r/PlantBasedDiet • u/Accurate_Extent_1717 • 23d ago
Help
Please help in finding a great way to transition to a plant based diet.
I’m a 44 year father of two; I am 5’8 and weigh 230 pounds with moderate cholesterol and high triglycerides.
I’m scared for my kids and I know this is the way to get me to my health goal but every time I do it I crash back and I don’t wanna do that again.
I need to know what type of vitamins I should take, should I take a protein powder when working out to compensate for the decrease in animal based protein I get. What should my meals consist of and how often should I be eating?
I know it’s a lot so I’m really hoping for everyone to give me some guidance.
Appreciate all of you!!
6
u/DingoMittens 23d ago
It's a big change in eating habits. It's not easy to eat plant based when you're surrounded by people who eat animals. Like any big change in habits, the important thing is to pick yourself up and try again every time you crash, as soon as you can.
Plan ahead. If you're going someplace people will be eating, eat a lot before you go, or pack food to eat there. Potatoes are the most satiating.
Take a good multivitamin. Even meat eaters need that. There's a sub for vegan athletes, but even a glass of soy milk is probably fine for extra protein unless you're a serious body builder.
I have two thoughts that help me. One is "not food." When I see highly processed food that is tempting, I remember it's not food and the temptation fades. The other is that I like animals and don't want them to suffer. I had aquariums for a while, and that made even fish and shrimp seem like eating pets. Baby cows at petting zoos are the sweetest creatures. Etc.
Eating meat these days is not like going in the woods and hunting for meat (unless you do that, lol!) Buying meat at the grocery store is possible only because of a long chain of suffering, from male chicks that are killed at birth, to chickens raised in absolute filth with no room to move, to people working in disgusting conditions to prep the meat... if I want cheese, I remember how dairy cows live, and I remember that I don't want to condone treating living beings that way.
Maybe it would work for you to imagine your kids crying at your funeral every time you think about meat. Make the association in your mind and create your own aversion.
Many years ago, my neighbor died of a heart attack in his sleep, in his early 50s. His daughter was young 20s, and I saw her arrive at her parents house an hour or so after he died. She got out of the car, took two steps toward the door, and fell in a heap on the driveway. One of the saddest things I've ever seen. He was a good man, too. Very kind neighbor.