Vegan January

ugo.santalucia

I'm doing Veganuary...
I've already cheated twice, as we went out for dinner and there are no vegan restaurants... spending a lot of money to eat the most depressing option on the menu was a non starter. 2 meals out of 42 is not the end of the world, me thinks.
Other than that, all vegan... lots of pulses and nuts to replace meat, fish, eggs and dairy. The overall impression, after 2 weeks is that I do feel better... I sleep better, I don't wake up with a light headache as I used to (and always thought it was dehydration or too many carbs at dinner). On the bike the power output is the same... and so far no weight loss whatsoever...

Anyone else?

Ben6899

Apart from fish, once a week perhaps, my diet is vegetarian and on top of that mainly vegan.

It's been seven years now so it feels normal... genuinely remember feeling much much better in the first year though!

masjer

Vegan here (apart for the occasional tin of sardines). Like Ben says, it all feels normal after a while. It helps if you can cook rather than always relying on meat replacement products. I use plant based protein powders to keep the levels up, but beans and lentils are good too. Keeping a low BMI is easy.
Don't forget Vit B12 if you stay vegan for longer.

ugo.santalucia

I was hoping to use it as a way to shift half a stone ahead of the hill climb season in September... not sure it does the trick, but yes, overall feeling better, so it's probably going to stick, maybe with the odd meal out. Other than B12, is there any known deficiency? I do eat lots of puy lentils, which claim to have enough iron to tick the RDA

ugo.santalucia

roasted Jackfruit burger with kimchi and tomato, with a side of slow dressed with coconut yogurt... not a bad dinner

masjer

On a sports thing, it might be useful to supplement beta-alanine (for muscle carnosine) and creatine- both aren't essential but might benefit muscles.
Iodine levels can get lower (depending on diet and levels in local soils), so pills are a safeguard. Omega-3 eat nuts, but especially flaxseeds are good.
Calcium? I do, but it's not proven levels drop.

masjer

On a short term basis, all the above is unnecessary. Your body can store about 5 years supply of B12 (don't go without supps for this long).

Ben6899

ugo.santalucia said:

I was hoping to use it as a way to shift half a stone ahead of the hill climb season in September... not sure it does the trick, but yes, overall feeling better, so it's probably going to stick, maybe with the odd meal out. Other than B12, is there any known deficiency? I do eat lots of puy lentils, which claim to have enough iron to tick the RDA

You’ll definitely end up more trim/lean.

joeyhalloran

I've been veganish for a couple of years and wouldn't go back now. I enjoy meat when eating out or making a 'treat meal' but otherwise lots of beans and pulses. A pressure cooker is good for making them for dry which taste better in my opinion. Yeast flakes are a good source of b12 and taste pretty good instead of parmesan on things like pasta bake type meals.

I've heard a lot of modern meat production methods strip out a lot of b vitamins anyway so meat isn't a great source anyway.

ugo.santalucia

joeyhalloran said:

I've been veganish for a couple of years and wouldn't go back now. I enjoy meat when eating out or making a 'treat meal' but otherwise lots of beans and pulses. A pressure cooker is good for making them for dry which taste better in my opinion. Yeast flakes are a good source of b12 and taste pretty good instead of parmesan on things like pasta bake type meals.

I've heard a lot of modern meat production methods strip out a lot of b vitamins anyway so meat isn't a great source anyway.

I soak the beans overnight and they generally cook in an hour or so

masjer

Good one about the nutritional yeast for B's. Chickpeas are another good vegan protein (as well as other nutrients). Homemade falafels (chickpea) are good. Tip; only use dried chickpeas (soaked) if you make them.
One thing I've just discovered is a decent vegan cheese at last. Sheese- available in Tesco and Lidl.

ugo.santalucia

masjer said:

Good one about the nutritional yeast for B's. Chickpeas are another good vegan protein (as well as other nutrients). Homemade falafels (chickpea) are good. Tip; only use dried chickpeas (soaked) if you make them.
One thing I've just discovered is a decent vegan cheese at last. Sheese- available in Tesco and Lidl.

Yes, you need raw ones soaked… if you used the tinned ones, you get balls of mash. I am baking sourdough pizzas with no cheese, in Italy we call it Marinara… don’t need cheese 😀

masjer

Sourdough, show off!

ugo.santalucia

😎

joeyhalloran

ugo.santalucia said:

I soak the beans overnight and they generally cook in an hour or so

Most beans it's 7-9 mins in our electric pressure cooker, though it takes a bit of time to come to pressure.

seanoconn

I’ve had several Gregg’s vegan sausages rolls this year. That’s my bit done for the planet.

masjer

Oi Sean, this is the lentil and chickpea section. There's nothing for you here, mincing around with your turkey legs.

seanoconn

Sorry masjer 😔 I’ll take my masculine penis and balls elsewhere 😔

masjer

Exactly, no meaty sausage and meatballs welcome.

webboo

You can’t beat going out with your none veggie other half for a meal and paying 15 quid for a cauliflower steak.
There’s taking the p*ss and there’s taking the p*ss.

ugo.santalucia

webboo said:

You can’t beat going out with your none veggie other half for a meal and paying 15 quid for a cauliflower steak.
There’s taking the p*ss and there’s taking the p*ss.

Yeah, if you don’t live in a large city, the options are dire…

ugo.santalucia

There might be something in it… 4w/kg for 75 minutes is a new high
https://www.strava.com/activities/6530938789

masjer

ugo.santalucia said:

There might be something in it… 4w/kg for 75 minutes is a new high
https://www.strava.com/activities/6530938789

Vegan power!
Remember, it's not all good. Djokovic is basically a vegan, and look what's happened to him.

ugo.santalucia

masjer said:

ugo.santalucia said:

There might be something in it… 4w/kg for 75 minutes is a new high
https://www.strava.com/activities/6530938789

Vegan power!
Remember, it's not all good. Djokovic is basically a vegan, and look what's happened to him.

I’ll bear that in mind… 😂

ugo.santalucia

We’re going out for lunch today, so this will be exception no. 3 over 48 meals…

Ben6899

webboo said:

You can’t beat going out with your none veggie other half for a meal and paying 15 quid for a cauliflower steak.
There’s taking the p*ss and there’s taking the p*ss.

There’s a fantastic vegetarian cafe (possibly with vegan options, I don’t recall) in York.

Goji cafe on Goodramgate in York.

I don’t know any vegetarians who eat cauliflower steaks, btw! 😂

webboo

What seems to be happening is normal restaurants are tending to just have vegan dishes rather than vegetarian ones as well. Hence a slice of cauliflower and the like.
The days of veggies covered in cheese seem to be a thing of the past.

ugo.santalucia

webboo said:

What seems to be happening is normal restaurants are tending to just have vegan dishes rather than vegetarian ones as well. Hence a slice of cauliflower and the like.
The days of veggies covered in cheese seem to be a thing of the past.

Good thing!

Vegetarian doesn't even make sense anymore... whether you do it for health, the environment or to avoid animal cruelty, it's pretty obvious that dairy is a big part of the problem

webboo

ugo.santalucia said:

webboo said:

What seems to be happening is normal restaurants are tending to just have vegan dishes rather than vegetarian ones as well. Hence a slice of cauliflower and the like.
The days of veggies covered in cheese seem to be a thing of the past.

Good thing!

Vegetarian doesn't even make sense anymore... whether you do it for health, the environment or to avoid animal cruelty, it's pretty obvious that dairy is a big part of the problem

That depends on whether you want to eat meat or fish which I don’t.

masjer

On the dairy side of things, this could be a game changer: https://perfectday.com/
There's also an Israeli company doing similar but supposedly even better.

joeyhalloran

Looks good! Though I think a lot of the issues the 'lab-based' alternatives have is convincing people to eat them. A lot of people are put off by the idea for reason. I am curious how many of those put off bu 'lab grown' but happily take a tour through an abattoir?