A month of being Vegan

HEY,

So, as you may know I did a whole month of Veganism. I must say it was an experience. After years of a low carb diet it was great to try something new.

What did I do? 

I did not count calories during my time being vegan, I simply ate when I was hungry. I did not try any vegan diets such as 'raw vegan' of 'high carb low fat vegan'. I gave myself freedom to be the vegan I wanted. Being a vegan in my case meant more variety and colour and no restrictions. I am a lover of protein, and I truly believe in a high protein diet for a lean physique and so I tried to get as much in as possible.

Being vegan: The positives 

- Trying new fun foods! I really did mix up my diet a lot whilst being vegan. My meals we're colourful and more exciting.
- Energy levels, after just a few days of making the switch I noticed more carbs than usual we're giving me tonnes of energy to fuel my workouts.
- Bye bye bro meals. It was nice not having to eat chicken. Chicken is awesome, I mean it pretty much the ideal protein filled food but it can get boring. I was taking lots of trips to nandos in order to compensate for how boring I was finding it.
- I felt good about what I was consuming. What you eat is a large part of what you are. My opinions on the welfare of animals have always been very strong and to finally make a change from my usual 'no thought going into it' eating made me feel good about myself and how my actions impact the environment and the animals themselves.



Being vegan: The negatives 

- I love protein, not only does it leave me feeling satisfied but protein is the building blocks of a sexy lean body. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying vegan foods do not contain protein. Vegan foods contain more than enough protein and a bodybuilding diet is definitely achievable. However, what veganism does not provide 9/10 times is a lean protein source. A source of pretty much 100% protein, (e.g chicken) yes..chickpeas..beans..quinoa contain protein but they also contain a fairly high amount of carbs. Personally, I like to see where my carbs/proteins/fats are coming from. I like a well separated plate..a source of each you could say. I'm unsure as to whether that's an odd requirement but I like it like that.
- I miss yogurt. As pathetic as it sounds..I miss total 0% before bed. It came part of my routine and was a difficult one to cut out. I also use egg whites as a protein source in lots of my meals, I find them to be a very low calorie and easy source of protein.
- The transition was not an easy one. Your body adapts to what you eat, and my body was used certain foods at certain intakes. To go carb crazy, dramatically increase fibre and cut out the chicken all at once was a bit of a body shock. I did experience headaches for the first few days from the diet change, and I felt very hungry without the satiety factor of lean meat.


So, am I going to be a full time vegan?

The short answer is no. I won't be becoming vegan. My body responds well to a higher protein, lower carb diet that is much harder to achieve through this lifestyle. I will however, be becoming vegetarian. I am not a lover of meat and do not miss it and so I will be using high protein meat substitutes as well as whey, casein and egg whites.

What have I learnt? 

I've learnt that it's good to be open minded about other peoples diet choices. People work better off different things, people prefer different things. Diet is a huge part of what you are and can really be representative of a persons personality. Being a Vegan is awesome, just not for me. Thinking about what I eat was a new thing for me, I thought more about flavour, micronutrients and macronutrients and not so much the focus on just getting calories in. The typical bodybuilding diet can be monotonous and is definitely not for everyone and so it was a nice change.