Just got my mind blown by "Game Changers" on Netflix and all the world-class athletes eating plants only. For those who love meat, how did you make your transition easier?
Ask HN: What are your experiences switching to a plant-based diet?
1–10 of 18 posts
Re: Ask HN: What are your experiences switching to a plant-based diet?
#2Just get pre-made veggie burgers as a transitioning phase. Slowly but surely you will adjust your cooking, and it'll be easier to make your own burgers, which then becomes a side dish.
Re: Ask HN: What are your experiences switching to a plant-based diet?
#3[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: What are your experiences switching to a plant-based diet?
#4bought a copy of the vegetarian flavor bible as a kitchen reference
i have found it beneficial to graduate from a “recipe mindset” into cultivating an intuitive, integrated command of tasty, flavorful combinations
flavor bible has been a wonderful tool for training this intuition
Re: Ask HN: What are your experiences switching to a plant-based diet?
#5I was vegan for 2-3 years. Because I ate more bread, I gained 10 lbs. It was miserable to eat out, having to double check what various ingredients were and finding I could usually only eat fries. I stopped because I was feeling unhealthy, but I was young and I think I could do better these days. Specifically, I think I was actually deficient in SALT, since when I feel the same way these days salty foods fixes it immediately. Interestingly, it is hard to get enough cholesterol as a vegan so I was eating a silly number of avocados
Re: Ask HN: What are your experiences switching to a plant-based diet?
#6Vegetarian since 2004 here. Not Vegan yet, but maybe one day. Never once ate meat on purpose since then.
I never loved meat, and I never felt the desire to eat it after I switched (actually, I only declared myself vegetarian after I realized I had no desire to eat meat anymore).
I used to live in a place where pretty much everything had meat on it, even the salad. Although vegans existed there, switching to vegan would add a lot of extra trouble to my life. Over the years the veg(etari)an population increased a lot, and so did my options. Now I moved to a city where pretty much every restaurant has a vegetarian option, and that's great.
Health-wise, I can't say it improved or got worse. It's just that you have a different set of problems to avoid. Before I had to worry about cholesterol and fat and salt and all these other "common" problems. Now I have to worry about B12, too much carb, lack of Iron and Calcium. Every diet has pitfalls to avoid.
I had one major problem with B12 back in the day. Now I get regularly tested for B12 levels and correct it before it completely destroys my life. Never had problems with proteins or iron. I love beans.
I eat a lot of carb, and I have a prominent belly to prove it. I never had a problem building muscle or getting stronger because of the vegetarian diet: I can easily get stronger every time I go back to lifting weights, and I also build cardio just fine when I exercise.
Got heavily bullied with "vegetarian jokes". I always hit them back with jokes about their defects.
The "less educated" part of my family got very confused when they found out I (male) had a girlfriend. After all, I was vegetarian. To them, it was an obvious tell that I'm gay. I'm still with her, even had some kids. Neither wife or kids are vegetarian.
Re: Ask HN: What are your experiences switching to a plant-based diet?
#7Vegan for 10 years. Feel great when eating whole food plant based, get sick much less (and shorter durations) than before. Only thing I stumble on is junk food temptation, so many unhealthy but tasty vegan options now.
If you want to eat healthy, download the free app: Daily Dozen (a non profit made it) - it's super simple and gives you basic guidelines how to do it right each day.
Re: Ask HN: What are your experiences switching to a plant-based diet?
#8Vegetarian since 2004 here. Not Vegan yet, but maybe one day. Never once ate meat on purpose since then. I never loved meat, and I never felt the desire to eat it after I switched (actually, I only declared myself vegetarian after I realized I had no desire to eat meat anymore). I used to live in a place where pretty much everything had meat on it, even the salad. Although vegans existed there, switching to vegan wou…
>I had one major problem with B12 back in the day. Now I get regularly tested for B12 levels and correct it before it completely destroys my life.
If it's not too sensitive, can you elaborate on how it completely destroyed your life? Genuinely curious.
A cursory search suggests fatigue and poor cognitive performance can result from B12 deficiency. It seems likely that mental health issues can easily follow from that.
Re: Ask HN: What are your experiences switching to a plant-based diet?
#9[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: What are your experiences switching to a plant-based diet?
#10Vegetarian since 2004 here. Not Vegan yet, but maybe one day. Never once ate meat on purpose since then. I never loved meat, and I never felt the desire to eat it after I switched (actually, I only declared myself vegetarian after I realized I had no desire to eat meat anymore). I used to live in a place where pretty much everything had meat on it, even the salad. Although vegans existed there, switching to vegan wou…
> I had one major problem with B12 back in the day. Now I get regularly tested for B12 levels and correct it before it completely destroys my life. If it's not too sensitive, can you elaborate on how it completely destroyed your life? Genuinely curious. A cursory search suggests fatigue and poor cognitive performance can result from B12 deficiency. It seems likely that mental health issues can easily follow from that…
I should have worded the sentence differently lol, it did not completely destroy my life. But I assume that if it kept undiagnosed it would at some point? I read some bad stories about it once I started researching the problem.
I had some really really really really bad mood problems, poor cognitive performance and extreme fatigue.