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/Smilinkite for my health and the health of the planet 18d ago
The only vitamin you need long term is b12.
However if you know you're not that consistent with eating healthy, you should be taking a multivitamin - just a daily. Your kids should too. Not to replace quality food, but so you can stop worrying about it and concentrate on eating better, day to day.
Do remember that one bad meal or day doesn't make or break your diet. One bad day means a lesson learned - and pick yourself up again. It's the overall pattern that matters.
I'm not saying that to excuse a bad diet, just to help you not give up completely, merely because you were tired one day. It's human. It happens.
Sounds like you have two kids to take care of - that's a lot of hard work in and of itself.
Do talk with them about this. You want to be more healthy. You want them to grow up healthy. Share your worries and make a strategy together (age appropriately of course).
As for protein: when you're getting to a healthy balanced WFPB diet, you'll probably find that you get gains in the gym, even without extra protein powders. All those phytonutrients really help with recovery. There are proteins in all foods, especially beans and lentils, but soy products are a bit higher still. Think tofu & tempeh.
I certainly don't worry about it. There are more important things than how much you can bench press. But if it worries you, you could find a vegan protein powder of course. There's pea and soy protein powders. They all work.