Jan. 1, 2024

Veganuary: Making the Transition to a Plant-Based Diet

In this episode, we discuss the concept of 'Veganuary', where people try a plant-based diet for the month of January. We give advice on how to transition to being vegan. We suggest various tips and tricks. We also suggest plant-based alternatives for condiments, meats, and cheeses. Additionally, we recommend vegan-friendly snacks. We explain how to increase protein intake through vegan sources. We highlight some of the hidden non-vegan ingredients in goods. We also suggest some vegan-friendly...

In this episode, we discuss the concept of 'Veganuary', where people try a plant-based diet for the month of January. We give advice on how to transition to being vegan. We suggest various tips and tricks. We also suggest plant-based alternatives for condiments, meats, and cheeses. Additionally, we recommend vegan-friendly snacks. We explain how to increase protein intake through vegan sources. We highlight some of the hidden non-vegan ingredients in goods. We also suggest some vegan-friendly restaurants. Lastly, we provide mechanisms to handle social situations. Finally, we introduce our new free Veganuary e-book. It contains a meal plan based on the discussed high-protein vegan recipes and a teaser for the next episode about micronutrients.

Check out our free e-book: Veganuary High Protein Survival Guide

Our mentioned articles:
Guide to Tofu
Guide to TVP

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to the Podcast
00:09 Understanding Veganuary
00:35 Tips and Tricks for Going Plant-Based
00:53 Favorite Swaps for Condiments, Meat, and Cheese
01:14 Exploring Meat Alternatives
03:30 Discovering Cheese Substitutions
07:17 Snack Options for Vegans
09:37 Vegan Protein Bars
10:28 Finding Vegan Options at Restaurants
11:23 Navigating Social Settings as a Vegan
11:45 The Importance of Cooking Your Own Vegan Food
12:24 The Reality of Vegan Options in Restaurants
12:50 Understanding Protein Sources in a Vegan Diet
13:54 The Difference Between Plant-Based and Vegan
14:46 Hidden Non-Vegan Ingredients to Watch Out For
15:03 Veganism Beyond Food: Clothing, Accessories, and More
17:10 Free Ebook and Meal Plan for Vegans
18:21 High-Protein Vegan Recipes
23:00 Closing Remarks and Preview of Next Episode

Protein Deficient Vegan Website

Muscle Deficient Vegan Website

Follow us on social media:
Muscle Deficient Vegan - Fitness & Nutrition
Instagram
YouTube
TikTok

Protein Deficient Vegan - Food & Recipes
Instagram
YouTube
TikTok

00:00 - Introduction to the Podcast

00:09 - Understanding Veganuary

00:35 - Tips and Tricks for Going Plant-Based

00:53 - Favorite Swaps for Condiments, Meat, and Cheese

01:14 - Exploring Meat Alternatives

03:30 - Discovering Cheese Substitutions

07:17 - Snack Options for Vegans

09:37 - Vegan Protein Bars

10:28 - Finding Vegan Options at Restaurants

11:23 - Navigating Social Settings as a Vegan

11:45 - The Importance of Cooking Your Own Vegan Food

12:24 - The Reality of Vegan Options in Restaurants

12:50 - Understanding Protein Sources in a Vegan Diet

13:54 - The Difference Between Plant-Based and Vegan

14:46 - Hidden Non-Vegan Ingredients to Watch Out For

15:03 - Veganism Beyond Food: Clothing, Accessories, and More

17:10 - Free Ebook and Meal Plan for Vegans

18:21 - High-Protein Vegan Recipes

22:56 - Closing Remarks and Preview of Next Episode

WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.644
Welcome to episode eight of the Deficient Vegans podcast.

00:00:02.644 --> 00:00:05.546
I'm the muscle deficient vegan and here with the protein deficient vegan.

00:00:05.546 --> 00:00:06.296
You wanna say hi?

00:00:06.560 --> 00:00:06.780
Hi.

00:00:07.105 --> 00:00:07.556
Hi.

00:00:08.215 --> 00:00:09.746
So happy New Year, everybody.

00:00:09.746 --> 00:00:11.545
Today is January 1st, 2024.

00:00:12.701 --> 00:00:18.490
January, if you don't know, also starts vegan, which, uh, is in the month of January.

00:00:18.521 --> 00:00:25.240
People will try a plant-based diet or try out the vegan lifestyle if they're maybe thinking about, uh, transitioning to something like that.

00:00:26.231 --> 00:00:29.710
And did you know a lot of people that try out vegan actually stay vegan?

00:00:29.861 --> 00:00:30.580
Oh, I didn't know that.

00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:30.916
Yeah, that's pretty.

00:00:31.216 --> 00:00:31.335
It's a

00:00:31.756 --> 00:00:33.585
pretty good ratio.

00:00:33.795 --> 00:00:34.036
Yeah.

00:00:34.606 --> 00:00:39.735
So in the spirit of the January, we're gonna go over some kind of tips and tricks for going plant-based.

00:00:40.155 --> 00:00:45.195
Over the years, I've gotten a lot of questions about like, don't you have cravings for meat and dairy products?

00:00:45.526 --> 00:00:51.765
Which I think is a pretty normal question because a lot of people are omnivorous before they decide to go plant-based.

00:00:52.155 --> 00:00:53.820
So we've put together like.

00:00:54.685 --> 00:00:59.125
A list of our favorite swaps for like condiments, meat cheeses.

00:00:59.456 --> 00:01:03.716
So for condiments, we've got Follow Your Heart Mayonnaise and Follow Your Heart Ranch dressing.

00:01:03.716 --> 00:01:05.305
You can find both of those at the grocery store.

00:01:05.305 --> 00:01:07.135
They're both, uh, really good substitutions.

00:01:07.256 --> 00:01:11.006
Yeah, I think I like the ranch dressing even better than like Hidden Valley, honestly.

00:01:11.096 --> 00:01:12.686
Yeah, the ranch dressing is actually really good.

00:01:13.536 --> 00:01:18.965
Then for some meat alternatives, there's a brand called Garine, G-A-R-D-E-I-N.

00:01:18.965 --> 00:01:21.456
That makes a whole lot of stuff like uh,

00:01:21.995 --> 00:01:22.745
fish filets,

00:01:22.745 --> 00:01:25.445
fish filets, chicken tenders, obviously not real fish or chicken.

00:01:25.445 --> 00:01:26.766
Yeah, just vegan substitutions,

00:01:26.796 --> 00:01:27.665
crab cakes.

00:01:27.725 --> 00:01:28.715
Oh, they're crab cakes are really good.

00:01:28.715 --> 00:01:28.956
I think

00:01:29.165 --> 00:01:30.396
like they're seafood.

00:01:30.700 --> 00:01:32.740
Alternatives are probably the best we've found.

00:01:32.921 --> 00:01:33.281
Yeah.

00:01:33.521 --> 00:01:35.471
And they also have a lot of good like fake chicken stuff.

00:01:35.650 --> 00:01:35.950
Yeah.

00:01:36.430 --> 00:01:44.710
There's also a cool brand called Meaty that's kind of new, but they use mushroom root and make it kind of like a fake pulled meat type situation.

00:01:44.801 --> 00:01:45.040
Yeah.

00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:49.870
Honestly, the texture is so close for what I can remember that it's, I don't like it.

00:01:50.861 --> 00:01:51.370
I like it.

00:01:51.370 --> 00:01:52.016
It's really good in tacos.

00:01:53.301 --> 00:01:56.271
The next one is Morningstar, which has been around forever.

00:01:56.271 --> 00:02:00.081
And when I was a vegetarian and a little kid, I had Morningstar all the time.

00:02:00.471 --> 00:02:05.421
They still have a lot of really good vegan meat alternatives, like their veggie corn.

00:02:05.421 --> 00:02:06.471
Dogs are fire.

00:02:07.301 --> 00:02:07.661
Yeah.

00:02:08.381 --> 00:02:11.770
Also you've probably heard of Beyond and Impossible for Burger patties.

00:02:12.100 --> 00:02:13.721
I think they're pretty interchangeable.

00:02:13.751 --> 00:02:21.131
They both are patties of fake meat, so you can use them the same way you would use any other patty of meat.

00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:23.411
I think they also have like sausages and stuff.

00:02:23.501 --> 00:02:23.890
Yeah.

00:02:23.950 --> 00:02:26.200
Not really my cup of tea.

00:02:26.290 --> 00:02:26.381
Yeah.

00:02:26.381 --> 00:02:27.790
I don't, I just don't really like that stuff.

00:02:27.795 --> 00:02:27.855
They're,

00:02:27.860 --> 00:02:31.570
they're not outstanding, but they fit the bill if you really need to substitute in hamburgers or something.

00:02:31.570 --> 00:02:31.721
Yeah.

00:02:31.721 --> 00:02:31.841
If

00:02:31.841 --> 00:02:34.151
you're really missing it, I think it, it'll do,

00:02:34.270 --> 00:02:34.330
yeah.

00:02:35.366 --> 00:02:39.235
Also for something like sandwiches, uh, to Turkey deli slices are pretty good.

00:02:39.235 --> 00:02:42.235
It's basically tofu shaped like deli Turkey slices.

00:02:42.265 --> 00:02:42.955
Yeah, so

00:02:43.346 --> 00:02:44.455
the macros are good too, I think.

00:02:44.485 --> 00:02:44.635
Yeah,

00:02:44.635 --> 00:02:45.866
they have a pretty high protein.

00:02:46.045 --> 00:02:46.286
Yeah.

00:02:46.705 --> 00:02:51.385
So also, uh, plant-based jerkies, there's the Louisville Vegan Jerky Company.

00:02:51.626 --> 00:02:53.276
They make a lot of good vegan jerky.

00:02:53.306 --> 00:02:55.855
One of my favorite flavors is the Smoky Carolina Barbecue.

00:02:57.170 --> 00:03:00.200
And for another primary protein source, Satan is a great option.

00:03:00.381 --> 00:03:02.420
We really like the Blackbird brand of Satan.

00:03:02.450 --> 00:03:05.691
Now you can get it in some stores, but we just order it from their website.

00:03:05.691 --> 00:03:06.501
They do mail order.

00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:08.781
They have a really good barbecue flavor.

00:03:08.811 --> 00:03:09.320
Ooh, yeah.

00:03:09.411 --> 00:03:10.161
That one's my favorite.

00:03:10.251 --> 00:03:10.610
Yeah.

00:03:10.700 --> 00:03:12.170
And the original flavor is good.

00:03:12.170 --> 00:03:13.911
We using like stir fries and stuff like that.

00:03:14.001 --> 00:03:14.241
Yeah.

00:03:14.330 --> 00:03:15.890
The barbecue one, we just straight up eat.

00:03:16.006 --> 00:03:16.295
Yeah.

00:03:17.091 --> 00:03:17.211
Yeah.

00:03:17.241 --> 00:03:18.651
Like little cave people.

00:03:18.746 --> 00:03:19.885
Yeah, it's really easy to cook.

00:03:19.885 --> 00:03:28.885
It's probably, I mean, if you're looking for a meat substitute that's really easy to cook, you basically, they're actually pre-cooked, so you just kind of heat 'em back up in a pan or something and you can just eat it like a big pile of pulled meat.

00:03:28.915 --> 00:03:33.086
Next we have some cheese substitutions, so Follow Your Heart has a bunch of good cheeses.

00:03:33.086 --> 00:03:35.006
One of the ones we really like is they Parmesan.

00:03:35.591 --> 00:03:38.980
Yeah, it browns really good in the oven, so we like to use it on like casseroles.

00:03:39.040 --> 00:03:40.091
It's good on pizzas too.

00:03:40.691 --> 00:03:40.901
Yeah.

00:03:41.170 --> 00:03:42.971
And that's like a graded Parmesan, so

00:03:42.971 --> 00:03:44.621
I wouldn't use it in anything cold.

00:03:44.621 --> 00:03:49.691
Like you definitely wanna heat this one up 'cause it like the texture is like so on point when it's baked.

00:03:49.781 --> 00:03:53.080
Also, if you're looking for a block of Parmesan, we like veal life for that.

00:03:53.860 --> 00:03:54.341
Yes.

00:03:54.520 --> 00:03:56.471
And we also like peaceful rebel.

00:03:57.070 --> 00:03:57.550
Oh yeah, they

00:03:57.550 --> 00:04:00.191
have a pretty good Parmesan block and it's made out of tofu, so

00:04:00.341 --> 00:04:00.670
yeah,

00:04:00.941 --> 00:04:04.270
it doesn't have like crazy amounts of protein, but it definitely has more than any of the other ones.

00:04:04.300 --> 00:04:04.450
Yeah,

00:04:04.450 --> 00:04:04.991
that's a new one.

00:04:04.991 --> 00:04:12.221
We've, we've just recently tried, but I really like it also for shredded cheeses, like your, like Mexican cheese or shredded cheddars.

00:04:12.461 --> 00:04:14.110
We typically use veal life for those.

00:04:14.110 --> 00:04:19.000
They've actually got a Mexican flavor and a cheddar, you know, flavor and a couple other ones as well.

00:04:19.060 --> 00:04:20.651
Mozzarella, I think they even have a mozzarella.

00:04:20.656 --> 00:04:20.865
Yeah.

00:04:21.100 --> 00:04:21.401
Yeah.

00:04:21.490 --> 00:04:23.471
We really like it on like nachos.

00:04:23.831 --> 00:04:24.641
Quesadilla is.

00:04:25.245 --> 00:04:26.865
I also like adding it to tofu scramble.

00:04:26.865 --> 00:04:28.875
It gives it like a little bit extra texture.

00:04:28.906 --> 00:04:29.086
Yeah.

00:04:29.086 --> 00:04:30.286
It kinda holds it together really well.

00:04:30.315 --> 00:04:30.826
Yeah.

00:04:30.826 --> 00:04:30.836
Yeah.

00:04:31.636 --> 00:04:34.005
DIA also has decent shredded cheese.

00:04:34.245 --> 00:04:36.435
It used to suck, but it's gotten a lot better.

00:04:36.526 --> 00:04:37.516
Yeah, I agree with that.

00:04:38.475 --> 00:04:43.815
And then for making pizzas and casserole, the KO's liquid mozzarella,

00:04:43.935 --> 00:04:45.406
it is so good.

00:04:45.526 --> 00:04:51.615
It browns, but it's also like nice and creamy, and you don't normally get that with mozzarella normally.

00:04:51.615 --> 00:04:52.036
It's like.

00:04:52.190 --> 00:04:52.821
Oily.

00:04:53.060 --> 00:04:53.300
Yeah.

00:04:53.571 --> 00:05:01.521
And gets kind of like liquidy and disgusting, but like this one bakes really nice and it tastes great on pizza or casseroles.

00:05:02.365 --> 00:05:05.396
They didn't really have 'em in stores, but I've seen 'em in a lot more stores now.

00:05:05.456 --> 00:05:09.596
Yeah, it was really hard to find other than just ordering online for a while, but we've seen it a couple places now.

00:05:10.286 --> 00:05:15.805
Also, KO's has some artisan cheeses, so there's a couple special ones we use for different sauces and things like that.

00:05:16.255 --> 00:05:24.805
The sun dried tomato one is super awesome because you can just literally heat it up with your favorite plant-based milk and you have an instant like pasta sauce.

00:05:25.286 --> 00:05:25.375
Yeah.

00:05:26.021 --> 00:05:28.451
One of our favorites is Nuts for Cheese.

00:05:28.540 --> 00:05:32.440
They have some really good artisan cheese wedges and they all taste really good on like crackers.

00:05:32.440 --> 00:05:33.790
They just spread really nice.

00:05:34.271 --> 00:05:34.630
Yeah.

00:05:34.630 --> 00:05:37.990
And there, there's a company here local to Chicago called Cheese and Thank you.

00:05:38.290 --> 00:05:40.000
That has a a bunch of really good options.

00:05:40.511 --> 00:05:43.060
They can also be found in Whole Foods, I think, right?

00:05:43.240 --> 00:05:43.661
Yes.

00:05:43.901 --> 00:05:44.081
Yeah.

00:05:44.290 --> 00:05:44.440
Yeah.

00:05:44.440 --> 00:05:49.240
And if you're lucky enough to live close to Chicago, they have popups and you can try out other random crap.

00:05:49.271 --> 00:05:50.081
They don't sell at the store.

00:05:50.360 --> 00:05:50.600
Yeah.

00:05:51.740 --> 00:05:57.081
Also if you like feta cheese, follow your heart has some feta crumbles that you can put on pretty much all the same things.

00:05:57.110 --> 00:06:00.050
Yeah, I really like it on salads or like even heated up.

00:06:00.050 --> 00:06:00.620
It's really good.

00:06:00.951 --> 00:06:01.130
Yeah.

00:06:01.130 --> 00:06:10.430
And then, uh, cream cheese via life has, uh, cream cheese, but also Philadelphia has some cream cheeses coming out now that are vegan and those are pretty good.

00:06:10.610 --> 00:06:10.911
Yeah.

00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:13.880
I feel like VO life in Philadelphia are really similar.

00:06:13.940 --> 00:06:14.211
Yeah.

00:06:14.420 --> 00:06:15.500
Really good for bagels.

00:06:16.196 --> 00:06:19.615
Probably don't cook with these because they're coconut oil based.

00:06:19.615 --> 00:06:21.536
Yeah, and they will turn into actual liquid.

00:06:21.565 --> 00:06:23.576
So if you're gonna cook, probably use them.

00:06:23.576 --> 00:06:29.365
Yo Yoko's cream cheese and the texture's like a little more grainy than the other ones.

00:06:29.456 --> 00:06:30.745
It's not as smooth, but it tastes good.

00:06:31.545 --> 00:06:31.815
Yeah.

00:06:32.415 --> 00:06:43.516
Oh, and then if you're looking for sliced cheese, we don't use this very often, but follow your heart does have some sliced cheese, and actually Kraft just recently came out with sliced vegan cheeses, so they're actually pretty good.

00:06:43.516 --> 00:06:45.105
I think that's probably the go-to from now on.

00:06:45.105 --> 00:06:45.375
Yeah,

00:06:45.735 --> 00:06:58.725
they don't melt exactly the same as real cheese, unless if you add water to your pan after you put it on like a burger or something, and then put the cheese on top and then you add like a spritz of water and cover the pan.

00:06:58.940 --> 00:07:04.011
It has enough humidity to actually get the cheese to melt, and then it's fucking awesome.

00:07:04.341 --> 00:07:04.701
Yeah.

00:07:05.961 --> 00:07:06.290
All right.

00:07:06.290 --> 00:07:09.711
So that's all the, the cheese options we have, there's a lot of other ones out there.

00:07:09.860 --> 00:07:12.591
Those are just the ones that we, we've tried, uh, a lot of them.

00:07:12.591 --> 00:07:14.451
So those are just the ones we kind of keep coming back to.

00:07:14.990 --> 00:07:15.290
Yeah.

00:07:15.891 --> 00:07:17.750
Next we have a bunch of snack options.

00:07:17.810 --> 00:07:19.821
So one of the weird things when you kind of switch to.

00:07:20.201 --> 00:07:25.990
Going vegan or plant-based is, you know, the, the big substitutions, like the ones we just talked about are a problem.

00:07:25.990 --> 00:07:30.730
But really day to day, one of the trickier things is trying to figure out what snacks you like now.

00:07:30.761 --> 00:07:41.290
Just like most of the bigger snack brands are not vegan, and sometimes they'll just have like tiny amounts of milk powder or something that's in them, and that makes them not vegan, even though everything else is vegan.

00:07:41.321 --> 00:07:42.011
So that's annoying.

00:07:42.286 --> 00:07:45.675
Yeah, we do have a couple we found that are good and more are coming out every day.

00:07:45.675 --> 00:07:45.915
Right.

00:07:45.915 --> 00:07:50.266
But there's a brand called Lesser Evil that actually has really good snacks.

00:07:50.266 --> 00:07:52.245
I think You like the white cheddar popcorn a lot.

00:07:52.305 --> 00:07:52.605
Yeah.

00:07:53.415 --> 00:07:56.625
Not all of their snacks are vegan, but they do have a couple really good vegan ones.

00:07:56.656 --> 00:07:56.896
Yeah.

00:07:57.165 --> 00:07:57.495
Okay.

00:07:58.315 --> 00:08:02.156
Also, if you like chocolate, there's a lot of really good vegan chocolate now.

00:08:02.396 --> 00:08:03.596
Plant-based Reese cups.

00:08:03.596 --> 00:08:04.915
Plant-based Hershey bars.

00:08:04.975 --> 00:08:05.935
Lint chocolate.

00:08:05.966 --> 00:08:06.055
Yep.

00:08:06.055 --> 00:08:08.005
Has a couple of oat based chocolates.

00:08:08.050 --> 00:08:10.615
Uh, they actually have some new oat truffles that are really good.

00:08:11.396 --> 00:08:14.156
And then there's another brand called Unreal that does some chocolates.

00:08:14.156 --> 00:08:17.365
They have some peanut butter cups and some chocolate, uh, bars also.

00:08:17.665 --> 00:08:17.935
Yep.

00:08:18.341 --> 00:08:18.630
Yeah.

00:08:19.011 --> 00:08:20.071
And then for ice cream.

00:08:20.600 --> 00:08:25.430
We have a lot of ice cream choices nowadays, and I really like the Ben and Jerry's non-dairy ones.

00:08:25.521 --> 00:08:28.341
Yeah, I feel like they're just as good as the original dairy ones.

00:08:28.341 --> 00:08:31.706
Uh, those are my favorite and I can't tell a difference between those and the dairy ones.

00:08:31.706 --> 00:08:31.716
Yeah,

00:08:31.761 --> 00:08:32.421
I can't either.

00:08:32.600 --> 00:08:32.750
No.

00:08:33.321 --> 00:08:37.260
And then Fry's has a really good non-dairy vanilla that's made with oat milk.

00:08:38.171 --> 00:08:39.821
Oh yeah, that vanilla is super good.

00:08:39.826 --> 00:08:40.245
That's, I think

00:08:40.250 --> 00:08:41.770
it's better than any vanilla I've ever had.

00:08:41.770 --> 00:08:41.921
Yeah,

00:08:41.921 --> 00:08:46.721
I think the briar's oat milk vanilla is like the ice cream you should put on top of a pie or something.

00:08:46.750 --> 00:08:47.806
Yeah, it's super, super good

00:08:47.806 --> 00:08:48.365
for, yeah.

00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:51.461
And then Notam Mo has pines that are really good.

00:08:51.520 --> 00:08:52.510
Lots of different flavors.

00:08:52.961 --> 00:08:54.760
So Delicious has good ice cream bars.

00:08:54.760 --> 00:09:00.520
And then we actually just tried a brand that's pretty new called Wicked, and their ice cream bars are pretty good too.

00:09:00.821 --> 00:09:00.880
Yeah.

00:09:01.735 --> 00:09:03.086
Oh yeah, the wicked ones were really good.

00:09:03.086 --> 00:09:04.765
They had a strawberry one that was super cool.

00:09:05.150 --> 00:09:05.230
Berry.

00:09:05.230 --> 00:09:06.235
Oh, Berry White.

00:09:06.235 --> 00:09:07.765
Yeah, Berry White was the flavor name.

00:09:07.770 --> 00:09:07.990
It was awesome.

00:09:08.096 --> 00:09:08.816
It was really good.

00:09:09.235 --> 00:09:14.186
And then for cookies, Oreo has some vegan flavors and nut butters are vegan.

00:09:14.216 --> 00:09:15.926
And then there's a brand called Sweet Lorenz.

00:09:15.926 --> 00:09:17.186
They're uh, it's just like cookie dough.

00:09:17.186 --> 00:09:18.806
You need to bake, but they're vegan.

00:09:18.836 --> 00:09:21.535
And then there's a cool snack called drizzle.

00:09:21.895 --> 00:09:26.576
We get off Amazon, but it's basically just like a tiny rice cake drizzled in vegan chocolate.

00:09:26.770 --> 00:09:27.100
Yeah.

00:09:27.100 --> 00:09:29.350
And they come in like a hundred calorie snack packs.

00:09:29.350 --> 00:09:32.561
So they're really good if you're like, you know, trying to manage your calories too.

00:09:32.740 --> 00:09:32.980
Yeah.

00:09:33.130 --> 00:09:34.301
But still want something sweet.

00:09:34.630 --> 00:09:34.900
Right.

00:09:35.770 --> 00:09:43.240
So now that we got all the very unhealthy snacks out of the way, I mean, obviously we don't eat a lot of this stuff, but you know, everybody's gotta have something around you.

00:09:43.240 --> 00:09:44.051
You're gonna go crazy.

00:09:44.051 --> 00:09:46.120
So anyway, we also have protein bars.

00:09:46.120 --> 00:09:49.750
So vegan protein bars are uh, varied.

00:09:50.201 --> 00:09:50.561
Yes.

00:09:50.625 --> 00:09:51.206
And we.

00:09:52.421 --> 00:09:54.760
Very much disagree with each other on protein bars.

00:09:54.850 --> 00:09:59.770
Yeah, so I actually like the no cow protein bars

00:09:59.831 --> 00:10:01.000
because he has horrible taste,

00:10:02.260 --> 00:10:08.441
but they're, they're very, they're like a soft chew protein bar instead of like a hard dry protein.

00:10:08.441 --> 00:10:08.860
They're so

00:10:08.860 --> 00:10:10.181
disgusting actually.

00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:12.850
Well, they have a lot of flavors and I really like them.

00:10:12.850 --> 00:10:13.211
So

00:10:13.211 --> 00:10:20.951
anyways, it's okay to be wrong sometimes, but if you want something that tastes good, I would go with misfits or the bare be plant-based bars.

00:10:21.071 --> 00:10:22.630
Yeah, bare be are actually really good.

00:10:22.721 --> 00:10:24.370
Not as good as NoCal, but bare be are good.

00:10:24.490 --> 00:10:24.910
Okay.

00:10:27.191 --> 00:10:27.461
Okay.

00:10:27.461 --> 00:10:33.010
Also, you're probably eventually gonna want to go eat at a restaurant and not make food or eat food at your house at least once or twice a year.

00:10:33.010 --> 00:10:33.280
Right.

00:10:33.910 --> 00:10:37.000
So, so it's kind of tricky to find vegan options at some restaurants.

00:10:37.181 --> 00:10:37.240
Yeah.

00:10:37.660 --> 00:10:44.110
There are a couple of those that are pretty reliable for being able to go and pick up some, you know, food relatively quickly and, and be consistent.

00:10:44.201 --> 00:10:44.530
Yeah.

00:10:44.561 --> 00:10:47.081
Like if you're traveling or like you're desperate.

00:10:47.201 --> 00:10:47.561
Yeah.

00:10:47.980 --> 00:10:50.620
Taco Bell or Chipotle have pretty decent options.

00:10:50.770 --> 00:10:51.010
Yeah.

00:10:51.191 --> 00:10:53.770
Um, and then if you don't already have this app.

00:10:54.341 --> 00:10:55.150
You should get it.

00:10:55.211 --> 00:11:02.201
It's called Happy Cow and it's kind of like Google Reviews, but it's just for vegans and vegetarians and it has saved us many times.

00:11:02.620 --> 00:11:02.831
Yeah.

00:11:02.831 --> 00:11:03.461
Happy Cow.

00:11:03.461 --> 00:11:07.841
Ever since we found it has really changed the game on how we can eat while we travel.

00:11:07.990 --> 00:11:09.280
I mean, it's still not amazing, right?

00:11:09.280 --> 00:11:10.270
It's still hard to find places.

00:11:10.270 --> 00:11:10.360
Yes.

00:11:10.360 --> 00:11:12.671
But Happy Cow will at least show you all the options.

00:11:12.730 --> 00:11:12.941
Right.

00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:15.730
It doesn't create options, but it shows you what's there.

00:11:15.791 --> 00:11:16.061
Yeah.

00:11:16.600 --> 00:11:19.301
And there's actually in a lot of places, there's a lot more there than you would think.

00:11:19.301 --> 00:11:22.030
So it's been super helpful and highly recommend.

00:11:22.091 --> 00:11:31.030
The next thing you might run into is just social settings, like whether it's family gatherings, social outings, work functions and stuff where there just aren't going to be plant-based options.

00:11:31.331 --> 00:11:42.370
So it's important to have conversations upfront, like letting people know your dietary restrictions or bringing your own food, but especially if you're gonna do it long term, you definitely wanna have a plan for those.

00:11:43.030 --> 00:11:44.081
Yeah, I agree.

00:11:44.350 --> 00:11:49.301
And also the bulk of what you're probably gonna be eating as a vegan is gonna be stuff that you cook yourself there.

00:11:49.541 --> 00:11:55.150
There's not enough, you know, packaged prepared, especially healthy food out there to really sustain you a lot.

00:11:55.150 --> 00:11:57.280
Especially, I mean, it's gonna be expensive if you try to do it that way.

00:11:57.280 --> 00:11:57.311
Oh

00:11:57.311 --> 00:11:57.461
yeah.

00:11:57.461 --> 00:12:00.821
Especially the meat and dairy substitutions can get really pricey.

00:12:00.821 --> 00:12:01.211
Yeah.

00:12:01.270 --> 00:12:05.171
So I mean, you, you really want to probably get pretty comfortable with cooking your own food.

00:12:05.350 --> 00:12:05.561
Yeah.

00:12:05.561 --> 00:12:12.010
And how to use spices and I mean, you definitely go out there and experiment, try some things, you know, some, we've tried some of that and it's worked out pretty well.

00:12:12.046 --> 00:12:12.135
Yep.

00:12:12.135 --> 00:12:14.625
So, but you know, just get a little comfortable.

00:12:14.625 --> 00:12:18.046
You can make some easy things at first, you know, obviously we have a lot of recipes on the website.

00:12:18.046 --> 00:12:22.515
You can go through and try, but you, you should really get adventurous with cooking your own food.

00:12:22.816 --> 00:12:23.566
Yeah, for sure.

00:12:23.566 --> 00:12:27.556
Especially since a lot of restaurants, the vegan options are trash.

00:12:28.035 --> 00:12:28.546
Yes.

00:12:28.785 --> 00:12:31.816
And you can almost always make something better at home than you can.

00:12:32.225 --> 00:12:34.895
At a restaurant, unless you're going to like a vegan specific restaurant.

00:12:34.895 --> 00:12:34.956
Yeah.

00:12:34.956 --> 00:12:36.485
Where they actually have vegan chefs.

00:12:36.576 --> 00:12:36.725
Yeah.

00:12:36.725 --> 00:12:37.806
Most standard restaurants.

00:12:37.806 --> 00:12:44.255
The vegan option is just to take all the protein and calories off of the dish and give you the lettuce that's leftover.

00:12:44.316 --> 00:12:44.615
Right.

00:12:44.706 --> 00:12:46.985
So that's not very, it's a very sad way to live.

00:12:46.985 --> 00:12:52.880
Speaking of protein, so protein is one thing that you obviously wanna focus on, especially if you have fitness goals.

00:12:53.495 --> 00:12:57.456
And on a vegan diet, your protein sources are gonna be a lot different than they are basically.

00:12:57.456 --> 00:13:02.826
None of the stuff you used for protein probably as an omnivore, is gonna be stuff you can use for protein on a vegan diet.

00:13:02.916 --> 00:13:03.186
Yeah.

00:13:03.186 --> 00:13:13.895
So if you are switching from omnivore to plant-based and you're just taking out all of your animal proteins and all of your animal derived products and you're not adding in anything new like plant-based.

00:13:14.206 --> 00:13:16.875
Proteins, you are probably gonna be deficient.

00:13:17.416 --> 00:13:17.745
Yeah.

00:13:17.745 --> 00:13:30.375
I mean, swap into like beans and lentils will only get you so far and it's probably sufficient protein to be healthy, but it, it's gonna be a pretty low protein diet unless you intentionally seek out the primary protein sources that vegans use.

00:13:30.556 --> 00:13:30.645
Yeah.

00:13:30.645 --> 00:13:30.990
Which are like.

00:13:31.436 --> 00:13:34.826
TBP Tofu, Satan, Tempe.

00:13:35.155 --> 00:13:35.365
Yep.

00:13:35.395 --> 00:13:40.975
And, uh, wheat gluten are the, really, the primary, like very high protein percentage sources.

00:13:41.035 --> 00:13:49.225
And if you, uh, are unclear with how to use TBP or tofu, which are two of our favorites, we've actually got, uh, dedicated articles on the website about each of those now.

00:13:49.586 --> 00:13:49.765
Yep.

00:13:49.765 --> 00:13:51.806
And creative ways to use them.

00:13:51.985 --> 00:13:52.255
Yeah.

00:13:52.946 --> 00:13:54.895
Now onto plant-based versus vegan.

00:13:55.436 --> 00:13:57.056
They're used pretty interchangeably, but.

00:13:57.566 --> 00:14:01.191
And dietary wise, they're almost the same, but, um.

00:14:02.515 --> 00:14:04.645
Other intents and purposes, they are not the same.

00:14:04.735 --> 00:14:07.885
So, uh, plant-based usually does mean in terms of food.

00:14:07.885 --> 00:14:17.005
It does mean vegan, but some things that are marked plant-based or even some people who say I'm following a plant-based diet, that can mean predominantly plant-based, but they still include some animal products.

00:14:17.186 --> 00:14:21.296
So you do wanna be careful, not everything that says plant-based is a hundred percent vegan.

00:14:21.775 --> 00:14:24.686
And, you know, plant-based really just focuses on the food.

00:14:24.686 --> 00:14:29.066
So if somebody says they're plant-based, they're probably not following a vegan lifestyle and things outside of food.

00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:31.791
Yeah, it's usually for like health purposes.

00:14:31.850 --> 00:14:31.910
Yeah.

00:14:31.910 --> 00:14:34.400
You might go plant-based or maybe like environmental impact.

00:14:34.581 --> 00:14:34.760
Right.

00:14:34.880 --> 00:14:41.331
Um, now veganism, that's a lifestyle and people are vegans for ethical reasons around, you know, animals.

00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:41.841
Yeah.

00:14:42.110 --> 00:14:43.370
Which we won't go into all that here.

00:14:43.400 --> 00:14:44.630
Lots of good articles you could read.

00:14:44.931 --> 00:14:45.110
Yeah.

00:14:45.410 --> 00:14:49.941
But we will talk about some of the things you might wanna look out for if you are trying out veganism.

00:14:50.421 --> 00:14:51.890
'cause there's a lot of hidden.

00:14:52.405 --> 00:14:55.706
Animal derived stuff in a lot of different things.

00:14:55.711 --> 00:14:56.005
Like things that

00:14:56.005 --> 00:14:57.355
really blow your mind sometimes.

00:14:57.355 --> 00:14:59.941
Like why did they use this and this thing?

00:14:59.941 --> 00:15:00.686
It doesn't matter.

00:15:01.015 --> 00:15:01.885
It makes no sense.

00:15:02.306 --> 00:15:08.875
Like clothing, accessory, shoes, you really gotta be careful what you buy specifically around like shoes and purses.

00:15:09.206 --> 00:15:11.096
Yeah, because they put all, I mean, the obvious thing is leather, right?

00:15:11.096 --> 00:15:12.056
But there's way more than that.

00:15:12.115 --> 00:15:12.416
Oh yeah.

00:15:12.416 --> 00:15:17.816
There's like silk and down or feathers, suede, animal derived glues.

00:15:17.846 --> 00:15:17.966
Yeah, the

00:15:17.966 --> 00:15:19.171
glues are And dyes crazy.

00:15:19.681 --> 00:15:22.591
Yeah, so like shoes, you wanna make sure you're getting vegan shoes.

00:15:22.591 --> 00:15:25.410
Even if they don't use leather, they might still not be vegan.

00:15:25.410 --> 00:15:32.071
So there are lots of good comprehensive lists out there that talk about like which shoes, which purses or leather.

00:15:32.551 --> 00:15:35.370
I don't know a lot about shoes and purses, so you are gonna have to Google that.

00:15:35.520 --> 00:15:35.821
Some of the

00:15:35.821 --> 00:15:36.660
brands are coming around.

00:15:36.660 --> 00:15:39.265
Some of the bigger brands like Nike do have a couple of vegan simulations.

00:15:39.265 --> 00:15:39.630
Yeah, so

00:15:39.691 --> 00:15:42.240
Hoka has some really good, you know, athletic shoes.

00:15:42.571 --> 00:15:42.630
Yeah.

00:15:42.630 --> 00:15:45.480
The next one is like beauty products and cosmetics.

00:15:46.005 --> 00:15:52.426
Those can be kind of hard to figure out because you might see like a cruelty free label, which actually doesn't necessarily mean it's vegan.

00:15:52.725 --> 00:15:58.365
It could just mean they don't test on animals, but they still use animal products, which is bizarre.

00:15:58.816 --> 00:15:59.086
Yeah.

00:15:59.385 --> 00:16:04.155
But that's just something, they're also like good lists for what is and isn't vegan.

00:16:04.546 --> 00:16:06.316
And a lot of stores have like a filter.

00:16:06.375 --> 00:16:08.086
You can filter products by what's vegan now.

00:16:08.515 --> 00:16:09.235
Oh, that's pretty cool.

00:16:09.235 --> 00:16:15.265
I know that's historically been kind of one of the harder things to track down the source of and what was really done through production and things like that.

00:16:15.296 --> 00:16:15.625
Yeah.

00:16:16.436 --> 00:16:25.255
On food, there's some like hidden non-vegan ingredients like honey gelatin, anything fortified with lanolin, you'd find that in like cereals.

00:16:25.436 --> 00:16:28.615
Yeah, so basically those aren't vegan, you know, watch out for those.

00:16:28.826 --> 00:16:30.296
Pretty much includes any.

00:16:30.520 --> 00:16:31.181