Semi OT Forks over Knives documentary

[Luwabra]

watched Forks over Knives last night. holy hell. anyone else feel this way? Ive decided to give it a go. day 1 plant based diet today. For the naysayers no need to inject your input im only interested in this being a positive thread of information sharing/ results/ recipes/ etc. Im stoked on it as I had my first blood panel done at 38 and my cholesterol was 297. Im using myself as a test subject.

any plant based diet folks with info/support/tricks/websites to share ???

[jimcav]

watched Forks over Knives last night. holy hell. anyone else feel this way? Ive decided to give it a go. day 1 plant based diet today. For the naysayers no need to inject your input im only interested in this being a positive thread of information sharing/ results/ recipes/ etc. Im stoked on it as I had my first blood panel done at 38 and my cholesterol was 297. Im using myself as a test subject.

any plant based diet folks with info/support/tricks to share ???

wife and I with our 10 yr old. He was disgusted by what he saw, but after it was over it was nearly dinnertime and he asked for... a burger. I grew up vegetarian, but my mom could cook and bake well. I find I need to be a better cook to enjoy non-meat dishes, so I keep staying lazy and tend not to take the time to eat as well as I could. no advice other than get a good recommendation on recipes or take-out if you can afford it

[R3awak3n]

your colesterol will drop, your blood pressure will drop. I did it over summer. 4 months, vegan, mostly plant based and it was awesome. My BP which is high dropped 5-10 points, lost a bunch of weight. Was feeling great. Unfortunately I am up to no good again as of the past 2-3 weeks. Need to get back to it.

[AngryScientist]

i would be interested to hear some of the recipes and the feedback on what people are realistically eating.

i am a food lover, and eat a lot of meat. nothing beats a good classic steakhouse dinner for me, but i do acknowledge that my diet needs to change a bit.

i'm absolutely looking forward to giving a few days a week without meat a try this summer, but need some good inspiration.

[Luwabra]

watch the documentary. its disturbing on all accounts. I know and understand that is the point of it. but if your interested in cleaning up your self it provides all the incentive. my wife would have gone to culinary school if not accepted to pharmacy school. She cooks a ridiculous good spread. We watched it together and i think she took it as a challenge to inject healthier alternatives to a delicious wholesome meal. we will see. we have 3 kids 6,4,1.5 so getting them on board is uhhhh welll gonna be hard. but kids are adaptable so im hoping.

[Luwabra]

wife and I with our 10 yr old. He was disgusted by what he saw, but after it was over it was nearly dinnertime and he asked for... a burger. I grew up vegetarian, but my mom could cook and bake well. I find I need to be a better cook to enjoy non-meat dishes, so I keep staying lazy and tend not to take the time to eat as well as I could. no advice other than get a good recommendation on recipes or take-out if you can afford it

LOLOLOL lets grab a burger!!! i love kids

[stien]

I haven't seen the documentary but my wife saw it recently with her family and converted them. We've done the vegan thing for going on ~3.5 years and love it. We won't go back.

The main thing is to get over the initial phase of learning to shop and cook, then wait for your taste buds to change and you'll go crazy over uncooked fruits and veggies among other things. Make sure you find all your favorite treats or you won't make it. For example my wife can't live without ice cream so we get So Delicious brand cashew milk ice cream a few times a month. Yeah it's processed but everything in moderation.

Tonight I'm making ridiculously good chili, this is great wintertime base fuel and yields a ton of leftovers.

In a separate pot:
3 cups of rice (we use Jasmine rice)
2 cups of liquid per cup of rice (sometimes I sub out 1/2 or 1/3 of that for coconut milk from the can - if you're feeling ambitious)

Boil the water/coconut milk without a lid so it doesn't explode if you don't catch it boiling right away, then add the rice, turn it to low and cover it.

The chili part in a big ass pot:

Boil a bunch of water in it, maybe 1/3 of it while you're boiling the water for the rice and prepping everything
Chunk a big sweet potato and add it to the big pot while you're cutting it up
Add a double handful of quartered Brussel sprouts after the potato is softened a bit
Drain the pot into a strainer over the sink after the potato is more soft

Turn heat back on:
Add a whole bunch of chopped mushroom to the pot, I like baby bellas or shiitake - I think 1 pound total since they shrink
Add a handful or two of cashews, pecans, and walnuts
Spice the crap out of it, I like dragonhead pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin - you'll be adding lots more ingredients so don't be afraid to saturate it
Add 1 cinnamon stick
Let that cook a bit

Add chopped sweet yellow pepper (1-2)
Add half an onion, chopped
Add half a chopped pineapple (slice it in half and leave the core as part of it, it's so good)
Add 4-5 chopped tomatoes
1 can bean of your choice, I don't typically add any but have done garbanzo before
Add 1 can of raw pumpkin
Add 1-1.5 head of broccoli, cut into small heads
Remember the sweet potato and Brussels sprouts? Add those back in.

Let it cook until you can't take it any longer, or until most of the watery bit is gone, whichever comes first. Serve over the rice. Tastes way better the day after and I've eaten it for 3-4 days, keeps getting better. You probably shouldn't eat the cinnamon stick so don't serve that part.

Forgot you can add some avocado chunks when you serve it, and I've made some cashew sour cream that was off the HOOK in this meal.

[Luwabra]

:banana:

Yes! This sounds fantastic i hope to try it this weekend. Thanks much for your write up and recipe!!

[AngryScientist]

Yes, +2.

sounds good stein.

the hardest part for me, is the restaurants. the great steakhouses of the world, the seafood places, the sushi, the raw bar!

i'm on board with a few days a week veganning out, but i could never fully commit and say no to the NY strip.

keep those recipe's and food ideas coming!

[mattnes17]

I has surgery on my shoulder last winter and to keep myself entertained for 4 months I picked up veganism.

I found it easiest to prepare meals I would have eaten with animal products, then finding a reasonable substitute to the meat or animal bits. Starting out on familiar food helped expand the scope of what was quick to prepare and nutritious, AND similar to your normal diet.

Then you can move onto some more advanced stuff that takes a bit more time to prepare and involves vegan specific cupboard items like ground flax, nutritional yeast, and non-dairy stuff. Give it a shot! I found it kinda fun.

[eBAUMANN]

been eating mostly vegan (still eat pizza) for the past 5 months, lost 15lbs, me and gf cook most of our own meals and overall its way WAY easier than i expected it to be.

lots of grains, pasta, fresh veggies, FALAFEL, sweet potatos are THE SH*T, beets are also packed full of good stuff, lentils, etc etc, the list goes on and on.

i loved bbq and burgers but when it came down to it, the only thing in the "pro" column for ANY meat was "taste."
at some point - once you realize the impact meat has on your body and THE WORLD/ENVIRONMENT - taste just isnt a good enough reason to keep it in your life, because there are TONS of equally tasty foods out there without any meat in em whatsoever.

one company that has excellent meat-like products is Quorn, found in almost any supermarket frozen foods section.
its pretty basic stuff (think breaded patty you stick in the toaster oven for 25min) but their "chicken" and "ground beef" products are truly very tasty and I am 100% confident could fool ANYONE into thinking they were eating the real thing.
throw a patty on a bun with some sliced/roasted sweet potato, baby spinach, mustard...very simple and very tasty.

i have yet to watch the FoK doc, but its on my list.

[ptourkin]

I've been vegan since 2005, was veggie long before that. It's easy here in San Diego as options abound. Many of my friends who race in endurance or ultra-endurance sports are also vegan or plant-based.

My number one advice for people who have recently adopted it as a diet is to track your calories for a while and eat a lot. Many people who report fatigue or other problems are simply not getting enough calories. If you aren't eating calorie dense things like peanut butter and legumes, the calories add up slowly.

Don't worry too much about protein. As you probably learned in the movie, it's in everything. Also, don't listen too much to people who talk about things being "processed." Things like plant and nut milks are mostly just ground, strained and cooked. Tofu is just curdled soy milk - no different than cheese. Eat lots of things and enjoy.

[stien]

Just to add more of my $0.02, I used to chow on peanut butter a ton but when I started eating roasted unsalted peanuts instead (and even making my own peanut butter from them) I couldn't go back taste-wise. It's also really easy to eat way too many calories of peanut butter without getting full.

I'm also very anti-oil. I don't add it to any of my meals and the peanut butter I was eating had a bunch of oil. I know you can get it without, but I still prefer just to eat a handful of the real thing while eating a banana or something.

I really like mixing the flavors, I also drink my coffee black with a banana and peanuts or cashews, alternating or whatever I like. It's awesome.

[mattnes17]

Just to add more of my $0.02, I used to chow on peanut butter a ton but when I started eating roasted unsalted peanuts instead (and even making my own peanut butter from them) I couldn't go back taste-wise. It's also really easy to eat way too many calories of peanut butter without getting full.

I'm also very anti-oil. I don't add it to any of my meals and the peanut butter I was eating had a bunch of oil. I know you can get it without, but I still prefer just to eat a handful of the real thing while eating a banana or something.

I really like mixing the flavors, I also drink my coffee black with a banana and peanuts or cashews, alternating or whatever I like. It's awesome.
Being active,outside, and vegan in MN I found keeping some type of oil around in my diet helped keep my knees feeling awesome and squeak free. And probably kept a touch of fat on my body for warmth. haha

[Johnny P]

watched Forks over Knives last night. holy hell. anyone else feel this way? Ive decided to give it a go. day 1 plant based diet today. For the naysayers no need to inject your input im only interested in this being a positive thread of information sharing/ results/ recipes/ etc. Im stoked on it as I had my first blood panel done at 38 and my cholesterol was 297. Im using myself as a test subject.

any plant based diet folks with info/support/tricks/websites to share ???

You might be interested in Dr. John McDougal's website. Lots of information there including recipes. https://www.drmcdougall.com/

[daker13]

I'm vegetarian for around 15 years. The only time I would eat meat was when my neighbor (RIP) would take me and a few other neighbors to a Patriots game once a year--he was so generous, I didn't have the heart to tell him I was a vegetarian. He insisted on driving, providing all the food, booze, tickets, and paying for parking (he was also our state senator). One time he brought grinders for everyone and we'd had a bunch of beers and me and my other neighbor (a vegan) were both trying to pull the head cheese out of the grinders and dispose of it while no one was looking.

I actually don't like soy at all, unless it's cooked very well--the texture bothers me. I much prefer tempeh and especially seitan, both good protein sources. Someone mentioned Qorn. I also like the brand Field Roast for seitan, Gardein, and Yves. For anyone going plant based I would say they aren't all equal and some are downright disgusting. So if fake meat seems gross, try a few different brands till you find one you like.

[pinkshogun]

When the overwhelming urge for a snack hits, I dive into a jar of peanut-free Sunbutter...It's ground sunflower seeds with the consistancy of peanut butter

[sg8357]

From the movie Sleeper, about the far future..........

Dr. Melik: This morning for breakfast he requested something called "wheat germ, organic honey and tiger's milk."

Dr. Aragon: [chuckling] Oh, yes. Those are the charmed substances that some years ago were thought to contain life-preserving properties.

Dr. Melik: You mean there was no deep fat? No steak or cream pies or... hot fudge?

Dr. Aragon: Those were thought to be unhealthy... precisely the opposite of what we now know to be true.

Dr. Melik: Incredible.

[GonaSovereign]

It's easy to eat veg.
It's easy to cook delicious food.

Here's a shortcut: buy this book, find a recipe you want to start with, get the ingredients, and BLOW YOUR SPOUSE'S MIND with what you just created. Your new-found culinary skills will make you more attractive to your partner.
https://www.amazon.com/Plenty-Vibrant-Vegetable-Recipes-Ottolenghi/dp/1452101248

This stuff is not hard. Cook!

Once you get that down, you'll be much healthier, you'll look better naked, and you won't be torturing animals to serve your gluttony. It's all upside.

[Louis]

It's easy to eat veg.
It's easy to cook delicious food.

+ a whole bunch

[cachagua]

Haven't seen this movie, but I caught a segment on PBS News Hour about the guy that runs Impossible Burger. He made a comment that I think puts things in exactly the right context: "As a food-production technology, the cow is ridiculously archaic and primitive"...

[marciero]

I'm vegetarian for around 15 years. The only time I would eat meat was when my neighbor (RIP) would take me and a few other neighbors to a Patriots game once a year--he was so generous, I didn't have the heart to tell him I was a vegetarian. He insisted on driving, providing all the food, booze, tickets, and paying for parking (he was also our state senator). One time he brought grinders for everyone and we'd had a bunch of beers and me and my other neighbor (a vegan) were both trying to pull the head cheese out of the grinders and dispose of it while no one was looking.


I have heard that even the Dalai Lama has eaten meat in such circumstances-out of consideration to a host.

[Luwabra]

Great stuff. I made a BA pasta dish for my wife last night using chickpea penne. She was extremely impressed and she’s a really good cook! I didn’t/won’t miss any animal fat taste but she LOVES cheese so it’s gonna be slightly more challenging for her. Day 1 in the books:)

[classtimesailer]

Go for it.
I continue to get some PRs on regular segments without trying. My wife can make some killer vegan stews and soups from scratch. I make killer beans, groats (rice replacement), salsa picante and homemade corn tortillas. If I am shopping and cooking, I just go to the veggie area and get a bunch of different colors and then steam, blanche, saute, roast, bake with whatever spices smell good. Don't try to hard to go vegan. Ease into it slowly and eventually, you won't want anything but plants in your meals. If we go out or I am being polite and I have a non-vegan dish, I can feel it in my gut (not a good feeling) and the grease in my mouth lasts for 24 hours. Weird right? Emeril makes a great chili http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/vegetarian-chili-emeril-lagasse-437161

[Luwabra]

Ok not to get too graphic but did anyone else have excessive gas buildup/stomach cramping the first week of switching over? Uggh.

[Louis]

Ok not to get too graphic but did anyone else have excessive gas buildup/stomach cramping the first week of switching over? Uggh.

I never ate much meat anyway, so for me it was a completely uneventful change. However, it makes sense that if someone has a sudden and signficant increase in their fiber intake the body might react in that manner.

If that does occur I'd try some probiotics. Maybe yoghurt and something like this:

https://www.costco.com/Nature's-Bounty-Ultra-Strength-Probiotic-10%2c-140-Capsules.product.100225688.html

[John H.]

I never ate much meat either- But I did eat a bit almost daily.
It was easy for me to stop- no negatives at all.

In addition to all of the vegetables I find it is very helpful to keep a pot of ready made brown or black rice and also a container of already cooked black beans in the refrigerator- all ready to go
We make rice in a rice cooker, and my wife makes black beans in a slow cooker.

[edward12]

I've been doing the vegan for the past couple of months and have no problems switching to an entirely plant based whole food diet. I love to cook so coming up with a new "menu" has been really challenging and fun.

I've lost 16 pounds in 7 weeks. My blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure have improved significantly.

I average about 80 grams of protein a day. More importantly, I take a Vitamin B12 supplement (5,000 mcg) every day.

And I feel great on the bike!:)

[classtimesailer]

Fantastic Edward!
I've got a pot of Emerile's vegetarian (really vegan) chili on the stove right now. You can find it on the web.

[Toddtwenty2]

My cholesterol got up to 320, so I have been a vegan + fish going on two months now.
Overall, I have loved it.
I eat a large bowl of steel cut oatmeal with blueberries, strawberries, pear, peach, mango, etc... for breakfast. I just buy a huge variety of vegetables at my local organic co-op and get creative with it. I snack on a pre-made mix of multiple nuts and dried fruits, and I eat avocado every other day or so. I also roast a lot of vegetables in olive oil to eat and keep for a day or two as leftovers.
I do eat wild fish every few days. This doesn’t make me vegan, but it works for me.
I feel much lighter and just better. My arms hang more freely and I can go for a jog or bike ride at any time of the day, even right after meals. I eat plenty and never feel undernourished. It has been a great change for the better in my life, and I couldn’t recommend it more.

[GonaSovereign]

My cholesterol got up to 320, so I have been a vegan + fish going on two months now.
Overall, I have loved it.
I eat a large bowl of steel cut oatmeal with blueberries, strawberries, pear, peach, mango, etc... for breakfast. I just buy a huge variety of vegetables at my local organic co-op and get creative with it. I snack on a pre-made mix of multiple nuts and dried fruits, and I eat avocado every other day or so. I also roast a lot of vegetables in olive oil to eat and keep for a day or two as leftovers.
I do eat wild fish every few days. This doesn’t make me vegan, but it works for me.
I feel much lighter and just better. My arms hang more freely and I can go for a jog or bike ride at any time of the day, even right after meals. I eat plenty and never feel undernourished. It has been a great change for the better in my life, and I couldn’t recommend it more.

Well done!