Anyone here vegan?

Ah well, sadly this is the end of my vegan lifestyle for the time being. Going into hospital for hip replacement soon, so to check about best thing to do I consulted a nutritional therapist.

She told me that, post op, it's no time to be vegan, as in order to recuperate as fast as possible, my body will need extra proteins and it would be very complicated to get enough (without overdosing on carbs and putting on weight) while in hospital and on my return home when I won't be able to shop and cook for myself for a while.

I feel bad in a way but also need to balance it all with the amount of stress that it would create me to stick to my ethical position. I am going to forgive myself for the time being and stick to mostly vegetarian (with the odd tin of mackerel thrown in) for simplicity, until I'm back on my feet and good to go (vegan, again, maybe).

While I appreciate you don't want black lash and this isn't what it is, I don't understand why anyone would think that being vegan while recovering from an operation would mean lack of nutrition.
Athletes are often vegan while training and they need nutritional meals which include lots of protein for repairing muscles. If many athletes are vegan on season because that means they are at their best surely vegan for operation recovery is best?
Quinoa, tofu, beans etc for protein. Also carbs are not the enemy when it comes to weight gain. So many people get this wrong. Just eat the whole grain versions as they are best or you.
Batch cook and have meals ready in the freezer. So much better for you and cheap to. A slow cooker and/or rice/multi cooker. Buy ready prepared or frozen vegetables etc if needed.

After all veganism is quoted as being healthy for all stages of life, including pregnancy and while breast feeding which are taxing on the body.
There isn't a chance that any doctor would ever get me to stop being vegan and I have a disability that may one day mean operation to live if it gets that bad.

Thank you Doom_And_Gloom and BearPearSun, I don't take it as backlash at all. I have accepted that for the time being I'm going to make life as easy as I can (the op is not my only health issue) and that this is only a phase.

'Re talking to a dietician, the NHS is still in the prehistory when it comes to nutrition, they still advocate the outdated food pyramid which is now considered by many, doctors included, to put too much emphasis on low fat and excess carbs.

I have done a lot of research on carbs and also know how my body reacts (I've lived in it for 60 years). I don't consider carbs the enemy, I eat a lot of carbs in plant form and now small portions of whole grains.

Whenever there's a vegan option I'll always go for it but not if it's pasta or stodge. I'm just less strict and will be so when in hospital.

Had the pre med and it looks like it might be a few weeks before the op so I'm still eating mostly plant based. I don't say vegan because it's a lifestyle and I'm still very far from being there.

Spendless wrote: »

The worst example I have is when she ordered an Egg Mcmuffin from an all day breakfast menu at McDs (yes, I know but teens and free wifi...) sat at the table, opened it up and discovered it had a slice of ham on it!

Oh dear! I hope that she didn't go hungry, if it were me I would have just picked off the bits that I didn't want and carried on!

Out of interest, what were the places that were recommended to you? Our local Chinese supermarket is great for vegan alternatives but I've been told that it would be harder to find these products in china!

Yay! I found the vegans!

As a family (DH, 1yo DS and me), we've been vegan since January. DH has slip ups when he works abroad because he often has to go France for meetings, where generally they don't understand what he can't have, so gets given cheese sandwiches...

People often say that my DS is a good advert for veganism, because he looks so "healthy" (read, chunky) but I like battling those stereotypes. I'm also 3 months pregnant, which I'm sure people have an opinion about with me staying vegan. My midwife is perfectly happy though, and tbh even if she wasn't it is tough!

BearPearSun wrote: »

Oh dear! I hope that she didn't go hungry, if it were me I would have just picked off the bits that I didn't want and carried on!

Out of interest, what were the places that were recommended to you? Our local Chinese supermarket is great for vegan alternatives but I've been told that it would be harder to find these products in china!

She didn't go hungry, I took it back and was met with a rather abrupt 'So what did you want on it' Ermmm egg like it states and add a slice of cheese if you like Ironically if she'd actually gone to the 2 cafes on either side of the Maccys which I told her I'd be eating at, once I'd sorted her food, she'd have found some veggie options (not sure about Vegan ones!) This was at Clearwater beach.

She ended up eating Cheese and Tomato pizza at most places as that was the only option for her.

This is the thread I did below with suggestions from others. I think the largest thing I've taken from that, is to ask at the Independent eating places to make or omit something, as they have more flexibility than chains. I noticed today having breakfast at my local cafe that they had no veggie option for a full breakfast, but if DD had been with us, I could have probably asked for a plate made of various non meat items.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5701042