New Vegan

johnnyivan

Newcomer
Joined
Jul 19, 2021
Reaction score
27
Age
55
Location
ireland
Lifestyle
  1. Vegan newbie
Hi All,
I'm John. I've been eating plant-based for about 2 months now and I like it. I was generally pescatarian for nearly 30 years, but vegetarian most days.

The thing that gave me the final push was 3 documentaries on Netflix. It became impossible to justify eating animal and fish protein anymore.

I've actually got trimmer since making the switch, which is great, but I'm beginning to think now about nutrients and vitamins I may be lacking. And I wonder f I'm losing muscle mass.

Anyway, looking forward to chatting with you folks, and learning more in here.

Best Wishes!
John
 
Hi All,
I'm John. I've been eating plant-based for about 2 months now and I like it. I was generally pescatarian for nearly 30 years, but vegetarian most days.

The thing that gave me the final push was 3 documentaries on Netflix. It became impossible to justify eating animal and fish protein anymore.

I've actually got trimmer since making the switch, which is great, but I'm beginning to think now about nutrients and vitamins I may be lacking. And I wonder f I'm losing muscle mass.

Anyway, looking forward to chatting with you folks, and learning more in here.

Best Wishes!
John
Good to know and meet you.

All fear death. Chickens get just 6 weeks. My senior dogs... Noelle Obcarskas this truely I say unto you, is a gem of a place. Just see the natural empathy, affection shown to my vegan dogs in this lighthouse inn talacre. All we need to do is extend that to all. Then we make a sad song better.

Here live singing of longest at number 1 Beatles song of hey Jude.
 
Hi All,
I'm John. I've been eating plant-based for about 2 months now and I like it. I was generally pescatarian for nearly 30 years, but vegetarian most days.

The thing that gave me the final push was 3 documentaries on Netflix. It became impossible to justify eating animal and fish protein anymore.

I've actually got trimmer since making the switch, which is great, but I'm beginning to think now about nutrients and vitamins I may be lacking. And I wonder f I'm losing muscle mass.

Anyway, looking forward to chatting with you folks, and learning more in here.

Best Wishes!
John
Congratulations on becoming vegan!

The only supplement you absolutely need to take is vitamin B12. For vitamin D, make sure you get a little sunlight each day (you need just 5 minutes around noon if you're light skinned, several times more than that if you're dark skinned). As long as you're eating a variety of whole foods (mostly starches and green vegetables) and are avoiding oils and processed foods, you won't need anything else. The only way you will lose muscle mass is if you don't eat enough, so make sure you eat enough. Good luck!
 
Good to know and meet you.

All fear death. Chickens get just 6 weeks. My senior dogs... Noelle Obcarskas this truely I say unto you, is a gem of a place. Just see the natural empathy, affection shown to my vegan dogs in this lighthouse inn talacre. All we need to do is extend that to all. Then we make a sad song better.

Here live singing of longest at number 1 Beatles song of hey Jude.
Hi Vegan Dogs,
John
 
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Congratulations on becoming vegan!

The only supplement you absolutely need to take is vitamin B12. For vitamin D, make sure you get a little sunlight each day (you need just 5 minutes around noon if you're light skinned, several times more than that if you're dark skinned).

I think that is an oversimplification on D. I once tried to figure it out for myself and gave up cause I thought it got too complicated. but there are a lot of variables, from skin color that you mentioned, to time of day (which you also mentioned), but also lattitude, season, clothing etc. There are "calculators" online.
Anyway, I drink fortified plant milks and my multi has vitamin D so I don't worry about it.
 
I've actually got trimmer since making the switch, which is great, but I'm beginning to think now about nutrients and vitamins I may be lacking. And I wonder f I'm losing muscle mass.

I'm a big fan of analysis. CronOmeter is a good tool to evaluate your nutrients. I recommend it to all newbies. It does take some time to set up and learn to use but after a while it is pretty quick. You don't have to use it everyday or for the rest of your life. Just enough to get a handle on things.

Another thing to do is to take measurements and take a selfie in your bathroom mirror. Height and weight are the minimum. I recommend get out a tape measure and do neck, chest, waist, bicep, wrist, too. you can plug that into a Body Fat Percentage Calculator.

Some changes take a very long time to be noticeable and then you wonder if you are just mis-remembering or its your imagination.

Being a healthy vegan requires exercise, and all us males over 50 start losing muscle mass. So it is extra important to keep on top of things.
 
I'm a big fan of analysis. CronOmeter is a good tool to evaluate your nutrients. I recommend it to all newbies. It does take some time to set up and learn to use but after a while it is pretty quick. You don't have to use it everyday or for the rest of your life. Just enough to get a handle on things.

Another thing to do is to take measurements and take a selfie in your bathroom mirror. Height and weight are the minimum. I recommend get out a tape measure and do neck, chest, waist, bicep, wrist, too. you can plug that into a Body Fat Percentage Calculator.

Some changes take a very long time to be noticeable and then you wonder if you are just mis-remembering or its your imagination.

Being a healthy vegan requires exercise, and all us males over 50 start losing muscle mass. So it is extra important to keep on top of things.
Hi Lou,
Thanks for this. I get quite a bit of aerobic exercise but rarely lift weights or do bodyweight exercises like I used to. In my 50s, I reckon I should.

I'm getting lots of legumes, pulses, nuts and soya milk into me. Quorn often too, though I suspect it's having unpleasant digestive side-effects the day after—especially their mince.

I'll take shots and flex the ol' muscles and measure them today.

John
 
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Hi Lou,
Thanks for this. I get quite a bit of aerobic exercise but rarely lift weights or do bodyweight exercises like I used to. In my 50s, I reckon I should.

I'm getting lots of legumes, pulses, nuts and soya milk into me. Quorn often too, though I suspect it's having unpleasant digestive side-effects the day after—especially their mince.

I'll take shots and flex the ol' muscles and measure them today.

John

It seems that not all Quorn products are actually vegan. Here is a list of what is vegan:

Their "Mince" seems to be vegetarian, not vegan. It contains "rehydrated free range egg white".

You might also want to check the amount of saturated fat in these products. Some processed vegan foods can be high in saturated fat and can increase one's cholesterol and cause weight gain. In the long run, it's best to eat mostly whole foods and keep processed vegan foods to a minimum.
 
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It seems that not all Quorn products are actually vegan. Here is a list of what is vegan:

Their "Mince" seems to be vegetarian, not vegan. It contains "rehydrated free range egg white".

You might also want to check the amount of saturated fat in these products. Some processed vegan foods can be high in saturated fat and can increase one's cholesterol and cause weight gain. In the long run, it's best to eat mostly whole foods and keep processed vegan foods to a minimum.
Thanks for this. Interesting.
 
I don't know too much about Quorn but just from what I learned here at the VF, there are more vegan products in the UK than the USA.
 
Welcome John!

I just returned from a vacation at the North Sea and was able to maintain the vegan diet there, although the vacation was planned in my vegetarian phase and was not arranged for it. I only bring this up because you're from Ireland and I'm very attracted to the landscape there. Is it hard to find vegan restaurants away from the cities?