Review of a vegan diet based on personal experience
Being vegan takes some time to get used to – here’s what I learned from one month of veganism. (And especially the weeks after.)
Eating only plant-based for a month sounds very daunting and scary for many – myself included. I still gave it a go in order to challenge myself, try new recipes and be a better role model for my nutrition coaching clients. Read all the reasons in this previous post.
Which part of fried chicken wings are you missing; the bland chicken or the crunchy bits? That’s what I thought. Here are some ear-popping Cauliflower Hot Wings. with Spicy Korean sauce
With Veganuary 2020 long behind us, I still want to share with you what I learned from living plant-based for a month. In general, being vegan is actually a lot easier than I thought. Yes, you might miss cheese and crave some particular items, but all in all, it’s really more than doable. Let’s talk about the good, the bad and the ugly truth.
Spoiler alert: There’s absolutely no need to eat tofu-burgers, tofu-sausages, fake turkey, beyond meat burgers and all that processed bulls*it.
The good – Challenging but very rewarding
If you go vegan you will become more adventurous, conscious of what goes into your body and might even lose a few pounds.
Eating only plant-based pushed me towards trying a lot of new things and products in the kitchen. The main reason for me to try veganism in the first place was to broaden my recipe repertoire. I became more adventurous in the kitchen again and tried more new recipes in a single month than I did in the whole year of 2019. Most of them were absolutely delicious. Especially if you try new recipes that try to simply swap out the meat for something else you will be delighted. Many of the recipes that I tried made me question why I was eating meat on a semi-regular basis anyway.
Smoky black bean casserole
Rich Mexican flavors and a lot of smokiness from Chipotle and smoked paprika. There is coffee in the casserole which gives it a lot of extra depth. Onion, bell pepper, carrot, black beans, and a touch of brown rice add body. Not bad!
Cheesy herb roasted chickpeas
Oven roasted chickpeas as a little TV snack yesterday evening. Rosemary, thyme, oregano, onion, garlic and nutritional yeast add flavors to the crispy legumes.
Speedy lentil bolognese
Vegan bolognese sauce made with mushrooms, carrot and lentils. Garlic, red onion, basil, and oregano add flavor. I used mushroom sauce (the vegan alternative to oyster sauce) in the recipe and added a splash of balsamic vinegar for a little more depth.
Carrot & pepper black bean stir-fry
Quick stir-fry with carrots, bell peppers and kale with a glossy thick fermented black bean sauce. Garlic, ginger, chili and mushroom sauce (the vegan alternative to oyster sauce) add a ton of flavor. As with many Chinese stir-fries corn starch is used to make the sauce extra thick and glossy.
Baked banana oat porridge
Warming oat porridge on a cold rainy winter day. Oat porridge is one of my go-to winter breakfasts. This one was made with almond milk, cinnamon, topped with walnuts and baked in the oven. Tastes like the deep-fried banana you sometimes get as a dessert in Chinese restaurants.
Vegan okonomiyaki
This vegan version used cabbage, carrot, zucchini and spring onion, held together by almond flour, coconut milk, apple sauce and starch. It didn't properly held together or got crispy...
Peanut butter & BBQ jackfruit pizza
With chicken satay pizza being one of my all-time favorites, I just had to try this totally vegan one! Jackfruit with homemade BBQ sauce that gets extra thick with a big spoonful of peanut butter. So good! I added some green bell pepper and button mushrooms for the extra veggie count. The vegan cheese I used didn't properly melt, but tasted like "normal" processed cheese.
Added more chili to the homemade BBQ sauce, squeezed out the jackfruit a bit more to make sure it sucks up more flavor and tried a different vegan cheese. This one earlier as Mozzarella-style and melted better than the other one I had tried.
On top of all that, I added oyster mushrooms for an extra meaty and chewy bite. Spot-on!
Cauliflower Alfredo pasta
A vegan version of Alfredo sauce. It's quick, healthy and fully plant-based. Butter, cream and cheese get replaced by cauliflower, dairy-free milk and nutritional yeast for a cheese flavor
Courgette, cannelini, coconut and tomato stew
A quick and easy weekday dinner with zucchini, spinach, beans, tomatoes and coconut milk. You can easily hustle this up and have on your table in 20 minutes!
For a tad more flavor I added a splash balsamic vinegar, and a pinch of chili and black pepper
Zucchini noodles, bell pepper, carrot, peas, radishes and broccoli. All covered with a creamy cashew sauce. Really filling and satiating
10-minute chickpea and spinach curry
The flavors you just love from a nice chicken curry! Super quick and easy to make. Sweat down some onions and garlic, make a sauce, thicken it with almond flour and toss in some spinach! Done in literally 10 minutes
Spiced Aubergine Pide
Tasty spiced eggplant filling with cumin, coriander seeds, garlic and cinnamon. All on top of a Turkish pide flatbread. Served with garlic mint dip made from coconut yogurt, and sprinkled with pistachio dukkah. Both those toppings were amazing and I'm gonna keep them in my repertoire for sure
Hot & sour aubergine with sticky rice
Spicy, sweet and sour eggplant, stir-fried with onions and peas. Sticky luscious sauce made from vinegar, sugar, soy, and thickened by cornflour
Spaghetti pot with Thai pesto
Noodles in warming broth with layers and layers of flavor. Sweet potato, mushrooms, spinach, lemongrass, ginger, kaffir lime leaves, all simmered in coconut milk. Topped off with delicious well-balanced Thai pesto
Lentil & sweet potato curry
A warming flavorful curry with red lentils, sweet potato, chopped tomatoes and chickpeas. Cumin, mustard seeds and curry power add some oomph. This dish is super easy to make, has lots of fiber, vitamin C and iron. You can hustle this up in half an hour
Speedy mushroom stroganoff
Quick vegan mushroom pasta sauce for those busy evenings. Lots of seared mushrooms in a thick sauce made from mushroom stems, cashew butter, garlic, onions, mustard, vinegar and smoked paprika
Sweet potato and black bean stew
Hearty vegan stew with lots of spinach, sweet potato and black beans. Lots of flavors going on from garlic, turmeric, paprika, chili and ground coriander. (Grind your own! So much better)
Zucchini Lasagne with Cashew Cheese Pesto
Low-carb version of the the old time favorite: Lasagne. Lasagne noodles get swapped for zucchini ribbons to bring down the carb-count. The cashew pesto with nutritional yeast, basil, lemon and garlic adds flavor and depth, while the red bell pepper brings a little sweetness
Cauliflower Hot Wings
Double-breading cauliflower with flour, garlic powder and paprika before dipping in panko breadcrumbs. Baked in the oven, then coated with sauce and back to the oven again.
The recipe called for Japanese panko breadcrumbs, but I always bread my amazing chicken wings with crushed cornflakes for extra ear popping crunch. And instead of using BBQ sauce, I made my famous Korean fried chicken sauce
Sweet potato brownies
Potatoes underdover! This brownie recipe has sweet potato in. Say whut?? Flour, sugar, vanilla, lots of nut butter (I used a mix of cashew and peanut butter). Mix in some dark chocolate, pop it in the oven and you get delicious brownies
Three-bean paella with peas and peppers
A filling delicious plant-based paella. Smoky paprika, piquant olives, roasted peppers, some green peas all enclosed by al dente rice and different beans
Cold Sesame Cucumber Noodle salad
Quick and light cucumber salad with a nutty sesame taste. Just spiralise a cucumber, add some rice vinegar, sesame oil and a some more toasted sesame seeds on top.
Sweet and Spicy Mushroom Tongseng
Indonesian curry made with mushrooms and bumbu spice paste. For the Indonesian bumbu paste mash up coriander seeds, shallots, garlic, almonds, ginger and tumeric. The curry itself has lime leaves, lemongrass, galangal (also called laos), chili, sweet ketjap manis soy sauce and some thick coconut milk
Bean soup with sun-dried tomatoes and corn salsa
Thick rich soup with pinto beans, sun-dried tomatoes, warmth from cumin, and spice and smokiness from Chipotle peppers. All topped off with a salsa made from corn, onion, pepper and cilantro
Mushroom Bolognese
Rich tomatoey with lots of mushrooms. It's a vegan version of bolognese which of course is usually a beef ragout. Oregano, basil, bay leaf, and garlic add a ton of flavor to this mushroom-tomato stew. The mushrooms give it a nice meaty texture
Maafe - West African peanut stew
A spicy rich "groundnut" stew with pumpkin, carrot, potato and bell pepper. Silky texture, almost like a curry. Some spice from peppers and all kinds of different textures from smooth peanut butter, chunky pumpkin, sweet carrots, and potatoes. Topped with crushed roasted peanuts and some herbs
Roasted potato salad with pea hummus
You know what's better than potato salad? Potato salad with roasted potatoes!
Potatoes baked in the oven then combined with a homemade pea-chickpea hummus. Super easy to make and extremely filling while still feeling lighter than the "normal" mayo-heavy potato salad
Sweet & sour cauliflower with rice
Cauliflower, bell pepper and onions roasted in the oven. Covered by a thick sweet and sour sauce that will give your local Asian take-away a run for it's money. Add some sweet and juicy pineapple and you have a stir-fry fit for a king (or queen). My expectations for this recipe were quite low to be honest. Boy was I wrong! Absolutely delicious and ridiculously easy to make. 100% a keeper! Greedy looks at the office lunch-table guaranteed
Jackfruit chili bowl
Luxurious chili that will fool you in thinking you are eating pulled chicken. Pulled jackfruit in a homemade chili sauce with lots of BBQ flavors. Jalapeno, smoked paprika, cumin, ground coriander and garlic add lots of flavors. The structure of the jackfruit resembles the stringy consistency of chicken protein
Vegan cheese platter with cashew cheese, almond cheese, and almond & paprika cheese
The cashew cheese has the nicest texture. The almond cheese has a slight gouda-like smell to it, but the texture is somewhat off unfortunately. The almond & paprika cheese is definitely my favorite flavorwise. Paprika, onion, garlic, and nutritional yeast add a lot of oomph to this little cheese
Sweet Potato & Chickpea Curry
Cauliflower, onion, chickpeas and sweet potato with delicious Indian flavors. Some raisins for extra sweetness, tomatoes for body, lemon for some zing and spinach for the extra veggie count
Veganism drives you towards being a lot more conscious of what goes into your body. You are forced to pretty much read the label of every single packaged or canned item in the supermarket. Animal products are hiding in a lot of places you might not expect them to be at. I knew about gelatine in wine-gums, but even the ones without gelatine have beeswax in them to make them shinier. Huh.
If you start digging into veganism, you will learn so much about nutrition, animal welfare and the misinformation spread about vegan nutrition. Even as a certified nutrition coach I learned so much more about protein, B vitamins, nutrient deficiencies and the power of plants.
A vegan alternative to oyster sauce. This stuff is awesome in stir-fries
A whole foods plant-based diet also encourages you to cook more from scratch. Less processed foods, less manufactured products, and very little take-outs meant that I lost around 7 pounds in a month without counting any calories.
The bad – It’s not a magic bullet
“Your skin will clear up, your energy levels will increase, you will feel amazing on a vegan diet!”
I call bullsh*t on that one. I did not feel any different on a vegan diet than the times when I was eating clean and avoiding highly-processed foods.
The first two weeks of being vegan I ate pretty much everything in the supermarket snack aisle that was vegan. Lots of dark chocolate, oreo’s, coated crunchy nuts, chips, and other ultra-processed deep-fried salty potato snacks. Guess what, you can eat pretty unhealthy on a vegan diet. French fries, cola, and Oreos are all day every day? Totally vegan. Good for you? Probably not. It’s very much possible to gain a lot of weight and mess up your cardio-vascular system on a totally vegan diet.
Embrace the can! Veganism can be done on the cheap if you rely on some smart staples from cans
Here’s the truth from my personal experience: A vegan diet will probably make you feel gassy and bloated! Even though legumes, beans, peas, and lentils were already staples in my diet, they become a lot more prominent. I also ate a lot more whole-wheat and whole-grain products. Pretty much all pasta and rice I ate was whole-grain. The extra fiber and starch in legumes and whole-grains can be quite unfamiliar for your gut and digestive system. That’s when you become bloated and gassy. Long-term vegans will tell you that this goes away after a while. It did not in the month that I tried a fully plant-based diet. Never in my life before did my gut felt so uncomfortable on a regular basis.
Being vegan can be quite difficult to maintain in social situations – as is pretty much any dietary change though. People will probably keep asking you why you are doing what you are doing. They might even get a little defensive about their own eating patterns, even if you are not trying to be preachy about your vegan choices.
The ugly truth – I choose not to stick to it
Being vegan is easiest if you never dine out, eat in isolation or only mingle with other vegans. Otherwise, you will have to deal with making sure you have something to eat that matches with your dietary choice and have to deal with the social stigma that is still attached to veganism.
Trying to make different kinds of homemade vegan cheeses …utter fail
If you want to dine out you are best advised to check the menu before to see if the restaurant you are planning to go to actually has options for you. It’s getting a lot better but a lot of restaurants (and your non-vegan friends) won’t be prepared for your arrival. If you are lucky enough to live in a big city, you will have more options. I live in Amsterdam, a city where there’s a lot of choices when it comes to vegan food and restaurants. I’m very aware that this is a lot harder to do in a smaller or rural city.
Why order (vegan) pizza from Dominos when you can make a better one at home? BBQ jackfruit pizza with oyster mushrooms, bell peppers, and red onions
I choose not to stay fully vegan. While I’m writing this we are hitting the end of February. Veganuary is long behind us and currently, I’m still eating around 70% vegetarian and vegan, while having some fish or meat occasionally. (Current stats 24-02-2020: Out of all days this year 64% have been fully vegan, 5% were vegetarian, 31% had some meat or fish in them). I’m aiming for 80% plant-based and try to give animal dishes a more special place in my diet, rather than eating them mindlessly on auto-pilot.
What annoyed me most about sticking to a vegan lifestyle was this polarizing WE against THEM mentality on both ends of the spectrum. Why does it have to be MEAT-EATER vs PLANT-EATER? Just opt for the middle ground. Try to eat more vegetables and eat fewer animal products. It’s better for your health and better for the environment.
Indonesian Sweet and Spicy Mushroom Tongseng curry. Many dishes like this one made me forget that I was skipping meat on purpose
And there you have it. More than a month of veganism. I learned a lot, I regret absolutely nothing and it changed my eating habits for the better.
Practical tip: Start small – Try 2 new vegan recipes this week
The cold-turkey (kicking all animal products in one go) approach can be daunting but might give yourself a reality check. All-in-veganism is literally quite life-changing.
If you are vegan-curious, ease your way into a plant-based diet. Try 2 vegan recipes you have never tried before in the next week. Familiarize yourself with the ingredients you don’t know yet and get ready to be surprised.
Ease your way into a plant-based diet with flavorful Indian curries like this one
More in-depth articles about how to be vegan coming up
In the upcoming weeks, I will release a few more posts that go into more detail of specific aspects of a plant-based diet.
How to get enough protein for those gains in the gym
And which vegan products I tried and can highly recommend (and which ones sucked…)
Curious and fearing to miss anything? Sign-up for the newsletter underneath!
In case you wonder why I chose to give veganism a try in the first place, read here why.
Comments are obviously more than welcome! Have you tried sticking to a vegan diet? Any concerns, questions, hesitations, and fears? Share them here with us and I might be able to share some first-hand experience about it with you.
An interesting article, however, my personal reason for eating a plant based diet is the incalculable hell, the meat/dairy industry inflicts on sentient beings 24/7.
It is without any stretch of the imagination adhorrent.
To have to go the extra mile to check ingredients at a restaurant is surely worth there misery?
Hi Norman, thanks for taking the time to read my article on trying veganism.
It’s great that you are fully committed to animal welfare and a plant-based lifestyle. I have watched a lot of documentaries about the cruelty that is happening in the meat & dairy industry. I completely agree with you that there is a huge disconnect between the pre-packaged plastic-wrapped pinkish piece of pork in the supermarket and the living and ultimately slaughtered pig that precedes it. Education is definitely necessary, but will only be well received if someone is motivated to actually receive it.
As mentioned in the article, I’m not in favor of this ‘US’ against ‘THEM’ mentality that has become even more prevalent in the world since I wrote this one year ago. Trying to shame and guilt people into a point of view is most probably only going to have adverse effects. Driving people further apart and solidifying unnecessary communication walls.
In my opinion, it’s best to find a way that works best for oneself. For me personally, that is focussing on the nutritional aspects of a mostly plant-based diet. If people eat fewer animal products in order to eat healthier – and not because of animal welfare – that’s good enough for me.
An interesting article, however, my personal reason for eating a plant based diet is the incalculable hell, the meat/dairy industry inflicts on sentient beings 24/7.
It is without any stretch of the imagination adhorrent.
To have to go the extra mile to check ingredients at a restaurant is surely worth there misery?
Hi Norman, thanks for taking the time to read my article on trying veganism.
It’s great that you are fully committed to animal welfare and a plant-based lifestyle. I have watched a lot of documentaries about the cruelty that is happening in the meat & dairy industry. I completely agree with you that there is a huge disconnect between the pre-packaged plastic-wrapped pinkish piece of pork in the supermarket and the living and ultimately slaughtered pig that precedes it. Education is definitely necessary, but will only be well received if someone is motivated to actually receive it.
As mentioned in the article, I’m not in favor of this ‘US’ against ‘THEM’ mentality that has become even more prevalent in the world since I wrote this one year ago. Trying to shame and guilt people into a point of view is most probably only going to have adverse effects. Driving people further apart and solidifying unnecessary communication walls.
In my opinion, it’s best to find a way that works best for oneself. For me personally, that is focussing on the nutritional aspects of a mostly plant-based diet. If people eat fewer animal products in order to eat healthier – and not because of animal welfare – that’s good enough for me.
Cheers and have a lovely rest of the week,
Johnny