I eat a plant based diet (vegan).

Eggs are my 1 exception (although I usually throw away the egg yolk - that's where all of the cholesterol is, and the primary reason for eating vegan for me is to reduce cholesterol consumption)

Fish, too. I have a few vegan friends, and fish is the 1st food they reintroduce when cycling off the vegan diet.

Remember no one says you can't make exceptions while dieting. For example, the rules I set for myself are pretty simple "when at the grocery store, only buy vegan foods" but "when eating at a restaurant, no limits!" - I find this is the perfect balance for me, and makes going out to eat very much a treat compared to eating at home!

No offense but aren’t you a vegetarian, if you’re eating eggs? Isn’t it pretty much eggs and dairy what separates vegans from vegetarians?

It kinda sounds to me as if someone said “I’m vegetarian but steaks are my only exception”.

Maybe the difference is I'm not vegan or vegetarian for philosophical reasons, purely health reasons.

I don't really care what the label is to be honest, it's just how I eat.

Vegetarian is probably closer to being more accurate. But then again I will happily order a steak at a restaurant. So maybe I don't deserve any of these labels at all :)

A better way to put it is I prefer eating vegan rather than I am vegan

In a sensible world, vegetarian would mean plant based diet and vegan would still mean no use of animal products at all (extending beyond diet).

But you can be a vegetarian and eat fish apparently.

pescatarian (if we want to get deep into dieting labels)

Yes, I understand there is a label for a diet that includes fish and not other animal protein.

But my point is that people more or less ignore that there are specific labels with clear meanings and go for labels that have a vibe that they like, regardless of their accuracy.

Like 'vegan' has a philosophical overtone, it isn't just a label for a plant based approach to eating, it's a strict approach rooted in a rejection of (at least perceived) animal exploitation. So someone that eats plants most of the time and grabs the occasional steak as a treat isn't really anywhere close to vegan.

You're missing out if you're not having whole eggs. They're a rich source of choline and other vitamins and minerals. I wouldn't say 4 a day, but 1 or 2 a day isn't bad. Egg yolks are much better for you than cheese, which isn't very nutritious.

Really depends what you’re optimizing for. Currently I’m trying to get cholesterol down and lose weight. Egg yolks are extremely high in cholesterol.

I would personally remove simple carbohydrates instead, if I wanted to lose weight. But you need to do what works for you.

Did anyone say they weren’t?

The parent post I replied to referred to a plant-based diet.

> She tells her patients that she’d be out of a job if everyone would eat a healthy (McDougall, Gregor, etc) plant-based diet.

But it never says eggs and fish are unhealthy — just that a plant-based diet is healthy (which is true).

I prefer to add fish and eggs, that's what I meant.

Congratulations lol.

If you had bothered to look at my other reply, you'd see it was because of the nutritional value.