Vegan Experiment: 5 Days Free of Meat, Eggs, Dairy, Gluten, Sugar and Alcohol
If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I love to do mini challenges for myself and share the results with everyone. I do this for many reasons: personal growth, to inspire or motivate others and to learn more about a variety of healthy behaviors to better coach all my clients! This experiment was not different- 5 days free from meat, eggs, dairy, gluten, sugar, alcohol, and almost zero processed foods. Here’s a recap of my experience:
I attempted to begin this experiment as open to the experience as possible, however I did have a few thoughts prior to beginning to the experiment. I anticipated craving meat, being super hungry, getting tired of veggies, and that my digestion would get really backed up. To get started, I wrote myself a meal plan that looked something like this daily:
96g protein
191g carbs
63g fat
61g fiber
1715 calories
Daily foods included: chia seeds, unsweetened cashew milk, gluten free oats, vegan protein powder, spinach, broccoli, squash, carrots, pumpkin seeds, mushrooms, nutritional yeast, hemp seeds, lemon, ginger, cinnamon, fresh herbs, almond butter, rice, rice cakes, brown rice wraps, zucchini, tomatoes, coconut products (oil, unsweetened shredded) and avocado.
My macros prior to this vegan experiment were something like this daily:
150g protein
150g carbs
50g fat
30g fiber
1650 calories
Daily foods included all of the above, plus: chicken, fish, turkey, occasional lean beef, shrimp, eggs, whey protein powder, sprouted grain bread, and other whole grains like farro, freekeh and quinoa.
Here are my final stats:
Energy Level- Normal/High
Digestion- Great
Strength- Normal/High
Weight Change- Down 1.6 lbs
My energy and strength each day during the week was high. I normally have high energy and feel amazing, so I was happy that this didn’t change at all! My lifts in the gym and endurance at yoga and during my interval cardio sessions were impressive this week too. While this experiment was not done to lose weight, I did end up losing a total of 1.6 lbs during the 5 days- that’s just a bonus I guess. Now onto my digestion. This was my biggest area of concern. If you have ever felt bloated, constipated or have had any digestion issues you will now why I say this! I am so happy to report that my digestion improved during the experiment. I had normal bowel movements daily, sometimes multiple times a day (which normally does not happen.) I didn’t feel bloated or over full any of the days and I hardly ever felt hungry. All of this was such an amazing surprise!
For my final tips on eating vegan, dairy, egg, gluten and sugar free, check out my daily Vegan Experiment Videos here:
My YouTube Videos on the Vegan Experiment
Recommended Links on a Plant-Based Diet:
China Study Co-Author’s Website: https://nutritionstudies.org/
My favorite PBD/Sometimes Meat Eater Guy: https://drhyman.com/
Another one of my favorite PBD (Plant Based Diet) Guy: Dr. Greger @ https://nutritionfacts.org/
