How did you go vegan / plant based diet?

[Fatkins]

Just out of interest. I am seriously considering going vegan. Strictly speaking, I am actually considering going plant based; cutting out all animal products from my diet.
I am wondering how others went about it.

Obviously I know, you stopped eating animal products - ta dah 😂!

I mean, did you just go cold turkey? If so, what did you do with animal products in your fridge and freezer etc?

If you did it more gradually, did you go veggie first or did you cut out dairy and eggs or whatever?

How did you square it with other people you have to cook and shop for? Do you have a vegan family / household or do you end up cooking meat for family and a separate meal for yourself?

TIA .

[plantsplantsplants]

Me and husband had been veggie for years, then I went vegan for lent (I'd wanted to go vegan for ages but it seemed far too scary/impossible/how would I live without cheese etc). Husband ate all the things left over in the house, and now he is nearly vegan too (still buys cheese but no milk/milk products except cheese, no eggs, no products containing these things). Would have been much harder if he had not been on board!

Good luck!

[PurpleDaisies]

Same here. Husband ate the non vegan stuff. Now he’s gone veggie we’re left with a few things in the cupboards I keep ignoring.

It’s easier than you think.

[PurpleDaisies]

Should have said, I just cook vegan stuff and he adds whatever he wants (sometimes a boiled egg to curry or real cheese on paste etc)

[Fatkins]

Thanks!

I've been vegan today, except for a my DH made me this morning, which had dairy milk in it.

DH is on board to a point and did say at the weekend that he'd eventually like to be vegan. He doesn't want our dcs to be totally vegan though until they're old enough to choose, which is fair enough, but other than that, I think he'd agree to a vegan household, with just a few non-vegan things for dcs.

Annoyingly, I have lots of eggs, mayonnaise and cheese in the fridge at the moment, all of which DH hates 🤦.

The DCs and I will eat them and I'll gradually replace with vegan alternatives, like vegan mayo.

[PurpleDaisies]

except for a brew my DH made me this morning, which had dairy milk in it.

I misread that as tea with chocolate in!

[Fatkins]

😂😂😂

That's just how I roll. Problem?

[LiliesAndChocolate]

Focus on what you eat more than on what you avoid. A lot of vegans have the crappiest diet ever, in a fifty-shades-of-beige way, with a lot of chips. pasta, frankenfood.
Plant based and vegan is not exactly the same way of eating.
Remember the VEG part in vegan and make sure to read a book on vegan nutrition to make sure you get all your minerals and vitamins.
Register on cronometer.com for free and log in your food to check your nutritional intake.

[Downunderduchess]

I wasn't a huge meat eater & only really ate chicken mainly. I just stopped one day because I couldn't justify to myself why it was ok to eat chicken but not other meat. I also stopped drinking milk, switched to almond milk & never had cows milk since. I am now trying to give up cheese & eggs. I found giving up meat easy for ethical reasons, I won't ever eat it again, as the thought of it actually makes me gag. I quite like veggie patties etc. and Quorn is a good substitute you can use different ways. Good luck.

[Fatkins]

Thanks all. I eat a lot of pulses, fruit and veg anyway. I am also on Weight Watchers; as my name would suggest, I am in dire need of it 😬.

Fruit, veg, pulses and tofu are all Zero Points on there, so I will focus on these things. I will try and use my free points for healthy fats and the odd treat.

I am wary of adopting a shit diet by going vegan, as I know a lot of people end up gaining weight when they go vegan. I know weight isn't the point of going vegan but it's on my mind at the moment due to my overweightness. TBF I've only recently gained weight and I know how it happened, so I should be able to get a handle on it 🤞.

[LiliesAndChocolate]

Remember to buy a 1000ug vitamin B12 and take one twice a week.
Diet wise, try to go whole grains so brown or black rice, not too much bread or pasta, rolled oats for breakfast, a bit of quinoa, flaxseed and chia seeds for omega 3, a lot of soups, and oven roasted veggies.
Don’t buy processed food , even healthy vegan processed food. Be mindful of your calcium so lots of dark leafy greens, hard tofu.
As a rule, leave on shelf anything with more than 5 ingredients or 5gr of sugar/100 gr. Add a tablespoon a day of nutritional yeast for your vitamin Bs, prepare your own hummus, and enjoy a tasty diet

[Fatkins]

Thanks - good tips!

I sometimes make my own hummus, but my normally hummus mad DC doesn't like it 😂. I think I must be a crap cook. Oh well. I like it and it's quite easy.

I've cooked some eggs to try and use them up but I honestly don't want them. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I wonder if a switch has finally clicked re animal products. It's something I've thought about for ages and I was veggie as a child and teenager. We've been trying to be 'flexitarian' / 'reducetarian' for ages, but I think I need to be a bit more decisive about it and just go for it.

[BarryMcguigan]

I found the easiest way to transition was to pick days in your week to have a full Vegan day. Plan around events so you don't fall short. For example if you always pick up lunch on a Saturday from the bakers think about what options you have there and choose another shop / make packed lunch if you need to. Once you've nailed one or two days start stretching it out to more days per week as you pick up new tips and meals. This way you don't 'fail' as you would have planned for the full day and you can have the willpower to do a full day. Also make sure you plan your meals / snacks for your shopping list. If you walk into Tesco and attempt a full week of vegan shopping you may feel overwhelmed.
There are lots of good instagram accounts such as 'accidentallyvegan' which show you easy tips (bisto red gravy / Oreos / most bread / Linda maccartney sausages) this will hopefully make you realise being Vegan isn't a difficult choice.
I'd also advise having a complete break from all cheese. Vegan cheese is a good alternative but I found I only enjoyed the taste of it after not having had cathedral city for a good few weeks!

[ThighsRelief]

I think it's far easier to be vegetarian than vegan (obviously) it just seems like more of a psychological barrier to others.

I'd say I'm in between and try to be relaxed about it. I'll eat something if someone has but butter in, drink coffee if someone else has put dairy milk in etc. Cake with eggs in just makes me gag though, I can smell something gross.

[Fatkins]

Thanks. I think maybe allowing set days when I can have some dairy or just be a bit more relaxed is a good plan. Hopefully I won't want to eat anything animal-y anyway, but knowing I can if I want might help.

I did a whole vegan shop yesterday in Tesco funnily enough! I enjoyed it.

I think I used to feel guilty for some reason buying all vegan stuff, as if I was being selfish and faddy and inflicting that on my family. But we had lunch with friends who are a similar family to us recently. They are all vegan and very happy and healthy. I think that's really reassured me. That sounds silly as of course I always knew that it is often a healthy choice to be vegan, but I think seeing is believing.

[MyGastIsFlabbered]

I started with veganuary and told myself I'd try it for the month and see how it went. Haven't looked back. I went cold turkey from omnivore to vegan (I was vegan years ago but lapsed once the kids came along).

My children aren't vegan so I do sometimes buy meat/dairy etc but anything in my cupboards that they won't eat go to the food bank.

[kikisparks]

I swapped my milk for soya milk (though these days I drink oat) and butter for marg (vitalite but these days I get naturli or flora buttery) first. Then chocolate for dark chocolate- but there are lots of nice vegan “milk” chocolates out there now.

Then it was learning to cook more with beans, pulses, grains, veg- have you got some recipes? Things like bean chilli, lentil bolognese, veggie stir fry etc became my go-tos.

[Fatkins]

Thanks Kiki! I am now, a very new, vegan and have been since I started this thread. I've had half hearted attempts here and there so many times, but this time it genuinely feels easy and I don't feel as if I will ever go back now. Famous last words, but you know.

The weight loss is another matter and a working progress 😬.

Thanks so much to everyone who posted on this thread .

[Fatkins]

Sorry, I should say I EAT vegan or am plant based (not sure what the correct terminology is). As, so far, I have only tackled diet, not clothing, cosmetics etc. Although I have been trying to buy only vegan friendly cosmetics since I started.

[InspectorAlleyn]

I went completely cold-turkey from omnivore to vegan. I gave away any animal products that we had in the cupboards. I’ve not thrown away any leather etc that we already had, but will not be buying any more. Any cosmetics/products that I have bought since going cold-turkey have been vegan. I’ve made a few mistakes (e.g. assuming Quorn was vegan ) but other than that it’s been straight forward!

[Napoleon66]

I didn't make an actual decision to go vegan, I just realised that I hadn't eaten meat in months and didn't really miss it. I also read, 'How Not to Die' which promotes a plant based diet, then I read, 'Live Right for Your Type' (blood) I'm blood type A which they say is most suited to a vegetarian diet. I just thought I'd give it a try as I was almost more or less meat free. I'm 4 weeks in and, at the moment, enjoying learning about vegan cooking.

[Aunaturalmama]

I went cold turkey at first. I watched some documentary when I was Like 7 and it scarred me for life I guess. I don’t remember but my parents told me I “didn’t eat anything that has a face” and would gag when they ate meat Hahahaha so dramatic. Anyways that was until high school when I started eating at others houses etc I found eating meat made me fill ill so I kept away from it. Cheese bloated me so I only had it sometimes. Later I moved to a farm town rescued some animals and now I eat eggs from my chickens.
There was a year in college I ate a lot of meat and worked out a ton. When I went back to eating plant based I did it gradually because I found when I went cold turkey I craved meat and always failed!

[bradprat]

Been a strict vegetarian all my life and went vegan last year due to the animal cruelty in the dairy industry.

[ppeatfruit]

Napoleon66 OMG Snap!!!!!!!!! I have followed the A type Blood Type way of eating for many years. Iam not strictly vegan but am plant based with the odd organic egg or steamed salmon ( organic too).

I use the yeast flakes for my B12 .

Fatkins If you use good seasonal fruit for smoothies it's easy to go vegan all day, (and lose weight) With a fresh salad and rye bread for lunch and veg soup for supper.

[BuzzingtheBee]

Cut meat out first then just did it.