Vegetarian/ Vegan meals?+ Is it unhealthy?

Question

1. i (female13) am late for my period (i’m probably not pregnant considering i’m a virgin lmao) and i have noticed my schedule has changed since becoming a vegetarian several months ago, my period has become slightly irregular and is sometimes a lot heavier or a lot lighter than usual. My cycle has always been VERY regular and consistent and it hasn’t hanged until now. Could this be due to lack of iron/protein/vitamin? i take a multivitamin and track my iron/protein intake because my anxiety gets high if i think i don’t have enough. 
2. I am getting sick of cold meals. I always eat something like raw vegetables and a peanut butter sandwich and i want to know some of your favorite meals that are vegetarian/vegan (i’m partially vegan i avoid dairy and eggs but sometimes i have to eat them or i can’t eat bc my parents make me order the option the restaurant has for vegetarians)

Answer

I agree with Carolin. It’s very likely that if you cut out a lot of dairy and eggs (milk is especially packed with hormones) your body might be adjusting to a sudden drop in those. 
Aside from hormonal changes, it’s extremely unlikely that you had any major deficiencies pop up unless you have some underlying condition. If you’re concerned though, it might be work tracking your meals and maybe putting it into a nutrition calculator (ones that come to mind are cronometer or even myfitnesspal). A common mistake for people going vegetarian/vegan is they often don’t account for the differences in calories between vegetables and animal products.
You can eat the same portion of spaghetti and meatballs and zoodle “spaghetti” and veg-meatballs and end up with like 1/3 the amount of actual calories. Which will leave you undernourished and probably miserable (I Sure was)

Answer

How long have you been vegetarian/vegan? Some people take a longer time for their bodies to adjust to a new diet. When I switched over to a vegetarian diet my first cycle was later than usual. Now my periods have gone from 9 days to around 4-5 days. I couldn't imagine just eating is raw veggies and peanut butter sandwiches 😩. I like to make veggie wraps. But if you're looking for something warm veggie quesadillas are really good too and easy to make! I don't know if your parents are cooking for you or not but I suggest looking on Pinterest for ideas. There's also this website I like to look on for new ideas which has a category for vegetarian, vegan, and tofu recipes. 
www.budgetbytes.com/category/recipes/vegetarian/

Answer

Listen to the podcast  Nutrition Rounds — you can learn lots about the benefits of a plant based diet - but also how important it is to eat a variety of foods!

Answer

Also, girl there is a whole rainbow of vegan/vegetarian foods out there! Cold and raw is good for a snack but you gotta get some good hot food in you sometimes! Pasta! Curry! Burritos!

Answer

Regardless of your diet it's normal to have irregular periods at your age. You should go to the doctor and ask them to test all your vitamin levels. There may be something you're still missing. It's common for woman low in iron to have irregularity as well. There's a ton of great recipes and ideas for vegan meals on pinterest!

Answer

There are a lot of hormones in animal products, so your body may just be adjusting to your new diet. It may take a few cycles to become regular again, i would see how they are after 6 months and if they are still off, talk to your OBGYN. As far as meals go, I would suggest buying some vegan cookbooks (I love Chloe Coscarelli) or websites like Minimalist Baker, It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken, or Oh She Glows.

Vegetarian/ Vegan meals?+ Is it unhealthy?

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