The FastDay Forum

I'm wondering if there are groups or members who follow a plant based diet?

Thanks,

CT

Not any more. I was a raw vegan for more than 4 years but started eating meat again. I still eat a huge amount of plants and eat meat as a condiment. Mostly grain free.

I'm vegetarian and have been for 30 years. I've been following 5:2 for 2 years now. There are quite a few vegetarians and vegans on the forum.

Hello!
Yes, I have been following a plant based diet for the last couple of years, I was a vegetarian for nearly all of my life before then. There are a lot of vegetarians and some vegan members, but for the life of me I can't think of any names this evening...

I've been vegetarian for about 20 years.

well I'm not technically usually a vegetarian but my husband is an ovo -pescatarian who is allergic to dairy (and wheat) so I have, for all intents and purposes been adhering to that for the last 5 years.

I have gone vegan for the month of February and am currently leaning towards following that lifestyle more permanently.
I always made the excuse I needed the protein from eggs and fish, to maintain my high levels of exercise, muscle, etc. and vegetable sources were too expensive. but now I find those excuses weak... and I have been doing more research into animal welfare, especially around the dairy industry....
I do find New Zealand a bit more difficult for vegans than other western cultures (products aren't very available and are exorbitantly expensive compared to the US or UK, even in the capital) but I'm happy to make my own vegenaise, etc, and seem to be ok giving up dairy-like products (can't quite justify $7 for a small pottle of plain soy yogurt......)

I was flown and interviewed for a job in Dunedin & Christchurch late last year @nznicole and found the same when I did local research and tried working out a budget. I didn't take the job for other reasons but if it had been suitable I'd have had to think long and hard about my ability to manage on the food budget I'd be able to afford. $7 for yoghurt is ridiculous!

Vegan convenience foods are ridiculously expensive in Perth and buying online from Melbourne or Sydney is mega costly so it's just as well that we eat predominately home-cooked unprocessed foods.

I've also found a 5:2 vegan page on FB. Search 5:2 for Vegans. It's a small group but helpful.

I'm an ovo-lacto vegetarian; just can't let go of all the yummy cheese! Lots of options here in Seattle, aka Granolaville.

Oh I can't let go of the cheese either, @ferretgal. I was vegan for a short time and never felt better. But my tastebuds wouldn't let me sustain it.

I'm also lacto ovo vegetarian for 25+ years. I'm not that hooked on cheese but do use it in cooking, but I do love yoghurt, milk and butter. I am vego because I can't eat dead rotting animal flesh, often killed inhumanely.

I was flown and interviewed for a job in Dunedin & Christchurch late last year @nznicole and found the same when I did local research and tried working out a budget. I didn't take the job for other reasons but if it had been suitable I'd have had to think long and hard about my ability to manage on the food budget I'd be able to afford. $7 for yoghurt is ridiculous!

After my moaning about lack of vegan options.... while the supermarkets are less than stellar in that area, and dinner options are more limited there are a lot of beautiful cafes which offer great options for lunch and breakfast. So I might have to switch any dining out to lunch going forward.

Yesterday I discovered a cafe/salad bar directly across the street from my work which has the most beautiful selection of raw vegan desserts! very dangerous for that 3pm slump.

Hi @Cyclonet

I've been a vegan for the past 11 or so years and I've been IFing for almost three.

Sorry to hear about the dearth of vegan products in Perth (and NZ, even worse!) - I have fond memories of that city, having lived there for a while in the early 70s. (To my shame I used to buy a weekly bag of meat from a butchers in Murray St, Central Perth! )

I have quite a few 5:2 vegan recipes on my blog
http://nobreadisanisland.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/52-vegan-cookery.html
including pizzas, chillis, ratatouille pie, Thai curry, etc, all of which are calorie counted. It started off as a bread blog, but it's become more and more slanted towards a plant-based lifestyle.

About cheese - this, I agree, was one of the hardest things to give up - but now I hardly ever bother with vegan cheese, using nutritional yeast for most of my cheese flavour requirements. For anyone trying to give up cheese - have a look at this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19qSsUI79Ro

[quote="Breadandwine"]For anyone trying to give up cheese - have a look at this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19qSsUI79Ro[/quote

Thanks for that video link. I decided to follow a plant based diet for a month, (as a change from normal pescatarian ovo lacto (but very minimal: because of husbands allergy) mostly for health benefits, but partly environmental and animal welfare, but of course the more information and research I do, the more I want to know, the more I think I can't be will fully blind/ignorant. I will watch this when I get home from work tonight.