First Day

[DaisyPetals]

Hi there! So about 4 months ago I went back to being a vegetarian (was one for 10 years from age 16-26 and then omnivore for the last 10 years (26-36). I've gained 50 lbs since I started eating meat again. I also have age on my side and had a child too. I digress, so back to being a vegetarian. Then, gave up dairy two months ago. I was tired of the mucous and constant tonsil stones.

A friend of mine went vegan, no-oil and I was curious about this. With genetic high cholesterol, I knew I needed to take better control of my health and liked what I read about Dr. McDougall. I've been researching for awhile now and took the plunge today (the day after my 37th birthday). In fact, yesterday on my birthday I "treated" myself to real pizza and cheesecake. It was definitely not as great as I remember it and I realized I wasn't missing out on much so why not take the plunge.

So far, so good. Except I'm really hungry! I started off my day with Holy Crap cereal (pretty sure it's allowed) and almond milk with dried cranberries. I discovered cranberries actually have oil (says less than 1% but still), so okay not a perfect start.

Later I had two potatoes ("pan-fried" with onions) and was really excited to see how crispy they still got with no oil. they were pretty delish. Then for lunch had a cup of quinoa, a cup of sweet potato and a cup of mixed green with malt vinegar for my dressing (and a bit of salt and soy sauce on the quinoa and a drizzle of maple syrup on the sweet potato). I then went grocery shopping and lol, never had so many fruits and vegetables in my cart. Just had a snack of berries and drinking lots of water too.

Dinner tonight I've got options- it will either be zoodles and marinara sauce (found a no-oil one) and some veggies and perhaps a banana for or crushed pineapple for dessert. Or I could have a stir-fry.

Tomorrow I'm having family over for a belated birthday celebration. My husband got me a vegan cake (which I'm sure has a bit of oil) from a local vegan caterer and I'm making this potato soup that is amazing (was already vegan and oil-free so no issues with trying that recipe again).

I digress, this is just my first day and I wanted to connect and if you have advice for what I've listed for my food today please let me know. I find some contradictory stuff out there. I downloaded and paid for the McDougall recipe app but there are recipes with things like dried cranberries and fat-free Italian dressing (even though I see oil on the label). So any advice on that would also be great. If it's a recipe from McDougall should I assume it is "safe."

I also want to approach this with a practical attitude. I know there will be occasions where they may be some oil in something (ie: the cake my husband ordered or a vegan soup at a restaurant) but I want to say that if I can eat like 80--90% true to this and not stress out too much, that this could be a very viable and realistic lifestyle change for me.

PS- Even though I've been hungry all day, I have crazy energy. And I will add that the berries I just finished really helped my hunger pangs.

[kirkj]

I'm surprised no one has responded to this earlier. Perhaps my response will encourage others to join in.
You mentioned buying vegetables in your post but didn't list many you ate besides a salad. Eating starches helps you feel satiated but eating veggies helps fill you up. I think on average through the day about half of your plate should be veggies and the other half starches.

Jeff Novick's Forum in has a number of very helpful threads at the beginning that answer many questions and you might find it helpful. There is a lot of information on calorie density which is very good. I think there is still a link to his calorie density talk which is very informative.

Jeff recommends not "drinking your calories" since juices and plant milks do not fill you up but can contain lots of calories. For this reason I don't put plant milk on my oatmeal or in tea. I use it occasionally in recipes but that's it.

Not sure what the cereal is you're eating, but dry cereals will be more calorie dense than wet cooked cereals like oatmeal. The thing to look at is not the calories per serving on the box but how many calories per pound of food as you will eat it. Because they contain little or no water, dry foods like rice cakes and popcorn have much higher calorie density than cooked rice or corn. I pretty much never eat bread anymore because it is both calorie dense and I really like so will keep eating it even if I am full.

Just some things that work for me. Other people on this forum can explain and link to things better than I can and hopefully they will also respond.

[roundcoconut]

People often come into this lifestyle with incomplete information, and there’s no sin in that. But you DO want to read and read and read, to more fully understand the recommendations of this plan of eating. You may want to watch Jeff Novick’s calorie density video and read all the FAQ’s on his section of these boards.

When people are trying to remedy weight problems, some of the worst foods they could choose, are often the ones that they DO choose. Dry breakfast cereal is very, very high in calorie density — someone who has the tendency to overeat on high-calorie foods, will overdo it with dry breakfast cereal as well. Perhaps you will want to substitute something else — cooked oats (2 parts water, 1 part dry oats) are an easy fix.

Even at that, plant milks are super processed, and any one of us could glug a cup, and experience no satiety. Reducing foods to a liquid makes them not really “register”. The recommendation for plant milks, for someone who is too heavy for their liking, is to eliminate them entirely, or to just use a few teaspoons. (Someone may wish to look up the exact words of JeffN or Dr McDougall — I don’t have them handy)

Stay away from the vegan cake! Don’t you want to regain your health FIRST? I know people always say, “Well, I don’t want to be too extreme!” But take care of your health — that is not extreme. Once you learn to eat things other than baked goods, then you can decide if your life was better when you were constantly dipping a toe back into Pleasure Trap foods. But for many of us here, the more you eat those hyper-palatable foods, the more your body WANTS those hyper-palatable foods. And make no mistake, people do not make vegan cake that won’t bang on all your pleasure centers and call you back into the arms of junk food.

Vegan junk food, is still junk food.

You will do superwell at this, but it is good to understand all the recommendations of Jeff Novick and Dr McDougall, before you wind up “doing everything right” but not getting the results you wanted. Most people who experienced disappointment, did so because they misunderstood how much and how often they could eat certain foods and still stay on path toward their goals. Foods that are fine in small amounts (like tofu or whatever), are still not health food to be consumed freely.

Hope that is of some use. I often don’t respond to people who are just starting, because I figure they just want to have fun, and are not yet having a “teachable moment”.