My first year as a Vegan - James Bowden PT
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23 Nov My first year as a Vegan

Posted at 20:44h in Lifestyle, Nutrition by

I’d just like to start this by saying you can eat what you like! Eating meat doesn’t make you a bad person nor does being vegetarian or vegan make you a good person. I changed to a plant-based diet over a year ago and can honestly say it changed my life! I just wanted to share with you my journey over the past year and hopefully some helpful tips and tricks I have picked up so that whether you’re thinking of becoming completely plant-based or just swapping for plant-based alternatives, your decision is a little bit easier.


My first experience came from a client of mne. He had recently changed to a plant-based diet to help with his Triathlon training and as I didn’t have much experience of working with anyone vegan I did my own research into this sort of diet. I wasn’t in a great place mental health wise: I didn’t feel good about myself, I wasn’t training well. I wasn’t eating well, I wasn’t sleeping well…something needed to change and after what I’d read I thought that becoming plant-based was the change that I needed!


I noticed a difference immediately! I felt more energetic, more productive, less groggy, somehow lighter, my mind was clearer, not so full after eating, and just better in general. As a PT my days tend to be long; I start early in the morning before people go to work and finish late at night after people have been to work. I would nap religiously during the day, I couldn’t get through the day without it, but the major difference I noticed was the increase in my energy levels. I would now wake up at 5am and feel ready to take on the day! I no longer needed my nap during the middle of the day, which meant that when it actually came to the end of the day I was tired and slept better during the night.


My work improved as well. I wasn’t dragging myself through my sessions, I felt present in what I was doing again. My aim is to help my clients as much as I possibly can and I felt like I was doing this again. My sessions felt more productive and I was also more productive away from my sessions, doing extra learning and extra work for my clients.
Furthermore, I saw a huge improvement in my training. Due to my increased energy levels I felt like I could actually perform again and I’ve gained massively in terms of my cardiovascular fitness, strength and power due to CrossFit. The other difference I noticed was my ability to recover. I usually train 5-6x a week and sometimes twice a day with all the different aspects of CrossFit I need to train. I also suffer less with muscle soreness; this means I can train back-to-back for a number of days and I feel like I’m performing at 100% every session.


All these changes had a massively positive impact on my mental health. I don’t think the improvement is down to specifically eating less animal-based food or eating more of certain plant-based foods but I was more energetic, I was more motivated, more productive, sleeping better, training better, feeling better about myself, and more focused which changed my mood for the better and helped with my depression.


Don’t get me wrong, the change was hard at first. Food shopping became twice as long because if the food wasn’t already labelled vegan I would have to read the ingredients to see If I could eat it or not. After about a month though I knew the sort of things I could buy and had staple foods that I would always buy and always had in my cupboards. Plant-based meals can take a long time to make as there can be a lot of preparation but after buying a few recipe books meal prepping became easy and I had options for if I was in a hurry. Like many of us, I like to eat out! A lot of restaurants only have a couple of vegan options on their menus, however, things are getting much better. Most big cities now have vegan only restaurants or have vegan only menus.


On an animal-based diet we obsess about our protein sources. We tend to make our meals thinking about our protein source first than everything else after. Protein is an essential macronutrient and I still make sure I hit my protein goal for the day but since turning plant-based my meals are so much more varied! I make food based on how good it looks, how good it tastes, what ingredients it uses; I’ve eaten food I would never have thought of eating before, used herbs and spices I’ve never tried before and if a meal doesn’t have that much protein in, It’s now not the end of the world. I enjoy eating and it’s improved my relationship with food!


I will always stand by the difference going plant-based made for me but like anything to do with nutrition and training, it might not make you feel the same way. However, with the benefits I’ve mentioned before, surely it’s worth a go!


Whatever change you want to make, however big or small, here are my top tips…

1. Come up with your why: do your research into the pros and cons of a plant-based diet. From there you can make a much more informed decision and you’ll be much more motivated to make the change and stick to it.


2. Start small: when making the start it can seem confusing. Replace products in your diet step-by-step, have one plant-based meal per week, have one plant-based day a week or try vegetarian first.


3. Be prepared: we do not live in a vegan world yet. It’s hard to nip out to the shop and just buy something so plan ahead with your meals, make a shopping list, have foods you always eat and buy cookbooks.


4. Educate people: you may receive negative feedback from friends and family about going vegan but like anything this usually stems from a lack of knowledge. Help people understand the benefits or cook for them.

5. Protein intake: there is a misconception that you can’t get enough protein on a plant-based diet however there are plenty of different options: beans, lentils, chickpeas to name but a few.


6. Supplements: you will have to supplement vitamin B12 as you will not be getting this from meat. Most fortified plant-based milks contain calcium and cruciferous veg will give you plenty of iron.


7. Weight loss: you may notice an initial weight loss due to less calorific meals but if you manage your energy balance: calories in vs. calories out you will be able to maintain a healthy weight.


If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me!