Hello everyone!

I have been plant-based since November 1st of this year. I do not call myself vegan, because I eat honey and I have a leather wallet in my back pocket. I understand that both of these would be a big "no-no", so I try and be respectful.

I didn't come in from the ethical side, I came in because of health issues and concerns about my heart.

I've had a pretty awesome two months as I have lost 42lbs since my transition!

I've been able to intensify my workouts as my respiration is completely different now. I no longer snore at night (happened day 5) and my post workout recovery time has shrunk dramatically (think deeper sleep has a lot to do with this)

I'm a Forks Over Knives guy, so if anyone else is on a similar path, please add me!

Started out at 401lbs. Will get to 200lbs. 1/2.

Happy New Year!

Most of my life I've been either vegetarian/vegan/fruitarian, but not wise about my food choices. The last couple of years my naturopath suggested I eat animal protein and very low carbs to help with Hashimoto's, a thyroid condition where the body attacks the thyroid gland. I've tried it, lost some weight only to gain it back, and hate eating eggs, fish, & poultry. It doesn't feel good, doesn't feel right, and the thought of what I'm doing makes me gag. Today I've decided to try a different approach -- going back to being as close to vegan as possible. This time I want to be smart about it. I found Garden of Life Raw Organic Protein Powder, which is a vegan, gluten free (I'm allergic to gluten), nut free (also allergic), low carb (because all the vegetables, grains and legumes are sprouted), raw protein source that I find actually really tasty. (Probably old hat to all of you). I'm adding a large variety of veggies, a bit of quinoa and legumes (to add to my fiber intake), and lower-sugar fruit. Already I feel so much better, mostly because I feel I'm honoring who I am as well as the planet, especially if I stick with organic foods. Intuitively, I feel that I'll be healthier in the long run, especially if I can keep my protein up, make sure I get B12, and get good exercise.

I'd really like to show my doctor that Hashimoto's can be addressed positively with a healthy, plant-based diet. Hope it works!

I'm happy to be a part of this group!

Hi everyone! I am a new vegan- as of Jan 1, 2012 but have been a vegetarian for much longer. I am a clear example that a vegetarian diet can still produce obesity. Cheese, dairy were my favourite fall backs. However, after watching and reading about nutrition and becoming aware of the fall backs of modern day farming- I decided to take the leap. When I look back over the last 30 days or so, I notice that most of my cooking and eating was slowing moving over into a vegan diet. I continue to educate myself on the best food choices available, and actually Forks over Knives is on my tv to watch today! ( I noticed a comment or 2 about that documentary)

I like the recipes I have come across on here and decided to join the group.

My name is Brandie,I decide to join the 21 day kickstart for veganism.I am tired of feeling lousy all the time my doctor has told me I am on the cusp of being diabetic so we both decided this would be great for me.I am looking forward to some recipes and support.I dont get much with my family and friends.

Hey all!

My name is Lindsey and I'm newly vegan. I was vegetarian for 8 years, fell off the wagon, and picked it up again vegan. I made the choice for my health and feel so much better when I follow a vegan diet. Unfortunately, I'm not completely strict yet. For example, at my Grandma's house I will still eat what she makes even if I would prefer not to out of respect for my family. I'm new to the MFP community, so I'm excited to learn from and share with all of you!

im stephanie. vegan for 7 years and have a 3 year old that is vegan and had an entire vegan pregnancy. i love throwing everything together to make vegan versions of all my fav foods. i did it for the animals. after i saw what had really happened to them, and as naive as it sounds, i thought they euthanized the animals, like cats and dogs, and not do what they actually do to them. hubby explained and that was that. i work at whole foods market, and personally i am a food snob. haha. i only eat local items when i can, items that have no crap, artifical anything and words i cant pronounce. i love also helping people that are vegan find websites and items and recipes that help them make veganism a lot easier/healthier. nice to meet you all. the extended version of my earlier post. haha. and yes, whole foods discount is at least 20% off. the healthier you are, the more discount up to 30% off.

Hi, I am Simone and I eat vegan (again) since Jan 2nd of this year. I've been vegetarian for the past two years for ethical reasons and I am trying to stick to vegan eating for good this time around. Last year I gave up after vacations which made it hard to stick to vegan food. Hopefully, I'll be able to pull it off for good this time around.

The biggest reason for the change has been my health. I am borderline obese and can not continue that way. Vegetarian diet was not weight friendly for me as most of my foods contained plenty of cheese.

Amazon suggested "The Get Healthy, Go Vegan" cookbook from Dr. Neil Barnard over a year ago and I decided to buy it and try it out. I was desperate for some change but did not have the self control to stick with eating less and/or more healthy.

I am always in need of encouragement, so a friend suggested MFP to me. I am not really into counting calories but I am now using this in addition to eating better to keep my motivation up.

Hello, I'm from Pa, and have been trying to eat the vegetarian way since November 2011. I've faultered a bit here and there but I have a lot of weight to lose and my husband has weight and bad medical problems to overcome as well. Our biggest obsticle seems to be my husbands digestive system not taking to kindly to vegy staples such as onions ,any green vegys, melons cabbage and the like.
Even so he's willing to try and sees that fresh vegys are the healthiest way to go. anyway I'm constantly looking for very basic recipes that he can tolerate. My friend Sandy just joined this site and sent me an invite so here I am!1

Hi everyone, I'm a greedy vegan based in the UK and have had an interesting journey to a vegan diet; in the late 1980's I turned vegetarian (decision based purely on animal welfare issues and a lack of access to either organic or free range meat) and then had probably 5 years of a worse diet than I had before due to a) my inability to cook and b) poor food choices - too much dairy/wheat etc and lack of exercise and as a result gained weight. In the 1990's I started to eat fish due to cravings but stopped eating fish last year. My diet has improved over those early years of vegetarianism as I am a keen cook and love finding new recipies. Last year a sea change started to occur to me, I stopped drinking milk and turned to soya, stopped buying 'processed' vegan foods and fell in love with my kitchen again. I feel so much better and have so much more energy following a vegan diet and now follow this 99% of the time. My fave cookbooks at the moment are VWAV and Veganomicon. I try to purchase as much as I can from local shops and markets. Some of you have mentioned the film 'Forks Over Knives', not sure this is out yet in the UK to rent - if anyone knows do let me know!

Wishing you all good health.

Hi Everyone,

I was a vegetarian for about 3yrs in college but eventually peer pressure and laziness sunk in and I fell off the wagon. About 3 months ago halfway through a (non-vegan) late' I came to my senses and went vegan. Its still a bit new so I'm hesitant to call myself vegan; also I tend to be vegan by intent and tend to find out after the fact that I've eaten something (usually with milk or hidden mayo). I guess I'm just taking it in stride and feeling great.

I joined this group looking for recipe ideas and support. I have a non-vegan partner who is 90% supportive (which I think is pretty lucky) but anyone who has advice about living in a mixed household I would welcome that too.

Nice to meet you all!
Gwendolyn

I went straight to veganism in April 2011 and have enjoyed it. I love the way I feel and have been enjoying the food I eat. My daughter even went vegan after some resistance. I told her she didn't have to go vegan, but she did have to try the food I cooked. She made the choice to be a vegan on her own and also likes they way she feels.

My name is Leah, I'm 26, and I went vegan back in October for my health. I've been overweight for a good portion of my life (since puberty hit at age 10) and really ballooned in 2005 when I was pregnant with my daughter. I went from 175-ish to 250 pounds early in 2010 and I've struggled to get the weight off. I live near to my mom and stepfather who are definitely NOT supportive (I'll even go so far as to say that my mother is absolutely cuckoo but that's a rant for another day.) and they keep dropping off milk, cheese, and meat at my house :indifferent: which ends up in the back of my fridge until I throw it out or my daughter eats it. It'll be nice to have other vegans to talk to.

I joined MFP at the suggestion of a friend from another site. I was doing well last year and lost a fair amount of weight and even managed to participate in a run/walk 5k but I fell back off the wagon and gained some weight back. (Discovering Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World didn't help any.) I'd like to get down to a normal BMI for the first time since I was a kid and run a half marathon.

Hi all, I went lacto ovo vegetarian when I was 19 (20 years ago) purely for ethical reasons. I had said for all that time I would love to go vegan, but there is no way I could give up cheese. It was only when I joined www.veggieboards.com that I really opened my eyes to what goes on in the farming world. I changed to lacto vegetarian within a few days of joining and then last year went strict vegetarian for lent (so gave up dairy) and realised within a few days how easy it was to give things up when you passionately believe in your ethics, so I turned vegan. It will be a year next month and I have to say, it has been an absolute breeze and I love it!

I have a wife of 14 years who is an omnivore, an 11 year old son who is lacto ovo veggie and an 8 year old son who is pescetarian.

Hi everyone! I recently went completely vegan 2 weeks ago and I've never felt better. I've always been what I would call a borderline vegetarian. I ate dairy and the occasional chicken or fish. Then my husband and I started throwing around the idea of becoming vegan, mostly for health reasons and a concern about how our food is manufactured these days. One day I was looking around for vegan recipes and came across a video about factory farming. An animal lover my whole life, that video motivates me like nothing else. I'd heard a little about the way the animals were treated, but ignorance is bliss right? My husband and I became vegan that day. The more we see and read about factory farming, genetically modified food, etc., the more we're convinced that a whole foods, plant based diet is the way to go.