Our Vegan Month: Thoughts, What’s Next + My Current Food Mindset
As promised, I wanted to share with you all a little update into our month of going vegan and share with you all some thoughts on how we liked it, what we found was hard, and what is next for us. As I am sitting here typing this, I feel like I may fall asleep, so let me get a cup of coffee quickly, before I share with you all our vegan story. Be right back.
So going vegan last month was a lot easier than I thought. I really found it fun to experiment with different vegan ‘meats,’ and really loved eating tofu, tempeh, and veggie filled meals. Honestly, I thought it was going to be hard going off dairy and meat and sticking to the vegan diet, but overall I felt really good and didn’t really miss anything. I will say we did have a bowl or two of ice cream during the month, but we are allowed a little cheating, right? Maybe. 😉
I think the hardest part for both Landon and I was when we were going over other peoples’ homes or at events. It was hard to stick to a completely vegan diet when we were out at different events, however at home, I found it really easy to stick too. My running seemed to go great this month and I didn’t notice any negative impact at all. I started using a plant based protein powder (from Designer Protein > you can use the code BETHANY20 for 20% off your first purchase, btw!) and I loved how it made me full. Also, two scoop get you 22 grams of completely plant based protein. YAYY.
What I did find a little bit more challenging was eating a lot more complex carbs than I am used to. As a runner, I eat a lot of good complex carbs, but not nearly as much as when I was eating vegan. I found that the amount of beans and grains made me full a little more bloated than normal (TMI, sorry guys) but I wasn’t too bothered by it. Vegan friends, any thoughts or recommendations? The thing I found most challenging was hitting my protein macros without hitting a super high carb intake too. So, carb cycling while being a vegan was challenging!
Overall, I really liked going vegan and I think I will definitely adopt a lot of vegan practices.
So, what is next?
For the month of May, Landon and I are trying out the Paleo lifestyle and comparing that to how we felt eating vegan. Paleo is definitely different from vegan. The paleo lifestyle is eating a lot of fresh veggies and fruit, grass fed meat or high omega 3 fish, nuts and seeds, and healthy fats and avoid dairy, beans, legumes, and processed foods. Landon is really excited (and requested) to try out the Paleo diet, since he is just getting into cross fit and we are both eager to see how we feel comparatively to the vegan lifestyle.
I think it is super fun to experiment with nutrition and see how our bodies feel when we fuel it with different foods. Mainly, I want to focus on fueling our bodies (Landon, Niah, and I) with real, whole natural foods that will enable us to be the best versions of ourselves for ourselves and others. That’s one thing I love about both vegan and paleo lifestyles, since both focus on real, whole foods. And while we both want to be strict on these lifestyles (to really see how we feel and experiment) I (we) also want to be able to not live in a restricted mindset.
A few ways I test out my eating mindset is through a couple different scenarios.
- Restaurants
- Grandma’s house
These may sound funny, so let me break it down.
Since both Landon and I don’t have any allergies or foods we cannot have, I try to keep a close eye on my mental health when it comes to food (especially when trying out certain food lifestyles). As someone who has gone through an ED, I test out my mental health through these different situations.
- If someone asks me to a restaurant or Landon takes me out for ice cream and it causes me stress – I need to check something out. I need to take time to refocus and realize that that is not healthy. I should be able to, with whatever lifestyle I lead, go to a restaurant with ZERO anxiety and enjoy whatever I decide to order with ZERO guilt!
- Similarly, if Grandma (or a friend) makes me a warm, delicious apple pie or offers a pizza for lunch or whatever the case and I say no, I need to take a step back and realize that that isn’t healthy either. Again, with any lifestyle I choose to lead (with food) I should be able to say YES to Grandma’s pie or best friend’s homemade pizza with zero guilt or shame and enjoy it completely.
So, as Landon and I experiment with the Paleo lifestyle and vegan lifestyle, I am keeping these questions in the back of my mind and continuously walking in food freedom. Because at the end of the day, yes, we must fuel ourselves well – but there is SO MUCH MORE to life than food. And I want to live like there is.
Questions of the Day
- Vegan friends, thoughts on how to get more protein with fewer carbs (definitely okay with a lot of carbs, but more questioning the beans/bloating thing…haha)
- Paleo readers > any thoughts on your diet/lifestyle. What are your go-to meals/snacks?
- What is your food mindset?