Vegan dieters support thread?

[Fatkins]

Hello!

Is anyone out there trying to lose weight while also being / trying to be vegan / plant based?

I am and would love some company! I have very recently gone vegan, but am wary of gaining weight. I actually really need to lose some, so I'm attempting both things at once.

I am doing Weight Watchers, but any approach, (but obviously vegan food), would be very welcome to join me.

Re tofu - you can start easy with the marinated tofu from Cauldron foods as this can be added straight into a stir fry with no prep. It's a good way of getting used to it.
If you get some smoked firm tofu then I would do d actually what Crazzzy does, then lightly coat it in flour before frying to crisp it up a bit more.

Thanks for all the tips! Will definitely get some!

I'm away with DP and 4 kiddies till tomorrow but spent the week researching a lot of it. We're very remote and has been fab for mental health and literally getting away from everything. Coming home tomorrow with a fresh outlook on eating well, drinking enough water, booked in to start yoga again and a fresh head for starting back work.

Thank you all for being lovely and answering my questions!

Sounds like you had a great break retro. Feel free to ask as many questions as you like!

Some of us are fairly new to plant based eating and it’s always good to hear what other people are doing.

I’ve personally been vegetarian since I was a teenager, but only recently started dabbling in more plant based eating.

We started, as a family, with the idea of just having one or two vegan meals a week, but that’s kind of snowballed into eating like that 95% of the time. Is your family planning to join in with you? Or are you going it alone?

I’m not even sure that my family have noticed that I’ve made all our meals vegan 😂 They’re obviously aware that things like milk and margarine have changed, but they’ve told me that they don’t notice the difference, or actually prefer the plant based option

prettyretro - sounds like you have a very positive outlook! I was only going to do veganuary but got hooked on the whole thing - luckily my family are very supportive and happy to join in some of the vegan meals although they do get alternatives as well!

This is my view right now! We come home tomorrow and not sure I want to leave this bubble quite yet! Haha!

The kiddies eat anything we eat and are pretty adventurous. DP says he'll help when he can but whatever we're having he'll have his meat separate along with it haha! I wouldn't force it on anyone. Although today for lunch (we have his nieces with us too) we all sat down to pasta with roasted Mediterranean veg as I had been talking about eating this way more the week. He's a sweetheart really. I'll be sorting myself for breakfast and lunch at work and it will just be the one meal altogether at dinner time.

I've got a few lunch ideas but struggling for breakfast, would anyone mind sharing what they do? I've got wholemeal toast with avocado or overnight oats using unsweetened almond milk with fruit but apart from that I'm struggling!

Breakfast ideas:
Fruit with alpro yoghurt and chia seeds/flax seeds
Tofu scramble with seitan bacon and mushrooms (more of a weekend thing)
Vegan banana loaf (with dried fruit and nuts - yum!)
Lentil cakes (like rice cakes) with peanut butter
Toast and marmite (but I'm the only one in this family who loves it!!)

That’s a lovely view 😍

I’m not sure I can help you with breakfast as I tend to skip it. I’m doing 16:8, so don’t really eat until about 1.

I’m a big fan of peanut butter and other nut butters though, which might work for breakfast? I especially like pumpkin seed butter with a little bit of cinnamon on corn or rice cakes with banana. So much nicer than it sounds!

I think scrambled tofu is quite a popular option too, but I’ve not tried that myself.

Lentil cakes you say Loose? Where do you get those from? They sound intriguing

Kallo lentil cakes are definitely in Sainsbury's with the rice cakes. They are so much better - especially with peanut butter (mashed avocado is ok too). I'm slightly addicted...
I did notice a very nice-looking jackfruit curry on Nadiya's time to eat programme - but has anyone here tried jackfruit? I got as far as buying a tin!

I've had another blip - had some white carbs for dinner which I don't normally eat and started major sugar cravings. I feel like an idiot but oh well, tomorrow is a fresh start.

I like lentil cakes too, I must get some! They're great with tartex pate and avocado on.

Breakfasts for pretty: we usually have either a smoothie made with banana, soya milk, flax seed, protein powder, peanut butter, spinach or kale and some fresh fruit like pineapple or raspberries.
Or, I have sunflower and pumpkin seeds plus ground flaxseed, and a good portion of chopped fresh fruit, with either a small amount of soya milk or a yogurt.

The kids have cereal and fruit, or bagels with peanut butter and banana. Or on a special occasion we might have tofu scramble with avocado and sliced tomato. The kids also really like any variation of chia pudding: minimalistbaker.com/how-to-make-chia-pudding/

Crazzzy I think the cronometer goal is 105g protein or something impossible, however I am going for 70. I rarely manage it.

prettyretro I like the cauldron foods tofu. It doesn't have much of a taste and the texture when uncooked is kind of soft and squashy. When cooked it can become more chewy / crunchy on the outside depending on whether you bake, grill or fry. I like it marinated and grilled, fried with scrambled-egg like seasonings (search for tofu scramble), or baked in a mixture of soy sauce, oil, garlic powder and nooch: itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/baked-tofu-bites/
I also sometimes buy the ready marinaded chunks and put them in a salad straight from the packet. They don't need cooking.

Home after our trip! I'm shattered already! Haha! Have a 40th tonight as well and just want to sleep!

Meal planning for the week ahead for starting back work after the summer so thank you for your ideas. Will weight officially on Monday and track using the app from there!

Does anyone have nice plans for the weekend?

Had a lovely lentil shepherd's pie last night but slightly ruined the health benefits with wine! No weight loss this week. Not pleased!

Sorry to hear that Loose but perhaps more will come off in a few days after a plateau, seems like that happens sometimes.

prettyretro How was the party? Did you give the app a try? I'm still finding it useful, especially for keeping an eye on iron and calcium. I managed 70g of protein the other day and was feeling pretty impressed with myself, LOL. I am becoming a protein nerd.

I lost another pound and feeling quite motivated. Having a home made nut and rice roast tonight which is not particularly low cal but very satisfying and full of good stuff. I only had a spinach and fruit smoothie for breakfast and a bean salad for lunch, so I think it will work out OK.

Hope everyone is having a good Monday?

I seem to be in the plateau - loss - plateau routine so not too despondent! But it would be nice to shift a couple of pounds by the end of the week!

Loose I hope you do lose a couple! I would like to do the same this week.

Feeling chuffed as I saw a nice vegan chocolate treat in town yesterday and picked one up. After all, it is hard to know when you might see such things again! Anyway I put it in my bag and it's still there and this is the first time I've thought of it. Normally I would have hoovered it up pretty fast.

DamnItsSevenam that is seriously impressive self control!
Weight is moving back in the right direction. I am thinking about going for a run but need coffee first! And then to think some more!😀

It's raining. Maybe yoga instead!

It's pissed down all day here! Yoga sounds very civilised in the circumstances.

Well, today has not been so good. I ate a big baked potato and it seemed to set off my blinking carb cravings again! I ate the handbag chocolate treat and half a bar of Ritter Sport (my absolute weakness, how is it so delicious?). Currently feeling irritated with everyone in the house. One of Those kind of days.

Not the best week. Weight stayed static. I'm pinning hopes on tabbouleh for lunch today and tomorrow!

Oh had a horrible week...

More vegetarian than vegan, struggling with the transition but I'll get there. Haven't weighed since I started, just trying to get myself in the swing of it before I put pressure to lose weight as well.

@DamnItsSevenAM the party turned out really good fun actually! There was a massive big buffet (all meat/ cheese etc) there was vegetable pakora but didn't know about that so stayed clear. I had filled up on bean chilli and rice before hand so wasn't tempted and danced the night away so was good fun!

Was back at work this week (I'm a teacher) so I feel I'll do so much better this week now I'm in my routine. Planning on overnight oats for breakfast and I'm doing a ramen with rice noodles for lunch and dinners I'll just tweak what we're having. My DP doesn't want to do what I'm doing but is more than happy to prep me what I want (he does all the dinners in the house!).

Feeling more positive this week so here we go!

How is everyone?!

Hi Loose and prettretro... Sorry to hear about the rubbish weeks. I'm blaming mine on hormones so really hoping this week will be better. I have somehow managed to lose a pound during the bad week but I suspect the scales might be disappointing tomorrow. We went to a picnic party and there was delicious vegan cupcakea made specially for me and ds! I really would have felt ungrateful refusing, even if I had the willpower.

Had a big pile of tofu and steamed veg for tea. Amazing how a whole heap of spinach goes down to a spoonful. My stats on chronometer looked pretty good after all that tofu and spinach though.

Fingers crossed we're all going to have a good week!
(Back to work tomorrow - sniff!)
Had a tofu stir fry for dinner last night - really yummy - and tofu scramble with mushrooms, fake bacon and avocado this morning. Remains of tabbouleh and some hummus for lunch. Will check the day on Cronometer later and have alpro yoghurts on standby for calcium boost!
Did a massive amount of weeding yesterday so in no fit state to run this morning. Looking forward to going after work instead.

How's everyone doing? I lost another pound and feeling motivated. That's 11 pounds in total; I can't remember exactly when I started but think approx 2 months ago. I'm aiming to lose another stone so hope it doesn't slow down too much. I've got an event in 2.5 weeks and I would like to lose another 4 pounds by then but I don't know if that's too ambitious.

Going back in the right direction after no weight loss since holiday. Had a lovely tofu salad for lunch yesterday from a deli, will definitely try that one again.