my vegan days may be coming to an end

I never thought I would ever be posting this. My 11 year old son Drew is on the autism spectrum. He's high functioning but he needs to take medication to help him focus. At first I was opposed to putting him on any types of meds because I know how it can change kids personalities. I fought it tooth and nail. After a lengthy discussion with his pediatrician I gave in and agreed to allow him to start the medication. It really has made a difference. He's doing a lot better in school. He plays on a basketball team for a church league near us and is excelling. He's also very involved in Scouts. Just crossed over to Boy Scouts last week. The only side effect to this med is that it supresses his appetite. He weighs about 60 lbs and is in the lowest percentile of his age group. Now our pediatrician put Drew on a high calorie diet. He has to drink whole milk, and needs to eat foods that are high in fat and protein. Lol I wish I had his problem. I haven't eaten meat or dairy in over 2 years. We never buy junk food like chips, or twinkees, and we never do fast food like McD's or BK, nor do we allow the kids to do so. These things will continue. However I have been told by my wife and close friends that I need to start modeling what Drew's diet should be. I don't know if I could even eat any kind of meat other than fish. I've just become so accustomed to my plant based diet. It would just seem wrong to me to move backwards.

I don't know if you have the option open to you, depending on where you live, but something you might want to try is buying meat directly from local farmers. Our poultry, beef and pork (and eggs) come from several friends of my parents who have farms in the area. The meat is much better than anything in the stores. Again, I don't know if that's something you could try (since I'm guessing your area is pretty built-up), but if you're getting back into meat, it's worth a shot.

we get most of our fruits & veggies from different farm markets in the area. But with them your dependant on what's in season. And this time a year there really isn't anything so we have to rely on the organic stuff at either Wegmans or Trader Joes. I still don't see myself ever eating red meat ever again. If I do go forward with this I'll probably just eat chicken and fish.

It's good Rob to eat what is healthy for your son.
I hope it makes him stronger.

Drew loves a good bacon cheese burger. Lol it looks better on him than on me.

Why do you think it's wrong to eat red meat?

Not trying to stir it up, just wondering.

its not that I necessarily think its wrong. Its really is not good for you. My issue originally was cholesterol. I used to eat burgers and steaks a lot and my cholesterol was way too high. My doctor told me to limit it to once a week. I just decided I'd just eliminate it all together. It was a slow progression, I became vegetarian and then eventually vegan when I quit all dairy

I'm really not one of those meat is murder guys. The only thing I have issue with is veal. I do believe that God gives man dominion over the animals but dominion does not mean animal cruelty. Listening to TQT's Ark Of Suffering and watching the video helped convict me of this

For me, I am eating all the meat I want and just cut out a lot of my carbs--especially bad carbs.  My cholesterol has dropped significantly.  It may not be the meat jacking up those cholesterol points.  Do you eat a lot of pasta?  Starchy veggies and fruits?  All dairy isn't bad either.  Limiting it is a good idea. If you consume a lot of carbohydrates that you cannot burn, then you will gain weight, raise your blood pressure, and raise your cholesterol.

I do eat some pasta but we've pretty much switched over to the whole wheat pasta. I actually prefer whole wheat or multigrain bread to white bread. But I do eat white bread occasionally. Lol my weaknesses is cinnamon rolls from Tim Hortons. Especially the frosted ones. I also like the starchy veggies like potatoes, lima beans but I try to balance it out with stuff like green leafy veggies, carrots, broccoli etc... Since I haven't eaten meat and the like I've had to get protein from things like beans, nuts and stuff like that. I just wish I could get my kids to eat veggies

Ok, that makes sense. I've cut out some of the white bread carbs myself and I feel better.

Be careful with all the wheat products...  The wheat that's grown nowadays is vastly different than what was grown even 50 years ago and many believe is the cause of this epidemic of gluten allergies.

Quote :

I do eat some pasta but we've pretty much switched over to the whole wheat pasta. I actually prefer whole wheat or multigrain bread to white bread.

It doesn't matter.  When your body breaks breads down whether enriched flour or multigrain, it still is converted to sugar.  Whole wheat is still just as high in carbs as regular bread.

Redeemed Fool wrote:

Ok, that makes sense. I've cut out some of the white bread carbs myself and I feel better.

You will!  I have cut out most of the bad carbs and am now 48 pounds lighter.  I hope to soon stop my blood pressure meds as I don't think I will need it much longer.  I still have 57 pounds more to lose.

My entire family did the vegan diet for almost a year and a half before we finally surrendered. We still avoid most dairy, and don't necessarily eat meat every day (I usually prepare a vegan meal once or twice a week still). But it is nice not being restricted by a vegan diet.
I was recently diagnosed with elevated choletoral and blood pressure...so I don't eat much in the way of pasta or starch laden veggies.

I ain't no vegan and never could be, but I am sold on Veggie Burgers. I've totally replaced my regular home made burgers with the veggi ones. They are MUCH better for you and DO help with your weight.

I put on a few extra pounds over the summer, and have changed my snacking patterns and other things like veggi burgers and occasionally combining 2 meals (ie instead of lunch at noon and dinner at 5, I will have an average sized meal at around 3ish) - I've found that I don't need to eat 3 full meals in a day... I'm not even hungry enough to eat all 3... two are sufficient.

Guilty/Forgiven wrote:

I ain't no vegan and never could be, but I am sold on Veggie Burgers. I've totally replaced my regular home made burgers with the veggi ones. They are MUCH better for you and DO help with your weight.

What brand of veggie burgers are you using (are are you making them from scratch)....because I have eaten some nasty tasting veggie burgers.

The day I have been hoping and praying for has arrived!

Wegmans makes a decent frozen veggie burger. I will sometimes make own fresh veggie black bean burger

Tried making veggie burgers with kidney beans and black beans but they wouldn't hold their shape and just kept falling apart. I must be doing something wrong.

Lol dont tell Rob but I use eggs

She Eats Cheese wrote:

Lol dont tell Rob but I use eggs

Well that would explain it!   

now the truth comes out

Staybrite wrote:

Guilty/Forgiven wrote:

I ain't no vegan and never could be, but I am sold on Veggie Burgers. I've totally replaced my regular home made burgers with the veggi ones. They are MUCH better for you and DO help with your weight.

What brand of veggie burgers are you using (are are you making them from scratch)....because I have eaten some nasty tasting veggie burgers.

Morning Star Farms



BY FAR the BEST tasting veggie burger ever ! I feel like I'm eating a real hamburger, in fact it tastes BETTER than a hamburger.
If you would have told me a couple years ago I'd be eating veggie and LIKING it, I woulda said you're a psycho... and yet, here I am.

Rabid Rob wrote:

I'm really not one of those meat is murder guys. The only thing I have issue with is veal. I do believe that God gives man dominion over the animals but dominion does not mean animal cruelty. Listening to TQT's Ark Of Suffering and watching the video helped convict me of this

My family never gets veal either. As to how cows are normally butchered, there's no outstanding cruelty in it, at least not at a rural farm (I don't know how it's done at more commercial farms): each beast is led into a sort of cattle chute, where it is immediately stunned with a handgun. No torture, just "bam".