Newbie vegan from the Bahamas!

[Juniqua]

Hi there I'm Juniqua White, I'm new to being vegan I was converted by the documentary what the health but further converted by the health benefits I've noticed within myself about two weeks in and I went from eating meat to eating some and now i prefer to eat none. So I'm currently animal products free in my household. It's hard to convert the others and it's difficult to get support when you're doing so alone, in your home.

The journey has been quite the struggle I didn't know nothing I was starving in the beginning and even now I'm having trouble getting the daily value of calories and I fear I'm not eating enough variety of greens, fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes. I'm going to find that information here if anyone knows it. I love to do research so once I find something that is useful I will definitely share it with the community. Thank you for having a place for me to come to and speak with others on the same diet. I hope to make friends and learn a lot from others here.

 

[Lou]

First off, let me welcome you aboard.
I've been to the Bahamas.
I have a bunch of suggestions and advice.

The thing I love to recommend to Newbies is an app and website called CronOmeter. There is a bit of a learning curve to it but once you get started it goes pretty quick.

Another thing that gets recommended a lot is Dr. Gregar's Daily Dozen. There is an app for that. or you can just print out the chart and hang it on the frig.

 

[Juniqua]

First off, let me welcome you aboard.
I've been to the Bahamas.
I have a bunch of suggestions and advice.

The thing I love to recommend to Newbies is an app and website called CronOmeter. There is a bit of a learning curve to it but once you get started it goes pretty quick.

Another thing that gets recommended a lot is Dr. Gregar's Daily Dozen. There is an app for that. or you can just print out the chart and hang it on the frig.

I'm here for all the suggestions and advice you can offer me, thank you!

 

[Emma JC]

welcome @Juniqua

I also love the Bahamas and the beautiful friendly people.

"I fear I'm not eating enough variety of greens, fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes."

Keep it simple is my advice and the advice of many plant-based doctors - lots of starches (whole grain pastas/bread etc, rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes) then fruits and veggies (can be frozen or fresh), beans, lentils, chick peas, etc and throw in some nuts, some avocados etc and you will be good.

As @Lou suggests track it on cronometer and that way you won't starve and you will only have to do that for a short time to get used to it. I have never worried about 'variety' as it pretty much just happens naturally. The best part for me is being able to eat the foods I love pasta, rice, beans and spice them up with all the same flavours that I loved before.

Happy you're here and we will help any way we can.

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[silva]

Welcome! I would think you'd have some good produce their!
I'm also a fan of the daily dozen list of foods for complete nutrition
This is a book I highly recommend by a Registared Dietician--

Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

And this --

Plant-Based Living Series | NutritionFacts.org

nutritionfacts.org

 

[Chryssie]

 

[Juniqua]

welcome @Juniqua

I also love the Bahamas and the beautiful friendly people.

"I fear I'm not eating enough variety of greens, fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes."

Keep it simple is my advice and the advice of many plant-based doctors - lots of starches (whole grain pastas/bread etc, rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes) then fruits and veggies (can be frozen or fresh), beans, lentils, chick peas, etc and throw in some nuts, some avocados etc and you will be good.

As @Lou suggests track it on cronometer and that way you won't starve and you will only have to do that for a short time to get used to it. I have never worried about 'variety' as it pretty much just happens naturally. The best part for me is being able to eat the foods I love pasta, rice, beans and spice them up with all the same flavours that I loved before.

Happy you're here and we will help any way we can.

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

Thank you so much for your help as well

 

[Juniqua]

Thank you!

 

[Juniqua]

Welcome! I would think you'd have some good produce their!
I'm also a fan of the daily dozen list of foods for complete nutrition
This is a book I highly recommend by a Registared Dietician--

Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

And this --

Plant-Based Living Series | NutritionFacts.org

nutritionfacts.org

Thank you so much for the book I will definitely get it. I need all the advice I can get I truly appreciate it, thank you.

 

[Juniqua]

Welcome! I would think you'd have some good produce their!
I'm also a fan of the daily dozen list of foods for complete nutrition
This is a book I highly recommend by a Registared Dietician--

Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

And this --

Plant-Based Living Series | NutritionFacts.org

nutritionfacts.org

Yes we do have good produce but not as much as I'd like to have some things are rare here.

 

[Stardust1986]

Nice to meet you, I'm a newbie too, and this is my first response. I became vegan about 4 months ago, I went straight into a whole foods plant based diet after being an omnivore my whole life, it was hard, and I realized I do need the junk food to help me through the transitioning process, it's also helping me meet my calorie requirments. No one seems to understand my dietary changes, so I came here for support. I watched the animal creulty documentary Dominion, and also I found out that not only can humans survive on a plant based diet, they can thrive! I'm happy to go on this new journey with you

 

[Emma JC]

Nice to meet you, I'm a newbie too, and this is my first response. I became vegan about 4 months ago, I went straight into a whole foods plant based diet after being an omnivore my whole life, it was hard, and I realized I do need the junk food to help me through the transitioning process, it's also helping me meet my calorie requirments. No one seems to understand my dietary changes, so I came here for support. I watched the animal creulty documentary Dominion, and also I found out that not only can humans survive on a plant based diet, they can thrive! I'm happy to go on this new journey with you

welcome Stardust!!

I hope you find it helpful to be here!

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[Lou]

Nice to meet you, I'm a newbie too, and this is my first response.

We are stardust
We are golden

 

[silva]

We are stardust
We are golden

And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

 

[Lou]

We are stardust
Billion year old carbon
We are golden
Caught in the devil's bargain
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

 

[PTree15]

Welcome to VF, Juniqua and Stardust!

 

[Juniqua]

Nice to meet you, I'm a newbie too, and this is my first response. I became vegan about 4 months ago, I went straight into a whole foods plant based diet after being an omnivore my whole life, it was hard, and I realized I do need the junk food to help me through the transitioning process, it's also helping me meet my calorie requirments. No one seems to understand my dietary changes, so I came here for support. I watched the animal creulty documentary Dominion, and also I found out that not only can humans survive on a plant based diet, they can thrive! I'm happy to go on this new journey with you

Awesome! I've tried vegetarian but it didn't last and after watching 'what the health' it made me feel gross about not knowing what I was putting into my body. There aren't much farms here in the islands of the Bahamas so variety isn't here locally especially with the really hot temperatures we tend to have pretty small lettuces unless there's a lot of work behind watering them. There's also very little vegan or wfpb options. So most of what I do is buy locally what I can, then order the rest from like amazon or something. Like bulk chickpea, and other brand and all the dry ingredients.


This has definitely been a tough journey. I found myself eating a bunch of white rice and I had to cut that out then I was eating way too many beans. I'm finding balance now.

 

[Emma JC]

Awesome! I've tried vegetarian but it didn't last and after watching 'what the health' it made me feel gross about not knowing what I was putting into my body. There aren't much farms here in the islands of the Bahamas so variety isn't here locally especially with the really hot temperatures we tend to have pretty small lettuces unless there's a lot of work behind watering them. There's also very little vegan or wfpb options. So most of what I do is buy locally what I can, then order the rest from like amazon or something. Like bulk chickpea, and other brand and all the dry ingredients.


This has definitely been a tough journey. I found myself eating a bunch of white rice and I had to cut that out then I was eating way too many beans. I'm finding balance now.

rice and beans, yum.... is it possible to eat to much of that?

adding in some veggies and lots of great spices and I could eat it every day, if not every meal

my grocery store had 10lb bags of white rice on sale, a week or so ago, and they sold out within a day and I was happy to get a rain cheque so I can still get 3 bags for 10.99 CAN$ and that is $7 less than it currently is - I will buy all three when I go there next as I don't really think you can eat too much rice or too many beans or pasta or oatmeal or any starch, as long as you have lots of other good nutrition too

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[Lou]

This has definitely been a tough journey. I found myself eating a bunch of white rice and I had to cut that out then I was eating way too many beans. I'm finding balance now.

Yeah you should try to eat rice in moderation. Brown rice has a lot of fiber but it also can have higher levels of arsenic. Cause I live in California, California grown Basmati is my goto rice.
Rice and beans is one of those sweet spot meals. low price and high nutrition. And you can continually vary it up by using different kinds of beans and different kinds of rice.

Have you ever tried Cuban Black Beans and Rice. I had it for the first time at a Cuban restaurant (it was the only vegan dish on the menu) and immediately fell in love with it. There are even a lot of versions of this recipe.
Here is one of the most complicated

Cuban Black Beans and Rice with Roasted Peppers and Plantains

www.copymethat.com

here is one of the easist

Cuban Black Beans and Rice Recipe - The Lemon Bowl®

Cuban Black Beans and Rice is a simple, satisfying side dish bursting with Latin flavors like garlic, oregano and cumin.

thelemonbowl.com