10 things I learnt when I switched to a plant based diet

I first cut out meat as a January "challenge" roughly 9 years ago now. This was a big step for me and I mean BIG, mainly due to the fact that I ate meat EVERY SINGLE DAY at EVERY SINGLE MEAL and in most cases for EVERY SINGLE SNACK too.

Back then, I wasn't big into fitness. I was playing music in a band, working office jobs and basically living for the weekend. A typical day of eating included sausages for breakfast, chicken for lunch and a mince bolognese in the evening. I even remember sitting at my desk, snacking on wafer thin turkey slices...

Yeah, pretty bad.

Anyway, I signed myself up for this challenge. 31 days of no meat.

It went pretty awful at first but I lost a bit of weight and thought I felt a little better, resulting in me carrying it forward past the initial challenge timeframe. 

Just one problem, I had no idea what to eat for the long term and felt completely lost, resulting in me heading to the supermarket, stocking up on Quorn products and literally eating the same diet I currently had but instead of real meat, having the fake stuff. Everything else in my diet was still poor.

The real change began when I started to actually address what I was eating.

For real change to occur, real change had to be made. 

That's when I began piecing together food combinations and had a go a cooking/preparing food for the day. I immediately increased vegetable intake, drank more water, began exercising and used a variety of protein sources. As a result, I immediately felt even better and started to enjoy my choices. 

Here are a few things I most notably discovered when I first made the switch...

1 - More energy

I felt lighter, leaner and fitter. Now this could have gone the other way if I didn't opt for variety in food sources, but the difference was there to see. I was running faster, for longer and got rid of any energy slumps at work, resulting in higher productivity levels. It was pretty impressive. I believe one of the reasons this was the case was because I simply increased my overall veggie consumption, injecting a whole host of vitamins and minerals in my diet.

2 - I learnt how to cook

Gone were the days of throwing a couple of sausages on a muffin or buying a BMT Subway sandwich at lunch. I prepped and made way more meals from scratch. Granted these weren't all that impressive at first. But by simply spending 15 mins making say a kidney bean chilli from scratch for the working week, I included fresh mushrooms, spinach and blended tomatoes, instead of opting for a pre packaged alternative each lunch time. It definitely helped me to learn how to cook.

3 - I didn't miss meat, at all

The one thing I was scared off initially was "missing" meat and I must admit, it felt like I was missing out at first. It was tough! That was simply due to the fact that I didn't know any different though. I had no idea what else to cook! Once I learnt how to cook and what to have instead, I was fine. Also, I learnt that there was plenty of options when eating out. We're lucky to have even more now! So yeah, past the first month or so, I didn't (and still don't!) miss meat. 

4 - It broadened my horizons when it came to cooking

Now aside from actively trying to prep my own food more, I realised when digging deeper that there was a whole different spectrum of food out there. I read up on recipes to mix up my meals and learnt all kinds of ways to cook and prepare food which was tasty and nutritious. I tried foods I never heard of or didn't think I liked and began making foods I didn't know I could make! I really enjoy cooking now and absolutely love trying new foods and I honestly don't think that would have been the case if I didn't make the switch.

5 - Strength didn't drop, but weight did

As I began to pay a little more attention to the food I was eating, I also began to pay more attention to my body and keeping fit. One of my biggest worries was that I wouldn't be able to build muscle or get strong without meat in my diet but I was completely wrong. Strength went up and the belly I was sporting at the time went down. I was really happy with my performance in the gym and with my running/increase in overall fitness levels. It was something I was dubious about at first.

6 - It isn't more expensive to buy food

Veg is really, really cheap. Dirt cheap in the reduced areas of supermarkets in fact! So too are tinned foods like beans. Fruit can be also be found for next to nothing. Bottom line, I was spending way less on food in general, yet at the same time, eating MORE. This was due to the fact that I cooked a lot in bulk which last a few meals. Nowadays I tend to opt for organic, more expensive sources, purely for taste and quality, but in general, you can eat relatively cheap and still get everything you need. 

7 - I didn't get bloated

After years of eating meat I guess I just got used to this feeling of heaviness or fullness. I noticed that this feeling completely disappeared and I kinda had a bit more a spring in my step, especially in terms of running! It's common knowledge that meat takes a lot longer to digest in the body, so from cutting it from my diet and increasing whole foods and veg, I felt like my body was just "working" better overall.

8 - The fibre boost was noted!

This kinda ties into the above point. When I mean my body was working, I mean, it was working! I could feel everything getting processed really quickly, mainly recognised by that "stuffed" feeling after a meal passing shortly afterwards. Veg and plant based proteins get processed really quick. It's important to be fully aware of the foods you consume and how you react to them. Feeling bloated for example may be a sign that something you ate recently may not be for you.

9 - I was and still am ill much, much less

This was a big one for me as a lot of the time I felt like I always had an headache, the sniffles or some kind of stomach bloating going on. My sickness levels went right down and to this day I'm very rarely ill. This could be due to the sheer amount of nutrients taken on board by increasing fruit and veggie intake, or by dropping animal products. Either way, I definitely welcomed a healthier feeling version of myself!

10 - I began to see food as fuel and I began to realise what looking after myself felt like

Once i stepped back and took a long look at what I was eating, it became no surprise I was feeling the way I did. Food is fuel for the body. If we cannot perform well and do the things we need to do each and every day then life isn't enjoyable, put basically! I found myself complaining, asking why I had an headache or felt like shit, choosing not to consider the Greggs Steak Bake and can of Coke I had a couple of hours before. As soon as I looked at food as a fuel source, I detached myself from it and began to eat what I knew was right for me.

Most of the above could be due to my overall lifestyle change, as I cut down on a lot of the crap I used to eat and made simple swaps for quality nutrition. I trained. I moved more. I drank more water. It could be the huge injection on nutrients. It could be the diet I had chosen to eat. Either way, more plant based foods in anyones diet will only improve it. I'm talking veg, veg, veg here. As a population, we simply don't eat enough.

I've purposely not mentioned anything ethical in this post, as originally, my switch was nothing to do with the ethical side of it all. I just felt the need to share with you guys my personal feelings when starting out and how I felt a plant based diet helped me build muscle, boost fitness, think about food choices and the way I cooked and broadened my awareness, knowledge and skills.

Give it a shot and let me know how you get on!