The Lemon Fool

I'm a week in and to be honest I am not missing meat or dairy as much as I thought I might.

Feeling a bit more bloated than usual due no doubt the the pulses but so far so good.

John

Any thoughts of keeping a culinary diary and perhaps posting it at the end of the month? You might become an inspiration for someone!

UncleEbenezer wrote:Any thoughts of keeping a culinary diary and perhaps posting it at the end of the month? You might become an inspiration for someone!

That's a good idea UncleE. Apologies for the format, I have no idea how to use the table function.

I weighed myself this morning at 91.8Kg. I weigh 95kg last Monday after a long weekend in Italy! Weight loss is not a primary motivator but getting my weight under 90kg would be a bonus (that would be BMI 24.7)

I have noticed some bloating, with the accompanying flatulence.

The following gives the main meal item but excludes fruit, usually a banana plus either an apple or orange every day. Side dishes such as salads usually had with dinner. Drinks: Black coffee, black tea, home made kombucha . Beer (I have ignored the isinglass found in some beers.) I am trying to avoid vegan processed food but my daughter has left several processed items in the freezer which I will eat during the month. All curries, soups and similar sauces made from scratch with added nutritional yeast for vitamin B12.


Breakfast:- Lunch:- Dinner

Monday: Spent travelling from Bologna (where I had my last non vegan lunch)

Tuesday: Toast and Avocado:- Bruschetta:- Vegan Chilli+Rice

Weds: Toast +Mushrooms:- Pitta+Hummus:- Lentil Curry

Thursday (Fast day): Dinner Veggie Soup*
* Homemade soup with cabbage, courgette, aubergine, carrot, cannellini beans.

Friday: Toast and Avocado:- Hummus+Crudites:- Veggie Curry*
* Curry made using veggie soup as a base with added puy lentils

Sat : Toast mushrooms :- Curry Wrap:- Pasta marinara

Sunday : Toast Peanut Butter:- Chickpea salad :- Rice and peas

Monday (Fast Day): Dinner Veggie burger*
*With homemade sauerkraut

Nutritional yeast does not contain Vitamin B12 unless it is fortified. The body keeps large stores of Vitamin B12 so a short term deficit does not matter. The UK RNI is 1.5 mcg per day, which is lower than most recomendations. That is about as much as you can absorb in one go via Intrinsic Factor, but healthy individuals absorb about 1% of any excess by diffusion through the gut. It is common for elderly people to have difficulty absorbing Vitamin B12. I take half a 500 mcg tablet daily, which yields roughly 1.5 mcg + 2.5 mcg. This guy believes that elderly people should take even more than I do:

https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/vitamin-b12/

The body easily gets rid of any excess.

Here is free database, if you want to know how much of each nutrient you are getting:

https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list

You can easily put the relevant data into a spreadsheet. I blow my requirements out of the water.

GeoffF100 wrote:Nutritional yeast does not contain Vitamin B12 unless it is fortified.

It is fortified and added for taste as well as vitamins and minerals.

John

Still going on the vegan diet. I weighed myself yesterday and am actually under 90kg for the first time in over five years.

Nearly through with the monthly challenge and I think I will certainly be eating less meat in future than I used to eat.

John