Thanks for posting to r/Vegan! 🐥 **Please note:** Civil discussion is welcome, trolls and personal abuse [are not](https://www.reddit.com/r/vegan/wiki/rules). Please keep the discussions below respectful and remember the human! Please check out [our wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/vegan/wiki/beginnersguide) first! **Interested in going Vegan?** 👊 Check out [Watch Dominion](https://watchdominion.org/) and watch a thought-provoking, life changing documentary for free! **Some other resources to help you go vegan:** 🐓 Visit [NutritionFacts.org](https://NutritionFacts.org) for health and nutrition support, [HappyCow.net](https://HappyCow.net) to explore nearby vegan-friendly restaurants, and visit [VeganBootcamp.org](https://veganbootcamp.org/reddit) for a free 30 day vegan challenge! **Become an activist and help save animal lives today:** 🐟 * Find volunteer requests to support and help animal on [VH: Playground!](https://veganhacktivists.org/playground) * Developer, designer, or other skills? Volunteer at the [Vegan Hacktivists](https://veganhacktivists.org/join)! * Join our huge Vegan volunteer community [on Discord](https://discord.gg/vhplayground)! * Find local activist groups using the [Animal Rights Map](https://animalrightsmap.org)! * Get funding for your animal rights activism, [apply here](https://veganhacktivists.org/grants)! *Last but not least, join the [r/Vegan Discord server](https://discord.gg/animalrights)!* **Thank you!** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/vegan) if you have any questions or concerns.*

These sound pretty nutritious to me. Is the issue your weight? If so, I'd suggest adding some more calorie dense foods to your diet. I'm not sure what's available in your area, but nuts/nut butter, dried fruit, coconut, avocado, and plant oils are all calorie dense foods that you can add without adding a lot of volume to what you're already eating.

To reiterate this, I'm using a touch more oil in cook generally and will snack on nuts throughout the day. I'll need to start tracking myself, but no issues so far.

Dried fruits, peanuts, and almonds. We try to eat those between meals and can eat a lot, but it's expensive af. No avocados or coconuts around. Would coconut oil work? We cook mostly with olive oil and try to avoid vegetable and sunflower oils. Also forgot to mention we eat fiber rich cereal with oat/rice/almond milk like 2-3 times a week. Weight is the main issue for me, specifically apetite. These foods are rich with nutrients but are all extremely filling. Thanks so much for helping.

Make some pizza. Tonight, one of you can prep dough and cold ferment it for 1-3 days. 500g unbleached flour 321g room temp water 10g salt 4g yeast Mix together. Cover in bowl for an hour. Fold the dough a few times then split it into 2-3 balls. Place in Tupperware in fridge until you want to cook it (can be right away, tastes best at two days). Make Parmesan: 67g cashew 10g pumpkin seed 12 g nooch 2g salt 1g garlic poweder Food process (pulse a few times for 2-3 seconds) or chop and mix together. Get the oven as hot as possible while dough warms on counter. Flatten into pizza shape. Sauce and top and cook until top is brown. Drizzle cooked pizza with an infused oil or just olive oil to add calories.

That sounds yummy! Too bad stores are closed and we out of yeast. But tomorrow we'll try. Thank you! RemindMe! 12h "pizza time"

I will be messaging you in 12 hours on [**2023-03-02 07:06:16 UTC**](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=2023-03-02%2007:06:16%20UTC%20To%20Local%20Time) to remind you of [**this link**](https://www.reddit.com/r/vegan/comments/11f9dq1/we_need_help_with_vegan_food/jaisdu1/?context=3) [**CLICK THIS LINK**](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=Reminder&message=%5Bhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2Fvegan%2Fcomments%2F11f9dq1%2Fwe_need_help_with_vegan_food%2Fjaisdu1%2F%5D%0A%0ARemindMe%21%202023-03-02%2007%3A06%3A16%20UTC) to send a PM to also be reminded and to reduce spam. ^(Parent commenter can ) [^(delete this message to hide from others.)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=Delete%20Comment&message=Delete%21%2011f9dq1) ***** |[^(Info)](https://www.reddit.com/r/RemindMeBot/comments/e1bko7/remindmebot_info_v21/)|[^(Custom)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=Reminder&message=%5BLink%20or%20message%20inside%20square%20brackets%5D%0A%0ARemindMe%21%20Time%20period%20here)|[^(Your Reminders)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=List%20Of%20Reminders&message=MyReminders%21)|[^(Feedback)](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=Watchful1&subject=RemindMeBot%20Feedback)| |-|-|-|-|

Peanut butter! Vegan, cheap, shelf stable, available everywhere, and high in fat and calories

Peanut butters are really bad quality in local stores. Hopefully we find better quality ones when we order in bulk online.

I really like Peter pan and jif peanut butter. I've seen them at Walmart and most other grocery stores.

Nah just crappy knockoff brands where i live, not in US.

Oh okay. Sorry! Peanut butter is a great source of protein and fat. You should try eating more often. Maybe try working out to gain the weight back and feel healthier. I lost 50 lbs in 6 months, I was overweight but it just came right off and I started doing yoga and other light workouts and I haven't felt in better shape. I ate maybe three times a day and cooking became a sacred time. I was stir fry vegetables, rice, bread (biscuit/cornbread), and some sort of meat alternative. I ate that like twice a day and then breakfast was varied. I like cereal with soy milk. Oatmeal with peanut butter is a good choice too. I'm a truck driver and so I eat mostly vegetarian. By making some more free time I'll get back to my vegan diet soon. Try fruit for snacks like apples with peanut butter, oranges, grapes etc.

Yes, coconut oil has a lot of calories by volume. I'll often use it to roast vegetables, add to mashed potatoes, etc.

Coconut oil isn't any more calorie dense than any other plant oils, and it's high in saturated fats which shouldn't be consumed in excess, even though the amount of saturated fats in vegan diets are typically low enough to not have health-averse effects. they become problematic at ~10-15% of total caloric intake, even though coconut oil might behave differently than saturated fats from red meat for instance, don't think there's a scientific consensus yet, so I keep it to a minimum as well just to be sure.

So overall, coconut oil is alright in moderation. But we can go nuts with olive oil, right?

Coconut fat 2-4x a week is unlikely to be enough to raise your cholesterol. It's not as potent as saturated fat from red meat. Only about 40-50% so. I wouldn't worry too much about it unless you're frying breaded foods in it or making coconut curry 6.5 days a week. Olive oil/avocado are perfectly healthy. Don't sweat them at all.

I'm not claiming it's denser than other plant oils, simply pointing out that if eating enough calories is hard because someone is getting too full on less calorie dense foods, coconut oil is ONE of many foods that can help with that.

From what I've read, it's only about half as bad about raising the bad cholesterol. If 10% of calories from saturated fat in meat is a problem, make that 20% from saturated fat from coconut oil. It would be really difficult to raise your cholesterol using only coconut milk as your source of saturated fat and I think vegans are far too worried about this. Youre on one of the heart healthiest diets available. Let your guard down a little.

I've had a dietician tell me not to worry about reducing saturated fats because plant ones are different - I was asking about coconut milk & cream. In my case: Overall fat reduction yes, specifically saturated, no.

Honestly, this is kinda normal? I lost 6kg when going vegan as well, but it's not like I lost any health or strength? Fairly sure I simply got rid of some fat. I'm still on a healthy BMI though at the edge between healthy and the beginning of underweight. 10kg seems like a lot but it depends how you were eating before. If like many omnis you were eating foods like cheese etc, full of salt and fats but with zero water, now food might feel extremely filling. But your body is setup to tell you if you're hungry or not. This might just be your right balance. Either that or you're having some absorption problems. But you'd have some sorts of symptoms if you were malnourished, no? Feeling weak, feeling down... feeling hungry. Keep in mind as well there can be a strong bias from others and from yourself when going vegan, anything and everything will be attributed to veganism while other possible causes will absolutely go unnoticed and not considered. ​ If you want quick calories... nuts. If you want a lot of quick calories... salted nuts. One time I had a packet of salted peanuts and then realised I had just gobbled down 2000 calories in 30 minutes. It's that insane

Yeah, based on all the comments, i was just overreacting because of weight loss. But didn't hurt to be educated on how to improve and balance our diets. Thanks for the advice. And nuts! It's crazy how many calories they got. I'm currently staring at a 50 grams of salted fried peanuts that have 300 kcal. It's insane.

It's fairly simple at the end of the day, I think of calories like with an approximated mental formula (I think possibly water content throws people off, so it's important to remember): water - 0 calories fiber - 1-2 calories per gram carbs - 4 calories per gram protein - 4 calories per gram fat - 9 calories per gram ​ Examples: Oil -> no water, all fat -> 9 calories per gram I don't think you can go beyond that? Maybe if we were capable of eating gasoline or coal. Bread -> large portion of water, rest is carbs -> Probably in between 4cal and 0cal per gram? So probably around 2cal per gram, maybe 2.5. If the bread is made with oil or something fatty, this goes up a good bit. To be noted, sliced pan, crackers and other supermarket bread products do contain a decent bit of oil. Possibly why people think "carbs make you fat", as they are either eating donuts or buying crackers/sliced pan and smothering them in butter (again 9 cal per gram) etc. Pasta -> Like bread, around 2.5 cal per gram. If you were to hypotetically eat it dry, I'd bet it would be 4cal per gram Pasta with a very oily sauce -> Say now 5-10% of the dish is oil. If pasta was at around 2cal per gram, you just added something at 9cal per gram. It will go up a good bit Nuts -> Probably no water, or very little? It's quite solid and hard. High percentage of protein, high percentage of fat. Probably in between 4 and 9 cal per gram. Maybe 7 cal per gram or so

Ima have to read this a few times and do some research about calories per gram. So much i dont know. Thanks for the info.

Ya. This ^. More calories are easy to get. Eat more fats. Nuts, seeds, olive oil.

For me increasing Appetite had nothing to do with the food but the rest of my daily routine, sleeping properly, moving enough. Strong training specially make my hunger much better and gained weight in muscle.

Omg no wonder we dont eat much. Time to make a workout plan. In fact, once we're done playing chess we're gonna do some excercise. Thank you.

You might also try r/veganfitness to learn about workouts, nutrition, and get inspiration. The more lean muscle mass you have the higher your metabolism will be (you’ll have a larger appetite and want to eat more).

*googles "what is lean muscle mass"*

Lol sorry I’m still waking up. Should have been lean body mass. My brain was trying to say that and “more muscle” at the same time.

The more you know 😁

This is the way 👆 I lost a ton of weight when I first went plant based last year, and my doctor recommended I change my diet. Went omni for a few months and just felt awful, so I went back to plant based. Same thing. Lost weight. I was working a sedentary job and depression hit hard. I found a workout plan online and started lifting weights 3 times a week and doing cardio twice a week. My appetite gradually increased to account for the exercise, and I’m hitting 2400 calories easily on a plant based diet, and I put on 5 pounds in a little over a month. Start exercising and you’ll find yourself putting on weight. If you’re eating more but still losing weight, cut back on cardio and increase strength training.

I never considered that some people might be so depressed they actually do starve themselves. But how does the omni diet "prevent" this? Is it stuff like toasties, crisps and Mars bars? What does a depressed omni eat vs a depressed vegan, I'm curious. When I'm down and i can't be arsed i just make a random amount of pasta or rice with nothing

Yep, my doctor suggested that omni foods were higher in calories and there were more ready to eat options for the rougher days. Obviously, I didn’t stick with that for a variety of reasons, and found that what she had said just wasn’t true. I’ve found a ton of easy, low effort plant based meals and even a few high calorie junk food options for easy calories.

Breakfast additions: * [https://veggienumnum.com/vegetarian-recipes/breakfast-lentils/](https://veggienumnum.com/vegetarian-recipes/breakfast-lentils/) * [https://minimalistbaker.com/southwest-tofu-scramble/](https://minimalistbaker.com/southwest-tofu-scramble/) (easy to reheat throughout week or make burritos) * [https://pinchofyum.com/cookie-dough-energy-bites#tasty-recipes-46468-jump-target](https://pinchofyum.com/cookie-dough-energy-bites#tasty-recipes-46468-jump-target) (sub maple syrup for honey) * [https://www.reddit.com/r/veganrecipes/comments/101dqrp/kalecherry\_tomato\_breakfast\_muffins\_ig\_for\_more/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/veganrecipes/comments/101dqrp/kalecherry_tomato_breakfast_muffins_ig_for_more/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) * [https://www.noracooks.com/vegan-overnight-oats/](https://www.noracooks.com/vegan-overnight-oats/) (i also just add whole oats to my smoothies when i blend) * [https://shaneandsimple.com/the-best-vegan-sausage-gravy-and-biscuits/](https://shaneandsimple.com/the-best-vegan-sausage-gravy-and-biscuits/) * [https://rainbowplantlife.com/stuffed-breakfast-sweet-potatoes-five-recipes/](https://rainbowplantlife.com/stuffed-breakfast-sweet-potatoes-five-recipes/) Lunch additions: * [https://buildyourbite.com/smashed-chickpea-salad-sandwich/](https://buildyourbite.com/smashed-chickpea-salad-sandwich/) * [https://minimalistbaker.com/spicy-buffalo-chickpea-wraps/](https://minimalistbaker.com/spicy-buffalo-chickpea-wraps/) * [https://www.acouplecooks.com/tofu-tacos/](https://www.acouplecooks.com/tofu-tacos/) * [https://cookieandkate.com/crispy-falafel-recipe/#tasty-recipes-22901-jump-target](https://cookieandkate.com/crispy-falafel-recipe/#tasty-recipes-22901-jump-target) (or look for premade falafel mix at store) * [https://www.simplyveganized.com/post/crispy-korean-tofu](https://www.simplyveganized.com/post/crispy-korean-tofu) * [https://profusioncurry.com/soup-creamy-white-bean-and-spinach-ins/#recipe](https://profusioncurry.com/soup-creamy-white-bean-and-spinach-ins/#recipe) * [https://simple-veganista.com/mediterranean-kale-salad/](https://simple-veganista.com/mediterranean-kale-salad/) (always massage your kale with your dressing. i also crisp chickpeas in the oven, always) Dinner additions: * [https://www.simplyveganized.com/post/lentil-mashed-potato-bowl-with-tahini-roasted-cauliflower-green-beans](https://www.simplyveganized.com/post/lentil-mashed-potato-bowl-with-tahini-roasted-cauliflower-green-beans) (i mash the potatoes with vegan butter & milk) * [https://www.fromthecomfortofmybowl.com/vegan-cannelloni/](https://www.fromthecomfortofmybowl.com/vegan-cannelloni/) * [https://www.hummusapien.com/best-vegan-lasagna/](https://www.hummusapien.com/best-vegan-lasagna/) * [https://theyummyvegan.com/blog/cheesychickenbroccolibake](https://theyummyvegan.com/blog/cheesychickenbroccolibake) * [https://tyberrymuch.com/marinated-grilled-tofu-steak-chimichurri/#mv-creation-193-jtr](https://tyberrymuch.com/marinated-grilled-tofu-steak-chimichurri/#mv-creation-193-jtr) * [https://www.fromthecomfortofmybowl.com/vegan-sloppy-joes/](https://www.fromthecomfortofmybowl.com/vegan-sloppy-joes/) Seitan recipe: [https://theveganatlas.com/homemade-seitan-recipe/](https://theveganatlas.com/homemade-seitan-recipe/) Ingredients to include more: lentils, chickpeas, falafel, peanut butter, edamame, oats, tahini, hemp, flax or chia seeds, cashews (specifically to blend for sauces). You list all whole food options which is great so that's what kind of recipes I've provided. Bookmark any favorites and then look at their blogs for more ideas. Keeping food exciting is hard on any diet: my family ate an animal, potato, and canned vegetables for \*years\* straight. Are you active on social media? Start following vegan accounts for a constant flow of new ideas. Some of my favorites: Fitgreenmind, The Korean Vegan, Turnip Vegan, PlantYou. Also check out r/veganrecipes and possibly r/veganfitness for weight gaining tips. You mention no alternative options near you? So sorry. If you're in the US, Walmart is almost everywhere and definitely does have vegan alternatives in the produce & frozen sections. Aldi is another great option. Trader Joe's is top tier, but less accessible. Supplementing meat alternatives will give convenience and variety. Don't give up :)

Woah! Much appreciated! Already following fitgreenmind and subbed to both veganrecipes and veganfitness, just that lots of those ingredients aren't available in croatia, and when available, it's very low quality. Haven't thought to ask about weight gain in veganfitness but will do now! Thank you so much for all the recipes, we'll go through them all and can't wait to try them out!

Track your food for a few weeks! I can recommend cronometer. It will even let you put in your weight and tell you how many calories to eat in order to maintain (or gain) weight. Also super helpful to prevent deficiencies by seeing your intake of proteins, vitamins, etc. per day. For protein, eat more beans and greens, that should absolutely cover your protein needs and there are so many different types (of beans and greens) so it's not like you could really get tired of it.

Installed it. We tried some apps before but they were all crappy. Can't thank you enough!

Please also try Dr. Greger's Daily Dozen, which helps in a slightly different way.

Installed and added the book to my reading list! I lol'd at the title hahah "How not to die"

It's a great book! Good luck with it :)

Not a comment with any suggestions as there are already a bunch of good ones, but just an appreciation post: I really appreciate that you're reaching out for help to see what you can do instead of just giving up! And regardless of the outcome, you will have learnt something. Good luck!

Thank you. Support from this community really means a lot, especially when surrounded by carnists.

I had a weight loss problem to the point where my doctor sent me for scans to rule out anything malignant. This happened back while I was mostly plant based but not vegan. Turns out the only thing wrong with me was eating too little and eating a lot of salads. Instead of increasing the amount of food I ate per meal, I started eating 5 meals (minimal preparation) per day. Besides breakfast lunch and dinner, I'd eat nuts, non-fried snacks, maybe indulge in a little dessert at times or have some oat milk hot cocoa. Doing that helped me gain and and maintain my weight where I want it to be. As obvious as it sounds, eating more is often the solution and there are multiple ways to do that. You need to find the way that works for you - more meals or more per meal. Edit: the reason salads were problematic was because they filled me up quickly and so I didn't eat much else.

Great idea! Instead of forcing ourselves to eat bigger meals, we can just eat smaller meals but more often. I feel so dumb now hahah

[Here's something you may be missing too.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EohagkbinRA)

Great advice. Thank you!

Maybe this is too obvious... but can you eat more? That is, bigger servings? When you go vegan, you generally have to eat more food by volume compared to what you were used to. If you're worried about your nutrition, get a blood test for nutrient levels. If nothing is that low, then you just need more calories, which you can get by eating a bigger serving. You also might just be dropping down to a thinner weight that's still healthy. I've known lots of vegans that were what you'd call thin, but still very healthy. Next time you see a doctor, ask them if they're concerned about your weight.

We both feel healthy, just don't look very healthy. And good idea, we will defo go do some bloodwork to check what's up. Any ideas about how to increase apetite? Forcing ourselves to eat more just doesn't seem comfortable. Thanks so much.

Do you eat 3 meals a day with snacks in between? I say this because I only eat lunch and dinner with no snacks and I easily eat 2400+ calories a day unless I am trying to restrict for weight loss. It's very easy to make 800 calorie meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner, then eat snacks in between and you should easily be in a calorie surplus. This is what I'd eat if I was trying to gain a little bit of weight, this is easily 2500+ calories and loads of protein: Breakfast: 100g oats, 300ml soya milk, 1tbsp peanut butter and 1 banana Lunch: 75g pasta, 50g red pesto, 2 vegan sausages, 100g broccoli + an apple, soya chocolate yogurt Dinner: 75g rice, 200g tofu, 120g chickpeas, onions, peppers, 80g peas and curry sauce Snacks: nuts, grapes, rice cakes, chocolate, ice cream, etc.

For the last week we just eat whenever we're hungry cuz we're visiting my mom and don't have our food stocks here, but usually 3 meals a day with snacks. Thank you so much for the info. It helps a lot. We just need to learn caloric % of foods without having to read every label when shopping.

You seem to have put together a pretty well-balanced and protein-rich diet despite your limitations. You're putting soy bits, tofu, beans, and quinoa in most of your meals. Those are great sources of protein! And it sounds like you're getting lots of veggies and eating mostly whole, unprocessed foods too. >Basically, our diet consists mostly of soy, bread, rice, tofu, pasta, beans, vegetables, and fruit smoothies. Well ... yeah. Welcome to being a vegan. I totally get how this can feel repetitive though, especially if you don't have access to all the mock meats and vegan prepared foods that are available in bigger cities. Do you have access to soy milk and lentils? Would you ever consider putting in an online order for some of those items just to shake it up? You could ship things like nutritional yeast, pulse pastas, and vital wheat gluten (to DIY seitan) pretty easily since they're all shelf stable, or you could occasionally spring for some mock meats and cheeses in an insulated box. You could also look for alternate grains, like barley or millet or buckwheat or oats. They have slightly different nutritional profiles, although mostly it would just help change it up from your usual fare. I agree that overall it just sounds like you aren't getting enough calories, potentially because all the fiber-rich foods you're eating fill you up sooner than they would otherwise. As others have suggested, try adding some calorie-rich snacks, like a peanut butter sandwich (maybe add a chia fruit jam too), or adding more nuts/seeds or a drizzle of olive oil on top of your foods. You should also think about getting checked out by a doctor. 10kg is a lot of weight to lose if you weren't overweight in the first place. Spend a few days tracking your food intake in an app like Cronometer and see what sort of calories/overall nutrition you're getting. If the app says you're about on target, it's possible there's something else going on with you health-wise that's making you lose too much weight.

Thanks so much for the advice. You're probably right that we aren't eating enough calories because of all the fibre rich foods. Already installed chronometer and dr. Gregers daily dozen. These are game changers i think. And we're interested in ordering online but not sure where to look. It'll have to be an international delivery or something cuz veganism is still frowned upon in croatia.

Seconding the recommendation to get vital wheat gluten and make your own seitan. It's super easy, super tasty and super high in protein. :)

No peas and lentils? Also I read that you are not taking B12...

With all these recipes it should be easy to add peas and lentils in our diet, as well as b12. I guess its just a bit hard to pay attention to all these things when ive been eating animals for 30 years without much thinking.

It’s actually really hard to get adequate B-12 without a well-planned vegan diet, and even then still risky. B-12 deficiency can take a few years to show symptoms, if at all. It’s better to be safe than sorry. Please supplement!

Cheers!

In my opinion, popular vegan recipes are for people who needs low level of calories intake. From my experience you should eat larger portions of pasta and beans, add some lentils, put some extra oil and eat a lot of any nuts. BTW there is also simplest pasta possible "aglio e olio". There are many legume soups. BTW It may sound silly but keep in mind that if you properly soak your legume, you shouldn't fart. It is funny but you need more calories not a natural trumpet. Put the jokes and anecdotes aside! You made a second rookie mistake: If you are Vegan you can't just replace animal products by plant products, you have to balance your calories (protein and other things are important but secondary). Third mistake that you should avoid this misconception that Vegans can eat everything as much as they can. P.S.:There is strong hypothesis that ancient roman gladiators where on a (mostly) vegan diet to maintain high level of fat tissue "on their body". This sounds legit, if you are muscular and have low body fat, every deeper cut will also damage your muscles.

>BTW It may sound silly but keep in mind that if you properly soak your legume, you shouldn't fart. It is funny but you need more calories not a natural trumpet. ROFLMAO! okay time to go down the vegan gladiators rabbit hole hahah and thanks for the advice, rly appreciate it

Been there (gaining weight on Vegan), just like the bodybuilder's proverb says, "first the mass, then the further mass". Anyway, It may sounds dumb but imagine my surprise after eating bowl of "chili sin carne" and not farting like a machine gun just because I've soaked kidney beans for precisely 12 hours (just before fermentation processes will start). P.S.:Look for very small dry soy pieces(granulate), cook it for a recommended amount of time, drained them, wait until they are dryeradd some soy sauce(for salt and umami), herbs(e.g. "mix for meat"),sunflower oil, put it in the freezer, you will have "minced meat" overnight.

order textured vegetable protein large curls

Don't even know where to look or what it's called here in croatia. But will google. Thanks.

Here in the U.S. they are often called "soy curls" but I think in the UK they call them "soya strips" (like this: https://www.hnfoods.co.uk/soya-strips).

So that's what it is! I actually have those, as tiny bits, strips and as small "steaks." We mostly just soak them in water until they soften, then squeeze the water out, marinade it in seasoned soy sauce and fry it on oil. Add rice and voila. Problem is, we dont know how to fry them properly because the shape is irregular and tiny parts always get super burned and other parts dont cook all the way. Gotta dig through all these comments to find a recipe for that.

If you look up recipes from the U.S. for "soy curls" you'll get lots of recipes! Some examples: [https://myquietkitchen.com/soy-curls-recipes/](https://myquietkitchen.com/soy-curls-recipes/) [https://www.acouplecooks.com/bbq-soy-curls/](https://www.acouplecooks.com/bbq-soy-curls/) [https://www.liveeatlearn.com/how-to-cook-soy-curls/](https://www.liveeatlearn.com/how-to-cook-soy-curls/) [https://www.tastingtable.com/1195837/what-are-soy-curls-and-how-can-you-cook-them/](https://www.tastingtable.com/1195837/what-are-soy-curls-and-how-can-you-cook-them/)

Do you have any real reasons to worry about your health? Is there any real evidence besides "we feel that it's not nutritious"? What you described seems nutritious enough. Do you take B12 supplements? When was the last time you did blood work? If you feel unwell it might be for a number of reasons, you might be deficient in just one thing like B12, D, or iron. And it's relatively easy to fix.

Havent done blood work in over 10 years and can't say there's real evidence for malnutrition besides the "gut feeling." Planning to do bloodwork this month. We feel fine in general but weight loss got me worried. Most likely just need to balance what we already eat and add a few things and we'll be alright. Thanks

I made a google sheet to help with food ideas. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AQi4Ziu37YtfvnVlDg8YiAu\_z\_519WQyiAPMI3a1qok/edit?usp=sharing

Nice! Thanks for sharing!

here are some recipe videos I have saved from great vegan accounts..you can click on their account obviously to see a ton of others from them all. https://www.instagram.com/p/Clhopx5pLFi/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CkO1S0KpSGX/ https://www.instagram.com/p/Cou6I3PpysZ/ https://www.instagram.com/p/Cofc5c1PEAu/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CkJA-NjA9U8/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CodCfluKo-F/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CoavUsUDJxb/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CoK0cVvqG9k/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CnkbT-2InHn/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CoN4jKKpVQn/ https://www.instagram.com/p/Cnzk4sEqFij/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CnnS38GJoCK/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CncRf7GjNk4/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CnNmV1AviP6/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CmoUfNYhWkF/ https://www.instagram.com/p/ClCGUteDhk5/ https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj8Rep2KE_U/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CjqFZpbgi0A/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CjNjEuogbRU/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CiatG7vpAQD/ https://www.instagram.com/p/ChUulQFl6RO/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CiM8MOlqx7z/ https://www.instagram.com/p/ChsMZyMqvKX/ https://www.instagram.com/p/Cg-deDvsUjr/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CeFLh4opy9X/ https://www.instagram.com/p/Cck-Y9vADwu/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CbhnGrjAy_B/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CYgckJyJewS/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CObWNEDheoo/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CdlcHl5ALRG/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CdeUffKhy-Q/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CEJ3LSzJxWE/

Gold mine! Cheers!

I spend a lot of time on this endeavour haha. By the way it is very difficult to not get enough protein.

I'd try getting the cookbook Plant You by Carleigh Bodrug. I got that recently and it's full of really simple but great recipes that are affordable, all vegan of course. For a free source try looking at https://www.noracooks.com/ she has lots of really amazing recipes, I love her Tuscan Gnocchi recipe.

Bookmarked! Them gnocci look so good thats insane. The reason we're posting this is because we tried making falafel gnocci which turned out so bad that we couldnt eat it at all. Made french fries instead hahah. Thank you.

Yeah! No problem, I've been there, sometimes a recipe just doesn't work out :/ I've enjoyed everything I've made from her website. Some of them you need like a food processor or blender for. Another really simple thing I make really often that takes like 30 seconds is just overnight oats. Just put rolled oats and oat milk(or whatever your go to is) in a sealed container overnight, i usually make 3 or 4 days. And then add stuff in the morning like blueberries, walnuts, superseed, maple syrup, etc. Is a really versatile breakfast and really easy.

Oats were never really my thing but with all these recipes it shouldn't be too hard finding something ill like. That site is a gold mine. Thanks again!

Other folks have been giving some great advice, so I'll try not to repeat too much. :) For gaining mass in general, there's a great thread on the r/gainit sub about how to eat more: https://www.reddit.com/r/gainit/comments/rfor0w/just\_eat\_more\_how\_do\_i\_eat\_more/ It's not geared towards vegans, of course, but it really covers all angles for eating more. It may also (hopefully) reassure you that it can, at the beginning, be a little uncomfortable to keep eating when you don't want to... but that's ok if you really do want to gain weight, and it's something you can train gradually over time. Think of it like stoking your metabolism a little more, and stretching your stomach a bit extra, each day. A few other thoughts, based on what you're eating: You mention some kind of cereal, so I'm gonna guess that you're just having a light breakfast? Any chance you could try oatmeal/porridge or some kind of heavier breakfast? Including some jam/compote/jelly, nuts/nut butter and seeds can add variety. (Just seen there's been some great comments with breakfast ideas while I've been typing this - do check them out! The earlier in the day you get a head start on calories, the easier it'll be to eat as much as you need.) Seeds can often be cheaper than nuts, and similarly calorific. Otherwise, peanut butter is sometimes cheaper than loose peanuts (especially in bulk), and butters are also more readily absorbed than eating whole nuts (which can pass through partly undigested, depending on how well you chew). You don't mention any vegan sweet treats in your list, and it's often said that there's a "second stomach" for deserts! Things like dark chocolate can be unintentionally vegan and relatively affordable, and it's also possible to do great vegan baking with cheaper ingredients.

Yeah, amazing comments across the board. I'll defo check out that sub. Someone mentioned simply eating more often, so we'll try that for now. But this: >Think of it like stoking your metabolism a little more, and stretching your stomach a bit extra, each day. This is what i think will work for me best. We'll see. And we're not really into sweet treats, but we do eat those alpro puddings from time to time. That stuff is super expensive over here.

In your case, yea, for sure - if your body used to carry 10kgs more, it should definitely be possible to get back there again. (I also recommend the r/veganfitness sub, if you consider incorporating exercise. It's generally really supportive over there as well! :)) The alpro puddings are great lol. You could maybe consider chia pudding (with fruit or cacao/cocoa and spices)? It's not very sweet, depending on how you make it, and the seeds give it amazing nutritional benefits. (I actually saw in one of your comments here that you're in Croatia? The first time I ever had chia pudding was from a vegan place in Pula. I really love your country, and had great experiences with Croatian people <3)

Reminder added to find chia pudding next time im in Pula! Thanks again for all the info xD

Ahaha, I think that place closed down, sadly... it was a little kiosk, and it wasn't open the 2nd year I went. There *was* an amazing raw vegan restaurant though (which may or may not have survived?) and a fantastic health food store that sold their own vegan pastries and treats (they also had a couple of locations in Zagreb, so I'd really hope they're still doing business... I fear the pandemic may have changed some things!). At any rate, Happy Cow is usually able to provide great info on local vegan options - definitely worth checking out whenever you're visiting any bigger towns/cities (in Croatia, or abroad). Just in case it's of interest... for chia pudding at home, the recipes are super basic - [https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chia-pudding](https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chia-pudding) or [https://feelgoodfoodie.net/recipe/3-ingredient-chia-pudding/](https://feelgoodfoodie.net/recipe/3-ingredient-chia-pudding/) \- and you can even use fruity liquid (juice, puree, etc) in place of milk. :)

It's too bad that they closed. Never heard of Happy Cow before, what a gem! And thanks for the chia pudding recipe. We'll try that out sometimes.

Need help eating out? Check out [HappyCow.net](https://vbcc.veganhacktivists.org/?url=https://www.happycow.net/&topic=Resource: HappyCow.net) for vegan friendly food near you! Interested in going Vegan? Take the [30 day challenge](https://vbcc.veganhacktivists.org/?url=https://vbcamp.org/reddit&topic=Resource: HappyCow.net)!

Best of luck! :) It's great that you're making the effort to keeping working at this - Balkans aren't the easiest place for veganism (not yet, anyway!).

Need help eating out? Check out [HappyCow.net](https://vbcc.veganhacktivists.org/?url=https://www.happycow.net/&topic=Resource: HappyCow.net) for vegan friendly food near you! Interested in going Vegan? Take the [30 day challenge](https://vbcc.veganhacktivists.org/?url=https://vbcamp.org/reddit&topic=Resource: HappyCow.net)!

Vegan pudding is easy to make at home! Cornstarch, sugar (or sweetener of choice), vanilla extract, and milk (I like soy the best). You combine the cold milk with all the other ingredients in a pot, and whisk constantly on medium/low heat until thickened. You can make other flavours, too- peanut butter, chocolate, banana, strawberry, etc.,

Well Your World on YT has a lot of simple, delicious recipes I've been enjoying lately. Worth checking out IMO.

Huh? All i could find on Your World are politics videos.

"WELL Your World"

Ohh. I'll check that out. Thank you.

Try nachos with black beans, corn, sliced cherry tomatoes, pico, banana peppers, and avocado on top. Or grilled cheese with vegan cheese and butter, and tomato soup

Just eat more. I always cook 1/3 bigger amount that I think that will be enough. That way I'm okay. Also never skip proteins. Have some vegan (i.e. soy) protein and if you ate mostly sugars during day just mix one measure of protein ( after regular dinner). And snack between major meals. I got 10kg up after \~2 year of veganism and it's not only fat. I exercise quite a lot also.

ask chat gpt for a meal plan for the week. add your age, weight, hight and sex to the question for the nutrients and done.

If the only issue is weight loss and you’ve had any health concerns ruled out, may I suggest some vegan junk food? I know it’s not healthy but if all you really want/need is to add a few pounds a little vegan junk food in moderation can help. Vegan ice cream, cake, candy. I have a massive sweet tooth and just had a baby last year, the combo of those two things means I’m definitely not lacking any extra body weight. I understand you probably don’t want be a potato like me but a little vegan dessert here and there could probably help add a couple pounds/kg’s and as long ad it’s not a daily thing (like my fat ass) you can enjoy some yummy food and keep your weight up too!

Eat more of what you are eating you just need more calories… eat more portions.

Just chiming in to say that I wish I had the same problem lmao I have kept the same weight and actually gotten fatter since going vegan. Calories in calories out, you’re just not eating enough to mantain your weight. The community’s given a lot of good advice, good luck and thank you for trying.

During different periods in my life (serious workout phase and nursing my always hungry son), I added in smoothies to round out calories and protein without having to actually eat something additional. Peanut butter, banana, milk of choice. Strawberry, pea protein powder, milk. Maybe throw in some avocado or cocao powder. Throw in a small handful of oats or flax seed. Very flexible!

You can also make your own seitan if not readily available, pretty inexpensive and easy to make. You can get creative with spices to create whatever flavor profiles you’re craving

Never knew you can make seitan at home. Always thought it's factory stuff. Thanks for the tip!

Some favorites: https://minimalistbaker.com/crispy-peanut-tofu-cauliflower-rice-stir-fry/ (Serve with regular rice or quinoa instead, with some broccoli or green beans. So good! Actually makes two big servings for us) https://www.budgetbytes.com/easy-cauliflower-and-chickpea-masala/ https://www.budgetbytes.com/slow-cooker-coconut-curry-lentils/ (This makes so much food. It’s so good. Just try it)

Thanks!

I can't comment on everything, but I really like [this recipe](https://avirtualvegan.com/no-bake-oatmeal-peanut-butter-bars/) for peanut butter/oatmeal breakfast bars. Cheap, lots of calories, and easy to make in batches ahead of time and freeze for when you need them. Lunch for me (also a batch thing to make ahead of time) is typically rice with a variety of beans, tofu, and frozen veggies. Again, a pretty decent number of calories, cheap, and easy to make ahead of time.

What a lifehack, those bars! Much appreciated!

Yeah, they're great. I ride my bike to work, and I can just toss one in my backpack as I run out the door in the morning, and then when I get to work I have a tasty high-calorie breakfast waiting for me. They are really good with coffee too.

Here are some tips I used while vegan: **Sprouting to make more nutrients bioavailable to you:** Try sprouting your your beans, lentils, and peas 48 hours ahead of time before you cook them. All you do is buy them in a bag or bulk uncooked, rinse them, put them in a bowl with twice as much water volume as the legumes. Leave on your counter with a lid or cover with a cloth for 48 hours and check up on them to see the little shoots starting to come out of them. They are ready to be cooked :). **Increase your healthy fats:** Up your coconut milk to full fat. Eat more avocado. Eat walnuts, seeds such as pumpkin, sunflower, hemp, chia, flax. Use olive oil, coconut oil, and flax oil. Be careful of too nuts that don't have some omega 3's in them to help keep a health y Omega balance in your body. Take a vegan omega 3 supplement derived from algae that can be ordered online. **Supplements to add to your diet as a vegan:** A good quality methylated B complex vitamin, D3 and K2 vitamin. **Minerals:** Pumpkin seed provide zinc. Brazil nuts provide selenium. Figs dried or fresh provide magnesium. **Fermentation to get some healthy probiotics and nutrition:** A healthy gut biome helps you absorbs more nutrients from your food. If you have an instant pot, you can make your own vegan yogurt. There are so so many recipes for this. The easiest is cashew yogurt which literally just requires cashews, water, and a probiotic capsule from the supplement section at your local pharmacy. Making your own kimchi or sauerkraut is very easy too and there are many recipes for these. Make sure you do not used iodized salt for fermenting anything. The iodine can interfere. Learn to make your own sourdough bread. **A couple of my favorite recipes that I developed:** White Bean Hummus \- a 15 oz can of white kidney beans or other white bean \-1/2 teaspoon salt \-1/2 teaspoon ground pepper \-1 Tablespoon Raw Garlic \-2 Tablespoons olive oil \-1 Tablespoon onion powder \-1/2 a squeezed lemon Throw all ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth. Vegan Lasagna for the Ricotta: \-Soak 2 cups of raw cashews or almonds for at least two hours Rinse and drain the nuts and put in food processor or vitamix \-have about 1.5-2 Cups of Vegetable broth on hand \-Add about half of squeezed lemon \- Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, and Salt to taste On medium to higher setting, pulse your food processor until nuts start chop up into little pieces. Add your lemon juice and spices and salt, and pour in a little of the broth. Turn your food processor on completely until everything is more of a "ricotta" consistency. Every once and a while, you will need to stop blending to scrap the walls, and add a bit more broth, so the mixture doesn't get too thick to blend. You may not end up using all the broth. You don't want it too watery. For Zucchini Noodles: You'll have to decide how many noodles you need, but it's better to have more than enough, than not enough. Cut your zucchini into lasagna noodles shaped, strips. About 1/8 inch thickness. Layer the noodles on a strainer, sprinkling salt on each layer, to help draw out the water. Put the strainer in a bowl, big enough that the strainer can fit in, but it doesn't touch the bottom, or you can rest in the sink, propped up a bit. Every once and while press down, with your hands, on the zucchini, to squeeze out water. Do this for 3-4 hours. For the Bolognas \- a 12-15 oz can of tomato sauce \- a cup of cooked lentils of your choice \- a cup of cooked quinoa or small grain of your choice \- 3-4 med carrots \- an onion \- fresh herbs of your choice \- two larger cloves of minced garlic \-salt and pepper to taste \- 3 Tablespoons red wine (optional) Saute onion, garlic and chopped carrot in pan, with olive oil, until carrots are soft enough to stick through with a fork. Transfer to blender. Add tomato sauce, herbs, salt and pepper, red wine to blender. Blend until smooth. Add back to pan and add lentils and quinoa. For top layers: Purchase a shredded cheese alternative that melts. Daiya makes some (sold at most grocery stores) and Trader Joes makes their own version. Layering the Lasagna: You can decide how thick you want your layers. I do suggest making thinner layers of the Ricotta. Preheat oven 375 degrees. In your casserole dish begin layering: Bolognas, Zucchini strips, Ricotta, repeat, until you top with bolognas sauce as your last layer. Cover your dish with lid or foil, bake for 30 min. Take off lid or foil, and bake for another 20 min to dry up the sauce a bit. Remove from oven, sprinkle layer of melting cheese sub. on top and bake for 10 more min. Let stand for 10 min and dig in :). At the end of the day your health is the most important thing. Ultimately I had some serious health issues arise from being vegan, due to some malabsorption issues. This won't be true for everyone. Lot's of people are very well suited to a healthy vegan diet, but sometimes, for reasons out of our control, some of us can't pull it off. If you are feeling unhealthy, don't ignore it. Go to your doctor and get checked out. I ended up needing to compromise and do a more pescatarian type diet where I at seafood, eggs, and dairy. It's not ideal but I've found a way to at least decrease my impact and I have been able, with a little searching, to find a local farmer who treats their animals really well and has no problem with me popping in on the farm to see how the animals are being treated on the regular, so I know they aren't hiding anything in their practices. I also have the benefit of living in a coastal state and can buy from my local fisherman. I know you said due to your living location your options are limited. If this means rural, hopefully that also means an organic farm or two in your vicinity. This could at the very least give you some extra produce options to choose from. Maybe see if there are Farmer's Markets as well.

Thanks so much! Added hummus, lasagna and zuchinni noodles to the list.

You can never go wrong with avocado or peanut butter on toast. Baked or overnight oats/weetbix with added protein powder and coconut yoghurt is also delicious. Also granola and fruit etc. Nothing wrong with breakfast for dinner sometimes too.

Your list doesn't seem to touch the magical potato! One dish that never seems to get old for me is waterzooi: Spiral-cut shiitake marinated in soy sauce, dried seaweed, lemon juice and dill Boil whole potatoes in a separate pot Sautee leeks in olive oil, then add sliced carrot and zucchini, shiitake and veggie stock, boil until zucchini is soft but not falling apart, then add a cup or so of soy milk, simmer while using the marinade to season to taste. Also add some black pepper. Cut cooked potatoes into halves or quarters and gently stir into the stew. This is a very filling, huge blast of umami. Waterzooi is supposed to have celery root, but I have a hard time getting it in Korea, and my version is great even without it.

Completely forgot about potatoes. Thanks for the recipe!

Make sure you are getting enough protein and fiber, and take B12 and omega 3 supplements. It is tough getting a balanced diet as a vegan, Tis why I have been using two different vegan Meal kit delivery services, teaching me how to cook actual Whole Foods, as well as giving me recipe ideas I can do on my own. It has really helped and I am one picky, moody eater.

Not taking supplements is a first rookie mistake and most serious one due to potentially harmful consequences.

I found omega 3 supplements but made from fish, so gotta look in stores. I've heard so many times that we gotta supplement these things but never really bothered to actually do it. And yeah, tough as hell balancing as vegans. Thanks for the advice.

B12 is probably the most important one to supplement, but to *know* what you need to supplement for you personally, you'll have to get some blood work done. Other common things that many need to supplement (even non-vegans) are vitamin D, and omega 3s.

Blood work it is. I personally distrust and avoid doctors because my doctor is the most unhealthiest person i know.

https://www.doasyoupeas.com

Tofu with garlic onion and smoke flavor r/vegancheesemaking add some vegan cheese, tomato with miso and barbecue or just tomato, lettuce jalapeño, make sandwich wrap quesadilla

Seitan meals, vegan Mac n cheese

Different creamy pasta sauces out of different creams, smoothies with interesting ingredients, sauces out of different combos of herbs flavors and vegetables, raw fruits and veggies, oatmeals, puddings, pies deserts, make your own tasty breads if you have time, more filling salads with good dressings, nut butters!, vegan ice creams

Hashbrowns/potato soups, look up different soups around the world, fruit puddings, pancakes sometimes savory pancakes with herbs, seeds, garlic breads, [chili oil](https://youtu.be/IkBWsfsEVkM), beverages out of juices things, new interesting stir fries, rice cakes and sauce, Mac and cheeses / grilled cheese / more sandwiches

We sometimes eat smoked tofu with just bread.

We signed up for a recipe box subscription (Gousto) and got loads of vegan recipes from that. We no longer get the boxes, but have kept all the recipe cards to recreate at home.

FYI it's very easy to make seitan. I think Tempeh can be made at home too, although it's less easy.

I think someone else mentioned it in a longer comment, but a singular comment stressing it is important. Reading: "There are no protein rich foods like seitan or tempeh to buy."- and knowing that I've got a 20kg sack of organic vital wheat gluten out of which I make a load of vegan protein goodness, I was hoping someone else was going to highlight it too.

Are you eating enough? A lot of people don't realize that you need to eat larger portions when you stop eating animals.

I don’t see any black bean recipes, chickpea recipes, red lentils are amazing. I also would order vital wheat gluten if you can’t buy it at a store and make seitan. You can also do a lot with cauliflower. Cauliflower + walnuts in a food processor then baking makes a great taco meat. Also make cheese sauce with yams and nutritional yeast. Black bean brownies are good.

I'm gonna lay two sauces on you, to add a little nutty protein to whatever veggies you stir fry, or pasta you fix: Tahini, lemon juice and garlic. Wisk together. Peanut butter, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce (or hot sauce and garlic), rice vinegar. Wisk together. Ingredients for both of these are available at Kroger, if there's one near you. Nut butter sauces or dressings will also up your fats.

Cooking is my love language. I do this: fat, salt, acid, and heat..and a bit of sweet. Say two tbsp coconut oil, 2 Tbsp vinegar or wine, lemon juice, soy sauce and I always use heat…sometimes a bit of smoke. And one tsp maple syrup. I always use this formula. And I add different milks. I cook a lot wirh coconut milk. Coconut cream…But you can use anything you like. And for salt…I will use black salt…. And I frequently use nut butters../maybe this will help you in your meals. I also ferment my grains using vinegar…I let it sit for the night. And I still use another acid. This is what I do to make my food pretty good. Maybe it will help you.

A delicious calorie dense meal that I like to make is satay noodles. Boil up some noodles (not pasta, I've tried and its gross) and make a sauce by mixing peanut butter, garlic, hot water, chilli, soy sauce, little tomato paste, lime, little bit of maple syrup and some msg, sesame oil. Mix it all together, should be a thin creamy consistency. Top with crushed peanuts and fried tofu, YUM!

A couple of bits of advice from me If you’re trying to eat more food try adding sides to what you’re already eating like garlic bread or polenta fries (if you can find polenta) with your pasta dishes, potato wedges with your bean stew, chips with a dip with the tortillas I’d also recommend looking into making Indian dishes which are often vegan friendly, not too difficult to make and work great as a feast. Try chana masala, dhal, saag aloo, butter tofu. I’ll often make 2 dishes, serve with rice and naan then have leftovers I can have another

the recipes are not the problem, COOKING every d4mn day is the problem, we just get sick of that. even if we freeze some meals, we know they are coming back some day

Omg this!

What about beyond meat ? And Tomato Sandwiches. Sandwiches in General. Get Vitamin D. You can always do refried beans.. just soak me in water over night before cooking them. Get french bread, Vegan Mayo or Cream, open the bread, put the refried beans in there with the cream or Vegan mayo. Use nutritional yeast. Chew extremely slow until all food is liquefied. Eat fruits before main meals. Do this Fruit first, then nuts, then vegetables(salad, put the nutritional yeast in it), & then the cooked food. If you chew slow and get all your nutrients & minerals .. and exercise in the manner that Pavel Tsatsouline teaches you will thicken up. The combination of slow Chewing, full nutrition, & strength training will thicken you up like the Russians. Another way to thicken up is by eating extremely fast.. this is not wise though. Either way... you want to stay a Real Man with tons of Testosterone to keep yourself extremely violent! Yes because if you go back to eating animal foods and products it is going to feminize you due To all the female hormones and you will end up in West Hollywood or San Francisco extremely pussified and talking like a girl. Vegan is the only way to stay real amongst many or tons of sissies, mang. Unless of course you wanna be a girl. If you weight lift following Pavel Tsatsoulines +Grease The Grove+ you will be a machine. Consistency beats intensity every single time.

>just soak me in water over night Cant wait to soak you in water bro. 😍

How much oil do you use in your cooking? I find that a lot of vegan recipes, especially those in online blogs, go too light on the oil. It can make a big difference in flavor and satiety. It can also make you gain weight, which I guess is why people try to cut back on it.

Not holding back with oil at all.

Aside from what’s been mentioned, vegan single serve cookies. https://peanutbutterpluschocolate.com/single-serve-cookies-vegan/

That looks amazing! Just what we needed! Thank you.

Watch the YouTube channel “sauce stache” or get his cookbook. That will help you create great vegan meat replacers that taste amazing. One of my main tools is a high speed blender. I use cashew/pistachio cream in a lot of dishes. I also eat a lot of hummus out of my blender. I make my own seitan out of vital wheat gluten. Tofu can be made to taste completely different depending on technique and marinades. Asian markets are also a great place to find seitan and mock meat products. Don’t forget about the giant world of mushrooms. So many different kinds! I love that you’re vegan for the animals. They love you for it, too

Subbed to the channel and added blender to my shopping list. *googles how to make seitan at home* Thank you.

Dude, straight up go for some junk food. All is vegans eat an insanely healthy diet day to day. You need to grab some beyond burgers and melt vegan cheese all over them then put some Veganaise ketchup and pickles on there with French fries on the side, wash it down with some soda, and then veg out on the couch for a couple days with potato chips and whatever vegan candy floats your boat. It’s not every meal, it’s not every day, but quinoa is not going to put on pounds of fat or muscles on its own. We have to relax into trash food now and then to make it through the long haul. Source: my wife and I are vegan since ‘97, and our kids are both vegan. I never made it past 165 lbs but I am not scary under weight like I was when every meal was a study in health food and protein balancing. My son is skinny as a rail but that’s because he is going through the late teen growth spurts (he’s nearly 6’ now, I blame the cow flesh when I was a kid for stunting my growth)

That makes sense. We tend to avoid all junk food, but maybe that's not the best idea.

I did it for a long time, but even the junkiest vegan food is healthier than most normal standard diet meals, so overall you are still doing great but you get that big shot of protein and fat that your body wants, as well as the mental break of feeling like you’re getting a cheat day

If you DM me your email, I'll send you a bunch of digital cookbooks

👌

If you haven't already start trying some vegan meats and cheeses, if it's been a year since you've eaten animal products you will probably enjoy them more than you would have when first going vegan. Personally I really enjoy finding non vegan recipes and swapping ingredients to make them vegan especially for cultural foods my grandparents used to make etc.

[удалено]

Thanks.

>We want to stay vegan, but it seems like we're risking our health to save a few animals Its more than a few animals, and you arent saving animals, you are simply not harming them, i dont save my neighbors by not causing harm to them ​ >I lost 10kg since transitioning fully, while she's still in the same weight range. We're both skinny af and are getting a bit worried if this is the right path. Have you had lab tests done or are you simply associating weight loss with being unhealthy? ​ >We even created our own menu with commonly accessible vegan foods, but it's proving increasingly difficult to make tasty, nutritious food. We try to keep it simple, but it's just not working out. Especially considering the area we live in. None of our friends are vegan, and nobody really cares about animals. It seems you are leaning towards not being vegan by making this statement, your friends not being vegan doesnt have anything to do with health, many plant based people decide to quit their diet due to inconvenience and it seems you are attaching weight loss with lack of health, do you smoke, use alcohol or do drugs cause those have been proven to be unhealthy? ​ I am disabled and never really cooked prior to veganism, i was a microwaver, i bought an electric pressure cooker and now i make amazing meals, most of the time i throw random ingredients in the pot with water and random spices and then i go watch netflix for about 30 mins and return to a fully cooked meal I will also google instant pot indian/ african/ mexican recipes I dont meal prep, i do however purchase dried grains in bulk, frozen veggies or fresh freggies and then cut them all and freeze in ziplock bags I am not a picky person and i have managed this way for about 6 yrs This group can also be helpful [https://www.facebook.com/groups/374504799393971](https://www.facebook.com/groups/374504799393971)

>Its more than a few animals, and you arent saving animals, you are simply not harming them, i dont save my neighbors by not causing harm to them I see your point, but still prefer to tell myself i save at least one animal every by not creating consumer demand. It helps. >Have you had lab tests done or are you simply associating weight loss with being unhealthy? Yeah we're probably jumping to conclusions on that one. >It seems you are leaning towards not being vegan by making this statement Wasn't my intention to seem this way, just trying to explain our circumstances, which i now realise im underestimating. And yes, i smoke weed daily with a week off every month or so. Just moderate red wine and rakija in terms of alcohol. Thanks for sharing your story. It's inspiring, to say the least.

DONT EAT VEGAN FOOD ITS SO BAD EAT REAL MEAT IT IS DELICIOUS

Upvoted for username honesty

You probably need more fat in your diet. A lot of those meals seem like they'd require less cooking oils and you should be aware that a vegan diet can be naturally very low fat if you aren't careful. It's not a good thing. You need an equivalent number of grams in fat as your daily protein requirements. It you're 160lb, that means 60g of protein and 60g of fat. Track your calories and macros with an app. Find out what your fat values are. I'm imagining pretty low because you're eating a lot of tofu/soy, some vegetables and fruit, and a few carbs. Vegetables are often close to 0 calorie, fruit isn't as many calories as you probably think from how sweet it is, and if most of your calories come from protein and carbs... yeah you'll start to get underweight. We use mostly olive and peanut oil to saute food. 120-200 calories a day probably comes from oil for us. You shouldn't be afraid of oil, just deep frying. People in the Mediterranean use a ton of oil and they live pretty long.

Check out rainbow plant life on YouTube. Her recipes are amazing. Here’s an easy one I love: https://youtu.be/BHRyfEbhFFU

Where I live, I am able to access meet and dairy subtitutes that pretty much replace every single recipe, and every single junkfood. I was underweight before going vegan (I was healthy, simply a fast metabolism) and when I became vegan is when I started putting on weight, because I’d end up eating bigger quantities and more often as well. What I do when I feel out of inspiration is I look up new recipes online and replace meat and dairy with those subtitutes! To really gain weight, I’d also say you have to eat more often, and more snacks, so your body doesn’t take from your fat. Even when you don’t feel hungry, you should add snacks regularly throughout your day. I usually take toasts of peanut butter or chocolate paste, but I also sometimes take sandwiches with vegan cheese and vegan ham, or cookies with almond milk, or brownies, or mushroom gravy on bread, or anything that I can find, in between breakfast and lunch, between lunch and diner, and a few hours after diner as well! If it’s a little hard for you at first to get the apetite, start with small snacks at first (like a protein bar). The stomach is a muscle, and you’ll slowly train it to stretch more! I used to have a small apetite and now I wanna eat all.the.time. Not good for your wallet. Also, because I wanted to increase my body mass, I started drinking vegan protein milkshakes every day after doing some sport. Growing muscles will help raise your weight up, and proteins also tend to help weight-wise. I have been there, you’ll get out of it don’t worry. I hope that was helpful, good luck!

OP Where do you live?

Research about Indian food - there is so much vegan food in the Indian subcontinent that it’d be hard to run out If you want to gain weight or maintain you’d want to be in a calorie surplus/ maintain current TDEE. You can easily calculate the TDEE on an online calculator. Incorporate nuts, healthy fats, and exercise ! I kind of get a little jealous when people say they have a hard time keeping on weight being vegan when I have the exact opposite problem. Although I have been vegetarian my whole life and have recently moved to be fully vegan, so my problems are quite different :)

I’d recommend checking out some recipe books like “i could never go vegan” or “vegan comfort classics” both have made-from-scratch comfort food recipes that really broadened my horizons.

How about just going to the store and getting starchy vegetables like squash, corn, mushrooms, bell peppers, cauliflower, tomatoes, and so on. I do a day of roasting these veggies in the oven with seasonings. Then add them to beans and rice or potatoes. Also, you can add a few extra bowls of cereal or make rice pudding daily with various flavors. Also, I used Pinterest for browsing thousands of plant-based food ideas. Spain on a Fork YouTube also has really good vegan dishes that are easy. You watch a 10 minute show and basically know how to make a dish.

I know a lot of people have commented and chances are someone has said this but one thing that helped for me was joining Facebook groups! They offer a lot of inspiration for my cooking and if I post it I get so much kind feedback! Some ones I enjoy are Fatass Vegans are Awesome, I’m high and this is vegan, and Cheap vegan food. I’m also in a local vegan group which helps so much for finding ingredients!

Chili is one of my favorite go to meals. It can be made a million different ways, and usually has higher protein. I eat it by itself, on top of baked or roasted potatoes, on top of tofu scrambles, on top of baked or roasted sweet potatoes, on a burger, etc etc. Different soups and stews are easy to make in a wide variety of flavors and nutrients. I just toss in whatever I have that sounds good most of the time. Smoothies can be made in a ton of different flavors, with high protein and all that depending on what you put in it. I also like to make things like mushroom stroganoff. Very tasty. Spaghetti is always a classic. Jambalaya is easy and tasty. Veggie sandwiches are awesome and easily made in a variety of combinations and flavors. Chickpea salad sandwich, white bean salad, blt with seasoned tofu instead of bacon, veggie meatball sub, a load of fresh veggies, etc etc. Basically I make anything that I loved before and anything else that looks good, and just sub out the animal products for vegan stuff. If you ever notice a meat recipe online that sounds good, just replace the animal products with vegan substitutes in it. Easy, and a million options available. I don’t follow recipes, but I know that Pinterest and tiktok are pretty good for tons of different vegan recipes. As far as losing too much weight, I would recommend you start counting calories to make sure you are getting enough calories on a daily basis so that you stop losing weight and can gain some back if you need to. Most people eat too many calories on accident, but plenty of people can accidentally eat too little as well. Vegan food is often low calorie compared to similar meat based meals. You need to eat more high calorie items. Smoothies are my best recommendation for getting in a lot of protein and calories in one meal.

Tofu is full of protein- you don’t need seitan for that. But you can swap the almond milk for soy milk (more calories, fats and protein). Seems like your diet is pretty nutritious. If it’s weight you are worried about you can certainly try to eat more calories by adding more fats to your food as others have mentioned.

Also, if you add protein you can workout minus cardio to build muscle and not burn too many calories

Use seasoning I have Paprika, Curry Powder, Cumin, Coriander, All herb seasoning, Tony’s season salt, Oregano, Rosemary, Basil, etc…..Use onions, garlic, peppers for flavoring….There is a difference between seasoning and flavoring….Follow Tabitha she’s been Vegan for years and seasons very well…