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Hi! Newcomer problems

1K views 4 replies 5 participants last post by  lekawa 
#1 ·
Hi, I stopped eating meat two weeks ago, and I'm really feel exhausted all the time and miss the taste. I understand that was my choice but still... Could you please advise me something to replace meat (taste). I was reading about mushrooms, cheese, etc, but that's not the same
 
#2 ·
ok,, congrats on giving up meat.

here are a few pointers:

Meat has a LOT of calories.. so its filling and gives a lot of energy.
Vegetables and Fruit has far less calories. So if you are eating the same size portions, then yes, you are getting less calories each day.
basically EAT MORE,, and you will be getting enough calories,, and you will feel fine.

2 weeks is a very short time to have any ill effects. so this is most likely due to you not eating enough.
vitamin and mineral deficiencies wouldnt happen for many many months,, if not longer.

BUT.. just make sure you are not over-doing the junk food.
just because someone becomes a vegan, these days (with all the choices of snacks, cakes, pre-packaged meals) vegans can also have a junk food diet and get unhealthy.

if you want to be healthy at all,,, then reduce the fake meat products,, and increase the green veggies,, and colourful veggies and fruit.
Green veg is best (nutritionally) followed by colourful veggies, followed by white veggies.
ALL veggies are good. But just wanted to let you know a general guideline.

if you are not sure how to 'fill yourself up', then eat some more dense (but healthy) foods. ie: bananas are an amazing fruit. high in vitamins and minerals and low in fat.
(i make a banana smoothie for breakfast every day. i use between 5 to 8 bananas in the blender with about 2 cups of WATER. sometimes I put a heaped spoon of Flax Seed POWDER in there too)

this is a great breakfast,, and filling.
I often have this as lunch or even dinner. (been doing this for over 10 years.. and love it).

of course, enjoy some junk from time to time...
depending on what country you are in, there are LOADS of vegan burgers, vegan nuggets, etc.
dont expect them to be exactly the same taste as a real dead animal. you just have to accept its going to be 'close', but not exact.
I prefer burgers that dont taste too much like real meat,, (coz it grosses me out).
But,, Linda Mccartney burgers are quite good.
you shouldnt need to pay a fortune for vegan products. (its a bit of a fashion craze at the moment), so many companies are 'cashing in' on it.
if you are in the UK, then check out the range of products in Iceland (shop).
in America or elsewhere I dont really know the shops.

as for the IMPORTANT stuff:
make sure you take Vitamin B12.
do not take any multivitamins. coz they have too little of the important stuff.... (you end up wasting your money).
so just buy some B12 (preferably a spray,, coz stomach acid kills the B12... so a spray in your mouth dissolves under your tongue directly int your blood and avoids the stomach acid).
also: if you dont go in the sun often, then get a vegan vitamin D. (especially for winter).
if you want Omega-3, then buy flax seeds and GRIND them into powder (use the coffee grinder attachment that comes with most blenders). if you dont have a blender at home, then get one! coz they are mega useful for banana smoothies. (make sure you buy one which has a coffee grinding attachment... as you will need this for flax seeds).
if you cant be bothered, then just buy flax seed powder which has already been ground. (but its much more expensive this way).
2 spoons of flax seed powder per day gives you all the Omega-3 you need (if you are under 40 years old).
if you are older, then you should look at Vegan Algae Omega-3. (basically this is where fish get their omega3 from). its more absorbable than flax seed powder (for older people).
eat a handful of nuts each week. (not per day, but per week). walnuts and brazil nuts would be your BEST choice. (both are proven to extend life and reduce sickness).

finally: DRINK ENOUGH WATER EACH DAY!!
so many people ignore this one!
if your pee is anything more than yellow, then you are dehydrated.
it should be a the colour of straw. not dark yellow, and definitely not brown).
always drink enough water. your organs all need it!


2 weeks is a very short time,, so really this is just a calorie issue.
 
#3 ·
Hi Sunset,

It's unlikely that you would develop vitamin / mineral deficiencies in only 2 weeks. It's more likely that you're simply not eating enough calories to maintain your energy - this is a common mistake made by new vegans, including me.

Meat is high in fat, and therefore high in calories. In contrast, beans, grains, fruits, and vegetables are lower in calories. As a vegan, you'll need to pay a certain amount of attention to getting enough calories. Here's a calorie comparison chart:

1 cup of cooked ground beef contains about 340 calories

1 cup of boiled beans contains about 230 calories

1 cup of boiled grains (rice etc.) contains about 200 calories

1 cup of fresh fruit contains 40 - 100 calories

1 cup of non-starchy vegetables contains 5 - 40 calorieso

1 cup of nuts contains 650 - 1000 calories

An easy way to get enough calories is to include nuts, seeds, and nut butters in your diet.

If you miss meat, you might find satisfaction with the newer vegan meat substitutes. In particular, "Beyond Meat" and "Impossible Burger" are very meat-like. They are now sold in regular supermarkets, usually in the meat section.
.
 
#4 · (Edited)
Two things commonly happen when a person abruptly stops eating meat. 1. They do not replace the missing calories with fruits and veggies. They usually continue to eat the same amount of fruits and veggies they did prior to dropping the calories from meat/dairy/egg. That equals 'Starvation!'. When you go grocery shopping now, you should buy twice as much fruit and veggies as you think you will eat. A bag of apples, a bag of oranges, bananas, etc. Because you have just dropped a large amount of unhealthy calories and they need to be replaced at that level of calories at least for the short time. When you eat an orange for a snack now, you want to grab 3-4 oranges to eat. You really have to change your mindset about the quantity of food you will now eat. If you are going to eat a salad you eat from the big bowl, not the little bowls people who eat meat pretend is an adequate for a serving. When you want to eat a banana in the morning, grab 3-4 bananas and eat one on the drive to work. THe amount of food you will now eat will be Alot more then when you ate the fat laden calorie dense foods that have been harming your body all these years, also including oils!
2. During all of these years, you have been eating on average 2-3 times the protein required by your body's needs. When protein RDA was first calculated 50 yrs ago it was found for an average person to only require 25 Grams of Protein per day. At the time the FDA decided to 'Double' the amount 'For Good Measure'. At the sime, they did not realize the damage and harm over eating protein would do to the human body. Then the meat industry, protein supplement industry, etc, stepped in to try to confuse people into thinking they need more and more protein. Protein is not the end all nutrient that we need, too much infact can slowly degrade our kidneys and one of the leading causes of chronic kidney disesase. Human bodies have no way to process such large quanities of protein without evential degradation of health. It is like a drug in the body, that it becomes addicted too.
So, when you stop eating toxic levels of protein in your body, and drop consumption back down to the original (pre-industry scewed levels) of 25 Gms, your body will react! You will get the shakes, easily fatigues, your body will begin to detoxify and more. So the best way to help your body is to super increase plant based proteins for a while then slowly decrease it to a healthy level. When I quit eating meat I found bean burritos to be the answer, I would eat one when ever I started to feel withdrawals, which in the beginning will be quite often. I would eat 9-10 bean burritos thruout the day!!! But as soon as I ate one the shakes and fatigue would disappear, and when it would return in 1-2 hrs I would eat another, and so on. I found other things too. Another big big help iss to drink a lot of water to help flush the toxins out of the body, this is important as the body will begin to clean itself of all the toxins and grudge and will need to be realized out of the body thru your kidneys. well that was the basic help for your new healthier life. A gal did a good video a couple years ago that I found helpful to people, called 'How to SLAY Vegan Transitioning' - , Good Luck! Marcella Smith APRN FNP
 
#5 · (Edited)
I'm a believer in the theory that our microbiome gradually adjusts to the diet we're feeding ourselves. Seems to have worked that way for me, I didn't initially digest beans well, and now have no problem. My sister tried to go vegan all at once and started dropping more hair than usual!... This may be true for all of us or just some of us, but I would try slowing down a bit...Maybe start with two "meat meals" per week for a month or two...gradually increasing your veggies while gradually decreasing your meat intake..while also gradually, testing out various (vegetarian?vegan?) foods that satisfy your appetite and taste buds! I read somewhere, and tend to believe it makes sense, that we all may have a little trouble efficiently absorbing nutrients from a completely different diet than our guts our "used to"...so giving our gut some time to gradually "catch up" might be a good idea.

I've been vegan for 12 years. Here are my own "fav-o-rite things" that make being vegan easy. There are countless additional awesome recipes out there, both vegetarian and vegan, but these are the things I find both tasty AND easy/convenient enough that they suffice even when I'm too busy to cook much.


1. The ol' original vegan Boca burgers taste very much like meat to me...I wouldn't expect to be able to live on them, but they make a great substitute for the real thing. (I stopped craving meat not too long after I became vegan...I think it's more "habituation" than "need for meat".

2. For a real "splurge" (not sure how healthy), Burger King's "impossible burger" is unbelievably tasty.

3. Chocolate Mint Shake for breakfast... 24 grams of protein...help keep protein levels high enough to stave off cravings
- 1 scoop NOW Pea Protein-Unflavored (non-GMO),
- frozen banana chunks (about 1 1/2 bananas worth),
- 1 Tbsp Cacao Powder,
- about 8 to 10 oz. Almond Milk
- a sprig or two of fresh "chocolate mint" (optional) ...(you can grown this in a porch pot easily)
- good quality Stevia to taste (I use two dropper-fulls of NOW brand "Better Stevia")

.....blend all together in a nutri- bullet or high speed blender of some sort. It's seriously like having dessert for breakfast, but with lot's of protein...lot's of potassium...lot's of magnesium... etc...etc...

4. Raw brazil nuts lightly dusted with powdered salt (sticks to nuts better...Just grind up a bit of regular salt granules in coffee grinder) I keep a zip lock of these or almonds or walnuts or a combo in my purse at all times, for when I'm hungry and not near a source of healthy vegan protein.

5. I always have a bowl of fruit at home for easy/healthy snacks(loving clementines at the moment). Even throw one or two in my purse most days as well.

6. Hummus! I make this stuff a pound at a time. You can put it on so many things for additional taste and protein.

7. Vegenaise (mayonaise substitute, tastes just like mayo...and MUCH better than "nayonaise". It can be found only in refrigerated section)

8. Beans! If you need to take a little "Beano" initially, go for it. Eventually you're gut microbiome will likely adjust and you won't need to. Add some rice...or any grain actually...and you've got a complete protein.

9. Oven Roasted Veggies! Any veggie that you can caramelize in the oven...squash..brussels sprouts...cauliflower...potatoes...etc....There are some amazing recipes out there (brussels oven-roasted with oil, garlic, lemon juice and vegan butter....Caramelized Cauliflower with just a little soy sauce, vinegar, sugar.....Spaghetti Squash just roasted with a little oil salt and pepper until caramelized...all of these taste better than one might imagine)

10. I never go anywhere without some Tea sweetened with a few drops of stevia in my stainless steel bottle. Keeps me from needing to settle for sugary drinks that just set me up for cravings
 
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