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| Vegetarian | Warning: Kind of gross! Problems with #2... | Jul 09 2008 01:09 (UTC) |
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| What fuzzys said. You may not be getting enough fiber. Ramp up the fruits and veggies. I'm VERY regular and here's what I ate today - a typical day (I'm a 170 lb guy.) Breakfast: 1/2 cup steelcut oatmeal, banana, berries, 1/2 cantalope. Snack: handful of raw almonds Lunch: large salad; romaine, spinach, tomatoes, carrots, walnuts, olives, peppers, italian dressing. 1/2 sandwich - hummus on whole grain bread. Grapefruit. Dinner: chinese veggie stir fry with rice and a couple glasses of red wine. |
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| Vegetarian | Calling All Vegans! | May 05 2008 23:12 (UTC) |
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| Breakfast: Oatmeal (with flax) and a variety of fruits. Lunch: Massive salad, with variety of veggies, fruits and beans. Dinner: Varies. Favorites include; burritos, vegetable soups, veggie and tofu stir frys, pasta, veggie burgers, veggie pizza, quinoa and black beans. Snacks: Nuts, fruits, humus or peanut butter or almond butter on whole grain bread. |
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| Weight Loss | Television = Evil? | Apr 29 2008 01:09 (UTC) |
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| TV is certainly part of the problem. It certainly gives us a reason to park our butts on the couch and scarf down chips or other high calorie / low nutrition junk food. But the obesity problem is more than that. The human body is so amazingly efficient, and we live in a world (most of us in the first world, that is) where food is so plentiful and so easy to obtain that we can't help but gain weight. I lived with obesity for years until I finally bit the bullet and decided to do whatever it took to regain a normal weight. What it takes, for me, is an hour of exercise every day and a near vegan, near sugar free diet. (Near vegan because meat is incredibly caloric, and near sugar fee because sugar is even more caloric than meat.) |
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| Health & Support | trapped !! | Apr 29 2008 00:55 (UTC) |
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And after you break the habit, it's okay to allow yourself a sugary treat on occasion. But only once in awhile - not daily, best not even weekly. Only on special occasions. Make it a special treat. Often enough so you don't feel like you're denying yourself, rare enough that you don't feel guilty when you indulge. Those occasional treats will be soooo much more enjoyable when you can enjoy them guilt free! |
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| Health & Support | trapped !! | Apr 29 2008 00:50 (UTC) |
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| Ugh. Been there. Sugar's addictive, and like a drug you have to break the habit. Fortunately, it's not as hard to do as you think. First, commit yourself to 2 weeks without sugar. And that means NO sugar. Nada. Ziltch. No cheating. Second, replace the sugar with fruit. Sugar is 3,500 calories per pound. Fruit, on average, only about 300 per pound. (Bit of a difference there, huh?) Every time you get a sugar jones, eat fruit. Vary the fruit so you don't get bored. Pears, apples, grapes, dates, citrus, etc... Within two weeks, if you don't cheat, your taste will change and the fruit will be as satisfying as the sugar ever was (or more!) And you'll feel so much better physically, and about yourself and your new more healthy diet. Good luck! |
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| Vegetarian | tofu-less vegetarian dinners? | Apr 29 2008 00:33 (UTC) |
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| This one requires a little more planning and cooking time (about 30 minutes), but it's worth it. Best soul satisfying soup I've had since Grandma's and oh so healthy too! From "The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen" cookbook: 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 medium onion, chopped 4 ounces (about 2 small) carrots, chopped 1 stalk celery, chopped 2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped 4 cups vegetable broth (I use an organic box package broth) 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves Salt and pepper to taste 1/2 cup ditalini or other small pasta 1/2 cup diced canned tomatioes, juices included 2 cups cooked (or 1, 19 oz can) cannellini beans 1 1/2 cups cooked (or 1, 15 oz can) red kidney beans 4 ounces fresh spinach, chopped In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic, stirring often, until softened (about 5 minutes). Add the broth, thyme, salt and pepper; bring to boil over high heat. Add the pasta and tomatoes, reduce the heat to medium-high, and simmer briskly for 8 minutes, or until the pasta is almost cooked al dente. Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the beans and spinach. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the spinach is wilted, the beans are heated through, and the pasta is tender, about 5 minutes. Serve hot. |
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| Vegetarian | tofu-less vegetarian dinners? | Apr 29 2008 00:14 (UTC) |
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EZ Burritos, a 10 minute meal: Chop up half an onion and a couple cloves of garlic. Saute in Canola oil for about 5 minutes until lightly browned. Add a little cumin, and (if you like 'em hot) a little chile powder. Mix in about 1/2 cup of frozen corn and a can of pinto beans. (Rinse the beans first to remove most of the nasty salty goo they come packed in.) Heat the corn and beans until warm. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with chopped lettuce and your favorite salsa on tortillas warmed in a microwave for 30 seconds. |
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| Vegetarian | Do you know how to cook Tofu ????? | Apr 12 2008 01:20 (UTC) |
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| Like dharma_ bum says, stir fry it with a little sesame oil and tamari. Use firm or extra firm tofu and fry for about 5 minutes on medium heat until it starts to turn brown. Then add the veggies and a little more tamari and fry until the veggies are heated thoroughly. Serve over whole grain rice for a mighty tasty and very healthy meal! |
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| Vegetarian | Protein combining? | Mar 07 2008 00:07 (UTC) |
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The point is that it is not necessary to combine multiple types of amino acids in one meal, but that one can eat a healthy vegan diet consisting of a variety of whole plant foods to provide oneself with all of the essential proteins in quantities necessary for good health. In other words, vegans eating rice WITHOUT beans (or visa versa) IS okay. Here's another discussion of the subject, with nitrogen balance study references. |
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| Vegetarian | Vent... | Mar 06 2008 15:11 (UTC) |
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| There's so much misinformation and mythology out there regarding the supposed drawbacks of the vegan diet. Much of this noise comes from well meaning folks (moms and docs) who have been influenced by meat and dairy (and government) advertisement and are just repeating what they believe to be true. When somebody blows this smoke my way I like to point out natural world inconsistencies in their belief system. For example, look at the largest land mammals; elephants, giraffes, buffalo etc... They're all vegans, yet they don't seem to have much trouble building strong frames and plenty of muscle. Sure, some of these mammals have digestive systems that give them the ability to gain more and different nutrition from their food than humans eating vegan diets. Okay, so then let's look at our closest relatives, the great apes... Gorillas appear to be vegans. Chimps and bonobos are near vegan (it's estimated that only about 5% of their diet is from animal products - mostly insects and small mammals.) And we don't see any of these animals - large mammals or the great apes - drinking cow's milk (at least not while in the wild). Yet they all seem to have no problem developing stong bones and muscle. Huh. I guess ONLY humans need cow's milk and meat for stong bones and muscle. Makes me wonder just how our humaniod ancestors got along for the 5 million years after diverging from the apes and before we learned how to domesticate animals. I would like to think that I have an open mind, open to scientific facts, but I haven't come across any good science that explains this inconsistency in the "we need meat and milk" argument. |
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| Vegetarian | Protein combining? | Mar 05 2008 23:55 (UTC) |
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Yea, it's a myth. Here's a couple of links: McDougall. PCRM. (see #4) |
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| Vegetarian | Raw foodists | Mar 05 2008 17:11 (UTC) |
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| Don't worry about your friend... if she does it right she'll be more than okay. I've investigated going raw and currently maybe 60% to 75% of my diet is raw. Eating raw is actually very healthy, and believe me carbs are not a problem. Fruit and vegetable calories come almost exclusively from carbs. I eat several servings of raw fruit for breakfast and again for a couple of snacks throughout the day. I eat a large salad for lunch daily. Except for the salad dressing, this is all raw food. I do almost always eat a cooked dinner each evening but if I chose to eat raw food I'm sure that I'd be fine. I've been eating this way for about a year and a half now and have no health problems and am able to maintain a normal weight. |
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| Vegetarian | ideas? | Mar 04 2008 23:47 (UTC) |
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| Quick Minestrone (adapted from The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen cookbook): Saute; 1 medium onion, 2 cloves garlic, 2 carrots and 1 stalk of celery until vegetables start to soften - about 5 minutes. Add 4 cups of vegetable broth and thyme, salt and pepper to taste. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and add 1/2 can of diced tomatoes (or a similar volume of fresh) and 1/2 cup of elbow pasta (I use whole grain). Cook until pasta is al dente (about 8 minutes). Add 1 can of rinsed kidney beans, 1 can of rinsed cannellini beans, and 4 oz of fresh spinach. Stir until beans are warm and spinach is wilted (about 3 minutes.) (The beans, spinach and pasta are all good sources of protein.) |
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| Vegetarian | Vent... | Mar 03 2008 19:04 (UTC) |
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| Don't beat yourself up too much. It's tough challenging someone in a forum like that, especially whan the "expert" has a medical degree. Perhaps you'll have an opportunity to set the record straight at some point. When that time comes, be ready with the facts, from ACTUAL experts - like, for example, the American Dietetic Association - who say; Well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood and adolescence. Vegetarian diets offer a number of nutritional benefits, including lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein as well as higher levels of carbohydrates, fiber, magnesium, potassium, folate, and antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and phytochemicals. Here's the link. |
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| Vegetarian | Vegetarians and gender | Dec 11 2007 21:15 (UTC) |
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| I get some mild ribbing about it here and there from my guy friends, but I haven't run into anybody yet who gives me a hard time about it. Most of my friends just seem sincerely astonished that I eat the way that I do. Maybe they don't give me a hard time 'cause they don't want to have to explain how they got their a$$ kicked by a veg! :-) |
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| Vegetarian | veggie help! | Nov 16 2007 16:58 (UTC) |
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| Not offensive at all. So your paper is really on "why vegetarians who chose vegetarianism for health reasons chose vegetarianism", not on "why vegetarians chose vegetarianism"? |
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| Vegetarian | veggie help! | Nov 16 2007 14:09 (UTC) |
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| I too find it a bit disturbing that you would ask people why they became vegetarian and then ask those who chose vegetarianism for ethical reasons NOT to answer truthfully. (?)
That's just kinda bizarre and, IMO, slants the feedback you're getting here. There are probably more "ethical vegetarians" who frequent this forum than those who (like me) chose a vegetarian diet-style for health reasons. The way that you framed your question kinda eliminates the ethical vegetarians from responding, doesn't it? Just my opinion. Anyway, here are my answers: 1) why did you become vegetarian/vegan? (please no "i love animals" type comments) After researching nutrition science I became convinced that a whole food, plant based diet based on vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains is without question the healthiest diet for humans. 2) has being vegetarian/vegan improved your lifestyle and overall health? how so? Without a doubt. Before chosing a vegan diet-style I was obese and suffered from a number of health ailments. Today, I'm maintaining a normal weight and my health ailments are a thing of the past. 3) how long have you been vegetarian/vegan? A little over one year. 4) any health reasons for doing so? Yep. In July of 2006 I was obese and suffered from sleep apnea and a number of other lifestyle related ailments. That was when I began making lifestyle changes, which included a diet change from SAD to vegan. 5) list any health-related issues (pros) ex: natually low cal/fat A whole foods vegan diet allows one to eat to satisfaction and yet still remain slim. Vegetables average about 100 calories per pound, and fruit about 300. Meat, on the other hand, averages about 1,000 calories per pound and dairy is up there too. Guess which foods will keep you feeling full? Also, only plants contain phytonutrients - micronutrients that nutrition science is discovering play a vital role in many bodily processes. Also, eating a whole foods plant based diet makes it much easier to avoid eating too much of unhealthy substances such as saturated fat which is clearly linked to cardio vascular disease - which kills about 50% of us. 6) list any health-related issues (cons) ex: iron deficiancy Vegetarians need to make sure to get their B12. |
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| Vegetarian | Help | Nov 01 2007 00:30 (UTC) |
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| You can eat carbs, feel satisfied and full, AND lose weight IF you eat the right carbs - unprocessed, WHOLE fruits and vegetables. Combine these foods with whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds and you'll be eating the most healthy diet possible - and one that is completely vegetarian. Here's an exercise if you don't believe it... Look up the calorie to weight content of some of your favorite fruits and vegetables. Just stick to whole, unprocessed foods. Now take an average of the fruits, and then the average of the vegetables. What you'll find is that vegetables average about 100 calories per pound, and fruits about 300 calories per pound. Now look up meats and do the same thing. You'll find that meats average about 1,000 calories per pound. So which foods can you eat more of and feel fuller for fewer calories? Which do you think are better choices for weight loss? The key is to eat WHOLE fruits and vegetables, NOT processed carbs. I've never heard of anybody's Mom complaining about them eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables! |
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| Vegetarian | Breastfeeding when vegan | Oct 24 2007 21:27 (UTC) |
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| Breast milk being nature's perfect food for babies, I have to think that if it's coming from a mother eating a healthy, plant-based, whole foods diet it would be a far superior food than any formula. |
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| Vegetarian | more protein, less carbs!!!! | Oct 17 2007 16:26 (UTC) |
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Not to beat a wounded horse ("wounded" only, this beast will NEVER die as long as the meat and dairy advertisers are around) but here's another factoid for the protein fanatics to consider... Take a look at mother's milk - nature's perfect food for babies at a time in their lives when they surely need plenty of protein since they're growing at such a rapid rate. You can look up the numbers right here on Calorie Count. Just type in "human milk" in the search box. What you'll find is that 1 cup of human breast milk contains 172 calories, 2.5 grams of which come from protein. So here's the math: 2.5 grams x 4 calories per gram = 10 calories from protein 10 / 172 = 6% Only six percent of the calorie content of mother's milk is protein. OMG, let's lock up the breast feeders 'cause they're killing their babies with protein deficiency!!! The fact is that we just simply don't need 25% of our calories to come from protein. In fact, getting too much protein is unhealthy. The problem is that the meat and dairy industry have us all convinced (along with our mamas) that if we don't consume vast quantities of their products - for the protein and calcium - then we're all gonna shrivel up and die. It just ain't true folks. |
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| Vegetarian | more protein, less carbs!!!! | Oct 17 2007 09:52 (UTC) |
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| I agree with akakibbles. As long as you eat a variety of healthy whole foods (vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts and seeds) you'll get plenty of protein from a vegan diet. Vegetarians - especially vegans - stress out needlessly over getting enough protein. If you need convincing that you don't need to supplement a vegan diet with extra protein just look at the large mammals. They eat a vegan diet yet seem to get plenty of protein to build and maintain their huge frames. (And while we're at it, they also seem to get plenty of calcium too, don't they?) So we're not giraffes you say? Our requirements are different because we're humans? Well then look at our great ape cousins. It's estimated that their diet is 95% vegan, 5% "meat" - mostly in the form of insects or small mammals. Yet gorillas and chimps don't seem to have protein deficiencies, do they? And they don't even drink cows milk... how on EARTH do they get their protein? Stop stressing out over protein people. If you're eating a vegan or near vegan diet just eat HEALTHY vegan and you'll get plenty. |
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| Vegetarian | My cholesterol dropped 50 points in 2.5 weeks | Oct 02 2007 00:04 (UTC) |
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| Sorry jenmcc, but I just can't let this one go unchallenged... Fuhrman is a quack? Maybe you're right, but if so he's in some pretty good company. All of these respected MDs or researchers agree with Fuhrman that a plant based whole foods vegan or near vegan diet is the healthiest diet for humans: McDougall, Campbell, Esselsytn, Barnard, Castelli, Ornish After researching the issue myself, I've come to agree. I believe that this is the diet that humans evolved to eat. And it seems to be working for me. After switching to this diet I was finally able to get the upper hand on a number of health issues. I lost my excess weight, cured sleep apnea, acid reflux, sort knee and ankle joints etc... But I am keeping an open mind. There's much more to learn about the impact of diet and other lifestyle habits on our health. |
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| Vegetarian | My cholesterol dropped 50 points in 2.5 weeks | Sep 28 2007 16:36 (UTC) |
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| Another hearty congrats here! Your experience evidently isn't uncommon (see McDougall). While I didn't have my cholesterol measured until about four months after switching from SAD to a plant-based whole food diet my cholesteral drop (from 220 to 127) was equally shocking to me. Congrats again! |
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| Vegetarian | omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids!! | Sep 14 2007 16:23 (UTC) |
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| Here's a good reference that answers your question. By the way, this site (PCRM) should be bookmarked in every vegan's browser. These "vegan docs" provide research based up-to-date information on practically any diet question anyone following a vegan diet style would have. |
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| Vegetarian | Vegetarian and Carbs | Sep 13 2007 02:32 (UTC) |
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Don't be afraid of eating carbs - they're the fuel our bodies were designed to run on. But eat healthy carbs - predominantly from whole plant foods. It's the package that counts. Whole plant foods are more nutrient rich - containing more vitamins, minerals and micronutrients. And it's the package that counts with protein and fats too. There's a wealth of info about the harmful effects of too much saturated and/or trans fat. Both are clearly associated with cardio vascular disease. And that's a major health problem with diets too high in protein rich animal foods.... these foods come in high fat content packages. |
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| Vegetarian | semi veggie diet + pimples | Sep 13 2007 02:07 (UTC) |
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Yep, drop the dairy and see what happens. |
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| Vegetarian | Carnivore mom would like lunch ideas for newly-mostly-vegetarian son | Sep 07 2007 21:00 (UTC) |
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| I'm guessing he already gets plenty of peanut butter sandwiches, but there are other nut butters you might not have tried; almond and cashew for instance. Personally, my favorite veggie sandwich is hummus on a whole grain bread. Tomato and lettuce go well with this. Might sound wierd but I also sometimes like to add other veggies like carrots, cucumbers, squash, etc... Fresh fruit, of course. |
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| Vegetarian | What's your main protein source? | Aug 15 2007 02:23 (UTC) |
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Beans, nuts, cruciferous veggies like broccoli and kale, spinach, whole grain breads, whole grains like oats and rice and quinoa. A good web site on this topic: http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.htm |
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| Vegetarian | Why did you become vegetarian and what kind of changes did you then experience? | Aug 15 2007 02:14 (UTC) |
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| Well I lost weight and started exercising within the same general time frame that I began eating a vegan diet, so it's difficult to single out the changes that were due to the diet change alone. But this combination of healthy habits changed my life dramatically.
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| Vegetarian | I want to become a vegetarian . . . kind of | Jul 12 2007 00:40 (UTC) |
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| So if you're not comfortable with going completely veg then just eat less meat. That's better for your health than eating more meat, and better for the animals health too. | |||
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