I wanted to start an encouraging thread about how our health, as vegans/vegetarians, has changed.

This can include weight loss, but it can also include comments about spirituality, skin quality, etc.

1. My skin is looking phenomenal.

2. Eating only plants and grains makes me want to move around - I feel like I avoid the tired, lazy period that I used to get after eating. I used to feel extremely tired and headachy in the afternoons (2-4pm) - not anymore.

3. I am starting to understand that we are "what we eat" - the healing powers of food... also, how it has helped my anxiety and depression.

4. It makes me want to get out in the fresh air and jog.

5. I always look forward to cooking yummy veggie dishes! I have become a better, more innovative cook.

6. My cravings are under control - I used to be a "cheese" freak.

7. I love how my refrigerator looks beautiful, filled with orange carrots, green broccoli, red strawberries.... I also love adding to my collection of whole grains and beans in the cabinet.

8. I save money on food - oddly enough.... those grains go a long way. Also, I try to buy the fruits/veggies that I intend on eating either that day, or the next day, not too far in advance.


A typical day:

Breakfast:

Smoothie - banana, pear, blueberries, dash of soymilk, 1 tablespoon of peanut butter.

Lunch:

The peanut butter in the smoothie surprisingly keeps me full a LONG time. I usually stop by the bakery for a freshly baked whole grain bread roll.

Dinner: Basmati and wild rice as a base, with perfectly stir-fried carrots, potatoes, broccoli, mushrooms, onion, and zucchini.

Or hearty split-pea soup. Or bean burritos. Or tofu/seitan fajitas. The list goes on.

In my experience, I never personally experienced any of these health benefits when I was attempting to do the Atkins diet to lose weight. I dunno - I really think the hormones pumped into animals has an 'unhealing effect' on the human body and mind. I feel that the suffering animals experience doesn't simply go away, we consume it. I also felt personally, on the Atkins diet, that if everyone were to live that way, the world could not sustain itself. Literally. That troubled my thoughts. Again, I'd like to stress that this is my personal opinion and is in no way meant to be insulting - this post is in the veggie forum.

I love your post! I am in no way a vegetarian, but, I have cut back my meat consumption by about 50-75%. I also avoid cheese. I feel that just cutting out cheese alone has cured me of so many minor ailments.

I also love your thoughts on Atkins. Eeek!

Thank you for posting. This inspires me to cut out even more meat and overall animal consumption. Maybe someday I'll be 100% vegetarian. :O)

1. i have soooo much energy and always feel like getting up and moving around

2. i go to the bathroom regularly when I never have in my life before

3. i get to buy a better variety and more things, now i have money left to make something special

4. my cooking abilities have grown exponentially and i have so much fun doing it

5. it has helped me lose weight because most of the fattening/sugary treats have dairy or eggs, or gelatin so i completely avoid them

6. i'm happier with life

7. my food choice gives me a feeling of doing something for the world, caring, and trying to be the best I can be

8. i can eat as much fruit and veggies that my heart desires so i never am hungry

9. I have found so many new things that i love and would have never bought or made before

10. i eat different things everyday! before i always had the same frozen snacks every day.

my breakfast:

smoothie- spinach, frozen banana, almond milk, and either frozen blueberries or peanut butter or maple syrup and cinnamon to taste.

sometimes i also have a slice of toasted bread with a little peanut butter, or honey (<--i haven't stopped eating honey[yet?])

lunch:

different every single day! yesterday i had the rest of my home made pizza- home made dough, tomato sauce, spinach, thinly sliced tomato, and mushrooms. today i'm having pasta with tomatoes and spinach or i might go buy some squash. some thing i make more often is lettuce wraps (black beans, rice, tomatoes, cilantro, sunflower seeds, wrapped in iceberg lettuce)

snacks (usually one in between lunch and dinner and one after dinner):

either unsalted roasted almonds, kale chips, an orange, home made fruit muffins...

dinner:

also different every single day! last night i had manwich with tofu and an apple, or i've made roasted green beans with black beans and tomatoes on top with pineapple on the side.

i really like this thread! bonnnie, i don't doubt that it is harder in germany to be vegan from the few things i have read. such as, there are a lot less there than in the states and I also read somewhere that the a German health or nutrition counsel or association (i have no idea lol) said that a vegan diet isn't healthy! it would be so much harder to be vegan in a country that says you're unhealthy! i commend you on doing it!

I liked your point about how your food choices make you feel like you are contributing to something larger, that you are more caring for the world. I think this is really true.

People often underestimate the important role food plays in the environment. Also, it is just nice to know that you have not caused any suffering with the meal. Some people may think that only animals suffer in the process- but i think the people that work with the animals also suffer.

For example, I read Utopia by Thomas Morus a few years, a novel written in the early 1500's, and if I remember correctly, in his utopia, there would be a certain small number of slaughterers and they would live on the outskirts of the Utopia. No one else should ever slaughter the animals -because of the harmful psychological effects this act has on people. And he wrote this in the 1500's, before factory farming!

Also, I agree with your point on regular bowel movements. Not to sound gross, but I have this feeling that food is constantly moving through my system the whole day - always digesting. After eating a large vegan meal, I still don't have that feeling of somewhat 'uncomfortable' fullness.... I think b/c the food contains so much water - it breaks down quickly and is converted into energy.

I am going to try the lettuce wraps with black beans!

Living in Germany and being a vegan is challenging. They have more laws set in place to control the suffering of animals. People automatically think that this gives them the right to eat as much cheese and meat as they please. Funny thing is, Germany also has the largest (in weight) people in all of Europe. Meat and cheese are present at every meal. The only reasons the Germans aren't as big as Americans is because they don't like to eat cheap fastfood very much and they move around a lot because cars are expensive. Most of them have bikes.

Agreed on all of this discussion! I also feel my whole body, including skin, breathes better being vegan. I feel me and my whole house smells better.

I wish more people could go vegetarian for a month - and learn how well you can eat but more - how wonderful it feels...