The Casual Vegan

I've toyed with vegetarianism, I've gone gluten and dairy free but going the whole hog (or not as the case may be) is not something that ever appealed. I don't know where I stand regarding animal rights but I do occasionally get a bit 'grossed out' by the concept of meat - probably just a part of my squeamish nature. 

As my interest in nutrition and leading a healthy lifestyle has grown over recent years, I've heard more and more praise over vegan diets. While I have no intention of becoming the next Jodie Marsh, I do workout using weights and need to maintain a certain level of protein in my diet in order to make this worthwhile.

As a brief background, I was a picky child and was generally happy living off cheesy pasta and satsumas - much to my dentist's dismay.​ I had stopped eating beef at 8-years-old following an incident where Mad Cow Disease was discussed while I looked at the enormous steak in front of me. I went 'veggie' at about 13 years old. However, looking back this was the first time I tried to take control over my eating habits. My mum forced me to eat fish (which I had never touched before) as her negotiation on the situation for fear I wouldn't grow. This phase lasted for 2-3 years before I decided to reintroduce chicken and pork (for roast dinners, not for bacon as you might assume). I then descended into a vicious spiral of exercise addiction and starvation. I learned so much about nutrition and yet I refused to eat which meant eventually I was just a skinnier version of my untoned, teenage self. I luckily snapped out of this before it got anymore serious thanks to the gym threatening to terminate my membership and recommending medical advice. Being so sure that I knew enough myself, I managed to develop a more healthy attitude to both exercise and food as a way to prove I didn't need help! Either way, it worked and by 19 I was certainly showing the results of a heavy gap year. Not so brief but now you know...

So back to now: 

My routine consists of controlled gym workouts and a sensible diet which is generally gluten and dairy free and low in refined sugar. I make a conscious effort to get enough protein, specifically following gym sessions. In an attempt to ensure my fitness addict side doesn't get the better of me, I don't take it too seriously and am happy to let the routine slip temporarily for the right occasion. 

Last night I saw a video of Frank Medrano and was totally in awe (see the full video below). Not only is this guy in incredible physical condition but he has managed to achieve it on a vegan diet.  This really surprised me, so much so that I have decided to give it a go myself (the diet not the bodybuilding). I am going to set about on an experiment of sorts as a 'Casual Vegan' - non an official term but one I think is fairly self-explanatory. In case it isn't, I will elaborate: I am going to adopt a vegan diet in my everyday life. However, this weekend for example, I will be celebrating my sister's 21st birthday in a restaurant and, for such an occasion, I will eat as I usually would. The same applies for dinner parties - no one likes fussy eaters and I would rather I still got the invite. Essentially I don't want my choice to impact my friends and family (they weren't impressed by the vegetarian stage, nor when I developed my gluten/lactose intolerances). 

So thats the casual vegan  - (not appropriate for those choosing the lifestyle for animal rights reasons, this is purely for health reasons).

I have made a list of reasons that I have read that suggest that even being 'part-time vegan' (I prefer my own term) can be beneficial to your health: 

• Vegans tend to weigh up to 20lbs less than meat eaters so its a great way to slim down or stay slim.
• Protein is good but research suggests that too much is bad. Against common belief (including my own until recently) you can get a sufficient amount of protein from plants. A woman weighting 140 pounds needs 50g of protein per day. To visualise this, a cup of cooked lentils is 18g, a cup of oats is 6g and a cup of cooked spinach is 5g. 2 tablespoons of peanut butter is about 8g.
• It might boost your energy - studies show that people on plant-based diets have more energy than meat eaters
• Its cheaper - meat is certainly the most expensive part of most diets. Cutting it out can be friendly on the wallet!
• High intakes of animal-based protein can be linked to heart disease and are related to high blood pressure and many other conditions
• Animal products often contain hormones and antibiotics so cutting them out cuts out theses nasties too
• It supports animal rights against the suffering of animals - I wont pretend that I will change the world with my 'casual veganism' but it does show some support
• The list goes on but I would imagine it will start to get boring (if it isn't already)... 

I have written a sort of diary of my first day. It wasn't that different to my regular diet, perhaps I would have had fish for dinner or a hard boiled egg after the gym, but there was no temptation for anything naughty - I always find going cold turkey is easier than having the odd treat here and there. 

Day 1

Breakfast: was green tea and smoothie with banana, berries, gluten-free oats, kale, spinach and chia seeds. No change there. 

Snack:  green tea and a 'cashew cookie' nakd bar (nothing but cashews and dates)

Lunch: I was out of the house so I picked up a carrot based juice from Planet Organic

Snack: pistachio nuts and a satsuma

Dinner: lentils with roasted vegetables - sweet potato, courgettes, carrots, leeks, red peppers, chilli, garlic

Snack: I wouldn't normally snack now but I ate early and was still hungry so I had a gluten-free oatcake with peanut butter, a drop of honey and a few slices of banana

Because of all the fruit, my sugar intake was quite high and calorie intake a little too low! However, the question is did I get enough of everything else?

So how did I do?

To maintain a healthy vegan diet you must get enough of the following:

• Starchy foods - the oats in my smoothie helped me cover that base, and the oatcake too!
• Fruit and veg - definitely didn't fall short there
• Protein - I've always liked lentils but never included them regularly into my diet so that was a specific effort to make sure I had some protein at dinner, nuts are also good. I think I was maybe slightly short but this is probably because of my juice for lunch. By adding quinoa to my lunch menu, for example, I would have covered this.
• A small amount of fatty and sugary food - I had a little honey, fat from nuts and maybe a little too much sugar
• Calcium - Kale is great for calcium as are pulses (well done lentils) and dried fruit (prunes did good too)
• Vitamin D - there was no sun and I didn't take any supplements or anything fortified with vitamin D so I could work on thisIron - Spinach in the breakfast smoothie covered me for this, as did the lentils and prunes (I should really have eaten more lentils in my life) 
• Vitamin B12 - again may have to look at supplements for this one
• Omega 3 - apparently linseed/flaxseed is great for this so I'll start adding this to my smoothie/salads etc

So there is certainly room for improvement if I am going to make it as a vegan and remain healthy but I didn't get off to a bad start. Most importantly, I really enjoyed it - especially dinner. I feel great this evening; loads of energy and no tummy ache (not often the case as I usually give in to either gluten or dairy at some point throughout the day) so I would call that a success. 

I wont get ahead of myself - it is only day 1 and I know that at the weekend I will be breaking from the routine to indulge in some sort of glutinous delight.  But at the same time I'm pretty chuffed with how much I enjoyed it and I would like to think I will stick it out for the foreseeable future. Watch this space!

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Here's the video - I dare you to watch it and not consider the way you eat...