Open Diaries: Vegan/Plant-Based Diets

I've been wfpb for over 10 years. If you have specific questions just shoot.
Unfortunately I don't have a diary because I don't really weigh anything.
If you keep a variety of food in your daily eating you don't have to worry about nutrients. Just remember that meat is very high caloric compared to vegetable. You can't replace meat and cheese with just a salad. You need to look at caloric intake (beans, starches and grains are your best friends calorie wise and nutrition wise).

KingsGirl4 wrote: »

AndreaTamira wrote: »

I am always happy to add new friends, am vegan and my diary is open to friends. That said, I am not sure how much anybody could learn from my diary except about my habits (oatmeal nearly every breakfast, far too much coffee throughout the day).

What do you have problems with? Just finding ideas for food or hitting specific nutrition goals?

It would be helpful to see an overall daily meal plan. Of course it will meet different nutritional needs for everyone, but it would give the big picture of a sustainable diet. I am well aware of plant-based meals but haven't been able to successfully put together a full day's worth of meals that meat my nutritional needs.

Consider https://www.eatthismuch.com/. You give it a calorie level and an eating style (vegan is an option), and it spits out a daily plan, with recipes. Basic functions are free, but there are also premium features.

I wouldn't consider it, because I'm very structure averse**; also, I've been vegetarian (plant-heavy, but not vegan/WFPB) for almost 47 years, so I don't really need the tutorial effect of example meals anymore. However, I've run it to see a few days meal plans, and they look pretty sane to me.

If you're new to veganism/WFPB, this is a really good source of sound nutritional information: https://veganhealth.org/

There's a lot of nonsense spread in the less science-based wing of the vegan advocacy blogosphere, and that can be hard to sort out from good advice at first. In general, beware of any site that tells you that you don't need as much protein as an omnivore does, that there's no reason to pay attention to nutritional details because plants are so, so good, or that sort of thing. At best, it's wishful thinking.

** I did this to lose weight, and maintain the loss:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636388/free-customized-personal-weight-loss-eating-plan-not-spam-or-mlm/p1

. . . but it's very anti-structured, doesn't have meal suggestions, isn't veg-specific, etc., so it isn't at all what you're looking for.

Oh, and: There are also some food threads over in the "Happy Herbivores" MFP group (for vegans/vegetarians), if you haven't checked that out. The group can be joined here:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/45-happy-herbivores

A recent thread there about meals is this one:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10780049/photo-time#latest

. . . but there are others, too.

The problem I always had with a vegan diet was that all the sites that promote it tout "if this weightlifter/bodybuilder/endurance athlete can get enough protein you can too". Except those people were all eating massive amounts of calories and weren't trying to lose weight. Trying to keep calories in a deficit and protein high was near impossible for me - so went back to eating wild caught fish and eggs.