Thrive Diet I R Confuzed

[Cochonette]

I recently read a book called Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life by vegan athlete Brendan Brazier. I have been on a plant-based diet for almost two years, but still was eating too many grains. So I found it interesting that Brazier recommended replacing grains (rice, oats, wheat, etc.) with what he calls pseudograins (wild rice, amaranth, quinoa). He says actually grains should only be up to 5% of your daily diet... can't even remember why he said that. Will look it up when I'm not so tired.

He also says that you should ease yourself onto the diet by adding TO the diet rather than subtracting FROM, which may be part of my problem 'cause I didn't entirely do that.... err... I was thinking in terms of replacing the grains in my diet. I kind of removed them first?

Anyway... instead of rice, I now eat wild rice... and I am eating more bananas, grapes and occasionally other fruits. I just got this new cereal that happens to be gluten/wheat-free (although I didn't notice that until after I bought it). First thing I noticed when I started changing my diet (and this hasn't been all that systematic... I am just choosing changes as each day passes) was that a couple of bananas is simply not much fuel. Each one will last you 30 minutes if you are starting from the point of slightly hungry. Looked up fruits, and grapes are just 2 calories each!

However... when I started eating MORE to make up for it, it seemed like I just couldn't lose this gnawing feeling in my stomach? I went and had some yummy veggies and potatoes from a local restaurant and was immediately hungry again. So THEN I went and got a Power Sandwich which is packed with protein and 350 calories. My stomach felt full, but uh... not really? I haven't been physically active lately... other than walking to/from/around work, nothing. So this is weird. I don't normally get very hungry during the day 'cause I ate so much at night, I suppose... a small breakfast usually suffices for at least the first 5 hours of the day.

Last night I bought a bag of veggie chips (gluten-free) & salsa and ate like 1/3 of the bag.... I was full. I woke up and it seemed like my tummy was unusually small, and I was hungry. So I ate this new cereal, and it didn't fill me up, so I ate some more. Then I ate most of the rest of the bag of chips and felt full. Then I was hungry again! So I ate a banana! I come home four hours later, hungry, and cook a cup of wild rice which turns into two cups when cooked. Put in some veggies, eat. I feel full. But still hungry! So at 1:45 a.m., I decide to eat some more cereal. Ugh, now I feel stuffed, and the hungry feeling in my tummy feels......... still there.

I don't get it. Is my body craving gluten? My muscles also feel weak. I know what I just described above isn't exactly a very nutritious sounding diet, but that's how I typically eat, plus grains. Or am I just lacking carbs? I'd think those damned veggie chips / cereal / wild rice would have carbs! I wouldn't even be eating so much of them - that was the point - but I was like, "Need carbs!"

Or maybe it's all my imagination, and I am just dreaming all this up...