“I can’t be a vegan because I get too hungry”

A couple of friends have recently told me they can’t sustain being on a Whole Food Plant Based diet because they get just too hungry. One is normal weight and the other is underweight and doesn’t want to lose weight.

So I thought I would pen an email to the first one, who genuinely wants to change his way of eating. Here goes:

“Hi Robert (not his real name)

I have been thinking about how you might manage to stay eating plant based and not get so hungry. First I don’t know how your partner eats and whether she supports you in your goal. I don’t know who does the cooking or whether you share it.

Second, I suggest looking at this video of favourite lunch and snacks of plant based doctors. It is only over 8 mins long and helpful. American of course. One Aussie doctor there only.

Then there is a longer one by Jeff Novick which recommends eating foods with low calorie density here. While this is really long and aimed at those who are overweight, it does have some interesting graphics and figures. You might be able to last a little distance of this presentation as it is really too long.

This nice site refers to the movie Forks over Knives in which it is explained how there are two types of receptors in the stomach, stretch receptors and nutrient receptors and how they work. Not a video. Good info for overweight people but still useful for the lean ones like you.

For me, when I am hungry I don’t worry a scrap if I eat a cold kumera or a baked potato or even mashed carrots and parsnips – and sometimes I will whizz up some plant milk with cocoa, peanut butter, vanilla and a banana. That sure is satisfying.

I know you are very active so I really suggest eating a lot of rice, kumeras, beans, lentils, root veges and  I know you wouldn’t pig out on walnuts or even good multigrain bread.  I have been known to eat a plate of porridge with dates in mid afternoon. Hope this helps!