Vegan/plant based and/or vegatarians

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Veggie meats are expensive yes, but you don't need to eat them as there are plenty of plant-based dishes you can make. Eating only fruits and vegetables can be a big thing to begin with, so I suggest you take it easy and gradually add more vegetables to your daily meal.

What kind of fruit and vegetable do you eat already?

I've been vegetarian since I was 13, so it's been 12 years now. I am strictly vegetarian too, not in terms of refusing to consume animal by-products - I am lacto-ova so long as the eggs are sourced ethically, but otherwise don't make dietary exceptions. I've been caught out a few times though, mostly be cheese, my nefarious weakness, but these days I consider myself to be a veteran.
I could cite some very noble reason for turning veggie all those years ago but it honestly was mostly about rebellion and feeling different. Odder still is how quickly I acclimatised, it just feels natural.
Although I try to balance my diet and not always go for anything that can be put in a microwave, for anyone considering vegetarianism I would warn them about the difficulty of having enough B12 vitamins; it's not unachievable but admittedly I went the easy route and take supplements for those.

I'm allergic to gluten, sugar, and cow dairy products. I also can't stand eating meat, so I eat a lot of beans, vegetables [mostly], rice/quinoa dishes.

i've been vegan/vegetarian for 12 years now. i first started when i was dating someone and i started learning about all of the absolutely horrific practices that are used on the animals slaughtered for food (and battery cages, etc.). I started eating some cheese again on and off a couple of years ago, but don't eat it routinely. i did add yogurt, however, about 6 months ago because it's such an awesome source of protein. but i'm thinking i need to go full vegan again. if i'm honest with myself, eating non vegan isn't consistent with how i feel. like some others with ASD, i get super freaked out with anything having to do with animals suffering. so i need to get my butt in gear again!

as far as nutrition is concerned, yes, everyone should supplement with B12, D, calcium and iron if you're a menstruating woman. unless, of course, you're intentionally eating other sources for those vitamins, and adequate sources. it's a total misconception (and i'm so tired of people asking me "where do you get your protein from???") that a vegan diet is in ANY way lacking in protein. it's just up to you to find what sources you like. i personally love the fake meat stuff, although i wonder if i'm going to find out in 20 years that Gardein brand "chicken" fingers cause arm cancer or something .

anyhoo - it's good to know there's others out there with the same practice. kudos

I've been vegetarian on and off since 2009 and I have the happiest smoothest poos ever. My digestion is flawless.
Since I changed my diet completely I've not had strong bouts of depression since around 2010 - early 2011. I've only ever come off it for being so hungry/drunk I could pass out at a huge festival a couple of times. I dunno, just since my diets better it's stopped so many problems for me, it's definitely improved any anxiety that I had along with exercise, I don't really have it bad anymore.

Funnily enough it was the early days of freelee that got me interested, along with a few other small timer youtubers back then. Too bad Freelee has gone rather downhill since then.

I can't seem to stick to a vegan diet, there's just so many things to read and whatever and some stuff contains milk and it's constant reading of labels so I just find it easier to be vegetarian. I usually have Quorn stuff anyway because it's easier to throw the fake meats in with my boyfriends cooking, like instead of real sausages I can just have the fake ones in a set meal or whatever.

Milk I don't mind too much, I'll have the watered down one if I'm in the mood for traditional British tea but I normally stick to the sweetened almond milk with cereal.

I usually do smoothies every day with like 5 bananas and a bunch of other fruit. I need to get a new SLR so I can make some food porn now I've figured out how to make it actually look and taste good haha. Purple fruit 'icecream'! Best ever.

I like a lot of Chinese style meals, dumplings are the best thing ever. I try to not eat any oils though as that adds fat so some orders can be a bit challenging. Rice, lentils, potatoes are usually my main go to though.
Healthy cooked chips with home made tomato sauce.

I'm not really an activist per se, I just find those people too negative for my liking. I used to go to demos but ever since veganism got really big it's filled with 'elitists' everywhere now so I don't bother anymore. I liked it in the old days when it was chill. I understand that animals suffer and it's horrible and corrupt but I just don't see the point in fighting in a capitalist society anymore. It's all profit and they don't wanna do anything about it, the only way to fix the problem and defeat the evil greedy meat and dairy industry who like to murder people is to get more people willing to go vegetarian/vegan imo.

When I've been on vegan diets I've felt a lot better for it at least, but I often have something and then go "oh oops that wasn't vegan it contains traces of milk". I'll likely keep trying but I don't wanna have to constantly worry about it.

Be careful of B12 Deficiency. If you became a vegan when you were a teenager then you'll have enough in your body to go for decades before you become deficient. This can lead to complacentcy.
Good sources are kelp, seaweed, mushrooms.
Be wary of Norther Hemisphere Sea products - the sea it often polluted with heavy metals and such.

Also I'm not sure of the B12 supplement sources (might not be vegan, could be GE plants too - vitamin C is sourced from GE corn).

Phyto Plankton is a great B12 source, and you can grow this yourself (make sure you get food grade if you buy the powdered forms - some can be contaminated).

Sorry if this was a bit of a rant, hope this informs someone - I only learned some of this very recently.

So I've been vegan now for about going on 4 months now and 3 periods which have been fairly interesting. They are not nearly as bad as they used to be and I don't bleed as heavy. I'm also don't EVER get bloated on my period anymore which was always a thing that I'd have to deal with for more then half the period and now I don't anymore. You would almost assume the opposite considering all the beans and tofu I eat but its really not

Also while some of you did mention gardien and "fake meats" I got a cook book of Miyoko Schinner and she teaches you how to make your own "mock meats" from tofu and wheat gluten and things. I made some "unchicken" about a month ago and still have plenty left in the freezer to pick off of. It gave me 12 pieces which I did have with the tofu skin and the other half without the tofu skin. Much cheaper then gardein and you know every ingredient in it.

But hey now, however you roll vegan is totally up to you as long as you're getting all the nutrition you need and check that nutritional yeast if you wanna keep your b12 reserves up. Iron, and calcium are also very easy since many leafy greens and beans are very high in such things. The only problem you will probably have is vitamin D but you can easily access supplements or "vegan supplements" of D3 since D2 doesn't give you what you need sometimes. Almond milk actually has D2 so if you're a regular drinker of almond milk or you roll with the oatmeal on a daily basis then that might be helpful. Its a start anyway xD

Used to have a lot of phlegm and hoik (coughing up throat oysters).
After dropping dairy, that stopped utterly. Now my immune system has gone into overdrive, and I get allergies (super runny nose) if I do not eat.
But I've always had a great immune system, and haven't been kissing lots of girls etc.
Now I look forward to my annual cold as it means my immune system will settle down for a while.