After reading Alicia's book over a year ago I have gained weight... a lot of it. Some factors might be that I am a college student, everyone in my family eats meat, and being vegan is expensive.

Im in a weird place because I cannot see going back to eating meat (for my love of animals and just being grossed out by the whole idea) but at the same time vegan is not working out for me. 

I really, really need help. I love to cook but my time and funds are limited. If any one has set meals that they eat for breakfast lunch and dinner that are realistic in terms of ease and economical it would be MUCH appreciated. Also, I think have the stability of three easy meals to choose from for each mealtime would give me structure and variation.

Thanks in advance!!!!

-S

Check out the recipes on the 21 day vegan kickstart meal plan. I followed that and it was great. 

Also check out the McDougall cookbooks.  Their recipes are super easy to make, the ingredients are easy to find, and they are good, wholesome recipes.  My favorite cookbook is his Quick and Easy cookbook (the spicy lentil chili is delish!).  We usually cook over the weekend and then don't have to worry about it during the week.  He is a doctor and recommends 3/4 veggies and 1/4 grain at meals for maximum weight loss.  Check out his website too for sucess stories.  Good luck!

My first thought: being vegan is the cheapest thing I've ever done to our food budget so every time I find someone who thinks it is expensive, you get a good idea that perhaps they're not eating all of the best yummy things. 

Head back to basics - and away from the prepacked goods, freezer aisles! Whole grains, fruits, veggies - all cheap and come together to make yummy meals. There's so much variety in that - though really scary also. For example, oatmeal is almost always a base of my breakfast. Sometimes I take some blueberries, straberries and almonds with soy yogurt and rolled oats. Other days, I mash a banana, cinnamon and a bit of almond milk in with my rolled oats and hit it on the grill (as a "pancake") or stick it in the waffle iron really quick. Other days I'll take some oats and roll them cooked with some sliced apple and a date. 

For lunch, I take some grain (quinoa, millet, brown rice, etc.) and cook it in an herb based water (throw herbs in water - voila!) in the rice cooker. I'll add in whatever veggies I feel like - mushrooms, kale, etc. Other days I'll use some black beans to make a quick veggie burger and eat that on some sprouted grain bread.

There are so many options - just play with them and the basics. I've lost some 70 pounds thus far (another 40 to go) thanks to eating vegan - you've just go to be creative. There are a lot of great vegan blogs you can Google around and find phenomenal recipes from too. 

Good luck! 

Thank you all so much! All of your posts were very helpful! ill make the changes and hopefully ill see some results!!

I ditto everything said so far.  Think whole foods only and eat as much raw produce as you can afford!  The more raw, no fat added foods you eat, the more weight you will drop. 

I usually start my day with fruit or an all fruit smoothie.  Rarely, as a treat, I will add some almond milk to it to make it creamy but usually the bananas make it creamy enough.  If you have a good blender, add some greens like spinach or butter lettuce to it as well.  I make a blender full, drink about half, and save the other half in the fridge for snacks.

lunch- fruit and then a salad with a squeeze of citrus over it or a blended cucumber or tomato dressing. (this is way better than it sounds, I blend together cucumber garlic and fresh dill for example)

mid-afternoon- finish smoothie, maybe have some carrots and celery with hummus.

dinner- big salad again, then some cooked food, usually a whole grain and some kind of beans or a veggie and grain soup

Forgot to say, eating mostly raw and otherwise Superhero, I have lost 40 lbs and kept it off!