Vegetarian/Vegan FitBit Users !!!

[megw]

Hey!

So I've been vegetarian for 1.5 years now and am going to become strictly vegan coming into the new year.

I was wondering if there were any of you guys that were wanting to go vegan, but wanted some motivation along the way?!  I'd love to have a "friend" as I make the switch so we could motivate eachother! Or, if you are currently vegan,that would be awesome aswell! 🙂 Either way, I`d love to have more vegan friends and share the great pros of veganism. 

Please feel free to add me, message me or reply to this post 🙂 

[Rawmona]

Im also trying to go Vegan. I started last May, only had cheese here and there not much though, so doing good. Just trying to figure out the fitbit right now.

[megw]

That's awesome! My only weakness is cheese as well.. Other than that I would be considered "vegan"!

I have the fitbit charge and just got the scale which I am trying to hook up. What do you have?

[Rawmona]

I have a fitbit flex.
Cheese isn't really a problem, I like the vegan cheese
but don't use it much. I don't eat any grains, oats or breads only
because they don't agree with me. Unfortunately I did eat breads this Dec.
so not good for weight. I'm still figuring how much to eat so hopefully if
i can
track my food and it will work.
Good luck to you!

[Caramammal]

I was strict vegan for about 5 years, now i'm veggie but plan on going back to full on vegan on 5th Jan. I love the vegan diet, i love cooking meditteranean style foods, and as i wasnt much of a meat/dairy fan anyway, so not eating those things has never been a problem. What i would say about being vegan is that you need to make sure you eat a really balanced diet, and keep an eye on your nutrition, i always found i needed a little extra iron. Good luck with the transition, please feel free to 'friend' me.

[yogasmile]

Im a vegan fitbit user. You can totally do it! Just make the decision every day that you will eat vegan. You can thrive on plant foods- no animal needs to suffer for your sustenance or health- so just say no to animal foods. I have an instagram account @veganisfun that you can check out if you want meal ideas. 🙂

[Willdoit]

Hi all,

I'm not vegan. I'm not even a strict vegetarian. But I've been an ova-lacto pescatarian for 17 years. That's crazy. it seems so recent I made the decision. What or who inspired you to become a vegetarian ? I read Diet for a Small Planet. It seems so senseless to deplete the water table, deforest, let acres of soil erode, just to raise cattle for food when it only supplies the first world and billions of the worlds hungry remain unfed. Also the whole MadCow Disease thing weirded me out. Anyway, I do use a lot of processed soy products to stand in for meat products. They probably aren't very good for one's health. But they are better for the planet (I think). I don't overdo the fish, maybe 1 or 2 meals per week, but I wanted something I could eat for a special occasion meal or at a restaurant that wasn't the same ole rice and beans. It works for me. 

One thing about being an American vegetarian, there are many many nuances of it. You can be strict, vegan, raw, macrobiotic, biodynamic, organic, vegetarian and fish, ova-lacto, etc. It's your body, your brain, your choice.

I lived in France for a year during the past 17...they have a different view of vegetarians. Generally its still very odd in France and it's seen as rather radical. They also only understand the strictest adherence to vegetarianism. Either you eat only dandilion greens and organic lentils or you aren't a vegetarian. Consuming 'le poisson' absolutely make you NOT a vegetarian in France. Of course not consuming their cheese is just heresy !

Anyway, I also have a family pre-disposition to gain weight and so I'm always dieting...and often strictly dieting. That means that while I love bread and cheese I tend to limit it often going for months at a time with none. I try not to juice because I do believe the fiber in fruits and vegetables makes us fuller and keeps our metabolisms burning more efficiently.

Do you make exceptions to your vegetarianism for certain foods ? As I said, I'm not strict. If someone is making burgers on the grill and my veggie burger is flipped with the same spatula, I'm cool with it. In fact, I like the extra meat flavor. If I'm making soup, I've stopped using beef broth, but I still use a lot of chicken broth and rarely vegetable stock (often too mushroom-y). But my big exception (and somewhat, confession) is that once a year at the holidays, I do like bloc de foie-gras on butter toasts. This is a french tradition and it's sublime with a little champagne. I know, for those of you who are vegetarians because it seems cruel to raise and eat animals, this will seem like such a disgusting exception. I'm sorry. It's my choice. Maybe one day it will cease to please me the way that beef broth started to taste too meaty. But I mention exceptions, because I think there are a lot of fence-sitting vegetarians who are afraid it has to be all or nothing. It doesn't need to be all or nothing. 

YOU can define HOW you are a vegetarian. Maybe you are a vegetarian on Mon-Fri but on the weekends you want to still have cheeseburgers. Whatever works for you.

If we all (humans) reduced our consumption of beef, chicken and pork products, it would dramatically help with climate change and could potentially help grow enough food that fewer people would live in famine. (Yes, I know often its the cruelty of their governments that keep the people unfed but if inexpensive nutritional plant-based foods were available, I think more people would have full stomachs. Certainly here in our own country.

What is your vegetarianism story ?

[RoseOOPS]

Hi, I'm a fat vegan. Yes there are over weight vegans. I' ve been a vegan for about 1 1/2 years. I was over weight when I started, and I'm still over weight. That said I will not go back to eating meat, fish, dairy etc. This is the first time in years that my blood work had been normal. That alone is worth it. I am now starting to lose weight. I think I was eating to many carbs, which is easy to do on a vegan diet. Now I seldom eat rice or pasta. One thing that helped me was a mag. that I found at the store called "Vegetarian Times". It is loaded with recipes. I liked the mag so much I ordered a subscribetion. Most of the recipes are vegetarian, but can easily be made vegan.

[christina12]

I've spent different amounts of time being vegetarian/vegan in my life...6 years vegetarian with a vegan stint in the middle, then moved across the country to college and wasn't really given any option but to eat meat in the dining halls. Towards the end of college I went vegan again, about 8-9 months now.

But my boyfriend (apparently, as I found out last weekend) has a problem with me being vegan, so I might be trying to re-introduce animal products in social settings. My body really doesn't react well to them, so I guess I'll try to be gradual about it.

[Willdoit]

Before you re-introduce animal products into your diet (for your
boyfriend's benefit), read "Eat to Live" by Dr Fuhrman. It starts out
slowly but when he gets to the part about veganism, it's very interesting.

I'm not a vegan and personally I think it's a lifestyle that shuts out a
lot of what makes travel and life experiences richer. But scientifically, I
think you Vegans are brilliant !

A must-read for anyone who has a family history of heart disease or stroke,
or is thinking of becoming, already is...a Vegan.

Good luck.
M

[IdaIki]

Hei! Im a vegan, and i have been that for 3 years ish, and i was a vegetarian several years before that. 

If you need tips or inspiration, just message me up 🙂 

Iki 

[canella]

Hi everyone! I'm so happy that I found a vegan post! I'm 25 and at 12 went vegetarian, then at 16 I went vegan. I think anyone can do it-if you're doing it for the right reasons. My reasons were completely for the animals  I was wondering though... I have always had A LOT of trouble with my weight (ever since a child) I'm 120 now, and my biggest weight was 180, and no one ever believed I could be vegan... I rarely ever eat any kind of starches like pasta, rice, bread is gross to me, or anything like that. I don't eat much sweets (fruit is my go-to). I don't eat anything that's been processed, and eat mainly only whole foods and A LOT of veggie smoothies. I'm very active and workout at least 4-6 times a week. I know I never reach my calorie goals... I just can't seem to get the last of the excess fat off. Like I said, I've been overweight all my life until I started working out several years ago, but the last 10-15 LBS of fat won't go away. The pouch, jiggly cellulite legs and booty. Does anyone know what the problem is? My husband says that my body is always in starvation mode and won't let go of the fat (he owns a gym and kinda knows eveything about fitness, but I don't think he's right). I cant force myself to eat more my stomach always hurts when I eat anyway. I drink more veggie smoothies lately than I eat actual food now (my intestines get inflammed when I eat so drinking my food is easier on my tummy) I juat realized how long this typing was going on for! sorry! I was just wondering if anyone has the same problem or may know how to figure out my body's issue! Thanks  feel free to friend me.

Canella

[canella]

Christina,

I know how you feel about your boyfirend not being happy with it! My husband HATES that I'm vegan, and swears it will kill me one day! (maybe it will, maybe it won't) You shouldn't let HIM decide what you do and do not eat, and put into your body, especially if your stomach doesn't agree with it. I know socially it can be hard, but if it's what you want for yourself don't let others bring you down. 

[pollgara87]

Hey there. I've been vegan for just over 6 years now and have always been a bit on the heavier side. My fitbit is actually in the mail to me as we speak and I'm super excited about it. I've just started going to the gym and I think it will definitely help with tracking everything.

I'd personally never eat animal products again just to make a SO happy, it's your life and if he really cares he wouldn't ask you to change, but that's just me. I cook for my guy a couple days a week and he loves it, mostly because he never cooks....Maybe offer to cook for him (something like pasta or tacos with Beyond Meat) so that he can see that there is nothing strange or foreign about vegan food.

Anyways I'd love to make some vegan friends on here that could maybe help with gym/fitness motivation 🙂

[SunsetRunner]

Vegan here! Fairly new fitbit user. Love it! Vegans please feel free to introduce yourself! Dave 

[Rhionnach]

Hi all. I've been vegetarian for 30 years and a Fitbit user for all of 24 hours! I would describe myself as aiming to go vegan but I'm not quite there yet so I do not feel I am entitled to call myself vegan. If I did so it would cause problems for real vegans when dealing with caterers who seem to default to cooking the easiest options available and who don't or won't get their heads around the idea. When I say I'm vegetarian I go by the definition of vegetarian as stated by the Vegetarian Society of the UK which is: Someone who lives on a diet of grains, pulses, nuts, seeds, vegetables and fruits with, or without, the use of dairy products and eggs. A vegetarian does not eat any meat, poultry, game, fish, shellfish or by-products of slaughter. Anything else means you are not vegetarian. It really is that simple. You either are or you are not. I get so fed up of people who eat fish claiming to be vegetarian – I've come across a few and it only causes problems for real vegetarians, so I do ask people please don't do this. Anyway! I have a Fitbit and I'm learning how to use it.

[A_Lurker]

Hi, I'm not vegan or vegetarian (have been in the past).  Just thought I'd pass on a good website for those who are:

http://ohsheglows.com/

[GershonSurge]

A vegetarian that doesn't eat meat but eats fish is a pescatarian. I think I'd call myself a vegetarian that  eats fish.

The best source of information I've found for those deciding to become vegan is these videos by Dr. McDougall. I also recommend his book "The Starch Solution."  The videos are enough to dispell all the myths. The book gives links to peer reviewed research.

This way of eating has no animal products and no added oils like olive oil. It is starched based with fruits and vegetables. It's quite inexpensive, and I can eat 2,000 calories for less than $5.00 a day. It's also easy too cook. 

[Rhionnach]

If you eat fish you cannot call yourself a vegetarian. It's that simple. I've been to residential events in certain places where they've had pescatarians calling themselves vegetarian  and it has caused problems as the caterers were under the impression that fish was OK. When they found it wasn't OK, as they had been misled it meant that every mealtime was a battle.

[starley1234]

Hi there, I've been veggie now for 7 years and have gradually started moving onto veganism after finding out that I'm dairy intolerant, the thing I'll struggle with if I become 100% vegan is eggs, I use them a lot to boost my protein intake. I'm looking for fellow veggies or vegans to be friends 🙂