These are our 20 most popular and inspiring vegan before and after stories from actual Happy Herbivore community members. Many of these people used our Meal Mentor meal plans to help them lose weight.

Heather M

At 39 years old, Heather found herself an overweight smoker and drinker. She had arthritis in both knees, chronic back pain, an irregular heartbeat that required medication, shortness of breath, and she suffered from severe depression. When she received a 911 call that her …

“Veganism made me do it!”

I had this gut reaction: Buy it to support my community.

This was definitely a conditioned response. I went vegan over a decade ago (December 2007), long before veganism was mainstream.

In 2006, very few people knew what "vegan" meant. There were almost no vegan products available outside of one or two brands of soy milk and a few cardboard-tasting frozen veggies burgers.

Anytime I saw something that was vegan it felt like a Christmas …

Keep These 10 Items on Hand

1. Canned beans (Black Bean, Chickpea)
2. Frozen Rice
3. Frozen Stir-Fry Vegetables
4. Frozen Corn (or canned)
5. Frozen Vegetables—any kind you like (or canned)
6. Pasta
7. Jared Sauces: Pasta, Salsa, BBQ, Teriyaki—any kind you like
8. Peanut Butter
9. Hummus
10. Potatoes

(You’ll see how to use these to make instant meals later)

Netflix and Cook

Set aside 2 hours on the weekend to cook 2 or 3 family recipes. Start a movie on Netflix or listen to your favorite podcast …

A long, long, long time ago when Scott and I were still running and training for marathons, I had a little herbivore-athletic brand I called "Herbisport." (The logo was so cute, it was my little elephant with sweatbands plus he was holding a dumbbell in his trunk.)

Anyway, I was doing some virtual de-cluttering the other day and came across all the recipes I'd developed for Herbisport (recovery smoothies, DIY energy bars, etc) and thought I'd share them :)

These …

When my friend Alison lost 7 lbs in one month using My Fitness Pal, I decided to try it.

Right away I saw the utility.

I realized I had no clue how many calories I was actually eating per day…OR how often I “forgot” I ate something. Logging my intake and learning caloric values also helped me make better choices.

For example, seeing ¼-cup of almonds has the same calories as 2 CUPS of blueberries? WOW.

All good things. I …