Going to Plant Based Diet

Triathlon Forum
1

I went vegan from June through October (5 months). I was constantly hungry and binging on healthy foods. There was a lack of balance in my diet.

After gaining some weight from my lowest ever race weight, I decided to re-introduce lean meat to my diet once a day such as ground turkey, chicken breast, and salmon.

We went on a cruise in December and after the Holidays I was 20lbs up from race weight. In a month and a half, my total weight loss was 3lbs. I took last week off training and gained 3lbs.

As a footnote, I’ve been counting calories on MFP for over a year. Generally I keep it around 1,500 to 2,000 calories.

This week I decided to go plant based. I will still eat meat when I want to, but I’ll limit it to mostly weekends when going out to eat with my wife.

In two days without meat, I’m already down 2lbs. I think I’ll keep trending back to race weight with a goal of getting there by April or May. This means losing 17.5lbs over that time frame.

I plan to eat plenty of protein and space meals without large gaps on days I go without meat. So far so good. I think for me having meat occasionally is what I need, but to get in peak body composition it will mean cutting down on meat consumption. Being 42 doesn’t help me either, but I do believe this type of flexibility in my diet will bring results.

2

You may want to relax. This post is insane.

3

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.

4

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.

5

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”.

6

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…

7

Please report back in a month and let us know how that worked out for you :wink:
.

8

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”.

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.

9

You may want to relax. This post is insane.

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.

10

This week I decided to go plant based. I will still eat meat when I want to

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.

11

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”.

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.

12

You may want to relax. This post is insane.

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.

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

13

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”.

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’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.

14

You may want to relax. This post is insane.

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.

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

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.

15

You may want to relax. This post is insane.

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.

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

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.
******

16

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”.

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’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.

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.

17

You may want to relax. This post is insane.

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.

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

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.
******

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

18

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”.

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’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.

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.

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.

19

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.

20

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