Feel shit

[Chugalug]

Vegetarian 30 yrs ,vegan 3 yrs...very poor diet...I'm a poor excuse of a vegan..I feel physically and mentally shit..before I head to the doctors for anti depressants,could it be my shit diet ? And if so what do vegans need vitamin wise? Or supplement wise...what do you take?

[Branleuse]

Tesco spicy beanburgers are vegan too, and in a wrap with some sweet chilli hummous and salad is delicious and my omni kids love those as much as i do. Its actually one of the rare things all three of them will happily eat.

[Branleuse]

yes, it could well be your shit diet.

Start eating a balanced diet and taking a supplement and see if it helps

Make yourself big pots of vegetable and lentil soup that you can just have a bowl of whenever youre hungry. Cheap and easy and nutritious.

I do it with ready chopped bags of casserole vegetables cos im lazy. Put about 3 bags into a massive pot, cover with water and two vegetable stock cubes and its delicious and it lasts me about 3 days. I eat it with a few squirts of sriracha sauce on top and thats vegan.

[brownelephant]

frozen veg are fine - you just need enough.
agree with others about pulses, if you are not sure try red lentils first. they 'melt' into sauces, cheap and nutricious

[AssassinatedBeauty]

Do the older two financially contribute to the household at all?

[Chugalug]

It's cost of it...I can't afford to make meals they won't eat ,then it goes in the bin...plus fresh food Goes off so quick so I buy frozen veg..I'm going to try some batch cooking at the weekend and put plenty more veg in it.

[GeorgeTheHippo]

"I honestly could live off toast and salad sandwiches with crisps"

Except I think you've clearly established that you can't 😀

[Tmgc123]

Agree with both of you dangermouse and Wally.

Carbs are great as well as other foods.

That amount of frozen veg doesn’t sound enough or particularly appealing. We eat a lot of pulses, and then the veg is around that. So sweet potato, lentil and chickpea curry with spinach and rice. 3 bean chilli, Black bean stew, tonight I was feeling a bit rotten so we had pasta with broccoli, tomatoes, peppers, courgettes and mushrooms... fresh and simple.

I’ve found a hat works is finding what veggies you like and can make varied meals from so you’re not over buying and wasting. I realised we weren’t having many green vegetables and just added them in.

Today I had some vegan junk food, and I feel AWFUL. Really bad fried stuff as a “treat”... I didn’t realise how great I’ve been feeling until I ate badly.

Nail the food and it’ll help a lot. X

[Wallywobbles]

What I'm trying to say is that she needs some actual nutrition in her food. Carbs alone are not doing any good. And it's the kind of carbs too.

[dangermouseisace]

Pulses are great to add into stuff as they are cheap, can come out of a tin and are filling- they also count as one of your 5 a day! For a vegan ‘portion’ 1/2 a tin per adult is the norm. There are well meaning people steering away from carbs on this thread which is NOT advised for vegans, as you need complex carbs (pasta, rice, bread favouring whole grain) as well as protein to get all your amino acids. I’d got a bit scared of them but the dietician said they are essential. It used to be advised to have a combination of the 2 at every meal but I think now it’s just as long as you have both during the day you’re ok.

[Wallywobbles]

I suspect that your portions are too small. And one bag of veg sounds about half of what you need for that many adults veggies.

A big bowl of very hearty soup is ok for one meal a day but it's not enough for a main meal.

How many portions of fruit and veg are you eating a day personally? You need to be over 5 plus 2 or 3 portions of protein. What you choose to then add in as your carbs is pretty much your choice.

I would say if you could rejig to 3 veg:2 protein:1 carb proportions for 2 weeks with maximum vitamin dosing you might start to feel better.

I can't really help with content as we are not veggie or vegan.

[Chugalug]

Tinfoil dishes that you can throw away after ,no washing up....yes I like that a lot😀..why did I not think of that 🙄

[MsJaneAusten]

Haha! Yes, I imagine your older dc would be shocked by chopped up apples!

I freeze soup into takeaway style boxes and microwave them at work.

Lasagne / cottage pie etc I put in a large glass dish and keep it in the fridge if I’m going to eat it on Monday/Tuesday night. For later in the week I use the large tinfoil dishes to freeze them in and then just put them direct in the oven from the fridge (lowish heat, for a longish time!)

Hope that helps.

[Chugalug]

Mrs Jane Austin....can I ask what do you use to freeze the food in? Can it go straight from freezer to oven...that would actually work for me ,your ldea...if I can get freezer to oven very large dishes.

[Chugalug]

Never tried peanut butter on apples,not sure I'd like that...re the fruit...my ratbags are 17 18 20... so they might be surprised if I start chopping their fruit up...But I definitely could for me and the rugrat.

[Chugalug]

Yes ,I ate it,everyone had 3 each ,I managed 1 and a bit...I would of preferred a salad sandwich or toast,but I'm trying to vary my intake..I honestly could live of toast and salad sandwiches with crisps ,

[MsJaneAusten]

Tonight’s meal sounds pretty good. Did you eat it too? Was it nice?

Re fruit, I find my dc eat more (and me tbh) if it’s sliced up. Maybe chop up some apples and pears and serve them next to your toast/cereal/breakfast?

I also love peanut putter spread on slices of apples - healthy-ish sweet snacks

[Chugalug]

Thanks for the last few comments....I'm thinking as I read them that I not spending enough money on food..maybe we all need more fruit and veg..they just leave it in the fruit bowel thou,unless it's blueberry some strawberries they leave the apples pears bananas etc...each meal I use a full bag of frozenveg,I buy 7 bags a week of different frozen veg..perhaps that's not enough..I am trying to eat the same ,tonight I made fahiteas with a full bag of frozen peppers ,and vegan nuggets in them,a Little vegan cheese and flavour..was ok bit of a last minute,what can I cook quick dinner...contraceptive wise I've never had a period...always made sure it stops it.

[AssassinatedBeauty]

Have you been eating the vegan family food that you cook for your children? That's got to help as well.

Is the lack of periods due to contraception?

[MsJaneAusten]

I’ve only recently switched to veganism and also have several mouths to feed. The main thing I’ve found useful is to set aside a couple of hour each Sunday to meal plan and batch cook. It sounds onerous but I actually really enjoy the time to myself too so if you can manage it it’s worth a go.

I’ll make a massive pot of veggie soup and freeze it into portions for the week (add lentils / mixed beans etc for extra protein), a lasagne and/or shepherdless pie that will last well in fridge for Monday / Tuesday night, puttanesca sauce that i freeze for pasta later in the week, etc. Might be worth a go.

[Mymouthgetsmeintrouble]

I had a summer of feeling really quite ill it was low iron , i was a vegetarian at the time and a dietician told me i needed to eat a rainbow of fruit and veg as many different colours in a day as you can manage and plenty of beans and pulses i soon felt better didnt use supplements just increased iron in my diet

[Chugalug]

With b12 and everything a vegan needs?????

[Scabbersley]

Floradix do a vegan version - liquid iron and vitamins

[southboundagain]

I'm taking my liquid vitamins every day now..I feel like they are helping

Most vitamins don't work quickly so I'm not sure that's reliable.

[Chugalug]

Also. My mum takes a huge amount of herbal tablets,so I might see what helps her