Hello all,
Apologies in advance because I'm gonna ramble a bit here, as I tend to keep relatively quiet about nutrition on this forum so I want to cover a fair bit of content/context/background.
So on Saturday (9/7/16) I decided to try going vegan for a week, taking an approach I doubt many on this forum would approve of (and I myself didn't see how it could possibly be a good idea - I was just intrigued to see how it might affect me), and that is eating lots of carbohydrates (unlimited in fact) while keeping fats and proteins low (basically an 80/10/10 approach - loads of fruit and starches, and not much else). I was intrigued to give it a try due to it being very popular among the YouTube vegan community, with many advocates (especially 'Durianrider' - check him out) claiming that carbs don't make you fat if the other two macronutrients are kept low, and in fact, you can eat as many carbs as you want, and your body will basically either burn them off, or excrete them. The popular slogan being 'CARB THE F*** UP!'. (Sorry for the foul language, I just think it's important that we're clear on how highly valued high-carb consumption is to some.)
Sounds magic right? Well, I don't believe in magic when it comes to diet, with the exception of one approach which I've mentioned a few times before on this forum, and that is following the Warrior Diet by Ori Hofmekler with a high consumption of nuts and veggies in the overeating phase and not much else. Eating like this has been the fastest way for me to get lean - almost magic (as in, dramatically noticeable differences on both the scales and in the mirror in just a couple of days).
So, regarding my experience so far on this high-carb vegan approach... Due to being used to the Warrior Diet way of eating, I've technically been following the basic undereating/overeating cycle without consciously trying to, in that I've eaten nothing but fruit (just more of it) during the day, followed by an evening meal consisting of things like rice, kidney beans, bread, cereal, and more fruit.
No doubt I've eaten a hell of a lot, and it's been fun, however, I'm on day 5, and have gone from 69.6kg to 71.1kg. More importantly (at least to me), I look a lot fatter (like, A LOT), and can pinch a good few more millimetres of fat off my belly with calipers, I'm starting to acquire a second chin, I'm losing my cheekbones (this makes me sad ) and my muscles aren't nearly as defined. Regarding how I actually feel... Meh... Not that much to write home about - my workouts haven't improved or suffered, although the one thing that has changed dramatically (as expected - due to high carb consumption being associated with increased serotonin), is that I'm sleeping WAY more and WAY deeper (we're talking 10 hours (plus lying in bed struggling to get up for ages) at least, as opposed to 8 like before), in that it's actually very difficult to wake up (and more importantly GET UP) at a respectable hour. While this isn't a problem for me right now due to not needing to wake up early (I work evenings), I wouldn't want to risk continuing this long term - I've always felt the ability to wake up and actually get up straight away at a reasonable hour to be very useful (duh!).
So, from here, I'm going to carry on vegan for another two and a half days, just to complete the '7-day challenge' (which hasn't really been a challenge, as I don't really eat much meat, etc. anyway), but I'm going to Warrior Diet-ify the hell out of it and go back to the nut-and-veggie approach as opposed to the high-carb route I've taken so far - to try to find my cheekbones again! What I mean is that I'm going to undereat properly throughout the day(just a few bits of fruit here and there, as well as coffee to suppress hunger, as opposed to as much fruit as I want like I've done so far on this challenge), followed by an overeating phase of almonds and veggies.
Following completion of the vegan challenge, I doubt I'll stay vegan, despite the fact that I've been contemplating going vegan (or possibly vegetarian or lacto-vegetarian) for some time, purely for health and performance reasons and nothing to do with ethics (sorry if that offends anyone, I'd just rather not get into that discussion here), as I genuinely don't feel that meat is really a necessity when it comes to building strength and improving performance. Referring again to the Warrior Diet, I do respect Ori Hofmekler's opinions massively, as I've found many of his tips to help me, and I've read in various articles/interviews of his that he seems to think that a predominantly vegetarian approach to diet is generally the best all-round route for health and fat loss. He does however condemn the high-carb, low-fat, low-protein approach as unhealthy and prone to fat gain. His reasons make sense and it did make me a little uneasy to go against his advice, but I figured a few days to experiment couldn't hurt!
Anyways! Thanks to anyone who has read this whole post. I just wanted to share my experience of a dietary approach which I've not seen many talk about on this forum, and I'd love to hear any thoughts, opinions, etc. (especially from those who may be more well educated in diet and nutrition than myself - I've never studied it academically or anything, and only know what I know from my personal experience and reading)!
Thanks,
Harry.
Apologies in advance because I'm gonna ramble a bit here, as I tend to keep relatively quiet about nutrition on this forum so I want to cover a fair bit of content/context/background.
So on Saturday (9/7/16) I decided to try going vegan for a week, taking an approach I doubt many on this forum would approve of (and I myself didn't see how it could possibly be a good idea - I was just intrigued to see how it might affect me), and that is eating lots of carbohydrates (unlimited in fact) while keeping fats and proteins low (basically an 80/10/10 approach - loads of fruit and starches, and not much else). I was intrigued to give it a try due to it being very popular among the YouTube vegan community, with many advocates (especially 'Durianrider' - check him out) claiming that carbs don't make you fat if the other two macronutrients are kept low, and in fact, you can eat as many carbs as you want, and your body will basically either burn them off, or excrete them. The popular slogan being 'CARB THE F*** UP!'. (Sorry for the foul language, I just think it's important that we're clear on how highly valued high-carb consumption is to some.)
Sounds magic right? Well, I don't believe in magic when it comes to diet, with the exception of one approach which I've mentioned a few times before on this forum, and that is following the Warrior Diet by Ori Hofmekler with a high consumption of nuts and veggies in the overeating phase and not much else. Eating like this has been the fastest way for me to get lean - almost magic (as in, dramatically noticeable differences on both the scales and in the mirror in just a couple of days).
So, regarding my experience so far on this high-carb vegan approach... Due to being used to the Warrior Diet way of eating, I've technically been following the basic undereating/overeating cycle without consciously trying to, in that I've eaten nothing but fruit (just more of it) during the day, followed by an evening meal consisting of things like rice, kidney beans, bread, cereal, and more fruit.
No doubt I've eaten a hell of a lot, and it's been fun, however, I'm on day 5, and have gone from 69.6kg to 71.1kg. More importantly (at least to me), I look a lot fatter (like, A LOT), and can pinch a good few more millimetres of fat off my belly with calipers, I'm starting to acquire a second chin, I'm losing my cheekbones (this makes me sad ) and my muscles aren't nearly as defined. Regarding how I actually feel... Meh... Not that much to write home about - my workouts haven't improved or suffered, although the one thing that has changed dramatically (as expected - due to high carb consumption being associated with increased serotonin), is that I'm sleeping WAY more and WAY deeper (we're talking 10 hours (plus lying in bed struggling to get up for ages) at least, as opposed to 8 like before), in that it's actually very difficult to wake up (and more importantly GET UP) at a respectable hour. While this isn't a problem for me right now due to not needing to wake up early (I work evenings), I wouldn't want to risk continuing this long term - I've always felt the ability to wake up and actually get up straight away at a reasonable hour to be very useful (duh!).
So, from here, I'm going to carry on vegan for another two and a half days, just to complete the '7-day challenge' (which hasn't really been a challenge, as I don't really eat much meat, etc. anyway), but I'm going to Warrior Diet-ify the hell out of it and go back to the nut-and-veggie approach as opposed to the high-carb route I've taken so far - to try to find my cheekbones again! What I mean is that I'm going to undereat properly throughout the day(just a few bits of fruit here and there, as well as coffee to suppress hunger, as opposed to as much fruit as I want like I've done so far on this challenge), followed by an overeating phase of almonds and veggies.
Following completion of the vegan challenge, I doubt I'll stay vegan, despite the fact that I've been contemplating going vegan (or possibly vegetarian or lacto-vegetarian) for some time, purely for health and performance reasons and nothing to do with ethics (sorry if that offends anyone, I'd just rather not get into that discussion here), as I genuinely don't feel that meat is really a necessity when it comes to building strength and improving performance. Referring again to the Warrior Diet, I do respect Ori Hofmekler's opinions massively, as I've found many of his tips to help me, and I've read in various articles/interviews of his that he seems to think that a predominantly vegetarian approach to diet is generally the best all-round route for health and fat loss. He does however condemn the high-carb, low-fat, low-protein approach as unhealthy and prone to fat gain. His reasons make sense and it did make me a little uneasy to go against his advice, but I figured a few days to experiment couldn't hurt!
Anyways! Thanks to anyone who has read this whole post. I just wanted to share my experience of a dietary approach which I've not seen many talk about on this forum, and I'd love to hear any thoughts, opinions, etc. (especially from those who may be more well educated in diet and nutrition than myself - I've never studied it academically or anything, and only know what I know from my personal experience and reading)!
Thanks,
Harry.
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