> It's worth noting for anyone that advocates this sort of diet that it is a luxury. Many people mention that you can make good food on such a diet, but it is doubtless time-consuming. What of those who work by the hour? And the ingredients are expensive.
I will disagree with this statement from personal experience. The first claim is that this is a "luxury diet", of which it is not. Grains, legumes, and most all leafy greens and vegetables on here fall within the same construct as meat pricing. Yes, you can spend a lot of money, but no it is not a requirement. I have tested not eating red or white meats now for ~16 months and consume fish or crustaceans on average once a week, but sometimes not. Over that time my weekly food cost has gone down on average. Yes, herbs and spices can be expensive however they are not exclusive to a more focused plant or whole food diet. Also, the claim about time-consuming is also false. I used to spend more time in meat than almost any dish I prepare now. From overnight smokes of pulled pork or half day cooks of meats in sous vide with a finish on grill was, by far much more work. Now, I understand those are not always normal cooking practice by everyone but normal meat prep involves proper prep and post prep regardless if you're making hamburgers or not. Maybe you're talking about preprocessed meats with your argument. But if you're arguing a preprocessed burger is easier, then I'm sure you're right. Frozen meat is horrible IMO, however.
> Honest question for those who follow such a diet: how do you not feel hungry? If I don't have meat, I tend to stay hungry. I regularly eat lots of meat for this reason, and am still very slim (no health issues), so it's not like it's hurting me. I tried not eating meat for a month or so, and I perform measurably worse (comparing my output on days when I ate meat vs not). Maybe it just doesn't work for everyone?
Moving to a plant / whole food focused diet doesn't leave you hungry if you're doing it in a complete way. Legumes are a great component and satiate just as well from a density of food standpoint. Our family has made breakfast burritos recently for friends who didn't know it was 100% plant based. This included the use of Just Egg (bean formulation of scrambled eggs) and an Italian Seitan product that is hard to distinguish in flavor and texture from ground breakfast sausage. The prep for this meal is identical to using those traditional ingredients. Nobody was hungry and everyone was impressed and asked for the recipe.
Ultimately it doesn't work if you don't give it a real try. My family and I cook a lot and the hardest part was getting out of the rut of the recipes we've made our own over the years. New ingredients, new recipes, new flavors. Not everything is good, not everything turns out. You learn and pivot. 3 months in I was feeling comfortable with the new direction I took. My family still will consume red and white meat when there's no other good choice. I have decided, for me, the ethical and global implications are a personal choice and continue to avoid it. Even though I don't cast judgement I feel as though more people should give it a fair shake. But it's easy to take the well traveled option. I will say though it's gotten easier only a year later to find options where I couldn't last year. They're not all the most healthy, but cater to more of the flavor pallette than health. There is that gray area of healthy plant based eating and the middle ground of Beyond Meat / Impossible Burger type alternatives. But even those still have a positive impact on things overall.
It does sound like in your attempt to go meat free you were missing something in your meals to round out comparative calorie intake. My recommendation is the cookbook: Vegan For Everyone by America's Test Kitchen. There are a lot of fantastic recipes in there but it is one of the best to get you going. There are many other cookbooks that have helped me find new avenues of cooking as well. I think, for me, that guidance and ideas are the reason I still continue down the path I'm on today.