Any Vegans here?

[Brightfeather]

Hello people just joined. Any vegans here? ...could do with some support and ideas. Thank you. Peaceful vibes to each of you

[IndigoBlue61]

Hello and welcome to the Weight Loss Forum Brightfeather 👏

First of all, to help you find your way around, and enjoy all the things we have on offer, please read the Welcome Newbies Post here healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

Take your time to read it carefully as it has lots of information.

We welcome everyone here, all following different eating plans. For recipes and general nutrional advice I like the Vegan Society. I’m sure someone else will be along shortly with more specific advice but the principles will be the same as everyone else, consume fewer calories than your body needs and you will lose weight 😊

For your own privacy and safety online we suggest that you to lock your posts by selecting ‘followers in my community’ when you write a new post. Please read our security post here. healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

Out of interest, can I ask how you found us?

Best wishes for your weight loss journey

Indigo 😊

[Minniewinny 5 stone Maintainer]

Welcome to the forum Brightfeather

Have a good slow read of the newbie post that IndigoBlue61 has given you in their reply, I call it the sat-nav to the forum benefits..

Have a wonder around the daily diary in events as many of us are on different types of weight loss plans.. We all respect your freedom to choose your route.. I hope you get some good responses from other vegans with good recipe ideas and advice.

Enjoy the forum and join in as much as your able to get the best from it..

Cheering you on 🎉🎉🎉

[Brightfeather Maintainer Healthy BMI in reply to Minniewinny]

Thank you

[Hidden]

Yes, I'm a vegan, sort of, Brightfeather.

I say sort of because I am cutting my carb intake to 70g or so a day. I'm finding it very very tough to eat the calories I need on a vegan lifestyle. I've begun to eat eggs when I need to, once a week may be, Also some cheese. Again two or three times a week.

If you look in the vegitarian recipies you will find some ideas that can be a starter for you. Also, the recipies I have put up have both vegan and vegetarian routes.

One thing you could do I'd go to the daily diary post and pick a person's menu that you like and then veganise it to suit your needs.

As MinnieWinny said all sorts of diets and lifestyles are championed here and your diary input would be valuable.

[Brightfeather Maintainer Healthy BMI in reply to Hidden]

Thank you. I'll have a look. Good tips .

[Hidden]

Have a look at LessToLose - she has posted a few times about her vegan diet. Lots of vegan friendly ideas in the daily diary too. I'm dairy intolerant and err on the vegetarian side apart from occasionally having some fish. There are loads of nutty thai noodle salads waiting out there for you to discover. As well as middle eastern sweet paprika infused stews and a world of lettuce wrap ideas too. Good luck getting started

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you Ruth, I’d forgotten Less-to-lose was vegan 😊

[Brightfeather Maintainer Healthy BMI in reply to Hidden]

Thank you Ruth

[liraelxo]

I'm not vegan but I'm trying to move towards that. I'm not very adventurous with food so I'm a bit intimidated by trying ~healthy vegan staples~ like lentils and chickpeas :/

[Brightfeather Maintainer Healthy BMI in reply to liraelxo]

Hey Kitkatx why do you feel intimidated by them? Lentil soup is easy to make.😊

[liraelxo in reply to Brightfeather]

It's stupid really, I'm 99% sure I won't like them (I have no basis for that mind you) and I think they look weird! But I know people love them and they're super versatile so I *should* like them, so I just stay away from them cos I'm sure I won't.

[Pulmonaria68 in reply to liraelxo]

Really they don't have much taste, so you have go add lots of flavour. So if you like curry they will taste of curry, or chilli, or tomato sauce etc etc

[Brightfeather Maintainer Healthy BMI]

well, maybe you will try them at some time. Find other foods you enjoy

[Hidden]

Hi Brightfeather,

Yes I'm a vegan but I'm not 'on here' very much because my worldview has changed so much. As a result, I find comments from other people pretty frustrating. The problem is that I would have to spend my life in an 'I'm right and you're all wrong' situation which is not where I want to be, nor feel I am. So I don't bother very much. But I just happened to see your 'vegan' comment.

I started looking into what we should eat when my daughter had cancer and, after a lot of reading, came to the conclusion that the right diet for good health (including weight loss) was a vegan one but, more specifically, a Wholefood Plant-Based diet.

This was 5 years ago and I am now 4 stone lighter as well as feeling much healthier.

And my daughter is in remission. I'd love to say this was because of her diet but it was because of chemotherapy. This is effective in treating Hodgkin's disease in young people well. However, she has similarly changed her diet along with the rest of my family and there is no doubt that this is helping her overall health. It has also cured my daughter in law's eczema and my grandchildren are growing up very healthy - and we're all normal people, honest.

I would really encourage you to read up.

I would also ask 'are you serious about taking action?'

If so, please ignore people who tell you to avoid carbs, ignore people that tell you you can't get enough calories on a vegan diet and, particularly, laugh at people who ask you where you will get your protein. The answer to the last question is 'the same place as elephants, gorillas and hippos'. And you will be able to eat plenty, by the way.

One of the great things I read early on was that you should not worry about the foods you are not eating but look at the wonderful variety of foods you can eat on such a diet.

You will be eating the food that we as humans are supposed to eat, the one that gives us best health.

I would suggest a good starting point is to watch Forks over Knives. It is on Netflix.

This will lead you on to many experts and many foodplans you might follow.

I have a load of books from John McDougall, Rip Esselstyn, the Happy Herbivore Lindsay Nixon and many others. But I am now at the point where I get recipes on-line (perhaps from One Green Planet). I also follow Dr. Michael Greger (NutritionFacts.org) and, as well as having read his book 'How Not to Die' I use his Daily Dozen app to check I eat the right stuff each day. I would strongly recommend reading the China Study by Dr. T Colin Campbell for learning and inspiration. And John Robbins' 'Healthy at 100'.

If you take this seriously, learn a bit, and follow the advice you can't go wrong. You will become the weight you should be.

Finally, I would just add that many people are vegan in order to avoid cruelty to animals and I entirely applaud that. I became vegan (wholefood Plant-Based) in order to improve my own health but I have subsequently become pretty passionate about animals now that I accept I have no need to eat them so my only justification is that I like to do so (and that's not good enough). So, if you are vegan due to animal-cruelty I would still encourage you to move specifically to a wholefood Plant-Based diet for your own health reasons.

Sorry, one more final comment. The one step it took me a long time to take was to cut out oils and fats completely from my diet. I wish I had done so earlier, it really isn't that difficult although I acknowledge that I have to make most of my own meals.

Still, if you're serious about losing weight and having good health, it's a small sacrifice and a great hobby.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

[Brightfeather Maintainer Healthy BMI in reply to Hidden]

Thank you so much for such a detailed reply. I do agree with you .I became veggie at 20 and later vegan. I have read all the books and for most of my life have had a healthy weight. The last 2 years have been personally difficult and I have gained 2 stones. The food I eat is 90% organic and wholefood but ...I have been consistently overeating and drinking these past 2 years. Mostly to deal with menopause and emotional pain. I know so much of it is comfort eating. I exercise regularly ...yoga and water workouts and walk.... but, still eat too much. If I finish work late (7pm) I do not eat correctly.

I was hoping that if I talked to people about it, it would help me stay on Track.

Thank you kindest regards

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Brightfeather]

The menopause does affect our bodies and how we store fat, well done for tackling the issue 😊

I also hope you find the forum useful, I was saddened to hear martinfishgold say he found the forum frustrating, as I said in my first post to you we are proud to be inclusive and welcome everyone who is trying to lose weight, whatever eating plan they choose to follow 😊

[Hidden]

Yes, I understand. Whilst we know the right things to do, it isn't always easy.

I'm sure you've heard it before but I do find that it is important to eat before I get too hungry, or go shopping. If I'm hungry I will make bad decisions.

Having food prepared beforehand is also so useful. So, when you finish work late, you are less likely to get or prepare the wrong stuff.

And drinking is obviously an issue. I realised that I was drinking a day's worth of calories each week in wine.

I read a book called Bright Line Eating. I didn't particularly like the book but I did take a principle from it, namely there are lines that I just can't cross. You need to write them down and you need to stick to them. For me, drinking at home is one of those.

But I agree that, more than anything, talking to other people is most important. You need to be able to share your plan, and have an on-going discussion about it. And it doesn't have to be someone who shares your views.

I see it like having a manager who I have to report to, someone I tell what I'm doing and I have to report to them on my success and failure.

Anyway, just a few thoughts. Good Luck

[Brightfeather Maintainer Healthy BMI in reply to Hidden]

Thanks . Deffo relate to what you said re wine and having food prepared. I also read bright line eating ...agree with you...need a few uncrossable lines. Enjoy the rest of the day. So appreciate your thinking and time 🙏