Vegan Diet Advisor

Being away from home can make business travel and vacation challenging and stressful for anyone who’s trying to eat healthily. This is particularly so for new vegans who are still trying to adjust to a diet without animal products but may have fewer alternatives than usual.

However, given the fact that business travel is often necessary for our jobs, and most people enjoy going somewhere new for vacation–at least occasionally–how does the vegan or aspiring vegan deal with eating away from home?

Below are some tips for business and vacation situations:

1. Business travel–Eat as much healthy (whole-grain, low-fat and minimal refined sugar) vegan foods you can at those meals where you have the most control over the venue. For me that’s breakfast, because lunch and dinner are often spent with colleagues or clients, and you’re less likely to have a say over the restaurant chosen or the menu.

Breakfast buffets at hotels are quite vegan-friendly, and as a result they are probably the safest places to eat while away from home (provided you don’t give in to temptation to eat 80 percent of the food that is non-vegan!).

For example:

a. Most salad bars have an enormous variety of fresh vegetables and fruits. Just remember to stick with oil and vinegar dressing (did you realize that there are 120 calories per tablespoon of oil?).

b. Asian dishes (tofu, vegetable stir fry, rice/noodles, vegetable curry, porridge)
c. Whole-grain cereal (hot or cold) prepared with soy milk. Note that oatmeal is usually prepared using dairy milk, if you don’t specify otherwise.
d. Whole-grain breads (check to see whether they contain butter or eggs first)

If you have any doubts whether something is prepared with animal products, just check with the wait staff.  And don’t forget (or feel embarassed) to take a few pieces of whole fruit (banana, apple, etc) from the salad bar to eat for snacks later in the day.  This will enable you to fend off hunger until you can find another healthy vegan meal.

If you are unfortunate enough to have to spend all of your meals with non-vegan co-workers during a business trip, be sure to let them know your vegan diet preferences, and suggest restaurants that are likely to have foods you will want to eat, too. The longer the trip, the earlier you should inform them, as you may find it difficult to return to your vegan diet if you fall off the vegan wagon during your trip.

2. Leisure travel–Culinary travel takes on a whole new twist if you’re trying to stick to your vegan diet. It used to be that going somewhere foreign, you’d probably eat out 3 meals a day. And, if you’re staying in a conventional hotel, often you have no choice.  Rather than being at the mercy of the restaurants or room service, I highly recommend finding a room equipped with a kitchenette, so you’ll have the ability to prepare some of your own meals if you cannot find vegan-friendly restaurants.

A refrigerator in your hotel room is also essential for you to store and eat fresh fruits/vegetables. Ask the concierge at the hotel for directions to a nearby market to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, and try to carve out room for them among the mini-bar items. Again, the longer your trip, the more important it is to follow this  advice.

If you don’t like the idea of cooking for yourself while on vacation, by all means do your research ahead of time so you are prepared to have a vacation that is both enjoyable and healthy. For example, London has a great variety of vegan restaurants, as well as 100s of Indian restaurants that are typically vegan-friendly. Whereas other countries, such as Spain, have more meat-centric diets (you may have guessed when every restaurant in Madrid is ornamented with cow’s shank in the window and/or hanging from the ceiling). Still, this shouldn’t necessarily stop you if you’re dreaming to visit Madrid for a look at Picasso’s Guernica.

3. What about times when you’re not traveling far from home, but just have no time to cook healthy? It’s difficult enough for one person, let alone two, to grocery shop, cook, and  align their schedules perfectly to eat together on weekdays. Therefore, be sure have a list of vegan-friendly restaurants that are convenient to wherever you and whoever you’re dining with may be. Decide how far you are willing to go out of your way to eat healthy, and plan ahead.

It would be great to eat at home all the time, especially when becoming vegan, but as busy people we often don’t have control over the timing or even the location of travel. That’s why it helps to get used to cooking and eating healthy at every opportunity. Then, when you’re away from home, maintain consistency in your diet. You won’t feel like eating just anything, but will be more motivated to make an effort to seek out and plan healthy meals.

By William Santoro

A few weeks ago, I was becoming frustrated at the fact I had been exercising more frequently and eating healthier than ever–even cutting back on alcohol (mostly wine) to just a couple times a week–with little results to show for my efforts. If anything, it appeared that my weight and body fat had increased slightly!

Then a friend suggested that I may actually be eating too few calories. That didn’t make any sense to me at all, so he recommended I try out an online meal planning system, called Vitabot. Vitabot is offered by many health clubs as an added benefit for its members, and is recently being offered in an online subscription service by a small number of internet resellers, including Vegan Diet Advisor. According to Vitabot’s website, their system has received critical acclaim from top nutritionists and trainers.

It took me a just a short while to get the hang of using Vitabot’s friendly interface, after watching a video tutorial. First I input my current weight, height, body fat, activity level, and target weight. Then I went about selecting my current meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks) from Vitabot’s menu (based on standards defined by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science). I was happy to see Vitabot has a a filter that showed me only vegan foods, but Vitabot is suitable for vegetarians (lacto/ovo-lacto), and for meat-eaters as well (no discrimination here).

To my surprize, Vitabot revealed that I needed about 2500 calories/day and my current diet contained only 1900 calories a day.  Using a patented interactive report card system, Vitabot gave me an “F” for not having enough calories and a “C” for insufficient carbohydrates in my diet. It also revealed I had a deficiency of Cobalamin (vitamin B12), which is also common among vegans.

But Vitabot doesn’t stop there. It incorporates a food suggestion system that tells you what foods to eat more of (and the exact portion size) to achieve the optimum balance of vitamins and minerals. In my case, it instructed me to add foods that contained more calories, carbohydrates, and less sodium. I adjusted my meal plan according  to Vitabot’s recommendations until my plan achieved an  ”A” grade.

Most important were the results: After following Vitabot’s recommendations for just a few days,  I actually lost a bit, and have stablilized at my desired weight.

So, whether you are trying to control your weight (up or down) or just want to make sure you are getting the right nutrients as you make adjustments to your diet, I recommend you try the Vitabot meal planning system for yourself.

As I mentioned in my last post, it took me several months to make the transition to a vegan diet. While there is no one right way, it’s reasonable to allow yourself some time to reach your goal, too. While everyone’s situation is different, below are a few suggestions that may help:

1. Assuming you are determined to improve your health by adopting a vegan diet (have I mentioned The China Study enough yet?), you may want to savor your favorite foods one last time. Use the opportunity to celebrate and make your final taste of that food  a memorable occasion. You can even take photos.
2. Start to try to incorporate vegan products, such as non-dairy milks or soy, into your diet. I started ordering cafe lattes prepared with soymilk instead of dairy milk. To be honest, I  hated it at first (thought it a waste of perfectly good espresso–and what’s worse–cost extra, too!) I also replaced my traditional breakfast yogurt with Bob’s 5-Grain hot cereal.
3. Order vegan cookbooks that match your particular ethnic tastes (some of my favorites are highlighted on this site), and pick up any ingredients you need to prepare them. Don’t worry about the cost, and try out as many recipes as you need to find something you enjoy, or at least feel you could in time.
4. Start eliminating one category of animal food little-by-little. In my case, I cut out red meat and chicken, but kept eating fish and dairy occasionally (sushi and cheese were the hardest things for me to give up). I still had a lot of cheese in the refrigerator, and I thought there were no substitutes for eggs.
5. Eventually, begin to avoid eating animal products whenever practical. However, you don’t have to have a heart attack if you learn a dish you’re eating has a trace of meat (or dairy product).  This is a benefit of becoming a vegan for health, rather than ethical, reasons.

Remember, you may lose weight at first on a vegan diet, but it will return (if you desire) once you discover vegan versions of your favorite foods. Vegan diets are generally healthier than animal diets, but it depends on the quality of ingredients and how they are prepared. For example, whole grain breads and pastas (complex carbohydrates) are much healthier choices than non whole-grain products. And oily, overly sweet, or processed foods should also be avoided, whether vegan or not.

As always, I look forward to your feedback and welcome any suggestions for making this site more useful.

Let me just share with you a few other of Campbell’s thoughts that converted me from an above-average meat eater to a plant-eater:

“For most Americans, the idea of giving up virtually all meat products—including beef, chicken, fish, cheese, milk and eggs—seems impossible. You might as well ask Americans to stop breathing. The whole idea seems strange, fanatical or fantastic.
This is the biggest obstacle to the adoption of a plant-based diet: most people who hear about it don’t seriously consider it, despite the truly impressive health benefits.
If you are one of these people—if you are curious about these findings but know in your heart that you will never be able to give up meat—then I know that no amount of talk will ever convince you to change your mind.
You have to try it.
Give it one month. You’ve been eating cheeseburgers your whole life; a month without them won’t kill you.”

Campbell goes on to say that while you won’t experience long-term benefits of giving up animal products in just a month, there are four things you will discover (see book for details).

Please note The China Study is not a diet plan or cookbook, but the results of Campbell’s decades of research into the effects of diet on health. Given the fact this topic may not be as exciting for everyone as it was for me, it is encouraging to observe that 4 years after publication, the book ranks in the Top 30 sales of Amazon Books.

So, what are you waiting for? Place your order for The China Study today, and give it a read. I’ll be very interested to hear your thoughts.

If you have been concerned about the current state of your health, or worry about falling ill in the future due to a medical condition that runs in your family, you are certainly not alone. But you don’t have to resign yourself to poor health, because research proves that diet plays a much more significant role than genetics in predicting health.

Although I was brought up eating a large variety of vegetables, until 3 years ago (at 43), I was also an avid consumer of animal products–especially meats, cheese and dairy products–and would not have dreamed of adopting a 100 percent plant-based diet, much less singing its praises. That all changed when I read The China Study.

According to the book’s author, T. Colin Campbell, PhD., there are major health benefits to be gained by reducing the percentage of animal-based foods from the 20-30 percent average for most Americans to under 10 percent, or better yet, zero percent. This means the large majority, 95 percent of US adults who eat animal products regularly, will have to alter your eating habits, as I did.

But almost everyone who gives up eating animal products say they feel healthier, energetic, and younger, and wonder why they waited so long. My own cholesterol and body fat dropped notably within a month or two after reducing my intake of animal products, after years of trying but never succeeding to reduce it by regular exercise alone.

I have since lost 15 pounds and have had to purchase new clothes (it’s much more fun buying smaller clothes than bigger). I had to get all new cookbooks and learn how to cook all over again, too. Fortunately, there are endless resources on the internet to assist with meatless cooking. Please check out some of the links on this site for ideas.