Good evening everyone. I am officially a newbie to Keto and so far so good ( it’s only my second day. ha ha) I’m just going to come out of the closet and tell everyone I am a vegan. I’m sure a lot of you are already eye rolling…but just remember this is a safe place. 
I’m OK with being teased. I come from a huge family of meat eaters and I’ve got a thick skin. My question is… do I eat even when I’m not hungry in order to get all my fat and protein in or do I only eat when I’m hungry?
Eat when hungry?
NOYB
(Parker)
#1
Baytowvin
(TJ Borden)
#2
Yes
You are correct… but that doesn’t mean we can’t still poke fun now and then.
As long as you haven’t been previously restricting calories that can result in your metabolism slowing, just eat when you’re hungry. If you’re not hungry, don’t eat just because you think you should.
If you’re hungry within a couple hours of a meal, then it’s a good sign you didn’t eat enough. With that said, for be first few weeks, don’t be surprised if your appetite is all over the place. You might go all day without being hungry a time all, then the next day be ravenous all day.
mtncntrykid
(Ron)
#3
I think your going to find that no one will dis your choice of keto. There are other vegan keto’ers on this site.
Until adaption you should eat to your TDEE to keep your metabolism up.
Welcome!
jennyellen
#5
Good for you for having a sense of humour, but hopefully no-one disrespects your choice.
It will be a bit harder for you, but others have done it so hopefully they will help out.
Having been down the vegan path in the past for what I thought was good health reasons, I hope you don’t mind me asking what your reasons are for that choice?
If it is a personal ethical choice then stick with your guns and don’t change unless you choose too.
If, however, it is a choice based on perceived health benefits, then maybe have a discussion on the science around that. You may, or may not, revisit that choice.
Welcome and good luck.
kib
(karen)
#6
The ideal is to “eat to your macros” and hopefully your appetite will cooperate and say you’re full about the time you hit them. It can be a bit crazy at first, either feeling like you can just eat forever and you must surely be overeating like a mad bastard, or possibly feeling like you simply can’t stuff in another bite when you’ve only had 800 calories. One of the things that may be harder about vegan keto is that most low carb veggies are nowhere near as calorie or fat dense as meat, you may be “full” way before you’re actually satiated. Avocados are your friends! Good luck and welcome.
Anniegirl9
(LeeAnn Brooks)
#7
Eat when hungry.
That being said, if you’re having a hard time getting enough food (calories) and are putting your body into starvation mode, there are ways you can increase fat and calories without increasing volume of food you’re eating. You do not want to under eat during adaptation phase.
Though you do limit those ways some with only vegan choices, but it’s still doable.
NOYB
(Parker)
#8
My reasons for being a vegan…I take a political stance against factory farming and the havoc that it creates on our earth the animals and the people that work in those environments. If I can find backyard chicken eggs its like winning the lottery. Mama loves herself some scrambled eggs. But it’s hard to find meat (beef, bison, chicken) that has not been sent to a processing plant. For example, a rancher that kills on site and then does his own processing would make my dreams come true. However, it’s damn near impossible to find it. I think I found a guy in Wisconsin that kills and processes bison on site so I’m looking into it. Fingers crossed. I’m sure I’m gonna have to cash in my 401(k) to buy the damn thing.
Anniegirl9
(LeeAnn Brooks)
#9
Just curious, why is it important for a farmer to do their own processing?
My in-laws used to raise cows and would send it on for processing. The cow was butchered immediately, so there was no inhumane sheltering or fattening through grains.
What’s the difference between outsourcing that step and doing it oneself, provided of course it’s a reputable processor?
Not trying to debate. Just wondering the reasoning.
corduroyew
(Chris Robertson)
#10
I’m new at this too but from what I have seen the best thing to do is eat when you start getting hungry. If you wait until you are very hungry then you are more likely to overeat. If you eat out of obligation simply because it’s dinner time then you are also likely to eat too much over the course of the day. If you don’t feel like eating then don’t eat. If you are having trouble keeping your fat intake high enough then eat fat bombs with your meals to up the fat intake. I don’t like greasy food so I eat fat bombs with every meal.
corduroyew
(Chris Robertson)
#11
Sending them off for slaughter increases the stress on the animal which means more stress hormones in the meat. If you slaughter at home then send it away to be butchered and frozen it doesn’t effect the as much.
Anniegirl9
(LeeAnn Brooks)
#12
Okay, I can see that. The processor my in-law used was in the same town, so there wasn’t much transport. About 5 miles away.
But I suppose any time you load a cow up it can cause stress.
What about wild game like venison?
Again, not trying to start a debate. Just curious.
Baytowvin
(TJ Borden)
#13
Whatever @Anniegirl9, you’re always trying to get stuff started.
Actually I’m a little curious too. My grandpa had a dairy farm that I spent my summers on as a kid. When the time came for a milk cow to become a steak cow, a couple guys would come over in what looked like a tow truck and…do their thing, right in the middle of the farm yard. Quite a sight to see for an 7 year old.
kib
(karen)
#14
If you’re not totally attached to veganism as a moral issue against killing, this makes your keto journey a LOT easier, because you can probably get some fat and protein from humanely treated meat / dairy sources. This is sort of what I’m aiming for; getting the protein from beans or other veggies is too carb intensive but I don’t need that much protein, so I do splurge on what I hope are humane and eco-conscious animal sources (and I raise chickens, three cheers for those scrambled eggs!)
ETA: if you want an eye opening look at just how destructive Big Ag is to animals, check out The Vegetarian Myth by Lierre Keith. Sadly, while it’s not quite as, um, face-cruel as CAFO, it’s really just as horrible to animal life in general, if not more so. They really don’t leave us many good, ethical choices, certainly no affordable ones. 
corduroyew
(Chris Robertson)
#15
Wild game likes to be aged before butchering anyway so sending off to be processed doesn’t hurt the meat. The less stress you cause an animal before it dies the less stress hormones are in the meat but if you shoot and wild animal and then quickly make sure it’s dead that is petty much all you can do.
I should probably also mention that I don’t know how much stress hormones effect how healthy it is to eat the meat but I do know that it has a significant impact on flavor.
NOYB
(Parker)
#18
I have no problem hunting wild game. My husband and I have been vegans for a very very long time and we had the discussion that he might start hunting this fall? Then I could feel comfortable knowing how my meat came to be… I swear to God I’m too old to be a millennial and I don’t live in Portlandia.
Kim_G
(Kim G)
#20
You say you have trouble eating to get all your fat and protein. So does that mean you’re trying to do a clean bulk and gain weight? Or are you going over your caloric intake to try and meet your fat and protein needs?
More than fat and protein, what is your daily calorie intake? The only reason to force yourself to eat is if you have a small appetite and your goal is weight gain, which is typically not mixed with a vegan diet.
Are you trying to gain weight or lose it?
- Kim, PushPedalCrank.com (Intermittent Fasting Blog)