This Is Easier Than I Thought!

[boyjenius]

this is great! i have learned so much from this site, Youtube videos on eating Vegan and other sources.

mind you I still am weening myself off meat - i'm not really compelled to finish what is left in my freezer (kinda dont want to finish it...)

I am almost fully done with my transformation to full vegan, ive gone like a fully week on going full vegan to test the waters and failed at keeping up with calories BUT i dont really think of it as failure but a learning experience!

I bought the book "Eat Vegan on $4 a day" from Amazon and though I havent gotten it in the mail yet i read the sample and got a lot of tips already

things are working out quiet well for me, i was terrified i couldnt eat around 55g of protein a day (like the china study suggests), its actually a lot easier than i thought when i added everything up

but nonetheless i will start to use still use Myfitnesspal.com to help calculate things till I know I am use to it fully

the nutrition facts say 10g of protein for 1/4cup of dry lentils? pshhh... thats a piece of cake!

pre-cooked meals? not that hard considering i lived with a personal trainner/mma figher for 2 years

THANK YOU for the support so far, it means a lot to me! I will of course continue to post on these forums, this is just an update on how i have been

[brimstoneSalad]

Great update, thanks! I'm glad it's going so well.

Chinese tend to eat a lot of white rice, which is problematic in terms of protein.
Other grains (like wheat, oats, buckwheat, etc.) have higher protein, and so don't pose such a problem.

Among common grains, I only know of white (and brown) rice, and white (and yellow) corn that are very low in protein.
Black rice and wild rice are high in protein, so are blue and red corn. And pretty much every other grain that's a whole food. Of course, all kinds of beans, lentils, peas, etc. tend to be high in protein as you found. And green veggies are really high in protein (but much higher still in fiber, so sometimes it's hard to eat a lot of them).

Sweet fruits, if you eat too many, are also a problem. I usually recommend people limit sweet fruits to a couple a day as snacks.

Protein is generally quite easy though.


About the freezer meat: If you're not feeling it anymore, you can always ask a friend to eat your meat. Most people are happy to accept free food.

[boyjenius]

Well, i decided to give away that last package of meat like you said and I dont regret it considering the last time I ate meat I was already not use to it and it almost made me sick - today is my 70th day going strong since i started this journey.

i just found out about 2 days ago vegans can have a b12 deficiency. i'm not too worried about it because i believe i eat enough cereal - maybe i'll throw in more skim milk or supplement.

I found i eat a lot of beans so my next step is to buy a pressure cooker to save some money. i almost feel like blogging all this and one of my friends actually told me I should. still contemplating it though.

[brimstoneSalad]

today is my 70th day going strong since i started this journey.

That's great to hear.

i just found out about 2 days ago vegans can have a b12 deficiency. i'm not too worried about it because i believe i eat enough cereal - maybe i'll throw in more skim milk or supplement.

Supplementing is a good idea for everybody. Frequent meat eaters can be low on B-12 too. There's not even much B-12 in animal products, aside from liver (milk isn't a very good source, and isn't good for you aside).
B-12 comes from bacteria in nature, and we humans live in very clean environments, drink clean water, and (unlike wild animals) don't eat much poop (aside from the fecal matter on meat).
Supplements are of course made from bacteria, but don't come from poop or anything gross. It's grown on stuff like sugar, and then the B-12 is removed from the mix and cleaned.

It's not something you have to hurry about, but I would suggest getting some supplements in the next few months. It takes years to develop a deficiency unless you're already low on B-12. Different people absorb B-12 more or less, it seems.

I found i eat a lot of beans so my next step is to buy a pressure cooker to save some money. i almost feel like blogging all this and one of my friends actually told me I should. still contemplating it though.

That's great. Yes, a pressure cooker is a good investment for quick cooking beans. You can also cook them on the stove top if you give them more time (boil in water); they need to simmer for an hour or two.

A food processor to make your own hummus and bean dip is also a good investment, if you like dips and hummus. Great for dipping veggies in.

[boyjenius]

i just found out about 2 days ago vegans can have a b12 deficiency. i'm not too worried about it because i believe i eat enough cereal - maybe i'll throw in more skim milk or supplement.

I just noticed i said "skim milk" when i definitly meant SOY milk haha - i heard soy has b12

[brimstoneSalad]

I just noticed i said "skim milk" when i definitly meant SOY milk haha - i heard soy has b12

Ah, alright then. Yes, some soy milk has b-12 added to it. But not much. Just enough to put it on the label. You can't rely on that as a source of b-12 really, it's too small.

[Lightningman_42]

Ah, alright then. Yes, some soy milk has b-12 added to it. But not much. Just enough to put it on the label. You can't rely on that as a source of b-12 really, it's too small.

Why not? Is 50% DV of B12 per 8oz serving too small?

[brimstoneSalad]

Why not? Is 50% DV of B12 per 8oz serving too small?

Yep, that's insanely small. The fact that it doesn't even have 100% per serving is just obnoxious. B-12 is not expensive, nor is it dangerous to take a little extra. They're just trying to make people drink more expensive beverage. But the fact is that consumption at such low levels is not reliable; it depends on what you eat it with, your digestion, absorption, etc.

To put it into perspective, the typical daily B-12 lozenge has 1000mcg, which is 16,667% of the daily value.

I would not consider anything much less than 1,000% DV particularly meaningful as a source of B-12.