Eating a plant-based diet.

Butterfly said:
I agree with you about the stevia. I've tried it and it leaves a VERY unpleasant taste in my mouth. In the morning with my tea, I use some sucralose sweetener (like Splenda, but the Wal-Mart clone which is about half the price of Splenda). Sugar makes me feel loggy and sort of unwell, too. I figure a little bit of splenda stuff isn't going to kill me and is probably better for me than sugar and I simply cannot abide stevia. I find its taste so repulsive that I am unwilling to try to get used to it. I'm already watching sugar, fats, carbs, etc., and if I can't have a little sweetness in my tea, I just give up.
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Wow Butterfly, I've been using Stevia about 2 years now. I never noticed a bad taste, ever! I guess your taste buds are a lot sharper than mine after all my former years of smoking.:(
 

PVC said:
I have been a lacto-ovo since 1984, but I only use cage free eggs and use soy milk for cooking and cereal. I eat too much cheese but am trying to curtail my use of them (love them), no good for your veins. I do it for the animals, don't want them to suffer and be slaughtered for my use, but if I were doing it mainly for health I would eat a little meat once in a while.

The BASIC rule about a healthy diet is to use moderation and variety. It's the constant and daily use of junk food that is detrimental to your health. I eat lots of beans and rice (eaten together they are the perfect protein). I eat tofu, soups, green salads with lots of stuff and bits of cheese as a main meal, I eat fake meat made with soy such as the Morningstar brand, make my own salad dressing rather than buy them. I try to avoid processed foods because they have lots of preservatives to keep them from spoiling. I was 42 when I started and am now 75, I'm still alive and healthier than most people my age.

I also drink one cup of red wine a day with my main meal for the sake of cleaner veins and also one cup of cranberry juice to keep my bladder healthier (my doctor recommended after I had a hysterectomy and developed a bladder infection). Being a vegetarian is not the disaster most people envision, but being a vegan takes a lot of planning and avoiding. I had planned on graduating myself to that higher lifestyle, but can do it only once in a while, easier done at home than in a restaurant. Do you know that the highest form of vegetarianism is fruit eater? Very few people can go that high, it's the idea that you eat only what does not kill the mother plant.
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Thanks for the info...it was very helpful.

I have a "meat-and-potatoes" kind of a husband so it's very difficult to make 2 different kinds of meals at once. We only eat 1 meal a day (at noon) so I have my afternoons free to do other things besides cook.

I don't eat much meat. I never was a meat lover and it always bothers me that animals are being raised and slaughtered. Anyway, I limit my meat intake. I can't digest beef, which is a good thing, but we do eat chicken and pork. We use to eat a lot of fish when we lived in south TX where we could go fishing and fresh shrimp was available at all times. I miss that.

I can't eat salad at all. It gives me indigestion. Any kind of lettuce is a no-no for me. Even though I've had my gall bladder removed, there's still certain things I can't eat and lettuce is one of them. I don't use packaged foods. The preservatives give us diarrhea. I've tried Morningstar for burgers and I liked them, but hubby wasn't too crazy about it. We don't eat much cheese any more. I'm lactose intolerant so cheese is limited for me. I also can't eat acidic foods like tomatoes because it triggers my acid reflux and I love pasta, so I have to limit that. sigh :( I have to stick to a really bland diet. It's hard because I love Mexican food.
 
One of the unheralded benefits of a meat-free kitchen is that food handling is dramatically simplified. Cross contamination worries become a thing of the past. If I make a veggie soup, stew or chili late in the evening I can cover it and leave it out overnight. It'll hold until morning because nothing in it is going to spoil overnight. Even fresh almond milk has a sell-by date a month out. Shelf-stable almond milk lasts a year or more.
 

Colleen, you eat only once a day? How does that work? Do you eat all ALL the rest of the day? Snacking etc? Are you hungry before time to sleep?

Even though I am a vegetarian, I am still 20 lbs overweight. I blame it on my love of cheese and breads, my age (slower metabolism as you age), sedentary lifestyle. I've read that the French eat their main meal in the day and have time to work it off before sleep. I tried it, but I have very little appetite in the morning and noon, my main appetite is in the evening.
 
PVC said:
Colleen, you eat only once a day? How does that work? Do you eat all ALL the rest of the day? Snacking etc? Are you hungry before time to sleep?

Even though I am a vegetarian, I am still 20 lbs overweight. I blame it on my love of cheese and breads, my age (slower metabolism as you age), sedentary lifestyle. I've read that the French eat their main meal in the day and have time to work it off before sleep. I tried it, but I have very little appetite in the morning and noon, my main appetite is in the evening.
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I eat mainly vegetables, fruits, tofu and beans. Small portions of breads, rice, pasta and other simple carbs because they make me feel slightly unwell and cause me to gain weight. I eat cheese only when I make homemade pizza (about once every ten days). I hate the way fake cheese stuff turns to plastic when you try to melt it, although Trader Joe's recently came out with a new one that's pretty good.

No way I could eat one meal a day - or even one big meal and a couple of small ones. I eat three squares a day, but those squares are heavy on fruits and veggies.
 
PVC said:
Colleen, you eat only once a day? How does that work? Do you eat all ALL the rest of the day? Snacking etc? Are you hungry before time to sleep?

Even though I am a vegetarian, I am still 20 lbs overweight. I blame it on my love of cheese and breads, my age (slower metabolism as you age), sedentary lifestyle. I've read that the French eat their main meal in the day and have time to work it off before sleep. I tried it, but I have very little appetite in the morning and noon, my main appetite is in the evening.
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We eat around noon every day. I don't cook like I use to but then we're not as active as we use to be so we don't need a lot of extra food to try to burn off. Today, we had tuna (not the cheap kind) sandwiches and baked beans. Nothing else until about 6:30pm. My husband makes popcorn with a little unsalted butter and parmesan cheese sprinkled on it for our movie time. Some nights he'll have crackers and cheese and I might have a couple pieces of toast or a bowl of cereal. We've been eating like this for years and it agrees with our digestive system the best. There's days I do cook and I'll fix chicken thighs and we'll split a baked potato or we'll have a pork chop and some veggies. I do have burger in the freezer but it's grass-fed only. We don't get hungry before bed. Our snack holds us and we don't feel stuffed like when we were eating a regular meal at dinner time. It works for us. :)
 
Colleen said:
What can/do you eat on a plant-based diet?? Just fruit and veggies? Have you lost weight doing this? Don't you get hungry? What about proteins? Do you take supplements/vitamins to give you other nutrients your body needs?
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I get plenty of protein from legumes and greens. Some people do not realize how much protein is in greens, we only think about getting our minerals from greens and not protein.
If you read Victoria Boutenko’s book called Green for Life, she explains completely which greens have the most of which minerals, and also which ones have the most protein.
Our body has to break down the protein that comes from animal products and then re-build it in a form that our body can use; but from plant proteins, we can start using this protein much easier.

I actually do not get hungry as often because of all of the protein and fiber that I am getting from the legumes. When you eat a hamburger patty, or a piece of chicken, you get grease and protein, but no fiber.
When you eat a bowlful of beans, you get protein and fiber, and no grease, plus lots of vitamins and minerals.
We have a picture of a vegan as some pale scrawny person, but if the vegan is eating a healthy plant-based diet, then they do not look like that, and they are very healthy.

 
I find myself eating less meat and more veggies, fruit, and whole grains.

Has anyone heard of Volumetrics? It came out in, I think, the 90's. It's based on energy density but very easy to follow, healthy, and best of all you can eat a lot of food. It's very sensible, not faddish.
 
hearlady said:
I find myself eating less meat and more veggies, fruit, and whole grains.

Has anyone heard of Volumetrics? It came out in, I think, the 90's. It's based on energy density but very easy to follow, healthy, and best of all you can eat a lot of food. It's very sensible, not faddish.
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I have a copy of the book and refer to it often.

It is helpful to see how making a few simple changes to your diet allows you to fill up and feel satisfied on fewer calories.
 
fmdog44 That is interesting in the advice about sugar I wonder if I cut it out all together if it would do the same for me I have neuropathy and iron overload which is genetic
I think passed down from one of the parents but not sure which one as they both died from illnesses relating to the iron overload problems too .. anyway I`ll try to give the sugar a go and see if it can stop my joint pain and maybe help lose a little weight too in the long run.. having my daughter here too eating lots of salads as she loves them will be a bonus too , so thanks for sharing your post and its great advice .. :)
 
Rainee said:
fmdog44 That is interesting in the advice about sugar I wonder if I cut it out all together if it would do the same for me I have neuropathy and iron overload which is genetic
I think passed down from one of the parents but not sure which one as they both died from illnesses relating to the iron overload problems too .. anyway I`ll try to give the sugar a go and see if it can stop my joint pain and maybe help lose a little weight too in the long run.. having my daughter here too eating lots of salads as she loves them will be a bonus too , so thanks for sharing your post and its great advice .. :)
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Good luck with cutting out the sugar. I've always been skinny and never had a problem with gaining weight until the last 5 years. I think my metabolism just quit but I kept eating the same as I always did. When we retired we traveled around in our 5th-wheel and I didn't get the exercise like I once did and eating in senior RV parks didn't help. I've always had a sweet tooth so it's the hardest thing for me to give up. Now that I'm 71, I've gotten arthritis in my right hip and some days it's worse than others...depending on the weather. I've read that sugar can affect joint pain and also glutton. Basically, my overall way of eating needs to change. Old habits are hard to break, aren't they?
 
This is a fairly long video, but it does a really good job of explaining about foods that are addicting, as well as how commercial food processing companies use this to their advantage to sell us more and more of their (unhealthy) food products.

 
Happyflowerlady said:
This is a fairly long video, but it does a really good job of explaining about foods that are addicting, as well as how commercial food processing companies use this to their advantage to sell us more and more of their (unhealthy) food products.
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Two hours is indeed a fairly long video. Can you give us the Reader's Digest version? Probably a lot about salt, sugar and fat, yes?
 
I am a lucky man. i'm 85. I eat whatever I feel like. No restrictions. No diabetes.

But i don't eat a lot. Very small meals. My weight is almost exactly what it was when I was playing football in high school.

The real secret of course is eating small meals. You don't need huge smorgasbords.

I go on kicks. Every once in awhile I crave pastries. But it doesn't last.

And I don't have regular meal hours. I eat when I am hungry.
 
Pretty much, I summed it up in the first sentence, Starsong. It talks about the different foods that are in our SAD (standard American diet), and how eating these processed foods has affected our bodies and our overall health.
It is one of those films that , if you are interested in learning about eating healthier foods, it is worth the time it takes to watch it, and if you are not interested in that, then it is wasted time for you.
The speaker is very interesting, and easy to listen to, and makes his points very well, and I really didn’t think that I listened to this for a whole 2 hours, it was so interesting.
I would suggest just trying it out, and watch for as long as you are interested.
 
Camper6 said:
I am a lucky man. i'm 85. I eat whatever I feel like. No restrictions. No diabetes.

But i don't eat a lot. Very small meals. My weight is almost exactly what it was when I was playing football in high school.

The real secret of course is eating small meals. You don't need huge smorgasbords.

I go on kicks. Every once in awhile I crave pastries. But it doesn't last.

And I don't have regular meal hours. I eat when I am hungry.
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Lucky you! Live long and prosper :)
 
How did people born in 1900 live to old age? I try to eat fairly healthy but the health kick is monster rip off. Just look at the supplements section is stores while it has never been established taking vitamins is helpful. Look at fish oil for example they are everywhere. Why?
 
Dr. Gregor’s book, “How Not To Die” is on sale today, @StarSong , if you do not already have this book. I had borrowed it with Kindle Unlimited a couple of years ago and just kept it until today. It is $2.99 today instead of almost $20 ; so a good deal for people who are interested in Dr. Gregor’s books.
https://www.amazon.com/How-Not-Die-Discover-Scientifically/
 
Happyflowerlady said:
Dr. Gregor’s book, “How Not To Die” is on sale today, @StarSong , if you do not already have this book. I had borrowed it with Kindle Unlimited a couple of years ago and just kept it until today. It is $2.99 today instead of almost $20 ; so a good deal for people who are interested in Dr. Gregor’s books.
https://www.amazon.com/How-Not-Die-Discover-Scientifically/
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Thank you! I got it for $1.49 with credits. I am not vegan but I like to read health books. Also, I'd rather read his work than listen to him...if you know what I mean. 😉
 
For those who like burgers but are trying to cut down on meat, try a mushroom burger. There are a lot of recipes online. I usually use a large Portobello mushroom in place of the meat with the usual bits you use to make a burger i.e salad, sliced tomato, pickled gherkin etc.
 
Trish said:
For those who like burgers but are trying to cut down on meat, try a mushroom burger. There are a lot of recipes online. I usually use a large Portobello mushroom in place of the meat with the usual bits you use to make a burger i.e salad, sliced tomato, pickled gherkin etc.
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Meat issues aside, the mushroom burger sounds delicious in it's own right! Maybe on a Rye bun.
 
Nathan said:
Meat issues aside, the mushroom burger sounds delicious in it's own right! Maybe on a Rye bun.
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It is @Nathan it is one of my favourites meals. I love Rye bread and it is also nice on a plain (not the sweet type) toasted muffin. You build it like a little tower and can layer it with whatever you like. It's nice with tomato chutney too. Add some fries :) You must try it (y)
 


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