Discussion: Tips for starting a vegan diet

Onion Girl

i know i could google it but i want to hear from you guys, too. please share!

jxck

This is great! Woohoo

Lots of people have asked me so here's a lil bit of what I've been sending (it's tailored to that person's specific questions, but hit me up for any and every other question you have!)

Quote:

To start, it's true - eating vegan entails eating differently to how you would on an animal-based diet, to live healthily it's not as simple as simply removing all animal products from your diet and eating what's left. It also doesn't just mean you need to start using soy-based "fake" meat where you would normally, buying VeganEggs, switching to a plant-based butter and using a plant-based milk all the time! There's a totally different way of looking at it.

This is what a vegan food pyramid looks like (don't feel like you have to study it! I've been vegan for a while and never knew about this)

Most believe that a high carb, low fat diet (HCLF) is better for you. Of course, this isn't going to be for everyone - so if you feel differently, it's absolutely fine to alter it to suit you. Many associate carbs with bread and pasta, but they are in fact found in tonnes of fruit and vegetables too. So many vegans, including myself, will stock up on carbs found in fruits and veggies. Don't be scared - we've always been taught to be a bit scared of carbs because they "make you fat", but I can promise that my own and many other's fit bodies can't lie! This can be considered quite a change from what many of us ate growing up, where we might take an apple to school and maybe have a banana - and that could be it for the day. No longer! My fridge at any time will be full of cantaloupe, kale, spinach, tomato, watermelon, banana, dates, apples, pears, berries, etc. (there's loooooads of fun vegan food too, I promise!

) An example of HCLF daily eating can be found in videos like this and this (also here and here - check out these guys!).

I certainly don't sit around munching on bananas and kiwis all day - it can be made more appealing, putting this stuff into smoothies, desserts, sauces, etc. Check out some online recipes and ideas!

In terms of junk food, there's no shortage of that as a vegan. Especially with more and more products coming out literally every day.

Here's a photo from an all vegan deli here in Melbourne. It's amaaaaazing

Vegans can literally eat tonnes of food - bar just a few animals, some of their breast milk and eggs. Do you have any comfort food you love? I suggest looking up 'vegan _____' - you'll find it! Literally every dish can be veganised, and there are some amazing dishes out there that I enjoyed more than the original. My switch actually came about because I tried some vegan versions of things and liked them so much more than the 'real' thing, so figured I might as well make the switch to reap the benefits + help out the world.

There is one nutrient I recommend you supplement, which is B12! I spoke about this in two or three posts with a user in the original thread (if you wanna take a look at that), but a quick search online will tell you why it's important, how you can easily get it and why a need for it doesn't "disprove" veganism. Mine is super cheap - it costs me about AUD$12 and lasts me six or so months, I take it maybe twice to three times a week. It's also a "no stress" supplement - it stores in the liver for up to 5 years, so I never have a day feeling ****** cus I haven't taken it and will sometimes go awhile without having it, it's all g!

And finally, as a lil' piece of advice, if you're living at home or having others cook for you - I suggest you have a "grace" period where you decide to no longer purchase animal products yourself, but still allow others to cook and serve it to you. I did this with my family! I think a lot of people come downstairs one day and say "**** you mum! i'm going vegan!" and this can upset people, leave them unsure of how to cook and make them think their reasoning is perhaps insincere. To prove to my family that it was something I cared about, from about March of last year I stopped buying animal products whilst I was out. This kinda worked as vegan training in itself, as I learnt what ingredients to look out for, sought out some good vegan businesses and gauged how much food was out there for me in the market. I felt proud that in my immediate power, I wasn't funding animal agriculture. It wasn't until June or July last year that I said to my mum that I wanted to now cut it out altogether and that I was happy to guide through cooking and shopping, etc. This may be inapplicable for you but I found it really helpful!

Do you use a blender at all? They used to be only suitable for people willing to fork out tonnes of money for them, but new, basic ones are quite accessible - I picked up a secondary blender for just $7 from an op shop! I think it's a worthwhile investment. The reason I say that is that you can stick a tonne of veggies in that will just about go undetected under the taste of fruit that you add too! Below will give you a pretty good indication of where to get started. Also I just got a fancy lil' raw cookbook - it uses a tonne of fancy alkaline water and tropical ingredients, but may inspire you! I photographed some parts for you! Check it out here. My number one smoothie tip is to use nice ripe, brown bananas in it - you can normally find them cheaper at the store (or ask for ones they consider too ripe and you can often get em for free!) and they get it tasting geeewd as a base.

Lack of inspiration with veggies is common - I feel it a lot. I attribute it to the way we were brought up and how we learnt to cook, we'd always flavoured the meat and normally gone plainer with the veggies - just steaming or baking them. So people associate them with being boring! I recommend checking out sites 'My New Roots', 'The First Mess', 'Green Kitchen Stories' and 'Minimalist Baker' - they're all really great and encourage people to really flavour their veggies nicely.

Here's one of my faaaavourite recipes from the lovely @ellenfisher (insta), check her out!

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Cook one 16 ounce bag of organic brown rice shell pasta. in a mixing bowl, whisk together 1.5 cups unsweetened almond milk + 2 tbsp arrowroot powder (or cornstarch). Then pour into a small pot and add 3/4 cup of nutritional yeast, 4 tsp dijon mustard, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1.5 tbsp lemon juice, 1 big tbsp low sodium miso + a little black pepper to taste. Whisk together on medium low heat for 5-7 minutes (until it thickens up nicely). Then blend it with 2 cups steamed pumpkin or butternut squash (or one 16oz can of pumpkin) and set aside. Sauté some Broccoli (or brussel sprouts) in a little water until tender/soft. Once pasta is cooked, drained, and rinsed, pour shell noodles back into the large pasta pot and mix in the creamy mac sauce and Broccoli and stir together on low heat for a few minutes. Bam. So creamy and good. ��I'm a sauce person, always have been. So this saucy bowl of goodness really hit the spot.

The organic, brown rice, etc. is great - but don't worry if you can't / don't wish to use all the premium stuff! Often I forego it. A diet full of wonderful fruit and veggies is great enough in itself. You'll also notice lettuce cups are pictured - they're great to serve things in to up your green uptake! You barely notice they're there, and in fact it keeps you hydrated and saves you from having to drink through your meal (which I've been told is bad).

Here are some sauces or extra goodies I suggest that literally applied straight to vegetables will make em taste great;

Nutritional yeast (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Veganaise (or any vegan mayo)
Sriracha
Tamari / Soy Sauce
Basic Tomato / BBQ / Mustard sauces

That's all I can think of for now, but I'm very, very happy for this to be an ongoing conversation! I applaud your open-mindedness. Whether you have more big questions or from time to time just wanna send me a line, please don't be afraid to message me! I'm very happy to help 24/7.

Snoopy

Lemme bookmark this. I want to go vegan and have recently become repulsed by milk and eggs (thanks Freelee) but red meat and bacon etc still get me so wet

one day tho

Onion Girl

wow thank you jxck!

i will definitely let you know if i have any more questions! i would talk more right now but i'm going to sleep (don't know why i made the thread before going to sleep lol) but thanks again! very helpful!

Cobra

For me it's not like i changed my diet immediately. I still slowly convert to vegan or vegetarian kind of diet. It started about a half a year ago when i stopped drinking milk. And actually, it wasn't the decision of going vegan, because i realized i've always felt weird after drinking milk, so i just stopped. Then i was reducing other diary (like yoghurts, cottage cheese and cream because that's all diary i have ever ate). Personally, i started to feel better and more "clean" inside my stomach, even though i'm not lactose intolerant. And til now i eat less and less meat (honestly just a lil bit of fish or chicken nowadays). The only thing i don't see myself dropping are eggs. Of course i always eat them from hen that live freely and peacefully on grassland and she gives eggs when she wants to (thanks to my aunt who lives in village and who has hen). I just love eggs too much lol, maybe one day, but i don't see it now. Right now, i'm just trying vegan meals in my kitchen and eat very little chicken and a bit more fish, but slowly changing counterparts. Also, living student life when i have to save dat money helps me with eating less meat lol

Is my advice good? I don't know. Maybe changing your diet in a day will work out for you, i guess that's individual.

And huge thanks to member jxck for helping me starting it out doing some vegan meals, his posts will be very helpful for you

popmusic

Idk, don't eat meal (sorry, but I can't live without meal, so vegan diet sonds like torture for me but I know - vegan diet is very healthy)

Ghetto Baby

https://www.youtube.com/user/Freelea

bleuwaffle

So weird seeing people talk about Freelee.

I've been following her since 2012

Scraperwalker

The best tip for starting a vegan diet

1. Stop eating meat

fridayteenage

Here's Day 1 from Bey's vegan diet.
Breakfast: Vanilla chia pudding with 1 cup fresh berries
Lunch: Crunchy red cabbage and green apple sesame slaw with 1 cup steamed, cubed sweet potato (or one small potato, baked)
Afternoon snack: 1/4 cup hemp hummus with fresh vegetables (carrots, celery, romaine leaves, bell pepper, etc.)
Dinner: Black bean and quinoa salad with quick cumin dressing
Dessert: Dark chocolate

For more tips and tricks:
http://www.eonline.com/photos/11505/...al-plan/356997

Nhật Thực

first of all

take enough vitamins and amino acid

hooky

Quote:

Originally posted by fridayteenage

Here's Day 1 from Bey's vegan diet.
Breakfast: Vanilla chia pudding with 1 cup fresh berries
Lunch: Crunchy red cabbage and green apple sesame slaw with 1 cup steamed, cubed sweet potato (or one small potato, baked)
Afternoon snack: 1/4 cup hemp hummus with fresh vegetables (carrots, celery, romaine leaves, bell pepper, etc.)
Dinner: Black bean and quinoa salad with quick cumin dressing
Dessert: Dark chocolate

For more tips and tricks:
http://www.eonline.com/photos/11505/...al-plan/356997

I'm not interpreting this literally

bleuwaffle

Quote:

Originally posted by fridayteenage

Here's Day 1 from Bey's vegan diet.
Breakfast: Vanilla chia pudding with 1 cup fresh berries
Lunch: Crunchy red cabbage and green apple sesame slaw with 1 cup steamed, cubed sweet potato (or one small potato, baked)
Afternoon snack: 1/4 cup hemp hummus with fresh vegetables (carrots, celery, romaine leaves, bell pepper, etc.)
Dinner: Black bean and quinoa salad with quick cumin dressing
Dessert: Dark chocolate

For more tips and tricks:
http://www.eonline.com/photos/11505/...al-plan/356997

How many calories is that, like 1000?

■YoungCalifornia■