I need some help with becoming vegan

Mason

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Jul 19, 2017
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  1. Omnivore
I'm a 16/yr old boy looking to become vegan. I've done some short vegan challenges but I want to permanently become vegan. I'm against animal cruelty but I am also in it for my own health. I currently weigh 170 and my ideal weight would be 160. I'm trying to lose two pounds a week through the combination of dieting and exercise. Anyways, I need some help filling out a diet plan. I'm eating every 3 hours besides my morning meal because I'm not a morning eater. I want to stay under 1400 calories for the entire day.

11am: Looking for a breakfast option that will be cheap and easy to make, 300 calories max and give me energy.

2pm: I don't care how easy/hard it is to make, but again it needs to be cheap and stay under 300 calories, giving enough energy for another 3 hours.

5pm: I need something to push me to dinner and stay under 300 calories.

8pm: I can't control too much what I have for dinner, and my dad doesn't support my lifestyle. But, after calculating the meals I have often, my dinner is usually 500 calories. However, my dinner usually consists of meat. I'm just going to focus on my first three meals being healthy and vegan. Once I get that down, then I'll start focusing on my dinner.

I'll also be drinking two gallons of water a day. I hope some of y'all can give some ideas for my breakfast and two snacks!
 
Hey Mason,
I'm a nutritionist and I can help you with coming up with a meal plan. If you can shoot me your height I can actually tell you how many calories you need to be eating a day. Currently, if you are wanting to be at 1400 calories per day that is something a woman who is 5'5" and 129 lbs would be eating to lose 2 lbs a week. Let me know how active you are as well and I can come up with a plan for you. If you want to send me an email: jjamail@txnutrition.com I would be happy to get the info there if you do not want to post it on here. I can also come up with a routine for your eating through out the day and what to do at dinner time. You do not have to pay for this at all!
 
hi Mason

If you use Cronometer https://cronometer.com/ you can easily track your calories and your nutrients.

I would ask you to consider eating as much bulk and fibre as you can per calorie.... as you will want to feel as full as possible so that you don't feel unsatisfied. The following photo helps to understand why.

satiety_oil_chicken_vegetables.jpg


So morning suggestions.... rolled oats (take only a few minutes to make) topped with frozen berries, banana, flax meal, cocoa powder, cinnamon, PB powder if you have any and if you won't eat oatmeal then Spoon Size Shredded Wheat may be an option.

Lunch - sweet potato and/or white potato (in microwave if time is limited) with any other vegetables that you have available to you - cucumber, mushrooms, tomato, spinach etc - no oil hummus

Hot air popcorn is also a good filler, no butter.

Afternoon - one day make up a whole bunch of veggie chili - with lots of veggies and beans (any kind are good, canned) and portion it out, maybe freezing some and then you can have it in the afternoon or for lunch with some pita bread or other simple sprouted bread or wasa crackers....

Hope a few thoughts help - I have more ideas if you find this helpful.

Good luck on this journey and congrats for choosing it.

Emma JC
 
Hi Mason,

Toast and cereals (both larger packets and cereal bars) are an option. Also, mushrooms and tomatoes with bread/toast. Mushrooms are not particularly cheap but you can use small quantities. Also, it does require some preparation but only 5 minutes.

You can also do fruit for breakfast. If you have time and enough fruit handy, chop a few different fruits mix a bowl, add some sugar maybe, and leave enough in the fridge to repeat the next day. If you don't have time for all that, just have some bananas etc handy. If it's not enough energy add a piece of toast or some nuts (e.g. almonds for calcium, walnuts for Omega 3).

For other meals, how about veggie bean burritos (e.g. black bean and sweetcorn and salad), vegan burger (Lentil burgers I find tastiest, but processed soy burgers are easier to prepare - add avocado/lettuce for example) and chips, and rice or pasta with a couple of vegetables and peppers mixed in. To keep it easier, even just one type of vegetable when you don't have the others handy.

I agree with your strategy for now. If you want help dealing with your Dad/dinner once you've figured the other things, you can always come back and do a separate thread on that.
 
At present I am not dieting to lose weight but I have found that it helps to eat no more than 3 meals a day (no snacks) and restrict myself to a 6 to 8 hour window of time for my meals. You could eat at 11.00, 3pm and 7pm for example. You would still lose weight if you ate 1500 or 1600 cals but a bit more slowly.
I have also tried intermittent fasting with success. For example eat 2000 cals on 5 days and eat 1000 cals on 2 days - not consecutive days. I actually found the 1000 cal days easier!
Sometimes I do the Indian Vegetarian GM diet. I can lose 5 pounds in 5 days with that. But don't continue with this diet full time.
2 gallons of water a day? I would find that impossible and would have to lock myself in the toilet all day.
Good luck. There are many ways to achieve your goal. See what suits you best.