Thread: Any Vegans Out There?

Hi Guys,

I hope everyone is doing well.

I recently have been diagnosed with hypertension, BPH (enlarged prostate) and high cholesterol (I guess from all the low carb dieting I did in the last 15 years).
I am in my mid 50's. I have always weight trained in the last 15 or so years, sometimes on and off due to work, injuries, etc.

Doctors all want to prescribe pills, and they won't answer questions anymore unless I want to go ahead with prostate surgery.
(Where i could end up with a permanent catheter).
It is frustrating to say the least.

The blood pressure meds went directly in the garbage can after 6 weeks of dizziness and other major side effects.
Yesterday I stopped taking the prostate meds because they are causing more symptoms than the enlarged prostate.
(Dizziness, stuffy nose, blurred vision, and more)

The two medications were not taken at the same time. First I tried the blood pressure meds, then stopped, and went on the prostate meds.
Neither was really helping me, and certainly were not worth the side effects.

After all, why take meds when they are making me sleep a lot during the day, and they were not helping me at all. This is how I gained weight in the last few years, along with the stress of the pandemic, not being able to work.

So I need to take matters into my own hands, since I cannot depend on my doctors for help.

I have been researching plant based diets lately and it seems to make sense.
I don't usually eat a lot of meat. (I used to in my younger days)

I need to lose about 30 lbs.
From my research eating a plant based diet will lower my blood pressure & fix any inflammation
issues and may allow me to lose some fat.

There is only one problem.
I WON'T/CAN'T eat Tofu or Tempeh. They are disgusting to say the very least.
I don't want to become dependent on ready made meat imitation foods either.
I prefer to make everything at home.

I have a great deal of discipline (always had), however in my mid 50's it seems to be getting more and more difficult!
I have always eaten lots of beans/lentils/quinoa/lettuce/fruits my whole life so that will be easy.
In fact my diet is pretty good, I never drink alcohol or eat junk food.

I want to lose FAT without losing all my hard earned muscle. I am weight training once/sometimes twice every day in my home gym.
I have stopped eating meat, but have continued to use whey once a day with my oatmeal and sometimes I will eat tuna just to get enough protein.

I eventually want to eat 100% plant based sometime in the near future hoping that I will never have to take another doctor prescribed medication for a very long time!

Any advice or recipes are greatly appreciated. I am sure there must be others out there with the same problems.