Starting 30 Day Vegan Trial

[seeker5]

All this talk of RAW Vegan trials in here and on Steve's blog has got me inspired to try a 30 Day Vegan Trial

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

Good luck with your trial. I look forward to hearing your results.

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by {aspiring_to_clarity}

Good luck with your trial. I look forward to hearing your results.

Thanks

Yesterday was Day 1. It's not easy eating 2000 calories when you're trying to eat clean and you're new at it! I ended up eating an estimated 1700 calories, falling short of my 2000+ calories goal. I did keep my fat % at 27%.

I bought two identical food weight measurer, one for home and one for work...but they end up weighting differently from each other...! One would be 8 ounce for some fruits, and the other 12 ounce. I think I figured which is correct (had small 3rd food weight measurer laying around that said the fruits was about 11 oz). I'm going to return the defective one and buy a digital weight measurer to be more precise.

Today (day 2), I'm aiming to eat more early on the day so at the end of the day I don't have to scramble to get my calorie count up. I find it so ironically that for the first time I'm counting calories...with the purpose of making sure I eat enough! Until recently, the only people I heard who counted calories was to make sure they didn't eat too much. I do have plenty of fat to lose (probably like 30 pounds), so I just find this situation funny and delightful.

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

Yeah, it is crazy how these things work. Do you know what your daily calorie needs are to maintain your current weight? From there you take off 500 calories per day I believe to lose a pound a week. This may not be news to you so please excuse me if I am just blabbing about stuff you already know!

The nice thing about being vegan is that if you are eating whole foods it's pretty much impossible to eat too much. If you eat a lot of processed stuff and treats and soda, etc, then you still have to watch it not to gain weight.

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by {aspiring_to_clarity}

Yeah, it is crazy how these things work. Do you know what your daily calorie needs are to maintain your current weight? From there you take off 500 calories per day I believe to lose a pound a week. This may not be news to you so please excuse me if I am just blabbing about stuff you already know!

I don't really know how many calories I need. I just estimate around 2000 calories or so. I just want to make sure I don't eat too few calories. My theory is that in the past when I've tried to eat healthy, I didn't eat enough calories so I'd feel weak and I had to resort to eating junk food to feel good again.

Thus, while I do want to lose weight, I'm not doing this Vegan trial to lose weight. I'm doing it to be healthy. I'm sure I'll end up losing some weight too, but that's a side benefit, not the primary purpose of this Vegan trial.

The nice thing about being vegan is that if you are eating whole foods it's pretty much impossible to eat too much. If you eat a lot of processed stuff and treats and soda, etc, then you still have to watch it not to gain weight.

Yeah. I'm aiming to eat 75% plant-based food on here so I don't eat too much processed food.

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

Sounds like a great plan overall. I imagine you will lose weight the way you are eating. And health is always the best goal in my opinion. Keep the updates coming!

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by seeker5

I don't really know how many calories I need. I just estimate around 2000 calories or so..

I did a check on some online calculators, and it seems for me to keep my weight, they say I should consume 2600-2900 calories... ! Heh, how can I eat that much on a healthy vegan diet. Ok, I know it's easy to consume that much when eating junk food, but I'm trying to avoid that. I guess I'll aim to eat maybe 2200-2400 calories. I am now sympathizing with Steve's dilemma of having to eat pounds after pounds of fruits.

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

Wow, that seems like a lot to me. When I was vegetarian I never counted calories and pretty much ate whatever and maintained my weight for four years. I can imagine you could just eat whatever you want of healthy stuff. if you want to lose those 30lbs in addition to eating healthy, I think dropping to about 2000 per day wouldn't be too restrictive. *Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist of course!* What are you eating in a day? Maybe someone would be able to tell where you could get more calories in a healthy way. There are a lot of vegans on this board that might have suggestions.

[Dan.Linehan]

Hey Seeker, congrats on the trial. Let me know if you need any suggestions.

Right off the top of my head:

• Field Roast Brand Meat (omg.. delicious)
• Smart Bacon
• Follow Your Heart brand veganaise
• Rice Dream Ice Cream
• Earth Balance Butter
• Bisquick with soy milk and dark chocolate chips
• Whole foods has egg replacer for baking needs
• Better than cream cheese

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by {aspiring_to_clarity}

Wow, that seems like a lot to me. When I was vegetarian I never counted calories and pretty much ate whatever and maintained my weight for four years.

I was a vegetarian a few years ago for about one year. I still ate cheese and dairy product (which I am abstaining now for the first time under this Vegan trial). I never calculated anything, and I got very thin and skinny as heck. However, I'd feel physically weak, and so I ate junk food because I noticed when I'd eat junk food, I'd physically feel better and not physically weak.

I felt that way again a month ago after I started eating little when I was doing my no coke no candy bar trial. At the suggestions of others, I calculated my calories intake and found it was only 1200-1400 calories. So, this leads me to believe that maybe, the problem when I was vegetarian a few years ago is that I ate a too little, hence my aim this time to make sure I don't eat too little. That's why I'm calculating the calories now. (The other reason is to keep my fat intake low. I've eaten a lot of nuts...not knowing they were 50% fat)

I can imagine you could just eat whatever you want of healthy stuff. if you want to lose those 30lbs in addition to eating healthy, I think dropping to about 2000 per day wouldn't be too restrictive. *Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist of course!* What are you eating in a day? Maybe someone would be able to tell where you could get more calories in a healthy way. There are a lot of vegans on this board that might have suggestions.

Here is what I've eaten today (Day 2 of my Vegan Trial, and as of 3pm):

Breakfast:
Fruit Juice 220ml
Spinach20g
Olives 6
singleOlive Oil1teaspoon

Snack:
Banana 4oz
Banana 7oz
Tangerine 7oz

Lunch:
Brown Rice Bag 1 Bag
StirFry Veggie Bag 0.5 bag
Fruit Juice 190ml
Terriyaki 1 tbsp

Snack:
Strawberries 9.5oz

So far today: 1121 Calories, 9% fat, 85% Carbs, and 6% Protein. I've still got the afternoon snacks and the evening dinner to go through, and unfortunately, like yesterday, I'm behind on my calories.

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

Hey Seeker, congrats on the trial. Let me know if you need any suggestions.

Thanks, I'm up for suggestions. Though I may not always follow them, I'd like to hear them.

• Field Roast Brand Meat (omg.. delicious)
• Smart Bacon
• Follow Your Heart brand veganaise
• Rice Dream Ice Cream
• Earth Balance Butter
• Bisquick with soy milk and dark chocolate chips
• Whole foods has egg replacer for baking needs
• Better than cream cheese

Thanks. All of that seems to be processed food...?

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

I see what you are saying regarding calories, definitely don't think you will thrive if you are only at 1200-1400 per day!

Maybe adding in *some* vegan processed foods would help you reach your calories and add a little flavor without compromising the overall health. Also, I know it's only day two, but some nuts and definitely a lot of beans/legumes would be a good addition. Maybe some tofu or seitan? Hopefully someone else will have some better advice. I haven't ever done vegan. I wish now I would have calculated my calories when I was veg!

[Dan.Linehan]

Originally Posted by seeker5

Thanks. All of that seems to be processed food...?

Yeah, fruits, veggies and rice and nuts are kind of obvious choices. Although I do eat a lot of non-processed, organic foods finding the good versions of more ordinary foods took me the longest when I went vegan.

I probably just saved you about six months of trial and error with that short list if my own learning curve is any indicator.

Yes, I eat a lot of chocolate chip n' blueberry pancakes with bacon and milkshakes.

[Dan.Linehan]

Hmm.

I just read through some of these other replies about processed foods. Let me note one thing.

Don't eat corn syrup. None of the processed foods I mentioned contain corn syrup. That stuff is what messes you up, not processed foods. Processed foods are a red herring.

Do a google search and please, stop eating corn syrup! Its not that soda is a problem inherently, its not that junk foods are a problem inherently, its that companies love putting corn syrup in practically everything on the market when it has no business being there.

Avoid, avoid, avoid.

corn syrup - Google Search

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

I probably just saved you about six months of trial and error with that short list if my own learning curve is any indicator.

I'll probably want to splurge a little bit this weekend (while still being 100% Vegan), so I'll check out those items when I go to the grocery store.

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

Yes, I eat a lot of chocolate chip n' blueberry pancakes with bacon and milkshakes.

Do you mean the vegan form of that?

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

I just read through some of these other replies about processed foods. Let me note one thing.

You mean on a different thread? Which one?

Don't eat corn syrup. None of the processed foods I mentioned contain corn syrup. That stuff is what messes you up, not processed foods. Processed foods are a red herring.

Wow, I never really was really aware of corn syrup. I read your links and a bit more of it last night after reading your post, but it was confusing to me as I'm not really familiar with fruictose and glucose. However, I did see that one of the front page links on the google page is an article on lewrockwell.com, which is cool as that's a site I used to read a lot. The economic & governmental argument against corn syrup in that article makes sense to me. The good thing is because I quit drinking Soda and eating Candy bars last month, it shouldn't be too hard to stay away from corn syrup, at least from an addiction standpoint. I'm suprised thought that Wheat bread at Subway has corn syrup. Thanks for the warning.

[seeker5]

Ok, update on day 2.

Food:

I ended eating an estimated 2400 Calories, with an estimated 21% calories from Fat, 71% from Carbs and 8% from Protein. I did feel a little bit weak yesterday afternoon. By then my fat for the day had only been 8% of my calories. I decided to eat some nuts (which is about 70% fat), and I felt immediately a little bit better. Then I ate a Bean Burrito for dinner (which is 17% fat), and I felt even better. So perhaps, my theory about needing enough calories isn't enought to avoid feeling weak - perhaps I also needed fat?

Restroom:
Went to the restroom to do #2 about 6 times yesterday...! I usually just go once or so a day. I'm puzzled though that small bits of my spinach I ate at 7:30am came out un-digested at 6pm.

Weight:
I weight 1.6 pounds less then yesterday. My primary goal isn't to lose weight during this trial, but I will monitor my weight every day like Steve does.

Ok, I don't know how long I'll do daily update (if at all) on this forum, but I just thought I'd do it for today for fun.

[Dan.Linehan]

Originally Posted by seeker5

I'll probably want to splurge a little bit this weekend (while still being 100% Vegan), so I'll check out those items when I go to the grocery store.

Do you mean the vegan form of that?

Yep.. the vegan version. Bisquick, soy milk, smart bacon, rice dream, dark chocolate chips. Last night I learned how to make a pretty awesome scrambled tofu if you're interested. Breakfast foods rock.

Originally Posted by seeker5

You mean on a different thread? Which one?

On this thread I think. I guess I dislike the term "processed foods" because it seems to imply that any packaged good you can buy at the store is bad for you when, in my opinion, eating a raw, "unprocessed" non-organic apple (which has had its DNA altered to contain a built in herbicide, has been genetically modified to grow larger, has been sprayed with pesticides during its growth, has been artificially fertilized with chemicals and miracle gro, and is coated with a thin layer of wax to look shiny on the grocery store shelf) is probably much more processed and much more dangerous to eat than a container of "processed" organic faux chicken salad.

People tend to be reactionary (you're eating so many processed foods!) without really thinking things through. For all we know Steve could be eating a bunch of some new pesticides right now that are causing his mood swings. If he's not eating organic produce who's to say?

Originally Posted by seeker5

Wow, I never really was really aware of corn syrup. I read your links and a bit more of it last night after reading your post, but it was confusing to me as I'm not really familiar with fruictose and glucose. However, I did see that one of the front page links on the google page is an article on lewrockwell.com, which is cool as that's a site I used to read a lot. The economic & governmental argument against corn syrup in that article makes sense to me. The good thing is because I quit drinking Soda and eating Candy bars last month, it shouldn't be too stay away from corn syrup, at least from an addiction standpoint. I'm suprised thought that Wheat bread at Subway has corn syrup. Thanks for the warning.

No problem. Yeah, fast foods and colas are made almost entirely of corn processed in weird new ways. Its bizarre.

[seeker5]

Yesterday was Day 3, it wasn't a great day. Felt mentally tired the whole afternoon. I was also behind on my calories, having only about 1200 calories by the time it was dinner. So I got two taco bell bean burritos and a subway veggie delight wrap. I know the bean burrito isn't that healthy, even though it only has 17% fat. However, I really really wanted my calories, not because I was hungry, but because I don't want to have too low of a calorie count. In that one meal, I ate 1139 Calories. My total for the day ended being 2400 calories with 21% fat, 69% carbs, and 9% protein. However, I felt constipated that night, after the bean burrito, and I regreted eating the bean burrito. I have to plan better to get more calories.

I also felt very tired by the time I got home and went to sleep at 7pm, several hours earlier then usual. I ended waking up at 1:30am and staying up for a few hours.

My weight went up 1.2 pounds since yesterday, but still down 0.4 pounds from the first day.

[Dan.Linehan]

Originally Posted by seeker5

Yesterday was Day 3, it wasn't a great day. Felt mentally tired the whole afternoon. I was also behind on my calories, having only about 1200 calories by the time it was dinner. So I got two taco bell bean burritos and a subway veggie delight wrap.

Couple notes..

Taco Bell's rice contains casein (milk product), so its not vegan. The beans use hydrogenated corn oil, which is pretty bad. They cause free radicals, which cause cancer. Hydrogenated oils are mostly banned in Europe.

Taco Bell and Subway use a high volume of GMO ingredients which are not awesome.

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by Dan.Linehan

Couple notes..

Taco Bell's rice contains casein (milk product), so its not vegan.

Wow, I didn't know that. Good thing you told me, I might have gotten some in the future. I'm glad I haven't had any yet this week, so I've stayed 100% Vegan.

The beans use hydrogenated corn oil, which is pretty bad. They cause free radicals, which cause cancer. Hydrogenated oils are mostly banned in Europe.

Hmm, I didn't know that. That cements my intention to avoid taco bell bean burritoes. I have got to find other things to eat - I'll check out your list of vegan stuff this weekend.

Taco Bell and Subway use a high volume of GMO ingredients which are not awesome.

Wow, I knew nothing of GMO until your post. That can be scary - putting a fish gene in a vegetable...! Does it mean it's no longer 100% Vegan? Anyway, it's scary, but it could also be harmless, I'll have to do some more investigating and researching. Thanks for bringing it up to my attention.

[seeker5]

Yesterday, I ate only 1700 Calories, I basically didn't have dinner. I felt tired (from being up since 1am), and I had a toastmasters meeting, so I took a nap and then ate a banana on the way to the meeting. I felt this time it was better to skip a bean burrito and take a loss on calories.

My percentage were: 26% fat, 67% Carbs and 7% Protein. The fat were too high, I ate some nuts when I mistakenly thought my fat was lower then it was.

This is what I ate:

Breakfast
Fruit Juice 425 ml
Banana 4.5 oz
Apple 4 oz

Snack
spinach 20 g
olives 6 single
olive oil 1 teaspoon
grapes 5 oz

Lunch
Subway Veggie Delight 2 wraps
Snack
banana 4 oz
nuts 1 oz

Dinner
Banana 4.5 oz


Wow, I didn't realize I had eaten 3 bananas in one day. I'm a little concern, I have to be careful. My doctor back in May told me to be careful not to eat bananas b/c of constipation problems I had. I'm hoping by changing my diet like this the banana will not be in effect in constipation, but during this transition period, I want to make sure I don't overdo it. I think I'm going to go buy some prunes to be on the safe side.

My weight didn't move a bit. My weight on the morning of day 5 was exactly the same as in the morning of day 4.

[eblight]

I found being a vegan I needed more protein and not the extra amounts of oils found in nuts. Now I use spirulina powder which makes great smoothies. I'm very passionate about the superfoods like spirulina, barley grass, wheat grass and chlorella 'cos they are not only high in amino acids but also many minerals, chlorophyll and fibre.

[Dan.Linehan]

I learned how to make baked BBQ tofu riblets this weekend.

Served in a pita with mashed potato. *drools*

[aabbcc]

Do you like to cook or are you too busy to cook? I am wondering because it doesn't seem like you are eating any real meals. I would suggest focusing more on actual meals and not calorie counts. When you get a rotation of menus under your belt, the calories will take care of themselves as long as you are eating enough so that you don't feel hungry.

If you are gone all day, a crockpot is a wonderful kitchen aid ... you can make all sorts of good things in it, and when you get home at night, dinner is done. A few things that can be made in a crockpot are pot pies, chili and stews [with dumplings, if you don't mind a bit of fussing when you arrive home], pasta sauces, seitan roasts, hot cereals [good for breakfast], soups. You can even make lasagne in a crockpot!

Maybe take a quick trip to the library and grab a couple of vegan cookbooks or take a look online and find a few main dish recipes that you'd like to try. There are so many delicious vegan dishes out there. I hate to think that you are going hungry or missing out when you don't have to.

Good luck!