I’ve been eating 99% vegan for a couple months now, and while I’m far from an expert, I’ve learned enough to get into a pretty good routine. I say 99% vegan rather than 100% vegan because I’m using Shakeology, which has whey protein in it. Once the new vegan Tropical Shakeology comes out in early 2012, I could easily go 100% vegan, but until then 99% will have to do.
I’m a creature of habit, so I like to have a fairly set menu that I eat nearly every day. It helps me listen to my body, know what to expect from the perspective of energy and hunger, and fine tune it based on what I’m seeing / feeling.
One of the benefits of a whole foods plant based diet is the wide variety of tastes, foods, and meals available. With that said, I’m unfortunately a pretty bland, simple person with bland, simple tastes, so my vegan diet is not nearly as fun as it could be with some creativity. It’s working well for me and I’m enjoying it though. Plus, I feel great, I’ve been getting stronger, and I’ve even gained about 4 lbs in the past 5-6 weeks. I’d say my body fat is about the same as always (although I haven’t done full measurements — I’m saving that for day 90 of my Misfit P90X challenge). So I’m definitely not withering away, and I’m even getting stronger without tons of meat and protein!
So what does my typical vegan day look like? Here’s my menu =
Morning Workout Shake =
(I drink about half of this before my workout and the other half after my workout) = consists of 1 cup coconut water, 1 banana, ½ cup blueberries, water and ice, sun warrior plant protein powder (1 scoop), acai powder (1 tbsp), maca root powder (1 tbsp), beet root powder (1 tbsp), and chia seeds (1 tbsp). This has about 250 cals, but I’m not “counting cals” officially.
Breakfast =
— Simplified PB2 Shakeology (1 scoop Shakeology, 1 tbsp PB2, ice and water)
— Oatmeal (1 cup precooked)
Morning Snack =
— Banana, Apple, Whole carrot
Lunch =
— Brown rice and black beans
— 2 Whole Carrots, Apple
PM Snack =
— PB Sandwich (2 slices of millet bread or homemade wheat bread, natural peanut butter). If you are going gluten free, use the millet bread. If you are going vegan but not gluten free, then the whole wheat products are fine.
Dinner =
— A full fledged vegan meal (like vegan burritos, bean chili, etc. We have TONS of awesome vegan recipes that my wife has become an expert at preparing. Most of these we learned from our vegan challenge FB page and the Karma Chow website of Tony Horton’s chef).
Late Snack =
— Fruit, berries, or veggies (depends on how hungry I feel and what I am in the mood for.
That’s it. Pretty simple. Pretty easy. And it’s got me in a good whole foods routine. I’ve broken the habit of using protein bars for snacks. I no longer eat much (if any) processed food of any kind. And I feel great.
I could see eating like this long term. I don’t think a little meat, dairy, or processed food occasionally is the end of the world, and I may allow myself to have some of the above occasionally just for convenience sake after the challenge is over, but I definitely don’t feel like my body needs it. The Shakeology takes care of any deficiencies in my “bland routine”, so I don’t have to worry about whether or not I’m getting enough variety.
I hope this helps y’all get a picture of how Coach Wayne is eating lately. And more importantly, I hope it helps you see that eating a whole food plant based diet isn’t all that tricky or complicated.
Need a coach?
My email: coachwayne@teamripped.com
IG: @wayne_wyatt
