The wheels are up... *Project: Veganism* has officially taken flight!

Today marks my 4th consecutive 100% vegan day.  I have been more or less at it for the better part of 2 weeks, but I had some chicken I was working my way through as I didn't want to waste it and throw it away.  

I wanted to get some initial thoughts on paper now as I am curious to monitor how my body responds to this experiment, but also because (based on previous experience) it is easy to forget very quickly what life was like during a period of change.  I want to "time capsule" these next couple weeks to document what the transition to veganism is like.  So, without further adieu....

Issues I'm Looking Forward to Monitoring

I have some health items I am curious to track to see if a plant-based diet can address.  First is the tumor in my breast.  It is benign (a hamartoma), but I'm curious to see if it might shrink.  The second is a minor dry skin condition that kinda nags at me.  I am suspicious that this might be connected to my third issue, which is that I have bouts of systemic candida.  This is most evidenced when I drink alcohol, but I know its there regardless.  And I've heard the dermatitis I have is often times associated with candida problems.  Also related to candida -- and something I am most interested to track -- is my Hashimoto's Syndrome, a thyroid auto-immune disease.  It is rumored that diet can reverse this syndrome, especially when caught early.  And I am in the early indicators phase.  So, I will be tracking those things along my journey.

Observations

Thus far, even after just a couple weeks of 95-100% veganism, I can say that my energy levels are off the charts.  I literally am bouncing around like I'm over-caffeinated all day long; except I'm not.  It's actually quite ridiculous, I feel sorry for anyone who has to be around me because I can't calm down ;)

I seem to be recovering from workouts better, too.  I have stepped my training up a significant notch, but my muscles bounce back from failure after only about 36 hours now (sometimes it could take upwards of 3-4 days for me to recover).  I am supplementing with a little left over glutamine I have here at the house, but otherwise, I rely solely on a diversity of plants to obtain my aminos.

I am also now 3 months completely off of birth control, and I do not intend to ever put my poor body on synthetic hormones ever again.  They served their purpose when I was younger and had AWFUL cycles with PMS I could not handle (fatigue, pain, headaches, etc).  But now I'm old enough to just deal with it.  I'm allowing my body to do 100% naturally what it wants to do; I'm just supplying it with as many nutrients as possible.

Current Supplements

Daily, I take an odorless garlic supplement, a Whole Foods general "Immune Support" herbal blend, a B-12 supplement, probiotics, a glutamine tab (because I have a bottle in my house still that I need to work through), and an enzyme support blend to help in digesting and absorbing the plants I'm eating (particularly the raw ones).  I've been reading up and have learned that over time, after switching to a plant-based diet, your body will slowly evolve to be able to handle a greater influx of cellulose-containing food stuffs.  As of right now, I do need the assistance of an extra cellulase enzyme boost to assist in the dirty work ;)

Other changes include using plant-based soaps and shampoos (just for the fun of it), I drink about 80-100 fl oz of water a day, and I take my coffee black -- I am about 75% of the way there to actually enjoying it! And I shop exclusively at Whole Foods because the labels are easy for me to determine that the foods I am buying are organic, fair trade and non-GMO.  If I am going to go all out with this diet/lifestyle experiment, I want to do it right,  And I'm willing to pay for it, so long as the means last.

Training

In terms of training, I have switched to HIIT cardio and a lot of circuit training with my PT dudes. This varies from the steady state cardio I have been doing (albeit at an intense level!), and a lifting schedule that included designating specific days for specific muscle groups.

Current Diet
The following is my current diet (for purposes of record keeping, of course :))

Breakfast
2 servings of [fortified] oatmeal
1 tbsp hemp hearts
1 tbsp chia seeds
1/2 cup organic plain soymilk
1 cup black coffee

Lunch
Green Protein Smoothie! Currently this contains about 2 cups of spinach, 1 cup of kale, 1 cup of green grapes, 1/4 avocado, 1 kiwi, the juice from 1/2 a lemon, 1/2 green apple, 4-6 frozen broccoli florets, 1/2 cup peas, and a scoop of Plant Fusion protein powder.

Snacks
1/2 cup of black beans, 1/4 cup of mixed nuts, and a NuGo vegan non-GMO protein bar (currently in Mint Chocolate flavor).

Dinner
As of right now I am eating homemade baked falafel and toum sauce with a romaine lettuce and tomato side salad dressed with a mixture of fresh lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and minced garlic.

One of these days I'll get around to calculating the totals of what I'm eating, but these certainly do keep me full! :)

Why I'm Adopting A Vegan Diet for all of 2015 (all the while remaining a competitive athlete working toward gaining muscle mass)

It actually started in 2012 when I decided to try clean eating for the first time.  Up until then, I was your classic, misinformed American twenty-something.  History of yo-yo dieting, only eating diet foods and low fat options, blah blah blah.  We all know the story.

Over the course of the past few years I have taught myself to cook, adopted an entire clean eating life-style, and have gotten more into the notion of micro-nutrient profiles instead of just basic macros.

But recently, with the progression of my back injury healing, I have taken up 2-a-day workouts again, and have decided I am ready to dedicate the next 6 weeks to dialing in exactly what I am feeding my body, how I am training it, and trying to engineer my outcomes.

On my birthday, I bought a Vitamix.  I thought it would be a fun and healthy toy to motivate me to push forth; blaze new trails, reinvigorate the process, etc.

Well, it did,  And then some...

I got into sourcing my produce from Farmer's Markets.  I had elected to take a month off of volleyball training to focus on my gym sessions and cautiously monitor my back.  This freed up my weekends, and I found a great joy in picking up fresh product from farmers, and then going home and blending it into a meal right away.  And this meal became an art and a hobby for me; I realized that produce that normally gave me digestive issues (either by type or quantity) no longer did when I ingested them in smoothie form.  I assume its because the produce is being broken down into its most bio-available source requiring minimal enzyme processes in the digestive tract, but I am no expert so who knows. I also transitioned from shopping mostly from Trader Joe's, to exclusively from Whole Foods, purposefully selecting only organic, non-GMO products. It was for fun, but it also felt right; I felt like I was doing something lovely for my body, and respecting it.

But then I went further.  After successfully completing a 1-month stint of incorporating green protein smoothies into my diet, I began to wonder if I could take this another step further.  Could I replace dinner with a smoothie too?  If I used homemade almond milk with my cereal in the morning and ensured my snacks were plant-based (vegan) and supplied necessary macros like fat and carbs in the right quantities, could I go full-time vegan?  What if I bought a juicer to supplement my afternoon snack with a shot of more produce?

So I began the easiest, most accessible research I could start with:  Documentaries on Netflix.  Netflix has a vast library of nutritional documentaries on hand.  I watched The Gerson Miracle; Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead; Food Inc.; Hungry for Change; Forks Over Knives; and Crazy Sexy Cancer (Vegucated and Chew On This TED Talks are next on my viewing list).  What I began to realize is that this is something I believe in, and exactly what I've been looking for for over 7 years.  Something I could inspire myself with -- an art, a hobby, and a means to help achieve the physique and health I want -- all the while expanding my knowledge and creating a new career option for myself.

So I've decided to make an experiment of myself, much like countless others before me. I intend to go to the Library later this week and rent The China Study and any other materials I can get my hands on, and I signed up for information on beginning my studies to get my certification from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition.  From what I have thus far researched, it may be possible that with specific practices and enzyme supplements, I might be able to bypass (and perhaps "cure"?) my digestive issues with certain vegetables.  It will take a lot of careful research to determine exactly how to get all the proper macros I need considering as I want to be building lean muscle mass while I do this, and I will need to spend a lot of time tooling and re-tooling menus so that I am never left wondering what to do.  The goal is simple:  a whole foods, plant-based diet.  No crap "vegan food" with soy fillers and other junk.  Whole foods.  Plant-based.  Plain and simple -- the amino profiles for protein are easy to develop by educating oneself and combining plant-based sources.

I will be dedicating the balance of this year preparing for this ultimate New Years Resolution, and I will be purchasing a Omega Juicer for myself for Christmas :)  And I have decided that I will allow myself every right to opt out if I find I need to stop to figure out a better plan of attack given what I learn, or if I struggle too immensely with addressing and combating digestive complications.  But one thing is decided:  I will 100% be dedicating at LEAST 30 days to this diet.  Thus, I will have the first month's menu and battle plan figured out, and then I will repeat it in February if all goes well, while developing the following month's diets.

So, allow this to be the first of many posts on this new journey -- the struggles, the changes, the recipes, and the challenges of trying to develop a physique on a whole foods plants-based diet.  I will be seeing my doctor to have a full blood panel done, as well as other tests to establish a base-line.  And then I will test myself again after 30 days, 90 days, 180 days, and 360 days.  I have no real underlying health issues from which to measure progress, but I trust the stats will improve regardless, and in conjunction with reporting on other mechanics like body fat %, lean muscle mass %, sleep quality, strength, and other things..... I think it will be able to paint a picture of what these documentaries are trying to convey.

So... 45 days to plan, 365 days to execute.  Here. We. Go. :)))