"Meat Substitutes"
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It's important to realise that not all vegan food is healthy. One
trap many fall in to is buying meat substitutes like fake meat
burgers, sausages, not chicken pieces etc. these are often high in
saturated fats and just another form of ultra processed food. It's
fine to have the occasional beyond meat burger, but think of it as
you wouldn't have a cow burger every day so probably best not to
have a beyond meat burger every day either. Healthier soy based
alternatives like Tofu, Temphe and Seitan may be a better fit for
you, they are nutritional, no saturated fats and high in protein,
if you're worried about soy and oestrogen then check out the myths
page...but in short if soy increased breast size plastic surgeons
would be out of business, multiple studies have shown a diet rich
in soy increases testosterone levels in men and reduces cancer
risk.
Fibre
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I've put together a separate page about it but will summarise here.
When you switch from a carnivorous or veterinarian diet to a plant
based diet your fibre intake will increase significantly due to
eating more greens, beans, legumes, vegetables and grains. Monitor
your fibre intake to start with using something like MyFitnessPal
or MyNetDiary trying to stay around the minimum recommended levels
of 30g over the next few weeks (just for reference use the app to
check what you were getting before!) as your gut micro-biome
adjusts start to be less restrictive and introduce more high fibre
plants, beans and grains. I've spoken to too many people who have
digestion "issues" due to going from a low fibre diet to a high
fibre diet overnight, they wrongly associate this with a Vegan diet
being bad rather than having a bad gut micro-biome and consequently
after Veganuary go back to eating meat as they "can't do it".
Enthusiasm
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People may not always be as enthusiastic about following a plant
based diet as you are and that's ok. Just remind yourself of your
reasons for wanting to try it and how you're making a difference
for good within yourself and the environment no matter how
miniscule it may appear on the surface. This is your journey not
theirs. Remember that the "results" you see may be invisible, you
will probably noice losing the puppy fat initially but other
benefits may not be as apparent for example, not developing
heart disease, not developing diabetes, joint pain reducing,
walkingup stairs without being out of breath at the top, no gut
issues.
Don't beat yourself up if you make a "mistake" or accidentally
consume something with animal product in it (they will sneak milk
powder in to anything these days; due to farming subsidies to
produce diary despite demand declining). Remember for next time and
move on.
If you want a little support but don't have anyone in your vicinity
to talk to consider lurking on a subreddit like r/veganuk or
r/PlantBasedDiet there is also veganprofile.com (however I'm not a
member so cannot comment on how supportive it is, but it might be
lovely). The standard adage applies...the internet is a cesspool of
hate so pick and choose where you participate.
Too much too soon
-----------------
It can be tempting to try to do everything all at once, my
recommendation would be don't. Take things gradually, here's an
example:
Month 1
Start to phase out cheese over the next 6 months. The reason this
is first and has a long time frame is because cheese is addictive,
not in a anecdotal kind of way, in a scientific way. It triggers
the same neuron receptors as a class A drug.
Month 2
Swap from cow milk to a different type of milk, I personally prefer
Soya Milk that has B12 and Calcium, but you may prefer something
else. Try different ones until you find what you like (to save you
time ASDA brand soya, oat and almond milks are universally
terrible). Once you have found one you like then try the different
bands and see which hits the spot. You may find you prefer
different types of milk for different things e.g. I prefer soya in
tea, a 50:50 almond/soya blend in latte and almond milk on my
porridge.
Month 3
Replace red meat dishes in your meal plans with a vegetarian
alternative. Most people, regardless of if they eat animals or not
have low iron as our bodies struggle to absorb it. Animals get
their iron from leafy greens and supplemented feed; if you're not
already taking a multivitamin it would be a good place to start.
Iron is absorbed best when paired with vitamin C, calcium however
prevents absorption which is why may animal eaters still have low
iron levels as it comes packaged with calcium in the form of meat.
Leafy greens on the other have iron and vitamin c all in one neat
little salad. Anecdotally some people swear by using a cast iron
pan for cooking.
Month 4
Along side your remaining animal dishes (I'm assuming chicken and
fish by this point) introduce more plant based meals using tofu,
seitan, temphe, beans, chickpeas, grains and legumes. Fake meats
are always an option but try not to rely too heavily on them as
many are ultra processed foods.
Month 5
Reduce your meat intake a little more as you increase your plant
based meals, by the end of this month you could aim to reduce your
animal based meals to once a week.
Month 6
By this point you may have removed animal based dishes from your
meal rotation entirely and have kicked the cheese addiction. No
more big changes this month continue as you are and let your gut
micro-biome adjust to the wealth of new things you're eating. Have
a look at the 30 plants a week challenge and see how you're doing,
you'll probably be amazed at how quickly you're reaching 30!
Month 7
Eggs are probably the last animal product you have left now.
Depending on what you use the egg for there are some substitutes.
In baking for binding you can use; a "flax-egg", apple sauce,
mashed banana, sweet potato (and many more) for rising; white
vinegar and bicarb, chickpea water (aquafaba) or any tinned bean
water and store brought egg substitutes.
Month 8
Eating things out of packets? This would be a good time to check
through the ingredients to see if they have any animal product in
and start replacing the ones that do, this can be pretty painless
for example my nemesis is bourbon biscuits I found aldi's brand
have cow milk in them, where as the other big supermarkets do not.
Remember nature is full of snacks maybe try snacking on nuts (if
not allergic!), roasted chickpeas/beans, hummus and veg, fruit or
dried fruit. It's worth remembering that your taste-buds have now
started to change (thanks micro-biome) so try things you didn't
used to like, for me it was dark chocolate (this normally does not
contain dairy but check the packet, lidls big bar does not, and
neither do the cheapest own brand versions).
Month 9
If you're easily surpassing the 30 plants a week challenge then
great work your body thanks you! If you're not quite hitting that
target start looking at moving to whole grains for example swap
white rice for brown, pasta to wholewheat, white bread to brown.
Instead of rice have a side of quinoa boiled up with a stock cube,
put a handful of buckwheat or pearl barley in your stew, use red
lentils in your soup, add avocado to your lunch, snack on nuts or
add berries to your breakfast. Think of a few small changes you can
make to get you there.
Month 10
I'd say you're pretty much there. It's always worth tracking and
monitoring your intake using a free tracker app, not religiously
(unless you want to) but just to check your nutrients. As an
animal eater you probably never did this (I know I didn't, aside
from to count calories) but following a plant based diet you'll end
up being much more aware of what you're eating and less likely to
be deficient in a certain area than before. If you are concerned,
whilst I'm not a dietician and can't offer any medical advice
you'll find my thoughts on deficiencies and how to avoid them on my
myths page.
The Kevs and Karens of the World
--------------------------------
One thing you will learn quickly is everyone becomes a
nutritionalist when they find out you're vegan. It doesn't matter
how unhealthy, unfit, over-weight or morbidly obese they are they
will have an opinion; completely unable to see the irony in the
nonsense they spout.
Over time you become used to the ignorance and 9/10 if you smile,
nod and make sympathetic noises they will move on. Some however are
absolutely determined to find a "gotcha" moment. Without meaning to
stereotype these are usual straight, white, middle-aged men or your
Karen from finance types...which in many ways are one and the same.
For the 1/10 who continue to push, it is important that you realise
that you can never change their mind as you can't argue with
stupid. These are the types of people who have decided to take a
cholesterol pill to manage their health rather than change their
diet, bemoan being lactose intolerant but proceed to shovel a
truckle of cheese in their face...and so on. You won't shoot them
down because whilst you're correcting their b.s. they're not
listening to you they're instead thinking of their next line of
attack...my advice is just say "you're absolutely correct I'd never
thought of it that way, can you point me in the direction of some
nutritional research about benefits of a carnivorous diet and I'll
look in to it".