Starting out

[bakewellbride]

Hi, I'm trialling veganism to see if I get on with it. Already a vegetarian so hopefully not a huge transition. Would anyone mind critiquing what I ate today, do you think it's ok / healthy?

Breakfast- smoothie (protein powder, spinach, mixed berries and oat milk). Healthy cereal and oat milk.

Dinner - Aldi vegan chicken pieces in a sandwich with brown bread and Vita lite. Carrot sticks and hummus. 1/2 avocado. Aldi veggie fingers x 2.

Snack - apple.

Tea - orzo with red kidney beans and 1/2 avocado, green beans, carrot and spinach.

Drink - 2.5 litres water, coffee, tea, oat milk.

I'm worried about protein and iron. Things I also like: chia pudding, porridge, nut butters, chick pea stews, all fruit and veg, pasta, jacket potatoes, sweet potato.

Please reassure me I'm doing ok!

Bump

The first thing is to have your supplements ready. You MUST take a B12 supplement, an EPA-DHA supplement , then advised to take Vitamin D, iodine drops.
Your dinner is great, your lunch less so. Frankenstein-food such as fake sausage, fake chicken, fake cheese,... are highly processed and probably unhealthy, way worse than the original non - vegan.
Change meal all together instead of trying to veganise your meal. Instead of a sandwich with fake fillers, have tofu, soups, grains salads, ... make your own bean based or mushroom based patties, roast vegetables in the oven.

The same "fake" criticism applies to protein powders. Once here and there, is fine, but not daily. If you can't get your macros from diet, then the diet is not right. Have rolled oats with 35 g of flax seeds, a teaspoon of chia seeds, and switch oat milk for soya milk. Soya is high in protein.

Middle eastern and Indian cookbooks have plenty of vegan recipes. Try to change the type of pulse every day, so one day Spagna beans, then lentils, chickpeas, splitpea, Adzuki beans and so on. There are so many types of lentils of all size and colours. Don't forget quinoa as well. I cook a few cups and have always quinoa in my fridge and I then can add it to soups, salads, or on its own. This is a nice quinoa salad https://www.recipetineats.com/my-favourite-quinoa-salad/

For tex-Mex recipes https://www.forksoverknives.com/recipes/ and her https://www.badmanners.com/recipes and their book https://www.amazon.com/Thug-Kitchen-Official-Cookbook-Cookbooks/dp/1623363586

The main reason to step aways from fakes is nutrition. You want to eat whole foods.
Use cronometer for a few weeks for check for your micronutrients and make sure you cover the minimal needs.

You need to be conscious of your calcium as well.

Take this change as an opportunity to try need dishes and explore the thousand of online cooks/