Possibly going vegan????

[julesandjo]

Hey there, I am considering going vegan this year but am completely clueless. I have about 70 pounds to lose and hear this is a good way to lose, but have been considering lacto-ovo for a long time not for the purpose of losing weight. Anyway, I sure would appreciate as many good recipes or websites with info. as possible. I am mom to 6, with 4 still at home and a husband to cook for. My youngest is 2 years old and 4 years old and then 2 teens. The teens (girls) have also expressed the desire to go vegetarian. I think we can pull it off but I just need to be pushed in the right direction. Anyway, thanks in advance for as much info as I can get. What I've seen so far on this topic the recipes sound real tasty. I love soups and casseroles; they are easy meals.

[PEACE FROG]

I'm on some kinda veggie diet, what I mean is, It's a diet peference not a perscription. And it is a great way to lose weight, I have, but let me share with you what really works. Exercise or course, ride a bike, walk, DO SOMETHING !!! And watch processed foods, sugars, Bleached white flour, salt. But the best is not to eat past 6 or 7 in the evening. Worked for me !!! Good luck!!!!

[BandAide]

Hey There!

I'm not vegan, but I was veggie for about ten years. I wish you a lot of luck. These days, eating a healthy, organic vegetarian diet high in protein is a healthier alternative to supermarket meat.

As for weight loss, I had a baby almost 9 months ago (and I'm 7 weeks pregnant now) and I gained 73 pounds in my first pregnancy. I lost ALL OF THEM by participating in weight watchers online. I don't know if this is something you've ever tried, but they do cater to a vegetarian diet and I found it very easy to follow (I used the points system where you can eat anything, but everything has a point value) and was very successful. There are no meetings, you just sign up, pay a fee, keep a food journal which calulates your points and weigh in once a week.

Six kids! Wow! I admire that. As rewarding as this mom job is, it's hard, hard, hard work!

Peace to you and good luck in your diet and weight loss!

[julesandjo]

Hey there, thanks for the input. I am officially starting something tomorrow, just not sure what. I am going to lose the weight. I think I will check out the weight watchers website. I have lost weight successfully before but that was 8 years ago and 8 years is a long time ago when you are now 40. Anyway, I am constantly looking for ideas and recipes and such. Exercise; definitely going to do it. Vegan, or vegetarian; not sure yet. Will probably cut most meat from my diet but start slowly anyway. Congratulations BandAide on your pregancy. Such a wonderful thing. I love babies and kids and even grown up people. Good thing, huh, since I have so many. I also have 2 beautiful grand-daughters now too. Lucky me. Sorry, kinda went off subject. Anyway, thanks for the info, hopefully, I'll put it to good use. Peace.

[wyldflower]

There's a really excellent cookbook called Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. There are a lot of really good vegetarian/vegan cookbooks out there (and recipe websites), but I especially like this one because it's comprehensive (covers just about every imaginable type of food), gives you lots of basic information about cooking with whole (i.e. unprocessed) foods, and the recipes are usually pretty easy to follow. Though it's vegetarian, there are many, many vegan recipes, and many of the ones with dairy can be made vegan by using soy substitutes.

Good luck with the weight loss and all.

[ladywithafan]

ooohh, I have some good cookbooks to try- How It All Vegan and it's sequel are an excellent vegan cookbook. The Farm Cookbook is a good vegetarian cookbook, and all Moosewood Cookbooks are really great. I love baking/cooking, and these are my favorites. You can find some great recipes, and cook up some great meals for your family

[julesandjo]

Thanks, I love cooking and cookbooks. I always say I have a cookbook fetish. I also have copied soooooo many recipes out of magazines and stuff. I will check out the cookbooks you all mentioned. I am getting a slow start at it, but calorie wise I've done real well for the past two days. Thanks.