The Vegan Thread

Didn't mean to be mean.
Loads of good ideas for recipes on here (really helped me :)
Big-up for your relative and you for helping.

Cool, will have a think and get back soon. No doubt others will have suggestions for you too. I’m sure your friend will appreciate your help like this.

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:)

No doubt they'll have access to lots of good spices and produce, so check out Middle Eastern recipes in general, as a lot of them are vegan by default. Pulses are important. And if even if they don't have access to wheat gluten, it's very possible to make seitan from normal flour, plenty of recipes around detailing how you knead and wash the starch off. Loads of protein in that.

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Could your hungriness be related to some other kind of condition than the gradual switch to proto-veganism?

I've often sensed that when people didn't really want to make such a change they felt worse. Perhaps you need to think more about whether you really want to do it? I've never met anyone who forced him- or herself who stuck with it for long.

Obviously, if you are perfectly happy with it that might not be an issue, but you only say 'I was happy to try and make the change'. That may not be significant, but just something that caught my eye.

The switchover isn't all that easy for many people; it took me a few detours before I got there, too. What helped me was to take a step back and reconsider.

As ever, obviously make sure you eat complete proteins, supplement B12, etc. Stephen Walsh's 'Plant-based Nutrition' is a book that is often recommended if you're interested in the nutritionist angle. (I personally am not and didn't really need the book.)

Can she cook? When I went vegan, the first thing I did was learn to cook. Apart from being able to feed myself, it also means I know what's in everything and know what to go for.

Has she contacted Spanish vegan groups? There must be some and they'll have knowledge relating specifically to Spain.

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You are probably getting fewer calories on a vegan diet, depending on what you used to eat. If you're in (too much of) a calorie deficit your riding is going to suffer too as you lose weight. Maybe increase your portion sizes proportionately?

I had the complete opposite experience to you, though it probably doesn't help to hear that. Think my resting heart rate dropped from 80 to 60 in a matter of months, I was flying up hills on my bike

She should definitely learn to cook. It's essential.

I'm afraid I don't have any knowledge about any Spanish groups myself, but I'm sure with a bit of Internet searching she could easily find them.

This seems fairly up-to-date (on Madrid):

https://wanderlicious.es/vegetarian-and-vegan-meetup-guide-to-madrid/

Some of the Meetup groups in Madrid referenced above and one in Barcelona, although obviously I have no idea if they're suitable:

https://www.meetup.com/de-DE/Cocina-Vida-Sana/
https://www.meetup.com/de-DE/cena-vegetariana-y-vegana-en-madrid/
https://www.meetup.com/de-DE/barcelonavegans/
https://www.meetup.com/de-DE/Clases-de-cocina-organica-natural-y-vegana-en-Madrid/

Not all active at the moment, and she's a minor so should go with a relative.

Over here, there are groups for younger vegans like TEENVGN (now VGNERATION (https://www.teenvgn.com/) who I'm sure would be happy to give her advice.

I'm sure there's something like the Vegan Society over there, too, but I didn't find it immediately just now.

Defo agree with the suggestion to learn to cook, even if she’s young and being provided for at home, she could defo get involved. Maybe get her a cookbook.

Maybe finding some vegan cafes/restaurants/shops would help, to get ideas find ingredients and to be able to chat to more helpful people.

Happycow.com is quite useful for that - https://www.happycow.net/europe/spain/

Like Oliver already said, there’s protein in everything, so as long as she’s not on a calorie restricted diet, she will get the protein she needs.

I am a huge fan and supporter of http://www.nutritionfacts.org, and the good Dr. Greger has made an app called ‘the daily dozen’. It’s a pretty simple tool to keep track of what to eat in a day (optimally), and focuses both on macro nutrients (carbs, fat and protein) as well as micro and phytonutrients.
It really should be a checklist for everyone regardless of eating vegan, vegetarian or meat. After a while you know it by heart, and don’t need the app.

For recipes, just look online, there are more recipes than what you could eat I a lifetime.

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Several aspects in this.
First of all, there are two things that are never mentioned to people going vegan: you eat all the time, you go to the toilet all the time.
5 a day is not just the amount of fruit and vegetables you eat.

Second. My best guess is that you are lacking energy because you are eating junk. You would probably also do that if the junk weren’t vegan.
Eat more food, but make sure it’s whole plant food. If your colleagues don’t go “wow, that’s a lot of vegetables/food/salad” you need to up the portion size. :)

you eat all the time, you go to the toilet all the time

That's even more fucking stupid than wandering into the vegan thread on the Internet's Friendliest Forum and making a bacon sarnie joke.

Ok

Is it? My gf is raw vegan, I eat meat but am dairy-free; she craps far more often than I do.
Granted it's anecdotal, but I've heard the same from lots of places.

A higher fibre intake does that. If you’re just eating plants, it’s expected but not necessarily a problem. “All the time” is a bit of a reach, though.

Plant based whole food vegans have their very own five-a-day 💩💩💩💩💩

First of all, there are two things that are never mentioned to people going vegan: you eat all the time, you go to the toilet all the time.

lol

what the fuck are you eating

The problem: Since the switchover I am never not hungry, always craving more, which leads to me eating an excessive amount of carbs/junk and feel bloated constantly.

The solution: don't eat an excessive amount of carbs/junk - eat an excessive amount of vegetables, and a bit of fruit and grains and legumes and nuts and whatnot instead.
Buy organic stuff. There is a lot more energy in there.
This will all cost you a lot of money (it's worth it though, is it not?)

One thing you have to realize about the being hungry / feeling full thing:
meat gives you a certain kind of "being full" that you will not get with anything other than meat (!).
That's just how it is.
You might still be attached / waiting for this specific feeling.
But maybe it's actually a feeling of having overeaten, on stuff that takes tremendous energy to digest, that you mistake for being "full" / "satisfied", because you are used to that feeling so much.
In other words I can have two huge bowls of mung beans with rice and vegetables, which keeps me going the whole day - but I don't feel "full" in the way I did when I still ate meat.
I think that's good though! I'm nourished, but not stuffed to the point I actually need a nap before I can do anything again.