She eats CRAZY! Part 1 - Veganism

That is what people in my life think already. Well buckle your seat belts folks. Things have gotten a LOT more intense around here. 

As I have mentioned before, I am lactose and soy intolerant. I started have stomach/digestion issues about a year and a half ago and since then have been trying to figure them out. I ruled out dairy and soy and it got better... but there were still lingering issues. I got tested for Celiac Disease and that wasn't it either. I went to a couple doctors and was frustrated by the lack of help they provided. After one prescribed me a medication for DEPRESSION, I decided I was done with them.

I love Google like nobodies business. I think it is the greatest resource available. I have searched and searched and SEARCHED the internet for clues of what else could be bothering me or what the deal was.

I looked into the Gerson Therapy and was really impressed by the whole concept. It is best known for curing cancer but has been proven successful in curing a lot of other random ailments as well. If you know anything about it, it is intense. That was way to overwhelming for me. So that is when I started looking into veganism and read a bunch of books on it. Having common traits in avoiding animal products and basing your diet mainly on fresh produce, I felt like going vegan was something I could actually handle and implement in my life. 

When I decide things like this I go cold turkey. Ben was a little blind sighted by the whole thing and really... I don't think he thought I was serious. Fear did come over him though in the days and weeks that followed as none of the meals I prepared for dinner broke any of the vegan guidelines. He should know me and my craziness better right? No I had never even been vegetarian before, I just jumped right to vegan. I go big or go home. I didn't put a time frame on how long I would do it. I would do it as long as I felt good and happy with it. But if I felt my body was craving things and I was denying myself of foods I needed to eat, I would stop at any time. I wasn't doing this to prove anything to anyone. 

I really enjoyed eating a vegan diet. I stayed with it for 3 months and was never tempted to eat any sort of animal product. I felt completely satisfied and loved fulling my plates with TONS of produce and healthy grains. I thought the transition would be a little hard but there is such a variety of things you can eat and I loved trying new foods and recipes.

I even whipped myself up a vegan birthday cake. Lemon poppyseed cake with raspberry filling and lemon zest frosting. It was AMAZING. You can make anything vegan, just about knowing how.

I learned a lot from being vegan. I became comfortable cooking with lots of ingredients (like quinoa, garbanzo bean flour, coconut flour, coconut oil, nutritional yeast, aqave, flax seed, etc) and it has really broadened my horizons in the kitchen. It is AMAZING what you can use to substitute things and make things healthier. It's just a matter of knowing what to use and having it on hand.

I also learned a lot about my body and my own personal appetites. Balance between healthy fats, carbs and eating a meal and feeling full and satisfied. I didn't count calories at all when I was on this diet. I decided that I would just eat when I was hungry, until I was satisfied and let my body tell me what it needed. I figured I would have to eat a little more to feel satisfied when cutting out the normal/easy sources of protein in my diet. Did I gain weight over the 3 months? Yes about 6-8 pounds, I wasn't tracking it exactly. I was not THRILLED about that as you can imagine but if it would possibly help heal my body then I was willing to give it a try.

I wish I had blogged then because my salads were really REALLY amazing. I mean... they were huge and full of so much goodness. Salad for lunch was the best meal of the day. Lots of fun grains in them like couscous and quinoa and other yummy healthy fats and veggies. You can see where the poundage came in right? During this time is when I also STOPPED feeling like PB was something I had to stay away from. The calories scared me for a long time so I didn't hardly ever eat it. But since it was a "healthy fat", PB and avocados made a big comeback in my life. I still enjoy those now and I am glad I am not afraid of them anymore. Dinner's were delicious and desserts too! I didn't feel deprived at all on this diet.

What was the difficult part? Eating out and being social with friends. I was used to this already with other meal plans I had followed in the past but it is still something you have to deal with. I found people were pretty interested in learning about and discussing veganism as it came up. I didn't try this diet because I am an activist, though you should watch the documentary "Food Inc" if you are interested in this topic at all. It will either scare the pants off you and change the way you grocery shop. I know people that say, "I would rather not know," and would rather live in ignorance. But really... EVERYONE needs to see this.

I am not saying we all need to be vegan but I think it is crucial that we are all aware of what we are putting into our bodies and how the food we are consuming is being prepared. In a perfect world we should be able to trust that the government is giving us the best quality food available and that it wasn't so focused on making money but you can't take that for granted. I could rant about this film for a LONG time but I will stop for now. If I get lots of comments about it I will go into it more. Maybe it won't change the way you do anything, but at least you will be informed. Please watch it. If you have Netflix it is available on instant que there.

So back to the social aspect... I didn't mind being SUPER limited on eating out because it is always healthier to prepare your own food but I know it was at times frustrating for Ben. It made me quite a downer when he wanted to out for fun or when friends wanted to get together. I felt bad about that so I searched out restaurants that had options I could have. I found a couple of vegan restaurants nearby that were AMAZING. I liked them better than normal ones. Local organic ingredients and everything was plated so pretty and tasted fabulous! So good. They were a little pricier so I am sad I don't have an excuse to splurge on them anymore. :(  I know that is no Macaroni Grill or something but I also found that ethnic restaurants like Indian and Thai places had options as well that were more normal for Ben.

How did I feel? I felt fine, I felt good. I actually didn't notice much of a difference either way. Some people say that they felt AMAZING and had all this new energy and their skin improved yadda yadda but I didn't notice a change from how I already felt. I feel this was because my diet was already pretty darn healthy to begin with and that a lot of people who rave about these effects had made a much more substantial dietary change in their lives. Really I just cut out meat, most other changes were minor. I was a little disappointed because I was LOOKING for something noticeable like that. But I did take it as a sign that my body didn't NEED the things I was cutting out because I continued to feel the same as I did with them. For the time being.

But now for the real question, after 3 months of eating vegan did my problems improve??? A little, but it was hit and miss. There was not a consistent pattern of improvement where I could attribute it to anything I was doing. During the 3 months I continued to train hard like I usually do with lots of weight training and cardio and started gearing up for marathon training. During the end of the 3 months I started noticing that I felt I wasn't bouncing back and recovering after my workouts like I usually would. I started feeling a little drained and like my muscles were being broken down during workouts, which is normal, but weren't building back up after like they should be. Besides gaining a few pounds (mostly because I wasn't monitoring my calories at all), this was the first negative thing I had experienced. This was enough to concern me though even though I still wasn't craving meat.

So how did it all come to an end? One morning I just woke up and thought, "I want eggs." And I ate them. And they were good. Ben walked into the kitchen while I was cooking them up with shock and confusion on his face. I think for an instant he was going to grab the pan away from me for fear I had just forgotten that I couldn't eat those. I admit I went on a bit of a meaty binge after the diet. There was meat in most meals. I felt like I was feeding my sad torn up muscles with the protein they had been needing. Plus let's face it, meat tastes really good. The next day I cooked up a pot roast and Ben was glad the old Holley was back.

I think it is important to eat a balanced diet that is built on fresh fruits and veggies with whole grains. In MY life though with the way I train, since I am unable to eat soy products which is a substantial source of protein for many vegans, it was very difficult for me to get enough protein in my diet. I very much believe that for an average person with a healthy lifestyle they can consume enough protein and nutrients on this diet. For me with my other dietary restrictions, over time I didn't feel that was healthy for me. As soon as I felt that I stopped. The first time my body said, "Eat this, I need that," which was eggs, I did.

This was definitely an eye opening experience. I have no regrets for trying it at all and am happy that I stuck with it as long as I did. I think you have to get over the initial lifestyle change with anything like this that you try to really be able to see the effects it has on your body etc. Both positive and possibly negative. As you know by seeing photos of what I eat now, I eat plenty of meat and eggs. If I could eat dairy and soy products I would definitely consume less of them and would prefer to do so. I do have vegan protein shakes almost everyday so I get a good amount of protein from those. But that isn't an ideal solution for me and definitely is pricey. I would prefer to get as much nutrition as possible off REAL food and not rely on supplements. 

Not to mention vegan protein powder is about double what regular powder costs. Until I figure out what really IS bothering me though, I will probably continue to try to balance between using protein powder and animal products for the time being. I never say never to anything. ;) I recognize that my body needs lots of protein to fuel my workouts and repair itself and be healthy.

Hopefully this was interesting and you made it through this NOVEL of a post! If you have any questions I would be happy to answer them or at least open up a discussion about them. I am by no means an expert on any of this, these are just my own personal thoughts and experiences. My body is different from yours so if I sounds nuts... rest assured, I probably am. ;)

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Are you vegan or vegetarian?

What made you decide to do it and how has that experience been for you?

Is there a food your are/were afraid of?

It is so sad that I missed out on the WONDERFULNESS that is PB and Almond Butter for so long. Healthy fats really are important... just remember HEALTHY fats. Not just adding in MORE fat to your diet, but replacing the BAD fat with the good stuff. ;)

Have you ever tried a diet that your friends/family thought was really extreme before? Did you like it? Did you get a lot of flack?

I am notorious for this. I have done meal plans were you are VERY regimented on what you eat and you plan everything out for the whole week and eat out of Tupperware. Imagine how well that goes over at family get togethers, especially the holidays. Currently the diary/soy intolerance still puts my family in a tizzy. I don't blame them, I am always up to something.