The Vegan Thread

[RavenBish]

Doing a challenge where I go vegan for a month because someone said I couldn't. I start Monday and have no idea what to eat, tried googling and it all seems confusing because I've not heard of half the shit I need to eat for protein etc...There's one vegan I know but they hardly eat and I need twice the calories they consume for my daily work/gym grind.

Any vegans on here who converted and have any advice, I know people swear blind it makes them feel a lot better so I'm very intrigued to see how I feel in a month.

 

[Craig]

RIP.

 

[JJH]

VeganBish.

 

[JaseTheVillain]

G'wan, you know you want to.

 

[RavenBish]

Thanks for the help so far you cavemen, just think of the fucking environment and those poor animals.

 

[Techno Natch]

It hasn't made me feel "better" but I didn't really feel shit before.

Beans, pulses and lentils for your protein etc.

Plenty of dark greens which unfortunately I don't get enough of.

Lunch I always find a problem as I'm not really prepared enough.

I think you'll struggle with the calories but LOTP might know more as he's been a vegan for a long time I'm bouncing between that and veggie at the moment.

What sort of stuff do you normally eat?

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

Thanks for the help so far you cavemen, just think of fucking those poor animals.

You're sick.

 

[RavenBish]

It hasn't made me feel "better" but I didn't really feel shit before.

Beans, pulses and lentils for your protein etc.

Plenty of dark greens which unfortunately I don't get enough of.

Lunch I always find a problem as I'm not really prepared enough.

I think you'll struggle with the calories but LOTP might know more as he's been a vegan for a long time I'm bouncing between that and veggie at the moment.

What sort of stuff do you normally eat?

I eat healthy anyway except for the odd weekend and I've cut right down on red meat over the last 6 months or so (hence me confidently proclaiming I could easily do it and being bet I couldn't) - I mainly just need ways to keep my calorie count up (that isn't just loading up on carbs) and substitutes for protein now I'll be cutting out dairy, fish, eggs, chicken/turkey etc...Surely there's better ways than just eating nuts or chucking a load of quinoa on a salad.

 

[smat]

Lordofthepies would have been a great help if he hadn't died.

 

[RavenBish]

Lordofthepies would have been a great help if he hadn't died.

Did he die due to being vegan?

 

[ZianfrancoGoal]

Did he die due to being vegan?

Put simply, yes.

My south american sources reliably inform me that his crash was caused by him driving in the wrong lane, pulling up alongside another car and rolling down his window to yell to them "I'm a vegan", not seeing the oncoming truck that bundled him off the road and down the mountain, his tumbling wreckage killing dozens of innocent goats as it descended the cliffside. Local villagers were kept fed by these dead goats for weeks, and vultures devoured his meaty corpse as is completely natural in the real world.

 

[Renegade]

I'm a vegetarian, but pretty much vegan apart from the whey protein shakes (switching to hemp next week) and the milk in my tea. I have four weights sessions every week and two cardio and I have no issues at all with the diet. People who claim they can't turn vegan because they don't get enough protein in their diet to supplement bodybuilding/training are just lazy and not willing to do the research. Been eating effectively like this for two years and there is no negative impact on my training, I've added muscle, I think the real challenge is not eating too much fat. Also a programmer 9-5, so pretty much same lifestyle you might have.

Sample day's eating:

Breakfast: Banana, three eggs (replace with a hemp protein shake if you're going full vegan I guess).

Lunch: Kidney bean and red lentil salad, this is packed with protein. http://hurrythefoodup.com/fitness-lentil-bean-salad/

Dinner: Chickpea and avocado salad (remove the feta cheese and it's vegan friendly, still tasty). http://hurrythefoodup.com/vegetarian-avocado-chickpea-salad/

Snacks and drinks: apple, fruit smoothie, brazil nuts, almonds, protein shake, soy milk.

I've actually saved a lot of money since switching from meat (and briefly to fish when I was a lazy pescatarian) and get all the nutrients I need. Chickpeas, beans and lentils are great sources of protein and they are cheap as fuck. Tins of beans/peas cost 60p, a bag of red lentils will set you back £1.

The things to look out for as a vegan are the lack of vitamin B12 in your diet and a few other essential nutrients. Many soy milk products add vitamin B12 to the mix as well as vitamin D, which some vegans struggle to get with their diet. I get selenium from brazil nuts. Check here for what you might be missing when you try out the diet:

https://www.vegansociety.com/resources/nutrition-and-health/vitamins-minerals-and-nutrients/overview

I had a very clean diet before I turned fully vegetarian/almost vegan, so I didn't notice any improvement in energy levels. If you eat well already, then you probably won't notice much difference. If anyone is wondering, I'm not fully vegan because I don't really have any issue with getting eggs from hens that are raised in a natural environment and eggs are just the best protein source around (in my experience).

Also, if you have cravings - Linda McCartney's vegan sausages are fucking delicious (well, for frozen sausages anyway). You will be doing your bit for the environment as well. Check out cowspiracy on Netflix and consider turning vegetarian/vegan if you don't mind the diet. Watch Earthlings if you have a really strong stomach. Every little helps.

 

[Techno Natch]

This might help not sure. https://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.php

Lentils, beans etc all go very well in stews, chilli's, cottage pie and currys. Tofu is brilliant by all accounts but a bit annoying to prepare and I try to avoid it anyway now.

It's quite easy to avoid meat but going straight vegan is quite hard I think. Good luck.

Edit: Or just see relentless posts. Thanks for the salad recipe been looking for a good one.

 

[claret50]

http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20773383,00.html

 

[Renegade]

This might help not sure. https://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.php

Lentils, beans etc all go very well in stews, chilli's, cottage pie and currys. Tofu is brilliant by all accounts but a bit annoying to prepare and I try to avoid it anyway now.

It's quite easy to avoid meat but going straight vegan is quite hard I think. Good luck.

Edit: Or just see relentless posts. Thanks for the salad recipe been looking for a good one.

Renegade, bitch.

It's a great recipe, add some chili sauce to the mix and heat it up and it's an ideal lunch. Not too heavy. Follow the recipe and you have prepared your lunch for tomorrow as well (serves two)!

And you don't need to eat like a nazi all the time - you can still get great takeaway as a vegan. Indian food is all based on chickpeas and beans, you don't need meat for great curries, noodle bars and chinese food are great food vegans and pizza is well, pizza. Always good.

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

Wouldn't most pizzas have some kind of dairy in them?

 

[mnb089mnb]

Put simply, yes.

My south american sources reliably inform me that his crash was caused by him driving in the wrong lane, pulling up alongside another car and rolling down his window to yell to them "I'm a vegan", not seeing the oncoming truck that bundled him off the road and down the mountain, his tumbling wreckage killing dozens of innocent goats as it descended the cliffside. Local villagers were kept fed by these dead goats for weeks, and vultures devoured his meaty corpse as is completely natural in the real world.

It's what he would have wanted.

That, and some falafel.

 

[Renegade]

Wouldn't most pizzas have some kind of dairy in them?

Yeah, complete brain-fart (I was advising what I eat as a veggie). You could use vegan cheese and make your own, but defeats the point of takeaway food I guess. I'm sure there are some places offering a vegan alternative pizza if you look hard enough.

 

[TheMinsterman]

Yeah, complete brain-fart (I was advising what I eat as a veggie). You could use vegan cheese and make your own, but defeats the point of takeaway food I guess. I'm sure there are some places offering a vegan alternative pizza if you look hard enough.

I could be completely wrong, but from what I recall at the Domino's I worked at, if you brought in some grated vegan cheese they'd make a vegan pizza for you.

 

[RavenBish]

Thanks Renegade , Techno Natch and claret50 - People are surprisingly helpful on here when they want to be.

 

[Techno Natch]

It's what he would have wanted.

That, and some falafel.

Falafel is amazing.

I tried vegan cheese but didn't like it or the bacon. The Linda McCartny sausages are alright though.

The main things I miss are Sausages and Black Pudding.

 

[mnb089mnb]

Falafel is amazing.

I tried vegan cheese but didn't like it or the bacon. The Linda McCartny sausages are alright though.

The main things I miss are Sausages and Black Pudding.

I don't tend to eat much meat these days. I think I could go vegetarian and probably will later this year. But you're right, falafel is great. I even make my own. Imagine that!

 

[Pliny Harris]

Congratulations on your decision, first off. I'm vegetarian and it's as easy as falling off a log. Vegan, not so much. I suppose a large part of it is understanding which baked goods have egg and dairy in them and which don't. The "preachy" stereotype is pretty much nonexistent to both diets aside from first-generation veg*ans aged 15 or under.

Key advice for me would be to simply keep up on calories. You get fewer by weight with veg, so you then have to put up with the pleasure of eating more. With a belly full with a balanced meal, pretty much every nutrient takes care of itself. The biggest problem protein causes is most people eating too much of it, which has its own health risks. Utter non-issue. I'd recommend drinking plant milks daily for calcium intake though, that's the main thing I'd keep tabs on.

There's the tofu question I guess. Learn how to prepare and flavour it. So many people get the stuff, watch it crumble in the pan and eat it with no marinade, season or owt and transform overnight into an oracle of anti-veggie rhetoric. Things like seitan and tempeh are amazing, and veg cutlets, all that.

Lentils. Full compliment of amino acids, ultra-filling, and dhal is one of the best meals going.

Jackfruit. Not a source of protein, but that would be my #1 resource if you end up missing meat, provided you can find it.

Just a few examples. A radical dietary change like this forces the bulk of us to consider the nutritional profiles and values of all foods we eat, and often drives us towards ingredients we've never touched, which can even expand our diets. People also stop eating many processed animal products that they're so used to having, and those reasons I reckon are key to many reports of people feeling much fresher not long after cutting off animals/animal products from their diets.

I can run as far as I want to and eat the way I like. One doesn't get in the way of the other, and I don't have to pay people to kill animals for it.

 

[Veggie Legs]

Lots of good posts in here, other people have said most of what I would have.

I have no idea what your lifestyle is currently like, but one thing you might find is that you have to be a bit more organised about what you're going to eat. You'll have to prepare most of your meals from scratch so you can be sure what's in them. Things like chilli and curry are easy to make in bulk so you can freeze your leftovers for days when you don't as much time to cook.

 

[Bobbin']

Just lose the bet ffs.

 

[silkyman]

 

[Renegade]

lol dead animals

 

[RavenBish]

I'll be honest, I'm not in it for the animals and I was only slightly moved by the environmental reasons because I subscribe to the notion that not enough people will stop eating meat to make a difference. However, the health reasons seem pretty legit and have more studies to back it up than I expected. I also have Crohn's disease, albeit thankfully not a particularly aggressive form of it and it's not caused me any massive trouble since I was a teenager but this article caught my eye - http://nutritionfacts.org/2012/09/13/dietary-treatment-for-crohns-disease/

 

[silkyman]

The real way to lower greenhouse gasses from meat farming is to start eating kangaroos.

Chuck another skippy on the barbie, mate.

 

[silkyman]

lol dead animals

No...

Mmmmmmmm dead animals.