AdamR28 Posted January 2, 2022 Report Share Posted January 2, 2022 As the title... interested to see if anyone is trying it. Heard quite a lot about it the last few years, but not so much this year. Anyone who has tried it before... how did you get on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maintenance Justice Posted January 2, 2022 Report Share Posted January 2, 2022 Err already off to a bad start with a roast chicken stretched over the first couple of days! Could do with some suggestions for online food boxes to snack healthier, struggle to keep on top supplying enough food for regular veggie or vegan meals but I think a good start would be swapping junk snacks for vegan alternatives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forteh Posted January 2, 2022 Report Share Posted January 2, 2022 Quinoa, EVERYTHING with quinoa! Note that we're not vegan or even veggie but reckon the could drop the meat without too much hassle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aener Posted January 2, 2022 Report Share Posted January 2, 2022 I'm 6.5 years deep. I don't really like talking about it so I'm not going to get in to a public discussion, but just wanted to mention that people could drop me a PM if they want suggestions or whatever. Note - Common misconception: being vegan means being healthy. I'm far from healthy. Lots of crap is available, a lot of it being "accidentally vegan", with prime examples being Oreos, many Chicken noodles and f**king BBQ Pork Pringles. It also doesn't mean you have to buy expensive food. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forteh Posted January 2, 2022 Report Share Posted January 2, 2022 5 minutes ago, aener said: I'm 6.5 years deep. I don't really like talking about it f**king vegans, always going on about it to all and sundry! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aener Posted January 2, 2022 Report Share Posted January 2, 2022 2 minutes ago, forteh said: f**king vegans, always going on about it to all and sundry! ...And this is why I don't like talking about it 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamR28 Posted January 10, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2022 Well this has been even less "popular" than I thought Anyway, I hear what you are saying Flipp! I think Veganuary is almost more to do with thinking more about what you're eating, and trying new stuff, than actually the 'being vegan' bit, if you see what I mean. Lots of benefits to be had from both though, IME. I guess I would also call myself 'vegan' if someone asked, as that's probably the easiest way to explain it. So yeah, offer of 'support' from here too if anyone wanted to try some new food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.KYDD Posted January 10, 2022 Report Share Posted January 10, 2022 No. However for the most part we buy all our meats etc from local butchers who only source locally. We also avoid anything with palm oil. That shit is f**king horrendous and responsible for massive amounts of rainforest destruction. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadManMike Posted January 10, 2022 Report Share Posted January 10, 2022 I'm not doing Veganuary, but today I started a low carb diet (Not quite Keto, more just cutting down on crap) and it's been a challenge already. For lunch I had bacon and cheese wrapped in lettuce, which was nice but not very filling. The tough part for me is not snacking on junk - we'll see how long I last! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamR28 Posted January 10, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2022 Ah yes, your body and brain both love carbs, it's very hard to give them up! I think if you are cutting things from your diet, it's easier to do this gradually, unless of course you have iron willpower (kudos to those who do) I went the other way recently and rather than cutting carbs, decided to eat the same amount of carbs but add more fat (good fats). In theory this has a few benefits: - Your body learns to use fat more readily as it's source of fuel (same way that keto works, I guess) - Having more fat content in each meal reduces the glycaemic index of the whole meal. In turn, that means less insulin released so the blood sugar spike - and resulting storage of carbs as fat - is reduced. I added almost 500 calories a day more to my diet (mostly in the form of peanuts, cashews, walnuts, almonds, pumpkin, sunflower, chia, sunflower and linseeds) and lost 4kg (of fat) in 2 weeks. It was really quite surprising! Also noticed my joints have become less creaky / sore - perhaps it's all the Omega oils in the seeds - and my overall energy has gone up. So that's a roundabout way of saying that my top snacking tip is nuts and seeds, basically. Sticking some dried fruit (dates, apricots, unsweetened cranberries, etc) in the same pot, or eating them along with a piece of fruit or with another meal (pumpkin seeds sprinkled on a tomato-y pasta dish, or chia seeds with porridge for breakfast, etc), helps to make them more palatable. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadManMike Posted January 10, 2022 Report Share Posted January 10, 2022 Yeah I'm doing it with a friend, he seems to enjoy more things than I do so isn't struggling with snacking - he has boiled eggs and lots of peanuts. I'm not a big fan of nuts really, so I need to find something to snack on that isn't just a massive slab of chocolate or a 70kg sack of M&M's I've written up meal plans and did a food shop specifically for it, so I'm taking it fairly seriously. I'm not aiming for zero carbs, but I do want to cut out as much crap as possible. From what I've read, I'll feel pretty crap in a few days but then it gets better again as you adjust to it (That's full on Keto diets, so mine in theory shouldn't be as bad). 55 minutes ago, AdamR28 said: - Having more fat content in each meal reduces the glycaemic index of the whole meal. In turn, that means less insulin released so the blood sugar spike - and resulting storage of carbs as fat - is reduced. That's interesting, I didn't know that. So you're saying I should eat a large stuffed crust pizza, but make sure I sprinkle chocolate over it too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamR28 Posted January 10, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2022 Yeah, from what I can tell, and what others have said to me about low carb, that's exactly what happens. And agreed that having only the 'right' stuff in the house eases temptation! A decent, short commentary on GI (Glycaemic Index) and GL (Loading) at the top of the page, with a useful table of foods about half way down, is here: https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/food-beverages/glycemic-index-glycemic-load In short: GL = (GI x how much carbohydrate), and is how much your insulin will raise post-eating. So, to keep blood sugars more stable and reduce fat storage (which is the same as burning more fat, effectively), you can either reduce the amount of load (eat less carbs) or reduce the GI of the meal (eat / make your meal from harder to digest food, ie. protein and fat). The second has the benefit of also keeping you feeling full for longer. I tried the first (cutting carbs) and it didn't work for me, but everyone is different so it's well worth experimenting. The other thing I liken this to is a fire. If you keep piling wood on it, it'll keep burning strongly. If you only add the odd stick here and there and let it burn down to embers, not much fuel gets burned. BUT I think that has to be good quality fuel... 1000 calories of processed stuff full of trans fats is not in the same league as 1000 calories from raw nuts, seeds, vegetables, etc, for example. Oh and when I say fat, I mean good fat... Oh and one more thing - vegan washing up. Amazing! Wipe the pan under running water and you're done, a very different experience to scraping bacon fat from a frying pan (for example). My thoughts at this point usually turn to 'if it's so tough to get that off a non stick pan, what is it doing to my insides...?'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manuel Posted January 10, 2022 Report Share Posted January 10, 2022 1 hour ago, AdamR28 said: So that's a roundabout way of saying that my top snacking tip is nuts and seeds, basically. I'm cracking on through the christmas walnut whips and ferrero rocher if that counts ? If work ever returns to a sensible amount I'll be better but Im currently on 25k steps a day 220 floors of stairs carrying 15kg bags. I remember when Martyn turned vegan - he was disappointed at just how easy it was to do, but then he was really good about being able to control calories and protein etc in his 'normal' diet to keep him in pretty mega shape. I would probably be vegan if there were better options at restaurants, it wouldn't affect my diet that significantly, but the menu if we ever go out for dinner just looks terrible in most places. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamR28 Posted January 10, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2022 I think you'll be alright with that much exercise Rowan! Jeez. Legs of steel! Had no idea Martyn had gone vegan a few years ago... Interesting. On the controlling calories thing, I guess eating plants has a huge benefit that way. 500g of tomatoes have less than 25g of cheese, for example, and I think we all know which one is easier to eat Agreed about eating out. It is really hard to find anywhere that serves 'normal' food plus has vegan options which are even as good as what you'd cook at home. Side salad and chips it is then... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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