Transition to Vegan Diet - Help !!

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to this website and am considering becoming a vegan again.

I was a vegetarian then a vegan for most of my life, then approx 4 years ago I started to eat fish and then chicken 2 years ago. During the past 4 years I managed to get very lean, eating a diet of mostly vegetables, protein (chicken, fish and low fat dairy) and getting all of my carbs from veggies. I rarely eat grains or fruit. I train 6 days a week.

I have just read Dr. Joel Furhams book Eat to Live and it has made be want to adopt my vegan diet back. However I am terrified that I will gain weight as it seems to be so carb heavy compared to how i eat now. The main difference for me will be removing chicken, fish and dairy from my diet and the adding of fruit and grains such as oats and rice in moderation.

Dr. Furhams diet is heavily plant based, which wont be a great change for me, as my current diet is heavily plant based now, most of my meals are 70% vegetable, 30% Protein but I do avoid fruit.

My concern about me gaining weight on a vegan diet lead me to this website....Its been such a pleasant relief to find so many vegan bodybuilders out there.

I am wondering if anyone can offer me any advice on the transition from my current high protein/lo grain (NOT LO CARB - i eat a great amount of cards through my veggies) diet.

I believe I will be much happier eating a vegan diet again as these are my preferred foods, and I have had digestion problems for the first time in my life since I added fish/protein and dairy to my diet. I believe removing these foods will resolved my digestion issues. I'm just terrified that I will loose my body composition and gain fat and lose muscle.

Any advice will be much appreciated.

Many Thanks

A very SHORT guide to finding reliable vegan nutrition information.....there is a lot of BS out there, even on vegan web boards:

http://beforewisdom.com/blog/vegan-diets/

Some of the nicer vegan recipe sites:

http://beforewisdom.com/blog/vegan-recipe-sites/

A calorie ( energy ) is a calorie (energy).

You will only gain weight if you take in more calories ( energy ) than you burn.

Vegan foods that have high bulk ( fiber and water ) AND that are low fat have more volume per calorie. In other words you feel more full, but you take in less energy.

I actually lost 48 lbs a few years ago eating a high carb ( whole grains, legumes ) vegan diet:

http://beforewisdom.com/blog/wc/stick-a-fork-in-me-im-done/

HTH

You can replace animal protein with plant protein quite easily by substituting soy, legumes and the occasional small serve of nuts. I dont know if you weigh and measure but the nutritional data is readily available. The sooner you give up dairy the better. Get John MacDougall's podcast here; http://www.drmcdougall.com/store_electures.html 3/4 down the page "Marketing Milk and Disease". Dont feel like you have to replace it with anything, it was never doing you any good in the first place. I have seen amazing things happen when people give up dairy.

I dont know enough about whole grain carbs in a body building / high performance diet (Im here to learn) but bear in mind that even the leanest meat will have more fat (and therefore calories) than most plant foods. By ceasing meat you automatically lower your fat intake and therefore will be able to tolerate more carbs.

I dont understand the bias against fruit as fruits contain high levels of vitamins, water and fibre and are usually low GI in the same way whole grains are.

I ate very little grain, medium to high protein, lots of veggies, little fruit, some dairy prior to stopping meat and dairy. Now am mostly eating a raw vegan diet with mostly vegies, medium fruit, no grains, small amount of nuts. I lost weight when I stick to this way of eating. Have occasionally gotten off track and only then do I add body fat/weight. When I err too heavily on fats or cook/bake too much for others (hard for me to cook or bake without tasting).

Eating loads of greens and starting my day off with green smoothies keeps my nutrition and hydration up and is a key to success for me. Too much fruit or too much fat cause issues for me. Staying away from man-made foods and sticking with whole foods (including condiments) also a big factor.

I don't think it is just about calories but calories do count.

Thanks so much for your replies and advice, i really appreciate it

I'll look at all those links you guys posted, thank you !!

Yes i agree I think that giving up dairy is key, I find it addictive which is never a good sign, and I think it cause a lot of digestive problems for me.

I suppose my main concern is that I am already lean, I'm not looking to loose weight, the diet I eat now keeps me lean and I'm worried changing this will have a negative effect, but I suppose there is only one way to find out and thats trial and error. I will keep my vegetable intake as high as possible and slowly ad fruits and grains and see how i react to these.

Thanks again guys !!

A very SHORT guide to finding reliable vegan nutrition information.....there is a lot of BS out there, even on vegan web boards:

http://beforewisdom.com/blog/vegan-diets/

 

Some of the nicer vegan recipe sites:

http://beforewisdom.com/blog/vegan-recipe-sites/

 

A calorie ( energy ) is a calorie (energy).

 

You will only gain weight if you take in more calories ( energy ) than you burn.

 

Vegan foods that have high bulk ( fiber and water ) AND that are low fat have more volume per calorie. In other words you feel more full, but you take in less energy.

 

I actually lost 48 lbs a few years ago eating a high carb ( whole grains, legumes ) vegan diet:

http://beforewisdom.com/blog/wc/stick-a-fork-in-me-im-done/

 

HTH

Thanks for your most valuable links for vegan diet. I just want to find this. Keep it up !

Well, these links are helpful. Related to that, I would like to know if someone has a good "cheese-replacement" strategy. I was a veggie first ans now go vegan. Feel that my skin is better when I do without milk, had many pimples before and had to cover them with bb cream. I do not mind doing without milk and yoghurt, but I sometimes feel I'd like to eat cheese. Is there a good substitute (with regard to taste) which is not milk-based?

I sometimes feel I'd like to eat cheese. Is there a good substitute (with regard to taste) which is not milk-based?

@ fembreak (re: cheese):

I'm new vegan (from vegetarian), and after learning about caso-morphin, I dropped cheese no prob. I won't even take aspirin unless things get super bad .. I just say no to drugs. haha.

I like avocado in my wraps... it has a nice consistency and helps me not miss cheese. I've recently tried the Daiya cheese... I am only using it in small quantities till I get used to it. So far I don't mind it... it has more of a 'fake' cheese taste (like kraft dinner cheese sauce) imo... but seems okay. In my cauliflower-cheese soup recipe that I used to make, I've tried cashew cream (blended cashews) as a replacement - although definitely not cheesy, I found it quite tasty.

I've tried the nutritional yeast (some suggest using it to replace parmesan).. I'm not in love yet, but I always try things 3 times before I decide... ie.most of the things I used to eat were acquired tastes, so it is only fair.

I think the biggest thing to realize is you won't find things exactly the 'same'. You are just looking for replacements. I had to try the Tofutti sour cream (I love salsa and sour cream with tortillas) a few times before I could accept it as a replacement. It is still not sour cream... it is different, but it is still good in a different way, so it works for me. Again, when I try the 'replacement I will only try it in small quantities so I can get accustomed.

Look up recipes.. I've found that very helpful. There are some really good ideas out there. I also saw there is a book about making your own vegan cheese(http://www.amazon.com/Artisan-Vegan-Cheese-Miyoko-Schinner/dp/1570672830/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335719521&sr=8-1) ... I'm not ready to do that myself. Maybe you have more time than me tho ... and in that case, let me know what you make and how it is.

Oh thanks for your reply!

Yes, avocado has become my favorite vegetable by now, it is nice and a bit fatty. I'll definitely try new recipes with it and might include it where I have not yet done so.

many thanks!