Being a Vegan with MFP

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BYRobinson777
BYRobinson777 Posts: 2 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I wanted to know if there are settings for being a vegan or vegetarian since the calorie intake can be different than someone who eats meat?

Replies

  • snowyreynolds
    snowyreynolds Posts: 8 Member
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    OliveGirl128 wrote: »
    snowyreynolds wrote: »
    Hi there. Im only guessing but are you new at the vegan thing? I only ask because Im going vegan too and i don't know alot about it either and these are the type of questions I may want answered too. I want to give it a good go because I want to have a clean diet, be more considerate to my carbon print and respect all living things. I'm just saying this, because it only takes a single word like the one @OliveGirl128 said to make you feel small. Im sure that there are many vegans who know exactly what they are doing, but I don't think its right to make anyone who is willing to make a change for the better, feel belittled. And I think that if you are going to make a single stated comment like that, you should back it up instead of leaving it open so that someone new to it, like me, feels we have no business trying to better ourselves by gong vegan.

    When someone posts something here that does not make sense, clarification will be asked for. I could have typed out a long winded request for the Op to explain what they meant by their op, since what they posted doesn't make sense, but really, 'what' does the job and wastes less of my time.

    If you want "clarification" for something, the word "what" followed by a question mark doesn't reflect you may be able/willing to help. When you don't know a lot about something you ask questions rather than go about it blindly. Even if it didn't make sense, would it not have been helpful to ask her to be more specific, rather than to reply in a condescending way?

    I would think that vegans would want to encourage and empower other fellow vegans and give as much consideration to those who are try to understand how to do so on this site rather than act like they are a waste of your time.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
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    snowyreynolds wrote: »
    OliveGirl128 wrote: »
    snowyreynolds wrote: »
    Hi there. Im only guessing but are you new at the vegan thing? I only ask because Im going vegan too and i don't know alot about it either and these are the type of questions I may want answered too. I want to give it a good go because I want to have a clean diet, be more considerate to my carbon print and respect all living things. I'm just saying this, because it only takes a single word like the one @OliveGirl128 said to make you feel small. Im sure that there are many vegans who know exactly what they are doing, but I don't think its right to make anyone who is willing to make a change for the better, feel belittled. And I think that if you are going to make a single stated comment like that, you should back it up instead of leaving it open so that someone new to it, like me, feels we have no business trying to better ourselves by gong vegan.

    When someone posts something here that does not make sense, clarification will be asked for. I could have typed out a long winded request for the Op to explain what they meant by their op, since what they posted doesn't make sense, but really, 'what' does the job and wastes less of my time.

    If you want "clarification" for something, the word "what" followed by a question mark doesn't reflect you may be able/willing to help. When you don't know a lot about something you ask questions rather than go about it blindly. Even if it didn't make sense, would it not have been helpful to ask her to be more specific, rather than to reply in a condescending way?

    I would think that vegans would want to encourage and empower other fellow vegans and give as much consideration to those who are try to understand how to do so on this site rather than act like they are a waste of your time.

    @janejellyroll is a vegan and can provide good advice...but the OP's post made no sense - so what? is an acceptable form of response
  • Zinka61
    Zinka61 Posts: 563 Member
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    The calorie requirements are not different for vegans, but I find my carbs are consistently over the goal MFP sets for me. I simply don't worry about it. I don't log for carbs anyway--You can change the nutrients you log for in "settings". At the moment, I'm watching my protein, iron, calcium, potassium, and vitamin C intake. In order to meet my nutrient goals, I do minimize added sugars and empty calories. That's really all it takes. Works just fine!
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
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    what on earth are you talking about? energy is energy whether it comes from plants or from animals.

    I highly recommend you learn as much as you can about calories, macronutrient, and micronutrition so that you can actually eat a nutritionally adequate vegan diet.
  • OliveGirl128
    OliveGirl128 Posts: 801 Member
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    Cat3141 wrote: »
    As others have said, calorie needs are not different for vegetarians and vegans. How you meet those needs is different, but that is a different issue.

    OP and @snowyreynolds, I strongly recommend getting reliable information on vegan nutrition from registered dietitians (i.e. experts in nutrition). Good, well researched nutrition information is important, especially since there is a lot of woo and crap out there about vegan diets. The books Vegan for Life by Messina and Norris, and Becoming Vegan by Davis and Melina (look for the Comprehensive Edition, the older versions are somewhat out of date) are both good resources. You can also check veganhealth.org for some basics.

    Messina is awesome-love her website!
    http://www.theveganrd.com/
  • skymningen
    skymningen Posts: 532 Member
    edited August 2017
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    snowyreynolds wrote: »
    Hi there. Im only guessing but are you new at the vegan thing? I only ask because Im going vegan too and i don't know alot about it either and these are the type of questions I may want answered too. I want to give it a good go because I want to have a clean diet, be more considerate to my carbon print and respect all living things. I'm just saying this, because it only takes a single word like the one @OliveGirl128 said to make you feel small. Im sure that there are many vegans who know exactly what they are doing, but I don't think its right to make anyone who is willing to make a change for the better, feel belittled. And I think that if you are going to make a single stated comment like that, you should back it up instead of leaving it open so that someone new to it, like me, feels we have no business trying to better ourselves by gong vegan.

    So if she would have asked "Why?" or "How?", would it have been more or less offensive? I do not exactly see what is belittling in a question word. She was not saying anything about something the OP stated or about OP. She was asking a question in the most neutral way possible.
    You, on the other hand, were derailing the thread somewhat, by requesting people to tiptoe around your nerve endings and making it look like the OP should feel hurt by interpreting a lot into one neutral word and the supposed state of the nervous strength of the OP. Which I actually find kind of belittling.

    OP: You might have confused calorie intake with nutrients. It is possible to set up the percentages of macronutrients you want to track, as well as goals for other nutrients you might want to track (as vitamin B12 or omega-3 fatty acids) . Unfortunately, not all of them at once can be shown in your diary view at the same time.
  • JustinAnimal
    JustinAnimal Posts: 1,335 Member
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    A little off-topic, but I wouldn't mind some vegan friends. If anyone cares to talk, especially about recipes and such, I'm game. For the record, I'm an incredibly half-assed vegan, but I'm doing pretty well so far (almost no meat, but when it happens it's typically line-caught seafood; very few dairy products and eggs; I don't care whatsoever to eat vegan baked goods).
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    skymningen wrote: »
    snowyreynolds wrote: »
    Hi there. Im only guessing but are you new at the vegan thing? I only ask because Im going vegan too and i don't know alot about it either and these are the type of questions I may want answered too. I want to give it a good go because I want to have a clean diet, be more considerate to my carbon print and respect all living things. I'm just saying this, because it only takes a single word like the one @OliveGirl128 said to make you feel small. Im sure that there are many vegans who know exactly what they are doing, but I don't think its right to make anyone who is willing to make a change for the better, feel belittled. And I think that if you are going to make a single stated comment like that, you should back it up instead of leaving it open so that someone new to it, like me, feels we have no business trying to better ourselves by gong vegan.

    So if she would have asked "Why?" or "How?", would it have been more or less offensive? I do not exactly see what is belittling in a question word. She was not saying anything about something the OP stated or about OP. She was asking a question in the most neutral way possible.
    You, on the other hand, were derailing the thread somewhat, by requesting people to tiptoe around your nerve endings and making it look like the OP should feel hurt by interpreting a lot into one neutral word and the supposed state of the nervous strength of the OP. Which I actually find kind of belittling.

    OP: You might have confused calorie intake with nutrients. It is possible to set up the percentages of macronutrients you want to track, as well as goals for other nutrients you might want to track (as vitamin B12 or omega-3 fatty acids) . Unfortunately, not all of them at once can be shown in your diary view at the same time.

    Unfortunately, MFP isn't set up to track Vitamin B12 or Omega-3s. If vegans (or anyone) are interested in tracking these, they'd have to use a different site (like Cronometer).

    You can customize MFP to show things like iron, fiber, or calcium.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,645 Member
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    Another vote (from someone with 43 years as a vegetarian, though not vegan) that your caloric and nutritional needs are no different as a vegan, vegetarian or omnivore. General solid advice nutrition here on MFP, such as that in the "most helpful posts" section, should apply to you, as it does to others. And @janejellyroll always gives good, science-based, experienced vegan advice.

    Sometimes people adopt a particular way of eating, such as low carb, that allows for a healthy balanced way of eating - i.e., that follows the important nutritional rules - but adds some extra rules about macronutrients that help them personally feel better or more satiated.

    Veganism's extra rules affect specific food choices, but not macronutrient balance requirements. You do need to pay more attention to getting certain nutrients (like B12 or Omega-3s, among others) but that's not because vegans require more, but just that they're less common in vegan foods.

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