vegetarian but was vegan for about a year. I find it pretty easy to make food for her now but when she went vegan she started cooking a lot of her own meals. I don't feed my family a lot of meat but the meat we do use comes from a farmer that I know treats the animals well. You can add me if you want, I have a few recipes you might like. Good luck on going vegan :smiley:
  • lightbluebear
    lightbluebear Posts: 21 Member
    Aww thanks @Barbs2222 and @kewkat. I think I will try to go vegan as much possible. I sent friend requests. I love to get advice and some recipes too. I think learning to cook will really help especially when going to college. I was on this app before but gave up with the little support I got. I feel I got a ton of support now
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    I'm vegetarian, but I make a lot of vegan recipes. (Mostly, I bake with eggs and I eat dairy I don't need to cook, like yogurt and string cheese.) My diary is open. Friend if you like!
  • HeliumIsNoble
    HeliumIsNoble Posts: 1,213 Member
    What vegetables do you like, what style of cookery do you like to eat and what vegetables are cheap for you locally?
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,086 Member
    lightbluebear wrote: »
    My parents thought me being vegetarian was such a huge problem. Now I told them today I don't want eat dairy or eggs. I want to lose weight. My family loves comfort food... I told my mom I gained 20 pounds in 2 years. She told me well one time you ate two frozen meals. Blaming me for gaining weight like always... My family is all overweight except my older brother. They don't even try to improve our diet of pizzas, pastas, and eating out... They think taking a walk will help us lose weight. If we don't eat healthy how will we ever lose weight? I am going vegan to avoid the pizza, desserts, and che esy grossness. If anyone can relate going vegan, vegetarian or same family situation send a friend request. I love to talk about it more.
    lightbluebear wrote: »
    Hey all thanks for the advice! Also I been vegetarian for almost a year. I done it mostly for the animals. I try to make a quick post so sorry for the confusion. I am still in highschool to answer the age question. My family just doesn't seem to care what they are eating. Like you only live once kind of mindset. So I been watching tons of vegan YouTube channels and got inspired to be vegetarian. My goal was always going vegan. I been doing okay on counting the calories. Really helps you eat less. I will try to let my mom understand more why I want to be vegan. I am just scared she will get mad at me or refuse to watch the shows @kewkat. Thanks again for the amazing replies! Really has cheered me up.

    As a teenager you're growing from a child to an adult. You're supposed to be gaining weight. What is your height and weight?

    Also, I assume this is a reference to the most recent two years, during one of which you have been vegetarian, so it should be clear to you that it's not what you eat that determines whether you lose weight, but how much (in terms of calories). So you and your family, like everyone ever, will lose weight by eating fewer calories than your body uses.

    And you may have been doing OK on counting calories, but you haven't been doing OK on actually consuming fewer calories than your body uses if you've gained 20 lbs in two years. And if you think that you have been consuming fewer calories than your body uses and that you're only gaining weight because you have been eating cheese and pasta, then you haven't been doing OK on counting calories.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,086 Member
    lightbluebear wrote: »
    My parents thought me being vegetarian was such a huge problem. Now I told them today I don't want eat dairy or eggs. I want to lose weight. My family loves comfort food... I told my mom I gained 20 pounds in 2 years. She told me well one time you ate two frozen meals. Blaming me for gaining weight like always... My family is all overweight except my older brother. They don't even try to improve our diet of pizzas, pastas, and eating out... They think taking a walk will help us lose weight. If we don't eat healthy how will we ever lose weight? I am going vegan to avoid the pizza, desserts, and cheesy grossness. If anyone can relate going vegan, vegetarian or same family situation send a friend request. I love to talk about it more.
    lightbluebear wrote: »
    Hey all thanks for the advice! Also I been vegetarian for almost a year. I done it mostly for the animals. I try to make a quick post so sorry for the confusion. I am still in highschool to answer the age question. My family just doesn't seem to care what they are eating. Like you only live once kind of mindset. So I been watching tons of vegan YouTube channels and got inspired to be vegetarian. My goal was always going vegan. I been doing okay on counting the calories. Really helps you eat less. I will try to let my mom understand more why I want to be vegan. I am just scared she will get mad at me or refuse to watch the shows @kewkat. Thanks again for the amazing replies! Really has cheered me up.

    You are a teenager, so your body is still changing from child to adult. You're supposed to be gaining weight. What is your height and weight? (And if you're not seriously overweight or obese, have you consulted a doctor as to whether it is appropriate for you to be gaining weight.)

    Also, when you say you've gained 20 lbs in two years, you're referring to the most recent two years, during one which you have been vegetarian, so you should have realized that losing weight isn't about what you eat, but how much (in terms of calories). You and your family, like everyone everywhere ever, will lose weight if you consume fewer calories than your body uses.

    So, you may be doing OK counting calories, but you're not doing OK eating fewer calories than your body burns. If you think that you have been eating fewer calories than your body burns, and that you're only gaining weight because you're eating cheese and pasta, then you haven't been doing OK counting calories.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,086 Member
    Apologies for the double post. It didn't show up for me the first time I posted.
  • lightbluebear
    lightbluebear Posts: 21 Member
    @lynn_glenmount Let me makes this clear. I meant by counting calories was restarting this app again. To give it another try. I have not counted my calories every day for over a year. Also I'm done growing in height. Stuck at 5'8". I am 176 pounds. I check the BMI says overweight. Sure don't trust the BMI is what some people say. When a girl looks at herself in the mirror, and she wishes she could wear a swimsuit to feel good or just better? I never wore a crop top, bikini or any of that. Sure you can get plus size but that doesn't change the fact I'm overweight. Look as I said before I didn't give a lot of description to my first post. The food my family chooses to feed me has never ever changed being vegetarian had not helped me avoid the pizzas, ravioli and all the other things. I always been gaining weight. I understand people gain weight for growth. Hopefully you understand now :)
  • HeliumIsNoble
    HeliumIsNoble Posts: 1,213 Member
    edited February 2017
    Ease into this. It's one thing losing weight, it's another thing learning to cook and it's another thing overhauling your diet to exclude major ingredients. Doing ALL of those things at once is where all the stories that go, "I knew a girl who went vegan. She got really pale and ill looking and then she fainted on campus. Now she eats meat for her health" come from.


    For the first two months or so, work out what the appropriate amount of calories would be for your height, age and activity level if you were ALREADY a healthy weight (say, BMI 24- I'm picking there because I think it's a good, achievable place to start from) and wanted to stay at that weight. Then use MFP to keep to that, while being vegan. You are probably eating a bit too much now, so that will probably still be a drop in calories and you might well lose weight on doing that alone.

    While you're doing all that, start moving more. Skipping is a good activity if you only want to exercise at home. Also, for the love of small fluffy animals, watch the protein total per day as well as the calorie.

    After two months, review how difficult you're finding your diet and whether you've started losing weight before you change your targets.

    I'm saying all this because I eat an almost entirely vegan diet and have done all my adult life. It's possible to be fit and healthy on a vegan diet, but new vegans do fall into the trap of just eating pasta-without-cheese because it's easy, familiar and cheap. Don't do this!
  • lightbluebear
    lightbluebear Posts: 21 Member
    @HeliumIsNoble Thank you for the advice. I need to find more recipes and learn to cook. I will focus on the proteins. My mom already makes me take iron pills and B12 and daily vitamins. I found gelatin in my kid vitamins :'( gross. I will look in on the BMI thing you mentioned. Never thought of that. Thanks for the advice it really helps.

    @physiquelore I am doing it more for the moral reasons even though it sounds like want to get rid of the cheesy food and blah blah. Watching the videos on YouTube it really opened my eyes to it after a few times. Just seeing an animal suffer horrified me and made me vegetarian after a week. I saw some Freelee Banana Girl's videos (she is a bit crazy but still like her). Don't worry I won't do her diet but watching her I noticed she said things that I could relate.

    I went vegetarian on my birthday. It was hard for my parents to grasp on feeding me differently. I knew I couldn't just jump to the top of mountain telling them I want to be vegan. Vegetarian was really hard especially at school. Food at school is just not good and never been healthy. So I think the cooking will help on that issue. My parents eat out quite a bit. I already failed after eating the asparagus I bought had the taste of butter. I felt bad about it. I ate it all. I remember tasting a piece of meat because Taco Bell gave me a beef burrito. It was so revolting. I forced myself to swallow because I was with my parents and I pushed it away. (I know this paragraph is really random.)
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    Going veg forced me to learn to cook. See, my dad won't eat chicken. He says it goes back to when he was a boy and his mother took him shopping. At that time, you selected your dinner-to-be while it was still clucking. He watched and refused to eat chicken from that time onward. My mom doesn't eat much red meat. She prefers chicken for health reasons. I have one sister who was allergic to 90% of the food on the planet and one allergic to 50% of the food on the planet (they outgrew some of this as they grew up). Mom got used to preparing beef and chicken every week and we kids got to choose. (All of us except my youngest sister, who is actually allergic to chicken.)

    So, home I come, the one person with no food issues beyond a distaste for green veggies boiled to mush and announces, "I'm going vegetarian."

    Mom's reaction: "I'm not making a third menu. You don't want to eat what I'm serving? You cook."

    Challenge accepted. That was almost 26 years ago and I'm still at it.
  • HeliumIsNoble
    HeliumIsNoble Posts: 1,213 Member
    edited February 2017
    Aaaargh, Freelee. *shudders*

    Please do not do her diet! I was brought up in a meat-free household and she eats more bananas in a week than I have done in 30 FREAKING YEARS.

    There are gelatine-free multi-vits around by the way.
  • lightbluebear
    lightbluebear Posts: 21 Member
    @physiquelore I know she is wrong on so many things. I like her mostly just to keep me motivated on being vegan/vegetarian. I saw the animals that suffer and I didn't want to eat them no longer. Not because I thought it benefit my health but because the animal suffer a death and all it's life. I watch other vegan YouTube channels too. I watch them just to keep doing it. I love reading the comments on the videos hearing stories of people as well. After watching the egg industry and the dairy industry videos it made me feel bad I kept eating it. I felt my vegetarianism wasn't enough to help for these animals. Also I got a car with no leather seats. It was kind of hard because this car is from 2008 and about 80% that were selling had leather. I don't wear make up but if I buy any I will make sure it is not tested on animals and don't use animal products in it. Lots of looking up on Google but it will make me feel a lot better inside that I am doing my best to avoid these products that use animals. I care about the animals. I have a dog. I see these animals as him sometimes. I wouldn't want him to suffer what these animals have to suffer through too.

    @estherdragonbat This story is really touching. Really didn't know someone could be allergic to chicken. I will figure out ways to cook for myself once my family goes grocery shopping and I have a list.
  • lightbluebear
    lightbluebear Posts: 21 Member
    HeliumIsNoble wrote: »
    Aaaargh, Freelee. *shudders*

    Please do not do her diet! I was brought up in a meat-free household and she eats more bananas in a week than I have done in 30 FREAKING YEARS.

    Don't worry I won't :D She is entertaining in her crazy weird ways. I promise I won't buy her book or drink her smoothies with 10 bananas in it! Lol
  • UltraVegRunnerBabe
    UltraVegRunnerBabe Posts: 163 Member
    lightbluebear wrote: »
    My parents thought me being vegetarian was such a huge problem. Now I told them today I don't want eat dairy or eggs. I want to lose weight. My family loves comfort food... I told my mom I gained 20 pounds in 2 years. She told me well one time you ate two frozen meals. Blaming me for gaining weight like always... My family is all overweight except my older brother. They don't even try to improve our diet of pizzas, pastas, and eating out... They think taking a walk will help us lose weight. If we don't eat healthy how will we ever lose weight? I am going vegan to avoid the pizza, desserts, and cheesy grossness. If anyone can relate going vegan, vegetarian or same family situation send a friend request. I love to talk about it more.

    I went vegan for the same reasons, because I wanted to avoid icecream and pizza, but my dad bought be vegan icecream everyday and I was so excited to try it that I gained 10 lbs in a month. Then I decided to educate myself more and go whole-foods RT4 and I currently don't eat anything with salt or oil, I'm 20+ lbs lighter and happier...
  • rakeshuky
    rakeshuky Posts: 3 Member
    I started to read this book Thrive: The vegan nutrition guide its really very informative and its helping me with so many options and also information about Stress and stuff.

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