I'm not sure if this is the best option for me. Everybody that I have talked to this about, and everything that I have read online, has only raved about the benefits they have seen. They lost weight, felt more energetic, felt great overall and improved their athletic capabilities. A few months ago, I started seeing a dietician. When I first saw her, she put me on a diet plan for thirty days that was mostly fruits and veggies with some lean meats. I felt fantastic. I went all out for those thirty days, and then immediately reverted once those 30 days were up. Now I'm back to feeling tired, sluggish and having a messed up digestive system. I don't think that 30 days was quite long enough for me to not have the desire to revert back to my old eating habits.
I need to do something about my diet. I have been working out like crazy, but not seeing any improvements -- which I know is because of my diet.. My diet is HORRIBLE. especially this week, since I did not have time to go grocery shopping this weekend.. Whenever I don't go grocery shopping on the weekend, the following week is typically a disaster.
So anyways, back to this whole vegan diet thing. I think I'm going to try it out for 60 days and then see how I feel. A common question (that I had as well) when somebody tells you that they are going vegetarian/vegan is to question how on earth said person will get their protein. Well, I've been doing a lot of research over the past few days, and it is a common misconception to think that you need WAY more protein that you actually do. As I am a runner, and swimmer, and cyclist, I will definitely need MORE protein than somebody of my weight who is not active, but I should be able to get all of it in through non-meat products. I found a good blog here that gave me some good information. I'm going to read through some other sections on the blog.
I have a horrible addiction to food. Well, not really an addiction.. I just like eating really bad food. I'm a textbook emotional eater. I eat when I'm sad, I eat when I'm happy, celebrating, mad, upset.. I also like to justify my horrible eating habits because I "work out hard". But I know that even working out at my hardest does not afford me the calories to eat whatever I want. However, for some reason, even though I know this - I find myself justifying it. I also have a huge issue where I will wait to start a new diet until the following week. I found myself saying that now... I'll go shopping this weekend, and then start this new diet on Monday. But then I find myself eating whatever I want (like a Dominos pizza and bread bites) because, well on Monday, I'm not going to be able to eat this anymore. I'm sure that this is going to be a struggle, and I'm sure that I won't be perfect, but I am going to try this. I'm going swimming at the Y tonight and afterwards, I am going to the grocery store to pick up some things to start this
The protein "problem" is frustrating to talk about with my friends. However, The World Heath Organization states the requirement is around 3-4g per day! Obviously your right in saying an athlete needs more, but a more efficient and health way to achieve this protein is by nuts, which are also high in dietary fiber and help your body retain water longer.
ReplyDeleteI've also done some research into phasing into a vegan diet, as it hasn't been all that easy for me (I love my ice cream and pizza!). It's certainly discouraging when it seems like dinners always have to be made at home and thoroughly thought through. For quick dinners, I like "Amy's" burritos or vegan casseroles as they are pretty tasty. Ice cream = So Delicious. Butter (to cook and use for everything) = Smart Balance (they have a vegan option). And, of course, your everyday almond milk (the chocolate almond milke is to die for!).
I've tried dramatic attempts and theories; such as the banana diet. There's actually an athlete who's biked across Europe eating nothing but fruits and up to 30+ bananas a day and nuts for protein. His diet was sparked by doctors telling him he would never recover from cancer--after the diet, it virtually disappeared.
Certainly this diet was temporary and not fulfilling for my lifestyle, but it is often encouraging to see veganism as a process of many different options and ways to go about it. I have the most trouble when think of it as and "either this or that" diet.
If you're interested in watching some material on the benefits, I'd recommend "Forks Over Knives", a documentary of the potential harms modern animal products can have on the human body. One of the speakers is Dr. John McDougall and he was written books on the starch-based diet that I've found helpful. Another book related to it is the "Engine 2 Diet".
Note: McDougall proposes seeing the effects of a starch diet by simply adding 10-15 pieces of bread (whole grain) per day. He does a study of 7 college athletes who do this and the found their performance to have improved dramatically.