I'm a new vegan...what am I doing wrong?!
I'm a new vegan...what am I doing wrong?
I never really liked meat, chicken or anything related to them but i would still eat it. two months ago I decided to leave meat behind..I hate it, it's gross, bloody and ewww anyway with my new decision I also stopped eating eggs (i never really liked them) and fish or shrimp are over for me, milk..ewww(don't want to breastfeed from a cow) and any animal byproducts... the thing is that I FEEL LIKE IF I HAVEN'T HAD A DECENT MEAL IN 2 MONTHS!!! why? I eat healthy salads, drink soymilk, buy boca burgers, any food that is not related to animals I eat. But I am hungry all the time..I feel like if I need "somthing" but I can't explain why...I feel hungry like a starving kind of feeling and I haven't lost any weight! can anyone tell me why is this? thankssss
Answers:
Meat (and all of its grease and added components) is an addictive substance. Plain and simple. :)
There are many wonderful sites to find recipes and even the vegetarian/vegan food triangles etc. in case your diet actually is lacking in certain things. However, overall your body is simply missing its addiction. I quit smoking almost two months ago, and even though I know this, I can't quite explain why I feel the need to keep snacking or why I also feel something is missing.
EDIT after a full night's sleep *yaaawn*
One trick is to cook something heavy in fat. Fat is an addictive substance in meat. You shouldn't cook this way often, but your body will be satisfied.
*I like Ives fake ground, mushrooms and pasta cooked in oil/vegan butter with chopped garlic and some garlic salt.
*Or you can use the fake ground, make patties using flour our corn startch and fry that baby up. Top with some vegan cheese (if you chose) and some veganaise, lettuce, tomato, pepper and garlic salt.
My vegan boyfriend taught me these things a few years ago when my vegetarianism was getting shaky. All your food shouldn't be so fatty, but it helps now and again.
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Here are the new 4 food groups for a vegan diet:
Whole grains - 5+ servings a day
Veggies- 3+ servings
Fruit- 3+ servings
Legumes (beans, peas lentils, soymilk) 2+ servings a day
http://www.vegsource.com/food_groups.htm... will explain how to do this properly and what of these groups you should eat
http://www.nutrispeak.com/veganfoodguide... uses the pyramid to explain what is in a serving and how to eat a balanced diet. If your diet is balanced, you should not feel so hungry anymore.
http://veganessentials.com
http://veganstore.com
Just because you are vegan, does not mean that you want a super healthy lifestyle. Most vegans take on this lifestyle because they do not want to be a part of animal cruelty. These sites have great vegan truffles,bakery, chocolate covered marshmallows etc. I would feel like something was missing if all my chocolate was replaced by fruit. So if you ever need to eat something sweet, these sites have the goods. :)
Your lifestyle will be naturally more healthy IF you eat properly and use these guidelines to help you. The fatty and sugary stuff (whether vegan or a meat eater) should be an occasional thing.
Source(s):
http://www.veganoutreach.org/guide/gce.p...
This is a Vegan Starter Pack. Print it and you will have TONS of help. :)
EDIT- p.s. I am not lokie-gurl... that person totally ripped off my answer.
I make a good confetti bean salad. I also happen to like organic foods and do indulge in Stoneyfield vanilla yogurt with fresh fruit (like pineapple) mixed in. I'm not "vegan" but I try to eat healthy. Are you getting enough vitamins, citrus, nuts, etc? Think about the entire range of foods and make sure you're getting supplements. Sometimes I go through times where I crave citrus or olives or whole wheat bread. I think our body tells us what we need sometimes. On days where I have no meat (which are common and more frequent), I don't miss it. I have Boca Burgers, veggies and bean salads. Sometimes I feel I need texture differences and I graze (hehe) for textures crunchy etc. So you should vary your diet more to satisfy the cravings. Also try more spices for flavor which should be more satisfying to you. I find that organic veggies and cereals have much more flavor. Try Peace Cereals, try Organicville vinagrettes, etc. and see if you can find more peace with your lifestyle. Health food stores often have cooking classes and you can try some ethnic cooking classes as well to increase your diet. Also, the Fantastic Food mixes (in the boxes) are great - they have a taco filling one I love to make tacos with.
PLEASE GO BACK TO BEING NORMAL! because there are plenty of anti-vegans out there that will use up your share of animal products so you arent really doing anything good for the poor little chickens, rabbits, cows, sheep, lions, elephants, wildebeests, and emus that are being mercilessly slaughtered as we speak. but if you are just trying it as a diet then more power to you : )
You need to probably bulk up what you are eating. Make more filling dishes using ingredients like: beans, tofu, seitan, tempeh, and definately fat. Fat is probably the biggest reason that meat is so satisfying, fat is great for feeling full. Im not suggesting to go out and eat a lb of margarine or a pint of olive or canola oil everyday, but it is needed in your diet. Also by using tofu, seitan, and tempeh, you can actually fix many of the meals you used to eat that had meat in them or that are classic meat-dishes. You can have seitan or tempeh sloppy joes or barbecue sandwiches, make stroganoff with seitan, etc. Also make sure you have a healthy dose of whole grains in your diet. Fiber is also a great filler. Brown Rice, Barley, Quinoa, and Winterberry offer great ways to get lots of fiber into your diet.
I will see what I can do for you... I hvae been vegetarian for 7 years, and now have been vagan for 3 weeks. I am not sure exactly why you would feel hungry as I can't see what you eat and how much.. But I can tell you that whatever I have been doing has been making me feeling more satisfied than ever. I eat only fruit in the morning, because fruit uses the least amount of body energy to digest and is the quickest to provide energy to you after eating. Because of how quickly and efficiently fruit digests it should not be eaten with slower and more complex foods, like grains and proteins this will force the fruit inside you intestine to take longer than it should and causing it to ferment, so now the fruit has gone bad and has lost alot of its nutriants. I eat as much fruit as I feel like in the morning... Then I wait 25 to 30min for the fruit to pass into my intestine before I eat a hot bowl of cereal like oatmeal or 12 grain cereal for example. For luch I love to have things like whole grain pasta with a big veggie salid, or tortilla wraps filled with veggies and chickpeas sometimes a nice warm bowl of soup is nice too. For supper I like steamed veggies, bakes potatoes, soup, salid, stir fry with rice for example. I also like keeping ground flax seed, and ground sesame see handy to sprikle on salid, pasta and in my wraps or hot cereal. If I feel like a snack during the day I love to eat raw nuts, and organic dried fruit. Other things you can do to make sure your body is getting all it can out of its food is to chew your food realy realy well, swish your soup and even your fruit juice in your mouth for at least 10seconds before swallowing, this will give you saliva time to mix with whats in your mouth. Don't drink water during your meal, this will weaken the power of your stomach acid, instead drink 10min before you eat a meal so the water has time to be absorbed into your body. Remember almost every food other than fruit takes 2 to 3 hours to leave you stomach and enter your intestine, so you should wait that long before drinking anything or eating fruit.
Hope this helps you (-=. This has worked well for me so far and I even do lots of exercise and physical activity every day.
You may not be getting enough. "Fats" Olive Oil, nuts, Avocados. Fat helps with feeling saited. Also some high fiber foods can really make a difference.
Meat has the same hormone that chocolate does & is addictive. That makes us feel "high". So that could be part of the weaning off process.
For your health's sake, go easy on the soy products. It is not the health food we have been led to believe and is high in fat. It contains high amounts of estrogen-like compounds and the American population already gets way too much estrogen which leads to cancer and other diseases. Be sure to add cod liver oil (preferably Carlson's or Bereans- a good one) for your omega 3 and vitamin D. What people have said about fat is true. Be careful to eat only healthy fats such as coconut oil, olive oil, nut oil, grapeseed oil, avocado. Your body also needs some fat in order to be able to lose weight. Beans are a great food that helps you feel like you've had a decent meal - high in protein, fiber and filling.
Don't turn back into one of those nasty non-vegs who spam our section. Keep on going. Find some meals that interest you online, by googling them or going to http://www.vegcooking.com/. It might be that the Boca burgers aren't doing it for you. (They don't do it for me.) Just have more yummy stuff, like strawberries and other fruits.
Soymilk and salads would not fill up anyone. I find that whole grain pasta and rices are very filling. The more fiber, the more filling! You can make virtually all recipes that call for meat a vegetarian meal. I make cottage pies using ground boca, tacos, stews etc.
Have you gone to the library or bookstore and gotten yourself a good book on healthy vegan living? You really should. Getting the right combinations of foods and nutrients is just as important as eliminating the animal products!
Also, most doctors will tell you that everyone--whether they consume animal products or not--should be taking a good mulitivitamin every day. It's like insurance. There are vegan multivitamins out there, go find one.
Try eating more whole grains and beans and legumes--they're "heavier" foods that might help give you that full feeling.
Do you consume a lot of caffeine and/or nicotine? Stimulants can speed up your eating cycle (like they speed up the rest of your body), making you hungry more often. Cut back!
you've answered your own question.
you say you eat "salads, drink soymilk, buy boca burgers, any food that is not related to animals I eat"
You instinctively didn't mention all the root vegetables you should be eating, you didn't say i eat a plate full of roasted, steamed, boiled and fried vegetables but i'm still hungry. Thats because those foods fill you up.
Vegans still need to balance thier diet with roughage and fuel - pulses and sugars as well.
The more successful vegan diets cook thier foods from basic raw ingredients. Its by far the best way to get the most nutritiant and taste....very rewarding
Stick with it, 2 months is not very long and it ight take time for your body to adjust.
If you are having motivational problems, just think that at every meal there are millions of animals that appreciate your choice. that'll be enough to keep you on track.
Nice one, and you are making a difference.
Great recipes here: www.hacres.com
Everything I've tried is easy to make, tastes wonderful and looks good. Even my non-vegan friends enjoy these meals and snacks.
Get some books. Read up.
The first person who posted had the best answer. Meat is an addiction. You are "fiending" for lack of a better term. It will go away.
I read a wonderful article by a psychiatrist who said when we go veg and have a meat craving, it isn't the meat we crave. It's the "savory-ness" of the meat. See, we aren't meant to eat meat. So we cover it in veggies!!! Herbs, tomato sauces and the like.
So take yourself a nice slab of extra firm calcium set tofu. Marinate it. Then grill it. I got a dinky little Foreman Grill. I love my grill!! I grill tofu and portobello mushrooms. It's just to die for.
I highly recommend Sarah Kramer's books. She is the sweetest, funkiest, most wonderful person. Her books are full of life and light.
Plus, Vegan Living for Dummies is excellent. Go to the Vegan Chef link and click "books."
maybe you're just concentrating on the "healthy lifestyle" aspect.
if you're going vegan for the reasons you described, then you can eat ANYTHING you want to, as long as it doesn't contain animal products -- so start eating.
it is usually healthier for you though
salads, potatoes, pastas, rice, beans, tortillas, nachos, stews, soups, grilled cheese, sandwiches, veggie burgers in restaurants, veggie dogs etc etc..........experiment, splurge, find favourites -- just avoid 'meat sauces', beef gravy (keep your eye on labels, vegeatable soup can have beef broth in it), etc
DON'T FORGET POTATO CHIPS, french fries, chocolate (there is a lot of dairy-free chocolate out there), go to your bakery and ask for a dairy-free chocolate cake.
if you bake, get vegan recipes online -- you can still enjoy cupcakes, brownies, cookies, etc
you can also try to maintain a picture-perfect healthy lifestyle, so just watch your calories, fats, and carbs.
BUT you really don't need meat.
if you are totally vegan and avoid dairy too, you can still get 'vegan slices' for grilled cheese, drink soya milk or cook with soya or rice milk, order a pizza and ask for 'no cheese'
GOOD EATING
Do you eat whole grains rather than refined?
There is an adjustment period. Your body probably 'misses' all that stuff you used to eat.
All I used to eat was pasta because nothing else could give me the engergy I needed. This, I believe, was due to poor digestion and that my body was used to processed foods etc.. If I ate brown rice, I would be super hungery. But, eventually, my digestion improved and I can now be full and still ride my bicycle 100km on rice and veggies. Wouldn't have been able to do that before.
Also, at first, when I started eating healthier, I could not taste anything. Everything that didn't have sugar, salt, seasoning, etc. was very bland and pretty gross. Eventually, very slowly for me, over a period of about a year, my taste buds started to work and bland vegetables were bursting with subtle flavours. Herbal teas no longer tasted like water and had so many subtle flavours. It was really interesting.
My college kid is a vegan. I try to eat that way when she is around. I rarly eat meat anyway. The first answer is right on. Your proablly missing the fat. I use lots of organic olive oil.
Nuts and hemp seeds fill you up and I eat a hand full at most meals. Otherwise I am left with a meal that is unsatisfying.
Vegans eat alot. That was the hardest thing for the kid after years of dieting it was hard for her to make the adjustment to eating more.
FRUIT is most important food 4 a Vegetarian.. without it you'd be missing someimportant enzymes similar to enzymes that's in meat. Have U eaten an Apple or Orange and not feel full? I haven't. An Apple or Orange does make me feel full but I like the taste of them so I often do have another. The most filling fruit for me is the banana. Here's a fake meat recipe: 14 oz. canned pumpkin, mix in oatmeal, wheatgerm & soya sauce. Form in balls or patties. Or make fake meat loaf. I often form the mixture in balls and cook with spagetti! For fake fried bologna: thinly slice some raw beats par boil & soak in soya sauce for a few minutes then fry slices in oil!
Don't forget also you can drink herb teas too!