On February 3, 2010 I cut out all meat and dairy from my diet. Since that date I have been
about 99 percent compliant with my new regimen (no meat but maybe a tiny bit of dairy here and there). What I have noted
is that I have the same strength as pre-vegan diet but MORE ENERGY at this stage of my transition. I have definitely
not noticed any decrease in strength and that is something I was keeping a close eye on. The transition over to a whole
food plant based diet was relatively easy. There are so many great foods it is hard not to over-eat actually.
The volume of food I am eating has increased dramatically from what it was. I am still attempting to eat more raw foods
and less cooked foods but am moving in that direction slowly. The one negative thing I can say is that the first few
weeks were hard due to the bloating and feelings of extreme fullness I experienced. I have lost maybe two pounds but
I am at a low weight and BF anyway so I didn't expect to drop much weight. My system seems to be regulated now
to this new way of eating and I feel much better over-all.
I continue to do my hour to
three hour long training sessions, including grueling bouts of pull-ups for an hour with minimal rest and have had a ton of
energy for everything. My recovery seems either the same or maybe slightly better.
I
have discovered what I can eat in my favorite restaurants and continue to search in that respect but have not had any adverse
social problems. Seems like if you want to follow this lifestyle it is fairly simple to do. So far I have read
the book The China Study and have cruised the Internet reading all sorts of vegan lifestyle and food blogs. I plan on
getting the Engine Two Diet as soon as I can find it as I have had a few people tell me it has some great recipes. (It
is available on Amazon.com)
Since I am a strength athlete, I hold the World Record for added weight
pull-ups, I have had a few people question me regarding if I will be able to continue competing without meat. One gentleman
actually said there is no way I would be able to function and that people were made to eat meat. I indicated that I
was training hard for World Records in pull-ups and had seen no adverse effects and while I was still on the fence it
appeared that the diet might be benefiting me. He ignored what I said and repeated his mantra. I thought it was
funny. All sorts of athletes are successful eating lots of different types of diets, but not to be open to experimentation
and to consider actual real results from someone who is training up to three hours a day seems preposterous...just sayin.
I will continue to blog about my experiences both good and bad each month. Plus, I will start being more specific
regarding the foods I am eating as I have started to get questions regarding my protein intake ect.
May
5th. I continue to feel as if the Vegan diet is really working for me. I just got a new Women's Open World Record
on May 1st eating strictly vegan. I took the record in most consecutive pull-ups which obviously takes both strength
and endurance. More to come:)
June 9th. I broke my own World Record on May 26th and
completed 36 consecutive pull-ups. I turned 45 yers old on May 28th. When I was 40, it was completely outside
my frame of reference that I would be a World Record holder and a vegan. My diet continues to work for me and I am also
eating a bit more strictly in terms of more fruit, raw vegetables and beans and less processed foods.