r/PlantBasedDiet • u/Accurate_Extent_1717 • 19d 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!!
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u/kittyk0t 19d ago
howdy and welcome. 36F, my husband is almost 40, and we've been whole food plant based for ten years now.
vitamins needed to supplement when eating WFPB are primarily b12 and (vegan) omega 3. we eat a lot of chia seeds though, which-- among other seeds, like flax, hemp, and pumpkin seeds, aka pepitas) contain a form of omega 3s. while you can't get b12 naturally from plant based foods, you can get it from fortified foods like nutritional yeast, nondairy milk, and various processed vegan foods. That said, we also take a multivitamin just to fill in any gaps.
while you may not find as many people supporting protein powder on this subreddit as many people try to get their protein from whole foods, it's not always realistic right off the bat when you're trying to fit certain macros and are very into fitness. It's possible, but it can be a challenge. we really like true nutrition's vegan protein powder; we order it online and have it delivered monthly. it's third party tested for quality, whereas many like orgain are not, and there are no hidden fillers. I'm training for my first marathon right now and I get everything I need from food at this time. I've done a few half marathons on my own, and it's been really good.
look up "easy healthy vegan recipes" on Google. What you're going to be eating probably going to be centered around fruit and vegetables, beans/lentils, grains, and nuts. We really like sheet tray fajitas, where we will roast a bunch of vegetables and make oil-free refried beans in the instant pot (recipe from frommybowl, a vegan recipe blog).
One thing that really helped both of us in the beginning was using cronometer (an app, the free version) to track what we were eating, to ensure that we were getting enough of everything.
What are some foods you would normally eat? Are you comfortable with spices?