UK 33 Yr old Omni-Looking to eat a More sensible Diet

phillb

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hi everyone,
i am 33 years old and i have always eaten meat and dairy etc etc. i wish to learn more about what i can eat and the best way to change from a dairy/meat diet to a plant based diet, i have a few questions mainly, what is the best options of food to hit all of the protein groups so i get all of the correct amino acids? as well as what is your favorite food so i can start to get a list of good healthy foods so i can start to make up a meal plan. does anyone know where i can get good vegan recipes to expand more into this change and have better success in my transitions from long term meat eater to hopefully long term plant eater.
thank you to everyone who reads this and responds.
phill
 
:welcome:
One thing to get used to is being vegan, or plant based, is far more than most people think. Instead of being limited, as it may seem in the beginning, it's massive. It's often more variety (well, not eating out!) than meat eaters eat.
Humans formulate protein through amino acids, which are in all foods other than most fruits. The old "beans and rice" at every meal is outdated-beans have more of some aminos, while grains have others--'complementary'--but no need to combine at the same time. A varied diet provides what we need.
Beans, grains, legumes, seeds, nuts, vegetables tempeh and tofu, all have protein, and we should eat a variety.
The easiest start is bowl food, Pick a grain, a bean, tofu, nuts pair with veggies, greens, a sauce

Being veg can be anything and anywhere in between whole food plant based and a junk food vegan!

Look at the what's for supper thread and what are you eating? We love to talk about food here!

 
Ha! When I read the title of your thread (cause it's in the third person), I thought it was a headline from a newspaper. I guess it could be. YOU could be NEWS.

Anyway, first off, welcome aboard.

The protein thing is both overblown and also misunderstood. If you start listening to vegans (like us) you will end up getting lots of things that you were sure of blown the heck up. Expect some paradigm shifts and some revelations.

A lot of myths about protein are totally accepted. The livestock industry and the supplement industry are mostly responsible. But they have had a lot of willing collaborators (some may have been unknowing). The USDA and the Department of Education are two examples.

Anyway, to start off with, if you eat enough calories you will get enough protein. I've linked my favorite article to pass on to new vegans who worry about protein at the bottom.

There are a lot of good meal plans for vegans in books and also on the web. I'm a book kind of guy so I recommend you visit a library or a book store. Put a cookbook at the top of your list. And maybe a more general vegan book on it too. I've linked some good lists at the bottom but i would just peruse the books at the library and the bookstore and pick something that appeals to you. If your library and/or bookstores are closed you can do the perusing online - but it is harder.

Here are two more links. One for cookbooks and one for more general topics.

Online there are so many good resources.
I'll put two more at the bottom

You can get a ton of recipes just from this site. We have a whole forum dedicated to recipes. Plus we have a few threads like "what I had for lunch" where you can get lots of ideas of what we eat. There are also a bunch of good youtube chefs and vegan bloggers that are worth following. You will find links to their videos here, too.

And, a few months ago Silva turned me onto to the Copy Me That website. Now I clip all the recipes I like and put them in my Copy Me That page. Here is a link to mine. If you don't go directly to my page then just search for the member "Lou2005"

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This book is fantastic, written by a registered dietician (an ally of Dr Greger himself!)


and definitely Dr Greger - of nutritionfacts.org. His How Not to Die is like the plant based bible, and his Daily Dozen way of eating is the golden rule!
Yes, it's strict, no I don't follow it,, but, it is important to know because it lists a days nutrition. His research is completely evidence based and backed.
 
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don't worry i'm defiantly not a reporter lol, and i have heard a lot about the protein myths etc as i am currently listening to the china study on audible and its unbelievable how much i didn't actually know. good information is very difficult to find as there is a lot of contradictory information out there. listening to the book with evidence to back it up has helped me change my perspective as well as it will hopefully change my families perspective as well as enable all of us to have a healthier life. i will try to visit my local libary this week and sign up (if they are open) and thank you for the suggestion this will help massively. thank you for taking the time to reply and thank you for the links these will be a great help.
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Whole by the same author as China Study is even better, and far better researched.
It takes most people time different amounts of adjustment before eating this way becomes normalized. It feels sooo good when you find you don't need to 'think' about how to buy, prepare and eat food
 
welcome to the forum and congrats on your lifestyle change

There are is so much available help out there and one thing that helps me is to watch YouTube videos of vegans that are whole food plant-based "what I eat in a day". It is a form of self brainwashing so that it becomes second nature. We have watched movies and shows and videos for most of our lives of people cooking with animal products that I find it helpful to wash that stuff away.

as few suggestions - avante-garde vegan, simnett nutrition, sweet simple vegan, cheap lazy vegan, caitlin shoemaker, the happy pear, the edgy veg, mic the vegan, nutritionfacts.org, high carb hannah, and so many more..

Emma JC
 
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Thank you to everyone for your suggestions this will definitely help and I'm looking forward to see what I can create and cook and hopefully influence my family to make the change when they see that you can still eat as well as have variety and taste (a common miss conception that even I had brought into previously).
Thank you
 
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Thank you to everyone for your suggestions this will definitely help and I'm looking forward to see what I can create and cook and hopefully influence my family to make the change when they see that you can still eat as well as have variety and taste (a common miss conception that even I had brought into previously).
Thank you

Come back and share with us what works and what you learned. So often people drop by for advice and then we never see them again.
 
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change from a dairy/meat diet to a plant based diet.

You didn't just live of dairy and meat did you? you could transition by eating clean then have less meat like being flexitarian. I did a 30 day challenge and went cold turkey, but vegetarianism wasn't some new idea, it was something with me since 1970, not a consistent practice.

have you tried tempeh or tofu ? vegetables are easy like stir fry. Punjabi and India meals are really good. You can get some real good ideas going to a vegan/vegetarian restaurant.

Many of my friends are vegan or vegetarian and pot-lucks are often. Throw some veggies on the BBQ M8!

sliced potatoes right on the grill.

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i will defiantly come back and share what i do as well as my struggles and information that i learn but i may just be telling you all a lot of what you already know as you have been doing this much longer that i have obviously. a couple of shocking things that i have learned so far is a common misrepresentation really that to have strong bones etc you must drink milk and eat dairy for calcium, the ugly truth i discovered today was that i was brought up with a lie. misleading companies say "dairy foods and milk are rich in calcium" which is true and follow it up with "calcium promotes good bone health and strong bones" which is also true but what they forget to say is that animal products also make the blood and the body more acidic which uses the calcium and also removes the calcium from your bones. this is why north america is on of the largest cow milk drinkers in the world and also suffers the highest rates of osteoporosis. its just such a shame that companies mislead and title it as marketing. the other interesting thing i learned today is if you have the gene susceptible to diabetes type 1, you are between 11 - 13 times more likely to develop type 1 diabetes, compared to breast feeding, to put this into perspective you are only 10x more likely to get lung cancer as a smoker.

Come back and share with us what works and what you learned. So often people drop by for advice and then we never see them again.
 
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i have not tried tofu or tempeh but it will go on the list for sure and exploring indian meals like this sounds appealing. and no it wasn't purely meat and dairy but that was a very large part of my diet, as well as saturated fats, sweets, chocolate, cakes etc it was basically no never entered my vocabulary when it came to food, i am 6ft 2 and 22st 10lb or 318lb for the american audience. i have started to experience the negative consequences for my actions and studying health lead me here and its time to make a change, "better an ounce of discipline than a tonne of regret" i have my first borne child under 1 month old and i wish to make a change for my health as well as i do not want to do to him what i have done to myself as through trial and error i have learned the hard way. i will be trying to reduce my meat/dairy consumption to next to nothing as i learn what i can have and get used to it but i will try to get to plant based nutrition in the long run. the easier the change is the more i will enjoy it and the more i will stick to it. thank you for your suggestion.

You didn't just live of dairy and meat did you? you could transition by eating clean then have less meat like being flexitarian. I did a 30 day challenge and went cold turkey, but vegetarianism wasn't some new idea, it was something with me since 1970, not a consistent practice.

have you tried tempeh or tofu ? vegetables are easy like stir fry. Punjabi and India meals are really good.
 
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Maybe watch the Frank Ferrante documentary "May I Be Frank"


and . . .Never, Ever Give Up. Arthur's Inspirational Transformation!

 
Phil,

You´re a similar age to when I made a similar change. It´s been great for me. I hope, like many, you will have the same experience!

If you eat a well balanced diet, you would likely automatically get enough of all the amino acids. By a well balanced diet I mean to include at least some legumes (beans, lentils, soy, peas etc), grains (potatoes, bread, rice, pasta, cereal etc), fruits and vegetables (including at least some green vegetables – e.g. broccoli).

On a well balanced vegan diet, you don´t have to look for specific sources of each amino acid (in fact, most vegan foods contain all of them in at least small quantities). However lysine can be low on a vegan diet if you don´t eat much legumes, so either eat some legumes or look for specific sources of lysine.

I wrote a very brief summary of vegan nutrition here: Vegan Nutrition There are also sources in case you want a more in-depth reading. However, don´t think you need an in-depth understanding of nutrition to be a vegan, that´s not true. It is no more necessary to be a nutrition expert to be a vegan than it is necessary to be a nutrition expert to eat meat.

Don´t focus only on nutrition, either. Make sure the foods are interesting and tasty and filling - a common mistake is that people don´t realize that vegan foods are not as calorie dense so you generally need bigger platefuls of food or extra snacks to get the same calories. Perhaps aim for 10% more food (as volume of food) to start and see how you go from there.

I can´t help with recipes much, not really my forte, but if you want to know how to prepare very simple meals, I can share you a few if that would help?

Regarding the milk debate, many vegans do say milk is unhealthy and I don´t know myself, but perhaps they are right. But please keep in mind that milk is a source of calcium, and we do need calcium. While many, many vegan foods do contain at least some calcium, it is often in small amounts. Vegans do on average have lower calcium than the ideal and may end up with less than ideal amounts without dietary planning. Three ways to ensure you have enough calcium on a vegan diet are
a) to eat almonds or drink almond milk combined with a normal healthy diet
b) take a calcium tablet
c) do research on foods with high calcium or use an online tool etc

That being said, I am not trying to over complicate things and any risk of low calcium on a vegan diet is probably less than high cholesterol and other risk on a meat eating diet! So please don´t worry about it but just something to keep in mind.
 
I think calcium, just like protein is overblown. Not to be ignored but not really worth the attention or importance people give it.
In fact, i'm pretty sure that if you eat enough calories and eat a good healthy and varied diet you will almost automatically get more than enough calcium.

Including plant milks in your meal plan really helps, too.

I have been monitoring my nutrition for 6 months now and I don't there has been one day that I didn't get 100% of the calcium I needed.

Just picking out a day at random, on July 1 I got 111% of the RDA of Calcium

45% from a glass of Silk chocolate flavored Almond and Cashew milk
30% from a glass of Silk vanilla flavored soy milk
11% from my mulitvitamin
7% from a tortilla
5% from my breakfast cereal
and 5% from the veggies I ate that day
and 4% from other foods.

On June 1st, I hit 150%, i had 3 glasses of soy milk, tofu, and pesto sauce that day.

The two minerals that i mostly miss my targets for are Magnesium and Potassium.
 
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I think calcium, just like protein is overblown. Not to be ignored but not really worth the attention or importance people give it.
In fact, i'm pretty sure that if you eat enough calories and eat a good healthy and varied diet you will almost automatically get more than enough calcium.

Including plant milks in your meal plan really helps, too.

I have been monitoring my nutrition for 6 months now and I don't there has been one day that I didn't get 100% of the calcium I needed.

Just picking out a day at random, on July 1 I got 111% of the RDA of Calcium

45% from a glass of Silk chocolate flavored Almond and Cashew milk
30% from a glass of Silk vanilla flavored soy milk
11% from my mulitvitamin
7% from a tortilla
5% from my breakfast cereal
and 5% from the veggies I ate that day
and 4% from other foods.

On June 1st, I hit 150%, i had 3 glasses of soy milk, tofu, and pesto sauce that day.

The two minerals that i mostly miss my targets for are Magnesium and Potassium.
I haven't had leg cramps since going veg!

Potassium is so plentiful on a plant based diet it's what I ask my deficient omnivore friends-where do you get your potassium? (they don't)
 
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@phillb do you have kids and a wife ? what do they think about your decision and a life without cheesy pizza, burgers and fried chicken eh! no more Fish and Chips M8!
 
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