Unintentional Vegan Peating: Amazing So Far

[andrei]

How do you know you are gaining muscle? Over a short time period of a few weeks it’s generally very difficult to say if you made any gains.
I find that if I reduce protein intake and increase carbs my muscles look way bigger, but it’s just extra water being taken into the muscles.

Weight is going up..and strength..and size. It is visible, and yes the main attribute is the glycogen from potatoes. I agree with you.
On fruits only however i was losing strength and size and weight.
I still do not want meat or dairy. The thought of it is not appealing.

 

[Runenight201]

OP what’s your height and weight?

 

[andrei]

OP what’s your height and weight?

178 cm and 77 kg

 

[Glassy]

I’d agree - muscle gain is very slow even when it’s accelerated. Your strength can also fluctuate and you can increase strength without gaining muscle just by improving technique, training muscle movement or by better fuelled muscles.

Having said that, if you are an experienced lifter and able to maintain/increase your strength over 12 weeks then I’d say it indicates your protein intake is adequate.

FWIW @andrei I’m cutting back substantially on flesh intake. Still having Greek yoghurt, gelatine and liver/oysters once per week but not having much meat. I just don’t think it’s digesting well or quickly for me.

 

[JustAGuy]

andrei, I have a question for you.
I kind of want to follow a similar diet to what you do now (though I will add some refined grains like white rice/white wheat a bit too in addition to potatoes and fruit). My only fear is going below 75g/day protein that I am on currently that I will lose muscle. For me any type of fat or protein just worsens my energy levels. I feel 0 benefit from them, though I assume they are there (I guess?).
I am wondering if you are weighing your food and counting macros? I would be really interested to hear how many calories/carbs/proteins/fats you consume in a day on this diet.

 

[andrei]

andrei, I have a question for you.
I kind of want to follow a similar diet to what you do now (though I will add some refined grains like white rice/white wheat a bit too in addition to potatoes and fruit). My only fear is going below 75g/day protein that I am on currently that I will lose muscle. For me any type of fat or protein just worsens my energy levels. I feel 0 benefit from them, though I assume they are there (I guess?).
I am wondering if you are weighing your food and counting macros? I would be really interested to hear how many calories/carbs/proteins/fats you consume in a day on this diet.

3 kg of potatoes + 1 kg of grapes + coconut oil + chocolate.
I estimate 3300 calories. I assume higher protein in potatoes than what labels say. I.e. 35 grams of protein per kg of potatoes.
Coconut oil and chocolate for fat. Around 30 grams of fat per day.

 

[JustAGuy]

3 kg of potatoes + 1 kg of grapes + coconut oil + chocolate.
I estimate 3300 calories. I assume higher protein in potatoes than what labels say. I.e. 35 grams of protein per kg of potatoes.
Coconut oil and chocolate for fat. Around 30 grams of fat per day.

Thanks!

I am going to be joining you on a similar eating journey since protein/fats just make me feel bad no matter what I try. Whenever I try the pure carbohydrates approach I just feel so much better very quickly. Benefits I notice (within like a few days already)
- stronger teeth (feel like rocks)
- way higher energy levels
- much calmer
- better sleep
- very quick growing facial hair (shave normally every 2-3 days on this system 2x per day)
- way better mood
- muscles fill out much better, way better pump in the gym (it’s NOT due to increasing carbs since adding 40g protein on top of the carb intake removes this effect, I weigh and track everything)

I will eat less grapes and potatoes but add in some more white rice. In addition to this I might add some dry cornflakes with a bit of sugar. The reason for this is that the higher liquid content of such volume of fruit/potatoes generally makes me feel very cold.

 

[JustAGuy]

1st day went great, good energy and had a good workout. Temps 36.9 pre-meal and I run super hot after meals, 37.5 celsius. Had 3000 kcal of which 50g protein, 9g fat and rest carbs.

 

[Runenight201]

@JustAGuy is the effect all fats? Have you tried eating straight coconut or coconut cream itself (NOT the oil)? Short chained fatty acids are unique in that they are metabolized differently are used directly as energy.

 

[JustAGuy]

@JustAGuy is the effect all fats? Have you tried eating straight coconut or coconut cream itself (NOT the oil)? Short chained fatty acids are unique in that they are metabolized differently are used directly as energy.

I have tried literally every fat in existence kinda for years experimenting , I respond negatively to all of them. (Including coconut in all it’s forms)

 

[Runenight201]

I think we all must be unique in our ability to secrete the enzymes for the digestion of carbohydrates and fats. A high carb low fat diet had me so bloated, and I would stuff myself with rice and potatoes until my stomach would be so full, only to be hungry again in an hour. Terrible sleep as a result.

Now here, OP and you seem to be able to eat 3k calories worth of potatoes. That would one hundred percent wreck me. Ever since, adding coconut into my diet, my bloating has gone significantly down and I’m able to stay full longer until my next meal. I know some islanders would eat up to 60% of their macro composition as coconut, and I think I might try the same lol =P

 

[JustAGuy]

I think we all must be unique in our ability to secrete the enzymes for the digestion of carbohydrates and fats. A high carb low fat diet had me so bloated, and I would stuff myself with rice and potatoes until my stomach would be so full, only to be hungry again in an hour. Terrible sleep as a result.

Now here, OP and you seem to be able to eat 3k calories worth of potatoes. That would one hundred percent wreck me. Ever since, adding coconut into my diet, my bloating has gone significantly down and I’m able to stay full longer until my next meal. I know some islanders would eat up to 60% of their macro composition as coconut, and I think I might try the same lol =P

Honestly I always read testimonies of people with similar benefits doing the exact opposite, I therefore totally agree with you that everybody requires their own approach. What made me feel by far the worst I have ever felt was following recommendations by others, like the low carb stuff and just forcing extreme amounts of meat in a la paleo. I personally notice if something is good or bad for me either immediately or within a day.

I am wondering what kind of body you have? I am personally very tall (2 meter) with a very slender build and thin ankles/wrists. My mother who has a similar build also responds very bad to protein/fatty food while my dad who has a shorter/wider build does great on higher protein and fats.

 

[Sourdoughbanana]

Fascinating topic! I’d rather do coconut milk instead of the oil, assuming less transformation to yield that product. It’s not that bad with buckwheat flakes first thing in the morning instead of oatmeal which I can’t digest for the life of me.

Being 200+ very lean myself and already on a similar tuber and fruits diet with little animal foods I could see myself bumping up the amounts. Cronometer gives very solid micros sticking to potatoes, fruits, salad and only tiny bits of chicken liver and shellfish. Plus of course a protein shake upon working out.

 

[Runenight201]

I just bought some coconuts from the market...never broken one of these bad boys open so should be fun :) also, coffee + coconut milk + maple syrup is an amazing combination, and an easy way to increase coconut consumption (I for the life of me can not get behind coconut oil). This combo also warms me up, sharpens my mind, and makes me feel pretty good! The move is to buy Arroy-D coconut milk, as all the other milks have added something...

I’m 5’9” 175 lbs, with a thick build. I am slightly overweight but also have a lot of muscle. Perhaps it could be related to build, but at the same time, eating high protein makes me feel gross. I just had an interesting experience this morning. I had steak for the first time in a while, and I positively noticed an increase in pretty foul BO from my armpits after eating it. Eating watermelon neutralized the smell thankfully, but I think this could very well be a sign that animal meats make me smell bad, which I take as a negative metabolic response. I want to try the experiment with fish/shrimp to see if it illicits the same response.

I think the ability to eat lots of starch either lies in the ability to secrete amylase or physical size of the stomach. It should be no epiphany that these conditions are variable from individual to individual, and could potentially be modified through diet and lifestyle. However, I do not have the patience to “force” my body to become adapted to high starchy carbs, as it always results in negative sleep and mood in between meals, which seriously impacts my quality of life. I think a good approach is to eat starch until your stomach feels satiated with it, and then fill the rest of calories up with fruits, sugars, and coconut fat. At least that’s the approach I will take, as well as experimenting with the seafood protein tomorrow =P

 

[Sourdoughbanana]

Dairy that isn’t raw goat/sheep cheese makes my armpits smell very bad very fast too. Never had the problem with flesh... it’s interesting that other people notice it!

 

[Glassy]

I’ve been feeling a little bloated after eating very large amounts of white rice and potatoes too. I’ve even started getting some reflux at night which I haven’t had for a long time. Interestingly by morning everything has pretty much cleared so I think it is mainly contained to my stomach. During the day I tend to eat a lot of sugar with my starch and don’t get the same issues but I’m also more vertical during the day. I think I’m probably just eating a little too much trying to keep the calories up. I found consciously relaxing my stomach with some aware breathing seems to allow things to clear.

I recently discovered adding maple syrup to skim milk makes it taste pretty amazing. I could never stand the taste of the “fat free” milk but never had issues digesting it.

 

[Sourdoughbanana]

Also recommending here to add betaine HCL to a potentially bloating meal - you’ll feel like that massive amount of rice and potatoes didn’t even register. Quite pleasing when 3500 solid KCal is the goal

 

[Glassy]

Also recommending here to add betaine HCL to a potentially bloating meal - you’ll feel like that massive amount of rice and potatoes didn’t even register. Quite pleasing when 3500 solid KCal is the goal

I did wonder whether the lack of meat was not raising my stomach acid to quite the same levels and causing issues.

 

[Sourdoughbanana]

I think it’s an option. I’d need to check the acidic load of starches, iirc they’re quite acidic. So maybe vinegar or a lemon would suffice.

Based on this topic I’m going to go by this base of foods starting tomorrow:
- 1lb yams, 3lbs potatoes, 2-3 beets all pureed. Delicious mix
- 10 fruits a day, bananas citrus apples mostly.

Very exciting

 

[damngoodcoffee]

I've recently been mostly on the same type of roots, tubers & fruits diet vegan people here talk about. I have just naturally gravitated towards those foods. And lots of coffee, some nutritional yeast and a vitamin D supplement.