Hello Vegans!

Hello to all! I'm new around here. I've been trying to stick to a Vegan diet for years now, but this time, I'm praying that I can commit for good. I am 40lbs overweight and at 49, already have quite a bit of health issues. My hubby and kids are as addicted to junk food as I am, but I am determined to turn it around and be a good example. I'm hoping to learn some easy and healthy recipes. As a busy mom, I have to make this a simple as possible. 🙏

[andyswarbs Volunteer]

Hi Tanya,

To help you with motivation can I recommend that you watch one of Earthlings, Dominion or Land of Hope And Glory. They're all on YouTube and show clearly what's wrong with animal food production by showing footage from slaughterhouses etc and thus demonstrate the total madness of the food industry. All the footage is normal, fully legal and much of it relates to marketing phrases such as organic, free range, grass fed. The last one (land of hope and glory) is UK only.

None of them are easy watches. But if you succeed then you will have no problem with motivation ever again. And, as you allude, motivation is the biggest challenge.

Also I can highly recommend on YouTube The best speech you'll ever hear by Gary Yourovsky. Again this is very motivating, but mostly it's just a talk.

Now that you're motivated we can begin to address your weight concerns. It would help if you could describe typical meals, whether you snack, how long you have been vegan, what your failures look like.

Without that info I'd recommend reducing ready meals and ensuring that each day you focus on Gbombs.

G=grains

B=Beans

O=Onions

M=Mushrooms

B=Berries

Some of all of these should be in your diet daily. Easy examples include oats for porridge, wholemeal (not wholewheat or other terms) bread, cans of chick peas or hummus, blueberries.

By reducing ready made meals including takeaways you will easily reduce fat and salt intake. Fat and oil are the most highly calorific foodstuffs on the planet, so reducing them should help get your weight under control.

The Gbomb strategy is one way of helping ensure you're getting balanced nutrition, including antioxidants. Ideally you will be increasing the Gbombs proportion over time. It's all about whole plant foods.

Finally, for now, get a B12 supplement. Everyone over the age of 50 and every vegan should be taking B12.

Hope that's helpful.

[Hidden in reply to andyswarbs]

Hello Andy! Thank you for your response. It really touched my heart because you reminded me of things I learned in the past but had tried to put in the back of my mind.

I have actually watched earthlings, twice. This is why I barely eat meat at all, and when I have, it's always been very small portion when someone else has cooked it. I can barely look at meat anymore, let alone even walk by the meat section at the supermarket. It has been very hard for me being married to a man who loves meat. I have 2 sons who love it too. They refuse to hear or watch anything that would change their mind. This has been part of my issue. For 10years (No, I am not proud that it's taken me this long) I have had to learn not to be militant at home about veganism. It took me years to learn to be gentle with others as well as myself, and even longer to be balanced. For the sake of peace, I tried to just have meat sometimes and prepare what we could all eat, but here we are 10years in, and I am DONE. My sons are old enough to cook for themselves if they need to add dairy or meat, and my husband is so close to a heart attack (he is very overweight), that it would be irresponsible for me to make him anything but plant based meals.

I will watch the other films you mentioned, thank you! I've heard Gary's speech and I've read Dr. Fuhrman's book, Eat to Live. I learned about green smoothies from him, and I still have one almost daily, for breakfast. I include, Spimach, berries, banana, ground flaxseeds, hempseeds, sometimes chia seeds, plant based milk, and plantbased protein powder. Otherwise, I eat oatmeal with blueberries and a tablespoon of natural Peanutbutter.

I will focus on Gbombs...thanks for the reminder! And I will go back to taking B12, yes!

What has caused me to struggle?

Lunch! I know that sounds crazy, but I can't think if anything for lunch that is easy and quick. I homeschool, so I really do need easy meals. I also have not learned to love salads. I hope I can change this. Any tricks or suggestions?

[Kitten-whiskers Administrator]

Welcome Tanya, We are very pleased to welcome you to this growing community.

As Andy has responded with such great information, I will not add to that.

There are lots of recipes on here and most of the time I post quick and easy recipes, for those times when you just don't have the time to spend hours in the kitchen.

As with regard to being addicted to junk food, that can be changed around, but I would advise not doing it all in one go and you can feel pretty ropey, also if one of your conditions is IBS you need to be a bit more careful.

I do supplement with Iron and I do take a vegan protein drink thats enriched with endless vitamins and minerals, just to top up, as we all are aware the food isn't as nutrious as it used to be.

Best wishes

Debs

[Hidden in reply to Kitten-whiskers]

Thank you for the warm welcome Debs! I look forward to your quick and easy recipes, I definitely need more of those for lunch.

I do take an iron supplement. I suffer with adenomyosis (endometriosis in the muscle of the Uterus), so, I have been fighting to increase my iron. I also take vitamin D since we barely get sun here in the winter. I live in the New England area of the United States.

I guess I have really been transitioning into a vegan diet, in my own way, for 10years now. Along the way, I've learned a lot, especially what trips me up. My biggest challenge will be learning to cook my meals at home. Fast food has to go, period.

Thanks again! I'm happy to be here!

[Kitten-whiskers Administrator in reply to Hidden]

We are glad you are here 😁 It sounds like you are ready to make the changes.

[happyseal]

Welcome and good luck on your journey.

Motivation is tricky.

In my case it wasn’t an overnight change. I took my time and cut things slowly. Meat was the easiest because I could feel how harmful it was for me and was causing me a lot of period pain. So I did cut meat overnight. But I took a Whole year to cut fish and another whole year to cut eggs and dairy. This meant that I had time to try vegan options and to take it easy.

After I cut meat for a few months I couldn’t eat it anymore because my palate had changed. Now just seeing it, the smell or anything makes me feel sick. So it is important to completely cut meat from your diet to give your body a chance to reset. Once you reset you won’t even be able to go back.

It may help to keep a log of when you last ate meat. This will help you take the challenge and count how long has it been since you last ate it.

You can also try some visualisation to make the meat look what it is, body parts. Horrible but it helps you disconnect from the social acceptance that killing animals for eating is fine. If you do visualisations you will add a movement (for example touch your ear), so every time you’re about to eat meat you do the same movement and it’ll put you off eating meat.

[Hidden in reply to happyseal]

Thank you so much for the advice and encouragement! Because I have been on and off a Vegan diet for at least 10 years (I know...I'm ashamed to admit this), I am ready to do this overnight. Everytime I've done this, I've learned so much about myself and my body. Giving up meat has never been a huge challenge. Neither of my parents like it all that much, so even when I've eaten it, my portions have been minuscule. My issue is my addiction to sugar, and more specifically, milk chocolate. I also love creamy things, like alfredo sauce. Believe it or not I never just eat cheese, and I've always taken it off my burgers if I had one. These days I never eat burgers, meat grosses me out, I've always hated seafood, and chicken grosses me out too. I'm sorry if I'm rambling. For me to make this work, and to stick to it for life (which I am now committed to do), I have to stop being lazy and just wrap my brain around the idea of cooking my meals, and not resorting to fast food (which is killing my health anyway). Today, is November 9th, 2020 and as far as I am concerned, I am 100% Vegan, NEVER going back! I will be 50 on December 10th, and I promised myself that I would have it together by then. I know it will not be easy, but I will keep that promise! Thanks again for all your support, I appreciate it. 😁

[happyseal in reply to Hidden]

Wow 10 years...you probably know more than me hehe.

But if you’re problem is sugar and creamy foods, that’s probably easier since you can use substitutes and learn recipes for those.

Sugar is indeed an addiction. I struggle with it. I try to add healthy options so I don’t fall into temptations.

There are amazing vegan ice creams, etc.

And if you up to cooking then you can even use erythritol or stevia instead of sugar.

How do you feel about fruits? Do they help with the cravings?

[Hidden in reply to happyseal]

Fruits will be the secret to my success. I have never overeaten fruits, they always lead to weightloss (maybe because theyre so high in water), and yes, they do satisfy the sweet tooth.

I have gotten off sugar sooooo many times. Then, after some time, I seem to think I can have one cookie, one slice of cake. Nope. Not if it also contains dairy. That combo kills me, and drags me back down the rabbit hole. So...I have to COMMIT to being Vegan, that's it.

I need to educate myself even further on the benefits to the animals and the environment. My health has never been a big enough "why". So, I will work on that now.

Trust me, I don't know more than you do, if I did, I would already be vegan for good. 🤦‍♀️

[happyseal in reply to Hidden]

Haha, I feel you. As soon as you touch one cookie the sugar addiction kicks in.

And it’s true the combination of dairy and sugar is even more addictive.

Fruits help me a lot. I even freeze them for a nice frozen treat.

Dried fruits are very good too.

About the switch, Leverage helps, that’s true. Tbh I was interested in veganism and tried loads of recipes for many years, but I never totally felt I want to become one. But once I had my health issues, I did not think twice. Having something that gives that sense of urgency helps.

Try to create that urgency with documentaries as mentioned on the replies. Or maybe creating a bonding with animals may help.

It’s hard to know what will create that leverage. But you’re definitely the only one that can find what would make a difference and help the switch.

You could also focus on The spiritual side of it, if that’s something important for you.

[Hidden]

Hi Tanya

Welcome and I can resonate with how you feel regarding sticking to a Vegan diet, that's what I used to be like until the thought of what's done to animals and watching programmes like Cowspiracy. My husband is also a meat eater and is overweight, it's all around his tummy and he knows he needs to lose it. My husband loves his meat and he's old enough to make his own decision on what he does and doesn't eat, I don't force Veganism on him or go on about it as I know it would turn him completely the other way. He saw Cowspiracy with me and said 'that's Amercia, they are a lot more cruel than we are'. I've said to him we are also cruel in the UK but he can't quite see that. I do think we need more programmes on TV that show how cruel people are.

Therefore, I am the only Vegan, both my daughters are meat eaters although my youngest one has reduced her and her family's meat consumption a bit. My eldest one used to be a Vegetarian but has gone completely the other way and loves meat now, what can you do. I can't even stand the smell of pasties anymore whereas I used to love the smell.

As for recipes, One Green Planet is an excellent website to find recipes and if there's something you fancy just type it in in the internet and you will find loads. There are so many quick and easy Vegan recipes online.

All the very best and I wish you luck.

Alicia 🌈👍

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Alicia! You are right. I am going to rewatch the documentaries I saw years ago, and watch Dominion which I've never seen, tonight. I am absolutely NOT going back to eating animals anymore. Not only do I know too much, it's no longer who I am, so why would I put that in my mouth. I've been trying, for the sake of peace, to follow the crowd, but I no longer want or need to do that. I need to be an example and I need to do what's best for my body, mind and spirit. Thank you for the encouragement.

[Hidden]

Well done Tanya and I know it's difficult when you live with meat eaters. Well done to you on your decision, that's to be commended and celebrated. Both Agoodenough and Kitten-whiskers were incredibly supportive at the beginning of my Vegan journey, they are both so helpful.

We're all here to support and help each other.

Wishing you all the best.

Alicia 😍🙏

[Agoodenough]

Welcome Hidden , we are a friendly bunch who all try to help and inspire each other so if you have any thoughts or concerns please ask away.

We have lots of vegan recipes on here all under their relevant categories. As has already been mentioned remember to take vitamin B12.

Good luck with your vegan journey and a big welcome to the group.

Ali 🙂🌱

[Hidden in reply to Agoodenough]

Thank you for the warm welcome Ali! I have been trying to find the recipes on here. I am very new to this place and still trying to figure it all out. Like you, though, I felt it was time to stop trying to just eat vegan for my health, and instead try to actually be the change I want to see, not only among my husband and children, but hopefully in anyone else I am fortunate enough to inspire.

[Agoodenough]

That’s really kind as everyone is on their own journey.

If you go to the pain vegan food for life page. Down the right hand side below “POLLS” there is a topic section. Here is a link to the main meal topics. If you haven’t already found it 🙂

healthunlocked.com/veganfoo...

Ali 🙂🌱

[willsie01]

Hi Tanya, good to see you in the community. See you've had loads of good advice already. I went vegan about a year ago, after a triple bypass. I think I found it easier then some because I've never been comfortable eating meat. Sounds like one reason you want to go full on vegan is to lose weight and although this is easily done be careful! You can still be an overweight vegan. Lots of processed food in the shops high in the wrong stuff! Still have to follow the usual good practices of healthy food.

[Hidden in reply to willsie01]

Thank you! I'll be sure to watch my choices. Do you abstain from oil 100%? If so, how long did it take for you to get used to it?

[willsie01 in reply to Hidden]

I use extra virgin olive oil for cooking and occasional other use, not for scientific reasons because I don’t think there’s a reliably, trustworthy opinion. All we know, I think, is that nations that have a diet that is based on its use tend to have good health. Heart wise at least. The famous Mediterranean diet. I make sure I don’t have too much saturated fat in the rest of my diet. Whatever I’m doing is working for me weight wise. All my life I had to fight to keep my weight down. I’d put it in then diet to get it off. Not since I went vegan! My weight slowly came off without trying and has stayed the same for ages and I never feel hungry.

I’m actually just about to have my weekly guilty pleasure: some chocolate!

[Hidden in reply to willsie01]

Awesome! Thank you.