Going VEGAN, please help!
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Wow. Everyone here was so excited to bash veganism that they forgot to answer your questions. So sad!
I'm vegan, feel free to add and message me for support. Never understood why people against a lifestyle feel so moved to take time to argue on forums. MFP community forums should be for inspiring and supporting one another...but maybe I'm just an irrational vegan who is clearly losing her mind...it must be the lack of protein.
Several people, including myself, offered tips and suggestions.5 -
I was vegan diring part of my 16-year stint as a vegetarian. I liked the cookbook Vegan Vittles if you can find it. Tofu was a go-to, but I only liked it in dishes that originally had it (Korean, Thai, etc.). I ate a ton of beans, rice, homemade sourdough, vegetables, and fruit.
I was missing something, though. Despite eating plenty of calories, I was fatigued, lightheaded, and started losing my hair. I was already on a multivitamin with iron and a B12 supplement, and my doctor and I couldn't figure it out, so I went back to lacto veg, and I was fine. I say that not to scare you off -- I've known plenty of healthy vegans -- but to share my own experience.
I think everyone above has covered the problems with What the Health, so if you're going to go through with this, find some healthy vegans in person or online and learn how they eat so you hopefully don't end up with the troubles I had.6 -
KaroshiQueen wrote: »
You're right, there's nothing wrong with going vegan, if it's an educated choice, or if you have moral reasons for doing so, but to go vegan after watching a sad excuse for a documentary that is packed full of inaccuracies and lies, that is not the best decision. Don't be lazy, do some research...
It is a moral reason. My disclaimer was meant for people just like you. If you don't want to help, that's fine. But don't think for a minute that your rude comments and trying to call my bluff is going to make me feel some type of way. I don't apologize if seeing a slaughter house has completely made me not meat right now. That may change but truly I don't have to explain my desire, goals, or reasons to anyone. I am doing this I WANT TO.10 -
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Oh and just an update!! I am a few days short of 2 weeks. Still no desire to eat meat.5
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I was vegan for years a long time ago, but have two good friends that are avid 'veganeers' (no dairy, meat, honey, the whole 9 yards). They eat a lot seitan, tofu, and legumes with their vegetables.
One is a semi serious chef, and makes lots of cream sauces with raw cashews and stuff like that. I've also dabbled with tofu mousse's, pies, etc., which have all turned out great.
I personally think the processed vegan stuff is nasty (think tofurkey, and products like that), but that's just me. Keep things simple if you are starting off.
For example, make a pesto with olive oil, basil and garlic for your pasta. Use vegetables and vegetable broth seasoned with spices (garlic, ginger, green onions) and make homemade ramen (not the packaged stuff). Throw in bok choy and spinach, carrots and such.
Learn how to buy the right tofu for the right means (i.e. extra firm for stir fries and soft for desserts), learn to cook tofu the right way (tons of online resources). If you can get tofu down, then move to seitan. You can make the stuff taste amazing with the right ingredients.
Moral of the story, experiment and don't be afraid to try vegetables you never would have tried.
Thank you thank you thank you! I really appreciate the help and that you took my question seriously! Thanks! I have been eating tofu and it's growing on me. And I have not tried the processed stuff simply because even eating meat etc, I don't eat much processed food. My issue is wine
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Anti- What the Health vegan checking in. Everyone else covered the tomfoolery of the documentary, so I'll answer your question. My staples are tofu, frozen veggies, canned beans (without pork fat), sourdough bread, avocados, potatoes, and nutritional yeast. I rarely buy organic. I save my pennies for vegan ice cream.
The only vegan cookbook I recommend is Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar. For recipes online visit Oh She Glows and Hot For Food.
Thanks! It seems I have been grocery shopping a million times this week. Slowly but surely I am getting my pantry in order. I appreciate your help. My co-workers just told me to keep quinoa handy... I absolutely hate it but will try again
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TavistockToad wrote: »
On average I get between 45g- about 60g, unless I'm supplementing with shakes, then it's more.0 -
didcrywolf wrote: »Be specific
They claimed an unnamed surgeon at an unnamed hospital's unnamed P.R. person told them that the surgeon will not speak with them about dietary prevention of diseases explicitly because the hospital and the surgeon make money off surgeries that treat the resulting illnesses. That's a load of crap, even if that were the case, they would never explicitly state that as the reason.
They continually quoted the study about 50g of processed meats per day increasing your risk for colon cancer by 18%, which is not technically incorrect, but is extremely misleading. In reality, everyone has a default 5% risk of colon cancer, and the 50g of processed meats per day increases that risk to 5.9%. That 18% number that gets thrown around is straight fear mongering and is misleading.
They cited the Canadian study that compares egg consumption to cigarettes, even though that study got ripped to shreds and debunked almost immediately after it came out over 5 years ago.
The narrator spends the first half hour of the movie "proving"(in his mind) that animal products are equally as bad as cigarettes and other group 1 carcinogens like plutonium(give me a break). He then uses this as a trump card when calling different American health agencies, and when the very first person who picks up the phone at each agency(most likely a receptionist) tries to explain that they're not the proper person to ask these questions of, the narrator goes "well see here, these agencies won't even answer my questions". It's so transparent it's actually pretty embarrassing.
At one point in the movie, one of the doctors even says "carbohydrates cannot cause you to gain weight in and of themselves because your body can store them as glycogen or use the glucose in the blood stream." That is just a completely inaccurate statement and that doctor should be ashamed that he ever said it.
I didn't buy into many things in the documentary. It was the animals that bothered me. BTW, I am from the hog plant area in North Carolina so I grew up smelling pigs and watching chickens head to the slaughter (all my friends work at those plants). I can't change how it made me feel. I do however disagree with some egg/cheese myths and that's why I am teetering on the veg/vegan line... but thank you for the breakdown.3 -
I ate vegan for a month a few years ago to drop cholesterol numbers for a life insurance blood test. My staples were rice, beans, peas, nuts, vegetables, fruit, nuts, cereals and bread...1
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A vegan diet and adequate protein intake aren't incompatible, I assure you.
You don't need to treat protein as the sole preserve of people who include meat in their diet, you really don't.
As a starting point, I recommend peas, tofu, lentils, beans and soya milk. You can bump up your daily total by adding a tablespoonful/15g chia seeds to servings of vegan yogurt-alternative or to a vegan alternative to ice-cream and including mushrooms and broccoli in your cooking.
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Staples: Veggies, especially kale and broccoli. Oatmeal. Fruits, especially apples, bananas, blueberries. Potatoes. To a lesser degree would include lentils, quinoa. I eat lots of salads and soups and oatmeal.1
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Vegan for 28 years with two healthy vegan sons, one who is very into exercise and both nutrition. The second pregnancy I was vegan. One put me on to this app as medication I take for an unrelated condition has increased my weight and food amounts. I am back eating more thoughtfully and curbing cereal too. Better to make smoothies with non animal milks. Depending on what you are using the app for (gain,remain,bulk up) should determine your protein requirements.
The Vegan Society U.K. has a range of info and local groups so you can get first hand experiences of diet and often have meals together.
Yesterday I had soya, tempeh and quorn nuggets for my protein. Lentils in dahl is a favourite and tahini or tofu.
My goodness direct is a good online source and your local health food shop should have ideas of products.
I wish you well.1 -
I'm not vegan. I don't think there's anything wrong with being vegan, but I do think making the decision to be vegan based on a movie might not be the best idea...
But to answer your question about vegan recipes, any chili recipe you find could easily be made vegan. Just sub the meat for an extra can of beans or some chickpeas, use the same amount of water or vegetable broth for anything calling for beef broth.
Look up the "spicy taco chili" recipe on publix apron's site and just make it without the meat. Super easy, lots of flavor, low calorie, and no need to give up protein.
One of my favorite chili recipes is my sweet potato/black Bean recipe
You can also sub some of the tomato sauce for a can of pumpkin purée for a little bit creamier texture
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My co-workers just told me to keep quinoa handy... I absolutely hate it but will try again
I cook my quinoa in vegetable broth (the College Inn Garden Vegetable Broth is my favorite) to give it a bit of nice flavor.
I also used this recipe: http://ohsheglows.com/2011/06/20/high-protein-quinoa-almond-berry-salad/ when first trying to like quinoa.
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Anti- What the Health vegan checking in. Everyone else covered the tomfoolery of the documentary, so I'll answer your question. My staples are tofu, frozen veggies, canned beans (without pork fat), sourdough bread, avocados, potatoes, and nutritional yeast. I rarely buy organic. I save my pennies for vegan ice cream.
The only vegan cookbook I recommend is Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar. For recipes online visit Oh She Glows and Hot For Food.
Thanks! It seems I have been grocery shopping a million times this week. Slowly but surely I am getting my pantry in order. I appreciate your help. My co-workers just told me to keep quinoa handy... I absolutely hate it but will try again
I'm not vegan but I am gluten-free, and don't care for quinoa either. No reason to make yourself eat it, life's too short! There are plenty of other pseudo-grain choices out there to explore (buckwheat and wild rice for instance)
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Hi! I'm transitioning to vegan (slowly; I've been mostly vegetarian for years) and I have an open diary. So far my "staples" are oatmeal for breakfast. Still figuring the rest of it out. Feel fee to add me!0
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Anti- What the Health vegan checking in. Everyone else covered the tomfoolery of the documentary, so I'll answer your question. My staples are tofu, frozen veggies, canned beans (without pork fat), sourdough bread, avocados, potatoes, and nutritional yeast. I rarely buy organic. I save my pennies for vegan ice cream.
The only vegan cookbook I recommend is Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar. For recipes online visit Oh She Glows and Hot For Food.
I checked out the website. It looks like it has a lot of good recipes. I am trying to count calories also to loose weight. How do I figure the calorie count on these or any recipe? Thanks.0 -
Changing your diet for legitimate health reasons is a great and positive transition, but deciding to do so based upon a propaganda piece is, in a word, naive. Not trying to be too critical, but there is little other way to describe it.
The film has been the subject of continued and justified ridicule since it's release for it's braindead attempt at persuasion using tactics that would be right at home in conspiracy theory circles. It's producers clearly can't differentiate between correlation from causation, and following this up with shamefully biased sources and drawing mindbogglingly asinine conclusions from them is the icing on the cake. Not that the subject matter is unworthy of investigation and discussion, but weak and ideologically inspired drivel is not a great way to encourage honest dialogue on any subject.9 -
JustRobby1 wrote: »Changing your diet for legitimate health reasons is a great and positive transition, but deciding to do so based upon a propaganda piece is, in a word, naive. Not trying to be too critical, but there is little other way to describe it.
The film has been the subject of continued and justified ridicule since it's release for it's braindead attempt at persuasion using tactics that would be right at home in conspiracy theory circles. It's producers clearly can't differentiate between correlation from causation, and following this up with shamefully biased sources and drawing mindbogglingly asinine conclusions from them is the icing on the cake. Not that the subject matter is unworthy of investigation and discussion, but weak and ideologically inspired drivel is not a great way to encourage honest dialogue on any subject.
Good points but the movie is selling its message effectively to some. I got a call from a guy in his 70's a couple weeks ago telling me to watch the movie. For some reason when I cut out added sugar and all forms of all grains my urge to eat meat dropped like a rock and what I do eat is more likely to be fish.
I have been heavy into fish oil for over 20 years and I take supplements like Vit D3 which I will not give up and loose ground healthwise. Personally I find a down side to eating mammals when it comes to my health.9 -
JustRobby1 wrote: »Changing your diet for legitimate health reasons is a great and positive transition, but deciding to do so based upon a propaganda piece is, in a word, naive. Not trying to be too critical, but there is little other way to describe it.
So many people are criticizing the OP without reading her comments. She has a right to her feelings.
She clearly said this: "I didn't buy into many things in the documentary. It was the animals that bothered me. BTW, I am from the hog plant area in North Carolina so I grew up smelling pigs and watching chickens head to the slaughter (all my friends work at those plants). I can't change how it made me feel."
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I went vegan in the new year after trying Veganuary and loving how it made me feel, so I kept on with it
First of all you will not have a lack of protein, if you eat enough quality food. I'm a powerlifter, don't take protein supps and manage just fine.
My main staples / food choices are pretty much the same as before, but with adjustments made to switch animal products to non animal sources.
My main staples are, plant milk & spread, cereals/porridge, bread, peanut butter, jam, pasta, rice, dried red lentils, canned green lentils, black beans, chickpeas, canned tomatoes, baked beans, marmite, cashew nuts, frozen veg like peas and sweetcorn, veggie burgers, tonnes of herbs/spices (I like cooking) and lots of fresh fruit veg.
I like meals such as pasta bolognese, all types of curries/dhals, lasagne, buddha bowls (so easy when you just have random foods in) veggie burgers, mac and cheese, pizza, nut roasts, sausage casserole, tagines, pasta salads, fajitas.. I like most things.
If you liked dairy cheese prior to going vegan, learning how to make vegan cheese or cheese based sauces IMO help a lot, and you then can turn most veggie recipes into vegan. Cashew nuts are a main staple for this, plus a few other ingredients based on the recipe, it's really simple though
For recipe ideas I mostly just go online, there is far more choice than in a recipe book. However, I do really like "Vegan Food & Living" magazine (I'm in the UK, not sure where else it's available) and a few vegan cookbooks that I have are;
Thug Kitchen
Keep it Vegan
This Cheese is Nuts (vegan cheese making)
Seitan and Beyond (making "meat" out of wheat gluten)
I also have the following which are vegetarian books, but easily adaptable;
500 Ways to Cook Vegetarian
200 Veggie Feasts
Hope this helps 3 -
JustRobby1 wrote: »Changing your diet for legitimate health reasons is a great and positive transition, but deciding to do so based upon a propaganda piece is, in a word, naive. Not trying to be too critical, but there is little other way to describe it.
So many people are criticizing the OP without reading her comments. She has a right to her feelings.
She clearly said this: "I didn't buy into many things in the documentary. It was the animals that bothered me. BTW, I am from the hog plant area in North Carolina so I grew up smelling pigs and watching chickens head to the slaughter (all my friends work at those plants). I can't change how it made me feel."
Fair point, though I suppose I should I admit I tend to avoid reading long vegan related threads for the most part. For that matter, I tend to avoid Vegans in general. Past experience has taught me that far too high of a percentage tend to be political zealots who are about like the Taliban of the dietary world.
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JustRobby1 wrote: »JustRobby1 wrote: »Changing your diet for legitimate health reasons is a great and positive transition, but deciding to do so based upon a propaganda piece is, in a word, naive. Not trying to be too critical, but there is little other way to describe it.
So many people are criticizing the OP without reading her comments. She has a right to her feelings.
She clearly said this: "I didn't buy into many things in the documentary. It was the animals that bothered me. BTW, I am from the hog plant area in North Carolina so I grew up smelling pigs and watching chickens head to the slaughter (all my friends work at those plants). I can't change how it made me feel."
Fair point, though I suppose I should I admit I tend to avoid reading long vegan related threads for the most part. For that matter, I tend to avoid Vegans in general. Past experience has taught me that far too high of a percentage tend to be political zealots who are about like the Taliban of the dietary world.
Kind of like some who have tried LCHF and wound up reversing long term critical health issues. When we find a Way Of Eating that works great for us we need to keep in mind our awesome WOE may not work out well for another person. It is a great find when one finds his or her own WOE however.7 -
KaroshiQueen wrote: »
You're right, there's nothing wrong with going vegan, if it's an educated choice, or if you have moral reasons for doing so, but to go vegan after watching a sad excuse for a documentary that is packed full of inaccuracies and lies, that is not the best decision. Don't be lazy, do some research...
It is a moral reason. My disclaimer was meant for people just like you. If you don't want to help, that's fine. But don't think for a minute that your rude comments and trying to call my bluff is going to make me feel some type of way. I don't apologize if seeing a slaughter house has completely made me not meat right now. That may change but truly I don't have to explain my desire, goals, or reasons to anyone. I am doing this I WANT TO.
So, you are prepared to no longer wear wool, leather, or silk? No longer use beauty products that use beeswax and avoid most personal care products and make-up that have red dye in them? Eat no honey?
Just remember that veganism is more than not eating animals, it is a total plant based life.
If this is how you want to live, more power too you.7 -
JustRobby1 wrote: »JustRobby1 wrote: »Changing your diet for legitimate health reasons is a great and positive transition, but deciding to do so based upon a propaganda piece is, in a word, naive. Not trying to be too critical, but there is little other way to describe it.
So many people are criticizing the OP without reading her comments. She has a right to her feelings.
She clearly said this: "I didn't buy into many things in the documentary. It was the animals that bothered me. BTW, I am from the hog plant area in North Carolina so I grew up smelling pigs and watching chickens head to the slaughter (all my friends work at those plants). I can't change how it made me feel."
Fair point, though I suppose I should I admit I tend to avoid reading long vegan related threads for the most part. For that matter, I tend to avoid Vegans in general. Past experience has taught me that far too high of a percentage tend to be political zealots who are about like the Taliban of the dietary world.
Curious as to why you are in this thread then. Wouldn't you expect vegans to be present in a thread about going vegan?
Why not just let vegans and those interested in veganism give OP advice?
Those who prefer to ascribe zealotry to those they don't even know can find threads that are more to their interest.8 -
Vegans DO eat fruit
Whey powders are not vegan (Plantfusion is the best I've tried)
Many bars mentioned above are not vegan (Vega are the best I've tried)
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