You may want to relax. This post is insane.

flexibility, but also a gradual move towards more plant based is probably best.

for the people that make a sudden switch to going plant based, the biggest issue is obviously replacing all of the calories and nutrients you were previously eating.

unless you somehow already have a whole lot of experience of eating plant based prior to going vegan, as well as a lot of time and access to some very well stocked supermarkets, you're likely to run into a lot of problems.

i'm taking the path of continuing to refine my diet, which is going in the direction of being more, but not exclusively plant based. i'll still eat a fair bit of dairy as i do believe in the benefits of milk, eggs and yoghurt, but will be increasing the variety of grains i eat as well as the variety of fruits and vegetables and finding ways to incorporate these effectively, in order to still meet the calorie and nutritional requirements for training, while reducing meat etc. consumption. therefore i'm less reliant on meat and dairy of my needs.

but i won't get hung up on the occasions where i need to eat meat/ fish or something else non plant based just because it's more practical in that moment and to not do so would be detrimental to the overall picture.

it's not about being perfectly vegan of whatever other diet, but continuous improvement.


obviously there's a lot of talk recently about going vegan after the 'game-changers' documentary.

the cherry-picking and dubious interpretations of their results have been well documented already, but i think the main point i took from it was that the improved blood markers they saw from test subjects, was as a result of eating more fruits, vegetables and generally healthier food options. it wasn't necessarily going vegan which improved their health, but that they went from having a diet consisting mainly of meat (probably often processed and low quality), sugar and other low nutrient, low quality foods, to having a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and different grains etc.

if they'd still included good quality meat in their diet, plus all the other plant based foods they were now eating, i believe they would have seen similar results.

so it just comes down to a case of continuous improvement. variety, non-processed, high quality.

You are so right as far as making gradual, moderate improvements. I went from eating whatever, to calorie counting and eating cleaner, to full blown vegan. I think finding a happy medium and a balance with be sustainable and help me reach my long term goals.

Not commenting on the merits of eating vegan or plant-based, but responding to your comment that you've lost 2 pounds in 2 days. That's indicative of one thing... you had a good bowel movement. Meaningful changes to body composition, blood markers, etc. are measured over a period of months and years, not hours or days.

I lost 2 pounds in one day preparing for my colonoscopy. Not sure I'd recommend that as a sustainable way of "eating".

What do you mean? I intermittently fast and go into ketogenosis on my all plant based keto diet (but I still drink beer). I lost 1 pound after 12 hours... That means if I continue on my plant based keto (when i want) diet, I'll be down 30 pounds in a month...

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

Please report back in a month and let us know how that worked out for you ;-)

Obviously the short term change isn't too relevant, but since I really haven't fluctuated in two months previous I would say I'm at least trending in a positive direction. A real marker will be in month.

I notice you have an agenda against people trying to decrease meat consumption in their diet. In other words you're trolling.

I won't judge anyone, because as I described I've tried it all over the past year. Diet is individual and you have to find what works for you.

If you can only contribute negative feedback you might try removing yourself from the conversation. I hope the rest of your day goes better.

My diet is mostly plant based and I barely eat meat. You can say 97-99% of my diet is plant based. When I eat meat, I don't feel good and workout next day is not good either, so I can tell I'm definitely plant based diet person. Everyone is different, so do some experiment and find what's best for you. If I eat salty food a day before the race, I do well next day. If I eat veggie sandwich from Subway for dinner, I feel great and do well in long run or ride next day. This takes long time, so be patient, see what happens when you change your diet and take a note.

Initial quick weight loss is usually water weight. Typically peeing reduces your weight (temporarily) more than a bowel movement. That said, the weight of your pee and poop isn't really the weight you've lost. Most (84%) of the fat you burn is expelled as CO2 through breathing, with only 16% getting expelled as water. And that 16% water is a pretty small in comparison to the amount of water that goes through your body on a daily basis. If you lose 1 pound of fat, it's about 2.5 extra ounces of water that you sweat, pee and poop out.

I look forward to the update notifying us that 1,500 calories of dandelions isn't supporting your triathlon training.

I'm aware that it's likely not fat, but simply weight loss. I've been peeing a lot more and I've been quite regular, in the first few days. When I went vegan the same change was noticeable immediately. Since I'm taking in primarily plants made of water then this is expected. Eating meat daily, I wasn't even losing any water weight. I believe I'm already fairly lean, but losing some water weight will be beneficial as well.

More jackassery from you was expected. While going vegan I noticed no fatigue and my training was at peak performance. I will eat meat as needed, which will be a few times a week. As well, I'll adjust caloric intake with training load. Pretty simple stuff.

Your 20lb swings and weight tracking over a 2-day period suggest you don't need to modify your diet, you need to see a therapist.

This plant-based craze has people more jazzed to tell everyone what they're doing than crossfitters on paleo, and that's saying something.

You're probably eating less salt with your plant based diet. My point was that you didn't lose 2 pounds in 2 days, you just lowered the amount of water in your body. Water weight loss isn't weight loss, it's just dehydration.

Perhaps you can recommend one as I'm sure you already see several.

It's likely all water but thats a start in the right direction in shedding excess water weight. I'm confident the gains will come in time.

Also, I'm pretty sure I'm not dehydrated since I'm taking in adding water through solid foods.

I’ll be interested to follow your updates.

I tend to follow the Intuitive Eating principles and have noticed beneficial changes in my mindset and body composition. I don’t like to claim a certain diet and I think a lot of times people, not saying you did, do claim diets in hopes it will make it “stick”.

Good luck with your nutritional journey.

Shoot. Why didn't anyone tell me I was supposed to crash and burn at my race 2 months after going vegan rather than go 3:52 for a 70.3? Someone better let Jan Frodeno know before he goes and accidentally wins Kona again!

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Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
Deals on Wheels - Results, schedule, videos, sponsors

not enough time to let the vegan-ness set it. Eat vegan and go race again the next year. I'd be interested to see if you do better.

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

I went vegan 2 months ago. Zero meat, and dairy in that time.
I have hit nothing but personal best each training week since. My heart rate has lowered a lot while exercising too.
I haven't lost much weight, but that is because I have made a effort to eat enough to fuel my training.
Bloods have been great, calcium has gone up, B12 has gone up, and Iron and protein levels are the same.
You just have to plan your meals better, and cook a lot more (this is why I think a lot of people fail, they become junk food vegans for convienience).

I don't want to be a preacher type but it's funny how people bash veganism before even trying it.
I have done paleo, keto and vegan. The take away I have found from them all is that you need to not eat refined and junk, and eat lots of veg.
Vegan and paleo both agree that dairy isn't good for us, and I have to agree with that. I think if you want a bit of eggs, or grass fed beef then fine, but it should be minimal.

I was vegan for years.

I finally wised up.

I perform infinitely better eating meat and eggs. Veganism isn't the silver bullet.

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

Would certainly never claim it is. And I also am not claiming I performed well in December because I was a vegan. There were a lot of other factors at play there. I am now 5+ months in and still having fantastic workouts. I don't feel all that much different than when I ate meat, but I also definitely don't feel worse.

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Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
Deals on Wheels - Results, schedule, videos, sponsors

I never said it was a silver bullet.
But so far I feel better and perform better, in sport and in life.

I just find it funny how people have a "them or us"mentality when it comes to diet choices.

People should do what makes them perform and feel the best, but each person is different and we shouldn't bag people for their choices.