View Poll Results: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat & dairy?

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  • I eat more varied food now

    254 91.04%
  • I eat less varied food now

    12 4.30%
  • No difference

    13 4.66%
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Thread: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat & dairy?

  1. #51
    kiwi.tyger's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    I have a good recipe for vegan pasties - maybe next time you could do those, then he wouldn't know until it was too late

    On a more sombre note, my step-cousin (if that makes sense), who is very skinny despite only ever eating fast food and junk, is in hospital with a collapsed lung. The doctors have said that her diet, along with being a smoker, have contributed to this happening so I hope maybe this is a wake-up call. Apparently when she was little she wouldn't eat vegetables, so instead of encouraging her, her mum would just go over the road and buy McDs. Now she has no idea how to cook, and basically doesn't know what a vegetable tastes like. I'm surprised she doesn't have scurvy as well to be honest.

    Hmmm... might have to send her some easy vegan recipes...
    Kia kaha e hoa, kia ora

  2. #52
    Cider&Curry :D Frosty's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    Oh my God, that's terrible, I'm sorry to hear that. There is a history of high blood pressure in my family - caused by bad diets. My father became ill last year, was told to at least cut down on the meat intake and eat more vegetables etc, and he is a lot better now. Lost a fair bit of weight as well My step mum is used to cooking something for me for when I am round there, so she was quite good with the veggie food with my dad. I think if he was doing it himself it wouldn't have got much further than pasta and rice

    I'm not exactly mr healthy myself though to be honest - after 18 months of giving not smoking I recently started up again About the time the smoking ban came in here as well, ha ha. Where's the sense in that? Although, I do remember when my ex went to uni and registered with her doctors he said that due to her healthy veg diet, her smoking (she used to socially smoke at the time) wasn't really that much of a health problem. Bit of a bizarre thing for a doctor to say in my opinion, but hey.

  3. #53

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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    Quote kiwi.tyger View Post
    I have a good recipe for vegan pasties - maybe next time you could do those, then he wouldn't know until it was too late

    On a more sombre note, my step-cousin (if that makes sense), who is very skinny despite only ever eating fast food and junk, is in hospital with a collapsed lung. The doctors have said that her diet, along with being a smoker, have contributed to this happening so I hope maybe this is a wake-up call. Apparently when she was little she wouldn't eat vegetables, so instead of encouraging her, her mum would just go over the road and buy McDs. Now she has no idea how to cook, and basically doesn't know what a vegetable tastes like. I'm surprised she doesn't have scurvy as well to be honest.

    Hmmm... might have to send her some easy vegan recipes...
    Oh dear! I hope she sees sense and goes vegan.

    It reminds me of an Australian relative. My uncle's grand children. He will only eat Mcdonalds food! and they thought I was fussy. Actually I used to be really fussy before I became vegan. No veg to speak of unless you count tomato ketchup and chips. My folks did try to make me eat veg. In fact they insisted on it and I can remember lots of unpleasant scenes at the dinner table. However, I simply stopped eating veg as soon as I was old enough to get away with it.

  4. #54
    drunkenunicorn's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    if you dont eat a more varied diet now that you're vegan, you're probably malnourished. and malnourished vegans really really piss me off. a healthy vegan eats from the vegan six food groups (see wikipedia's vegan nutrition page) and eats something from each group every day. its impossible to do this and eat meat and dairy and eggs and stuff. so by definition, if you eat less varied food now, or stayed the same since veganism, you're not getting enough nutrients. and thats lame.

  5. #55
    pavotrouge
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    Well, I don't think there's much of a difference between vegan, vegetarians, omnis or whatever diet- you will lack nutritients if you don't eat varied foods with any diet!

  6. #56

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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    I make much more of an effort now to try different vegetables, salad greens and legumes than when I was eating meat. This is really in an effort to keep myself from getting bored with my diet.

  7. #57
    Metal Head emzy1985's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    As an omnivore I ate a staple diet of chicken and potato. I hated nearly all vegetables and was quite anemic. (sp??) When I went vegetarian I feasted on dairy and eggs and still wasn't eating hardly any vegetables. When I went vegan my palet changed completely. For some unknown reason I liked vegetables and wanted to eat them all the time and less and less meat substitutes. Now I make a habit of trying a least one new food a week and incorporate it into a dish. Maaaan I love food! This is making me hungry!!!
    The taste of anything in my mouth for 5 seconds does not equate to the beauty and complexity of life.

  8. #58
    frank language's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    I like knowing what's on my plate, rather than some "mystery meat;" it also floors me when I put a meal together for my vegan dog and it actually smells like food; I find myself thinking, "I could actually eat this!"

  9. #59

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    Smile Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    i eat and actually cook much more! I experiment lots, make up my own meals. half of time it goes wrong! n.mind its edible! am getting better!! made my own pizza other day, was excellent: tofu sliced thinly, vine ripe tomatoes and pesto(yum) and oregano. It was excellent! and i almost forgot i sprinkled vegan mozzarela cheese on!!!

  10. #60
    Metal Head emzy1985's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    Mmmm pesto!!!
    The taste of anything in my mouth for 5 seconds does not equate to the beauty and complexity of life.

  11. #61

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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    I have much greater variety in my diet now than when i was omni (just over a year ago) though im not sure whether thats down to my change in diet, or the fact that ive actually learnt to cook..

  12. #62
    Russ
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    Much more varied food. I'm constantly trying new things ... just yesterday I ate aubergine for the first time ... I love it

    Before going vegan I think I probably ate the same three vegetables over and over again

  13. #63
    steven1222
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    By the numbers, I have eaten more varied food recently: 666 different items in the last 205 days. That is misleading because it hides the fact that most of my calories have come from wheat products recently. In that way, there was more variety before. I abstain from this poll because I could argue either way.
    Last edited by steven1222; Jul 25th, 2007 at 05:33 PM. Reason: Removed a sentence, corrected numbers, and changed two words

  14. #64
    Inductor Astrid's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    As most of you have already said: going vegan definitely made the diet more varied. It has opened up a whole new world of ingredients I wasn't familiar with, and both cooking and eating is more fun and enjoyable. People who say we're missing out on anything, haven't got a clue!

  15. #65
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    Definitely more varied. Before being vegan my diet consisted of hungry jacks, kfc, mcdonalds & souvlakis. Believe it or not before becoming vegan I never ate any of the following: Avocadoes, brocolli, brusell sprouts, cauliflower, bok choy, snow peas, pumpkin... well you get the idea. Now I feast on everything veg. Plus I have discovered buckwheat, quinoa, cous cous, millet and lots more. I also now eat a lot more raw nuts and seeds. I also have a dehydrator so I make lots of yummie things in that. And I have a soy milk maker so I make lots of nut milks. And I have a juicer so I make heaps of yummie juices. (I love my toys, what can I say ). And I have to say I am still discovering new foods through forums like this. What a wonderful world of food it is.

  16. #66
    MarkAnthony's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    I definitely eat more varied food, it's still mostly junk though, haha. Learning to cook has opened my eyes to whole different types of cuisine/types of food.
    There’s a statue that the abattoir erected to remind us all of their contributions. To me it marks Potemkin City Limits, this Francis cast in bronze.

  17. #67

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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    Most people will stick to traditional foods, foods that they're used to- for a lot of people today, those are non-vegan dishes such as hamburgers and french fries, chicken noodle soup, macaroni and cheese. It is human nature (er...I think) to be uneasy with changes, therefore meat-eaters are perfectly content to stick to the same diet if it is comforting to them.
    Becoming vegan takes that meat-and-potatoes security blanket away from you and you're kinda forced to explore new foods.
    ...And alas, it is discovered what a beautiful thing variety is!

  18. #68
    fortified twinkle's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    Since I started my new job I've encountered two people (omnivores, supposedly ) who had never eaten a kiwi fruit. And these were middle aged people! I find that weird.
    "If you don't have a song to sing you're okay, you know how to get along humming" Waltz (better than fine) - Fiona Apple

  19. #69
    Jippia
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    I try to eat more varied food, but not as much as I would if I were single. My husband does not like everything and that limits my range of recipes. Still, I am trying to break out of the routine and to find new recipes that are to his liking.

    Mirjam

  20. #70
    gorillagorilla Gorilla's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    Quote twinkle View Post
    Since I started my new job I've encountered two people (omnivores, supposedly ) who had never eaten a kiwi fruit. And these were middle aged people! I find that weird.
    when i went to uni i met a girl (omni) who'd never eaten pizza or cottage cheese.
    'The word gorilla was derived from the Greek word Gorillai (a "tribe of hairy women")'

  21. #71
    pavotrouge
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    I know stories like that... whenever I mention chickpeas, a collegue says "Well but I don't eat peas"...

  22. #72
    glow Cup'O'Tea's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    Definitely more varied as vegan, even more than as a vegetarian.

    I think less options = more need for creativity, so I'm far more likely now to throw a bunch of good ingredients together and see what comes of them now, whereas before I'd just eat pizza pockets and frozen dinners and crap.

    I love cooking now, more than ever.

  23. #73

    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    I agree, I love cooking more than ever now that I'm vegan...I still don't like the chopping bit much though But I'm not sure I think that there are "less options"...I've learned of so many ingredients I never even knew about (i.e., nutritional yeast, quinoa, seitan, etc.) that I just have to find ways to experiment with them I was just thinking last night, after I ate a bowl of lentil-quinoa stew (from "La Dolce Vegan"--except I added frozen broccoli and didn't process it at all), how much better I feel when I eat after having become vegan...not just "full," but fullfilled in many ways
    When you are guided by compassion and loving-kindness, you are able to look deeply into the heart of reality and see the truth.--Thich Nhat Hanh

  24. #74

    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    I eat a lot more veriety. But that might also be a function of adulthood. ?

    My father, the consumate omnivore, eats a greater veriety than anyone I've ever met.
    context is everything

  25. #75
    emoticonaddict Spud Addict's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    More now, but initially much less.

  26. #76
    pathologist
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    Certainly for me it is much more varied - each week I use one cookery book and take the main meals for that week from it - putting in Old favourites every so often. I discover the most fanastic meals doing this. This week it is Demuth's of bath cookbook - Green world - last night was a fantastic butternut squash and mushroom risotto - but for a change i used Spelt instead of rice - it was delicious!

  27. #77
    cherrywisp
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    You know this is actually a really cool question, I thought about this myself a lot...I eat SO many different things now, a lot more than I used to. Before it was like every day was the same food.

  28. #78
    WalkingJukebox KrissStress's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    same with me. When I ate animal stuff, I just ate whatever was around. Nowadays I have so many more options and so many ways to prepare things that I never get tired of anything I make (and I usually make enough at times to store more for additional meals later on).

    I would think I probably eat the same amount as I used to when eating meat. I do snack more though because of fruits and things like that.

  29. #79
    Mrs. Beane fondducoeur's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    I learned how to cook and found out that I love it!
    I am constanly making recipes for food I have never tried, whereas before if I cooked it was too attempt something I had eaten before.
    Also, I eat food from cultures all over the world. I wasn't a picky eater before, but didn't go out of my way to try a lot of new things either.

    I heart vegan food
    tabbouleh-bouleh

  30. #80
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    I used to be afraid of cooking and hated it, now I am an adventurer in the kitchen.

  31. #81
    Josef
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    i only ever remember eating pasta and mcdonald's when i was carnivorous. then i graduated to a diet of egg and cheese breakfast burritos when i went vegetarian. i hadn't even tried avocados until age 20, post veganism. when i ate animal derived food, eating felt more like an addiction that needed satisfying than real sustenance.

  32. #82
    Can't cook. Sarah_'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    Like most of you here, I eat a lot more varied things. Before I was vegan. I would never even think about walking to a Vietnamese food store and checking things out, or even picking up a cookbook for that matter! :O Everything was just too complicated or too weird. Now I'm learning to branch out and thinking of different ways in which to use specific foods. Also, I'm learning to cook! Before it was Ramen noodles, spaghetti, hot dogs, chicken fingers, pork chops and potatos, etc. I still have vegan forms of these things, but I also have lots of other foods as well! I never thought of food as something exciting, but now just being on the food section of this forum or shopping at a Whole Foods is fun for me.
    Either this wallpaper goes, or I do.

  33. #83
    pavotrouge
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    aaaw why can't there be a Whole Foods on Continental Europe!

  34. #84
    sugarmouse
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    I agree I find food and cooking,preparing, shopping, FUN now!I used be alot more scared of it!Veganism has done my eating disorder good.I hav to talk about food now, because folk always ask about it.Though there wasnt ever a black and white for me, even when I was vegetarian, dairy featured very little,prob more so when I ate out because cheese seems to be such a vegetarian staple but then I was so terrified of eating in public that that was very seldom an occasion.

  35. #85
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    I definitely eat a wider variety of foods now. I have tried new foods that previously I wouldn't wanted to have tried and being vegan has opened my eyes to all of the different foods out there that are amazingly good for you

  36. #86
    made of jam Aims's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    I eat a lot more varied food now. Even more so after going vegan than when I was vegetarian (because then it was like the whole "substitute meat for lots of dairy and eggs!!" thing).

  37. #87
    The Birdlady AliBlack's Avatar
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    Much more varied when I was veggie than when I ate meat, and MUCH more varied now as a vegan!

  38. #88
    rxseeeyse
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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    at least I never eat beans before, but now I eat them a lot...and I also drink soy milk which I rarely do before...

  39. #89

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    Default Re: Do you eat more or less varied food than you did when you were eating meat &

    A vegan diet is definitely more varied, as you just can't walk around a supermarket and pick up whatever, because you have to check and pay much more attention so you notice new things. Plus you discover new shops on the epic quest that is a vegan shopping trip (although the longer you're vegan the easier it becomes) and in the veganisation of dishes you have to experiment with new products and ingredients, and therefore try new things.

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