Healthy Vegan Eating

[SunFlowerRose]

Hello

I’ve now been vegan for 5 months. With this being all new to me I have stuck to lots of processed food, but obviously this isn’t the healthiest option.

I really need to lose weight, especially on my stomach, so I need to figure out how to eat healthy.

I also need to begin working out to lose weight, so need to ensure I am getting the right amount of protein etc.

I would be super grateful if you can share your healthy meal plans, including healthy snacks.

I can bulk cook at the weekend and freeze or can cook quick meals for lunch and teas.

Because I’m fairly new to this I’m getting easily confused by searching online.

I will add that I dislike whole chickpeas lol.

The happy pear.
instagram.com/thehappypear?igshid=cmvtl7gjt9y9

They have easy, quick and cheap recipes on YouTube

Oh sorry, I see you don’t like chickpeas but look at their channel for other recipes.

Here’s a pretty standard week of evening meals for me:

Mon - tofu fried rice www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/vegan/tofu-fried-rice/

Tue - veggie burgers www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/the-best-vegan-burger/

Wed - Tuscan bean stew www.sainsburysmagazine.co.uk/lifestyle/food/james-martin-s-tuscan-bean-stew

Thur - Thai green curry realfood.tesco.com/recipes/vegan-thai-green-curry.html I don’t put the edamame beans in this. I use the remaining 100ml of coconut milk in porridge for breakfast the next day (use about 35g of oats) topped with blueberries and with a squeeze of lime juice.

Fri - lentil bolognese www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/recipe/lentil-bolognese

Sat - jerk sweet potato and black bean curry www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/jerk-sweet-potato-black-bean-curry I halve this recipe by using a small tin of chopped tomatoes. I don’t buy a jar of roasted red peppers - I roast one myself.

Sun- shepherd’s pie realfood.tesco.com/recipes/vegan-shepherds-pie.html

I haven’t shared my lunches because I normally have processed vegan products such as dairy alternative cheeses and yogurts which you’re trying to avoid. Recently I’ve been loving cold pasta salad with chopped up Richmond meatless sausages.

Generally I’m pretty good with snacks. I like Sainsbury’s and Kallo protein rice cakes, a packet of Sainsbury’s mini breadsticks with a mini tub of humous and Munchy Seeds.

Wow thank you both.

I’ve done an online food order for next week and have planned for 4 different teas which serve 4 people. So have bought tubs to put the extras in. So that’s 12 meals.

I could maybe have one for lunch too although not sure if that may mean too many calories.

I’m going to try fruit and fibre with soy milk for breakfast. Bananas or graze packs for snack.

And I’m going to start taking a multivitamin daily too.

Google 'whole food plant based low calorie density'. LCD is basically filling up on food that's satiating but low in calories. Potatoes/starches without added oils are brilliant, as are non-starchy vegetables and fruit. Go easy on (or cut out) higher fat foods like nuts and avocados (and obviously vegan junk food). Chef AJ's done some great YouTube tutorials on this. The brilliant thing about this way of eating is you can eat double the volume what you may have been eating previously and halve the calories.

I do calorie counting sporadically and I always hit my protein goals without trying. I eat peanut butter toast for breakfast (single piece of toast!) and for meals I eat a lot of tofu which I marinate and keep in pieces in the fridge. Lentils are good to bulk out soup and chilli, green beans and peas are high protein veg, add seeds or Houmous to salads, baked beans etc...
For dessert I have alpro yoghurts or alpro chocolate dessert. Also dark chocolate :)

@SunFlowerRose a vegan diet that covers all nutritional needs is perfectly doable but requires planning and while you learn how to, a simple multivitamin will not do.
You need to take a lot more vitamin B12 than what is normally on a simple multivitamin. I take 1000umg (micro, not mili) ever second day. You also need vitamin D and omega 3s EPA DHA. Do not rely on ALA. I was eating an enormous amount of ALA in the mean of flaxseeds, chia seeds, walnuts, and when I tested them, I was so deficient it was scary. The body doesn't convert that much ALA into EPA and DHA.
Unless you eat seaweed, you need iodine drops as well. To cover your needs in selenium, 1 Brazil nut is enough.
Calcium is another big issue, and supplements even with K2 to ensure the calcium doesn't calcify your arteries is very controversial. Might be not that safe to take, so you need tofu firmed with Calcium Sulphate or ideally dark green vegetables such as Kale and broccoli. Spinach despite its high calcium content is not a good source because to its high oxalate content.

If half of what I have written is incomprehensible to you, it means you really need to look deeper into vegan nutrition and vegan malnutrition because so many eat pure vegan junk, all edible food;-like substances that are more damaging to the health than the real omnivore version.

This book is all on vegan nutrition www.amazon.co.uk/Becoming-Vegan-Comprehensive-Reference-Plant-based/dp/1570672970/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid&sr

Or at the very least look at her video, it is very long, but you need it long

I use cronometer to check my nutritional intake.
You need to be very smart about your vitamins and minerals. You can't afford to have fake foods, because you don't have the spare calories for nutrition-void food-like substance.