Vegan Whole30

[onlyifchased]

Welcome to my log! I’ll be doing a “Veg Whole30” as described by this Whole30 blog post: http://whole30.com/2015/06/veg-whole30/. To be clear, this is not a “true Whole30,” it is a “Veg Whole30." 

 

I am vegetarian for ethical reasons, but I am not typically a strict vegan. I can elaborate if anyone cares. For my Veg Whole30, I will not be consuming meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, or dairy. The only off-plan foods that I will include are certain legumes, but not grains and pseudograins. I’ve seen some evidence for significant reduction or elimination of lectins and phytic acid in legumes through fermenting, or soaking and pressure cooking, so those are the methods I will use:

 

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/%28SICI%291097-0010%28199605%2971:1%3C50::AID-JSFA545%3E3.0.CO;2-J/abstract

 

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF01088088?LI=true#page-1

 

http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2013/11/beans-lentils-and-paleo-diet.html

 

I am open to other cooking methods if the evidence points to them being better, but so far this seems best to me. I will still avoid non-organic soy, canned beans, and peanuts. I will not be taking the recommendation in the Whole30 book for vegans to eat only the RDA minimum of protein, because I am a weightlifter and I like my muscles. I'm female, 5'6" and 150lbs, and I will continue to consume around 100g of protein per day.

 

I will post my meals here in this log, and probably also discuss roadblocks, personal hangups, challenges, and so on. I don’t think food is actually going to be the most challenging part for me, I think it’s going to be not weighing myself! I’m also having a very minor surgery near the end of this period, so planning for that is definitely going to be a challenge.

 

To kick this log off, here's a picture of my first Veg Whole30 meal (sweet potato with cayenne and tahini, a scoop of homemade hummus, and some carrots):

 

[onlyifchased]

Day 1

Breakfast: sweet potato with tahini, scoop of hummus, chopped carrots

Lunch: tofu, broccoli, onion, and bok choy stir-fried in coconut oil, rice wine vinegar, and fermented black beans

Post-WO: sweet potato with cashews and applesauce

Dinner: black bean soup with onion, bell pepper, and half an avocado

 

I don't think I made my meals big enough for a workout day, ended up spooning hummus into my mouth a couple hours after dinner. I also forgot to bring my food to the gym, but resisted buying a snack bar there because they all had sugar or meat. I really need to not forget my food again!

[ShannonM816]

For your post-WO, the recommendation is lean protein and starchy vegetable -- skip the applesauce. I'm not sure what to tell you for the protein, but if there's something you can have that's leaner than cashews, that would be a better option -- fat slows down absorption, and the idea with a post-wo is to get the food absorbed fairly quickly to help with muscle repair (the protein part) and replacement of muscle glycogen (the starchy vegetable). Fruit preferentially replaces liver glycogen, which is why it's not recommended as a post-WO. This article (which is clearly not geared for vegetarians, sorry) talks about what you're aiming for with a post-wo meal and why it's important 00 -- even though it's not vegetarian, maybe it will give you some guidance that you can apply to vegetarian options.

[onlyifchased]

Thanks for taking the time to offer advice! I didn't know that about fruit and workout recovery. I think maybe just beans would be a good option for a PWO? They have both starch and protein, and most of them are very low fat.

 

Three hours after breakfast today, I'm finding myself really craving a snack. I think breakfast was too small again, basically ate the same thing as yesterday because I was in a rush to get to an early AM conference call. Gonna drink some tea and try to ride it out to at least four hours.

 

I meant to post here that even on non workout days, I plan to eat a minimeal or a fourth meal, for the following reasons:

 

- I'm about 20-22% bodyfat right now and find I train best around ~20%, so I don't really want to change much if anything about my weight.

- Due to my work schedule I basically need to be done with breakfast by 630am at the latest, and I eat dinner at around 730pm. That's a long time with just one meal in the middle!

- I suspect that even eating to complete fullness at every meal, I will eat less calories than an omnivore would. Vegan foods are less calorie dense and vegans tend to have lower BMIs in general.

- I don't have a car and walk everywhere, most days 5-7 miles total, in addition to 8-10 hours of gym time every week.

[onlyifchased]

Day 2

Breakfast: sweet potato, tahini, and hummus

Lunch: red lentil soup with carrots, ginger, sweet potato, onion, curry powder, and coconut milk

Bonus meal: half portion of black bean soup with bell pepper and onion, half an avocado

Dinner: Coconut chickpeas and atakilt wat

 

Dinner was really good! 

 

 

So far I've felt pretty good, aside from the urge to snack even when not hungry. I must be eating less calories and/or less carbs than usual though, because I can tell a tiny bit of water weight has dropped off (abs slightly more defined etc.) even though it's about to be "that time of the month." 

[onlyifchased]

Yesterday I felt awesome! Almost no urge to snack, forgot my pre-WO but did not forget my post-WO. And had a great workout!

 

Day 3

Breakfast: sweet potato + coconut chickpeas

Lunch: panang curry with tofu, onions, kale, green beans, and broccoli

PWO: low-fat hummus

Dinner: red lentil soup with carrots, ginger, sweet potato, onion, curry powder, and coconut milk

 

Thinking about making some Whole30 compliant yogurt? The ingredients are just probiotic starter (found one with no sugar), and cashew, almond, or coconut milk.

[onlyifchased]

Day 4

Breakfast: sweet potato, cauliflower, cashews, tahini

Lunch: avocado chickpea and grapefruit salad

preWO: small amount of avocado and chickpeas

postWO: small amount of chickpeas and atakilt wat (potatoes, cabbage, carrots, onion, bebere)

Dinner: panang coconut curry with tofu, onions, kale, green beans, and broccoli

 

It's dinner time now and I'm not very hungry. I ended up with a big lunch because I don't think I had enough protein at breakfast.

 

I set a front squat PR today, and snatched my PR for reps. Guess this Veg Whole30 thing is at least not hurting me.

[onlyifchased]

Day 5

Breakfast (6:30am): coconut chickpeas and sweet potato

Lunch (11am): red lentil soup with carrots, ginger, sweet potato, onion, curry powder, and coconut milk

Minimeal (3pm): chickpeas and atakilk wat

Dinner (6pm): coconut milk tofu curry

 

Had a snack attack between minimeal and dinner because I was making my husband's breakfast bars, which include oats and peanut butter. I don't have too much of a sugar demon but damn I want some peanut butter oatmeal!

 

Now that I think about it, I didn't add any fat to my minimeal, just ate the leftovers from my post workout meal yesterday. Oops!

[onlyifchased]

Day 6

Breakfast (6:30am): chickpeas, collards, onion, carrot + coconut shreds

Lunch (11:30am): red lentil soup + coconut milk + coconut shreds

PreWO (2pm): closed handful of cashews

PostWO (5pm): atakilt wat + chickpeas

Dinner (7pm): Chili with black beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, onion, beets, topped with a  generous scoop of cashew butter thinned with lemon juice

 

Notes: I'm starting to last longer between meals before I feel hungry, that's pretty cool.

 

Day 7

Breakfast (7:30am): coconut milk tofu curry

Lunch (3pm): veggie and potato scramble (at a diner)

Dinner (7pm): Chili with black beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, onion, beets, topped with a generous scoop of cashew butter thinned with lemon juice

 

Notes: So today was REALLY challenging! The huge 7.5 hour gap between breakfast and lunch was caused by standing in line for like 5 hours for the REI used gear sale. Normally I would be shaky and grumpy with that much time between meals, but I was actually... fine. Sure, I got hungry near the end, but I was able to kind of ignore it and feel okay.

 

THEN we finally made it to lunch, and I'd been good and scoped out the menu beforehand. There was a vegan scramble on the menu, just vegetables like onions peppers potatoes etc. with a scoop of guac. One of the bottles of hot sauce on the table was even Whole30 compliant! No protein but that's okay for one meal. It got really difficult not to cheat, however. The waitresses accidentally dropped off a dessert at our table that was meant for a different table, then told us to eat it, it was free! My partner made it disappear, but I wanted a bite really, really badly! I'm pleased that I stuck to the plan, though.

 

Day 8

Breakfast (9am): red lentil soup + coconut milk

PreWO (12pm): coconut chickpeas

PostWO (4pm): beets and kidney beans with lemon juice, an apple

Dinner (6:30pm): Chili with black beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, onion, beets, topped with a generous scoop of cashew butter thinned with lemon juice + a handful of grapes

 

Notes: The coached hours at my gym on Sundays are 1pm-4pm, and I woke up crazy late due to daylight savings time and a pretty tiring day the day before. I wasn't thrilled to pretty much miss lunch entirely, but I made my pre and post workout meals larger to compensate.

 

As the timeline suggests for day 8, I am having some digestive issues and feeling bloated. It really started last night to be honest. But, I also got my period yesterday so that's pretty normal anyway. Fortunately I have very short periods so it was over by this morning. Hopefully I'll start to feel less bloated tomorrow or the next day!

[onlyifchased]

Day 9

Breakfast (6:30am): sweet potato with tahini sauce, black beans + atakilk wat

Lunch (11:45am): homemade mayo, chickpeas, carrot, celery, grapes salad 

Minimeal (4:30pm): atakilt wat + chickpeas

Dinner (8pm): Chili with black beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, onion, beets, topped with a generous scoop of cashew butter thinned with lemon juice

 

Found a recipe for vegan mayo that's compliant with my veg Whole30. It's pretty delicious!

 

I am taking precautions to avoid quitting today or tomorrow (day 10 and 11) since those are the hardest days. I'm going to make two of my favorite foods: today I'm making hoppin' john with a side of greens (I've got compliant hot sauce in my bag), and then I think I'll make a red coconut curry with pineapple.

 

I'm really enjoying eating fruit with meals instead of outside of meals. Grapes in chickpea salad, grapefruit in guacamole, etc. I never would have tried this much outside of pineapple in curry without the Whole30 recommendations. I also have found that I LOVE eating some fat with breakfast! Trying to stay positive since I am STILL bloated!

[onlyifchased]

Day 10

 

Breakfast (7am): sweet potato with tahini + cauliflower, bell pepper, tofu, black bean scramble

Lunch (11am): hoppin john (2cup black eye peas, onion, celery, bell pepper, mushrooms, tomato) thyme, paprika, cayenne, side of greens, handful grapes

PreWO (3:30pm): closed handful cashews

PostWO (6pm) : <1 cup chili with black beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, onion, beets

Dinner (8pm): sweet potato with black eyed peas and tahini and flaxseed

 

Maybe a little less bloated today?

[onlyifchased]

Definitely less bloated today! 

 

Day 11

 

Breakfast (6:30am): sweet potato with tahini + black eye peas and olive oil

Lunch (10:45am): Chili with black beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, onion, beets, and a dollop of cashew creme (just cashews + lemon juice) +grapes

PreWO (2:45pm): chickpeas with eggless mayo

PostWO (7pm): a few blackeyed peas and butternut squash

Dinner (8:15pm): hoppin john (2cup black eye peas, onion, celery, bell pepper, mushrooms, tomato), side of greens

[ladyshanny]

What did you change to reduce your bloating? Just out of curiosity.

[onlyifchased]

What did you change to reduce your bloating? Just out of curiosity.

 

Well, the timeline says that many people experience bloating around day 8-9, so I guess my experience isn't very far out of the norm. I think I also was making my meals overly large in order to avoid hunger or snacking between meals. I was often finding myself not very hungry for dinner after making lunch and breakfast so big. As I've adapted to eating this way, I've felt a little more secure that I will make it to the next meal without snacking or feeling too hungry, and my breakfast/lunch have gotten a little smaller and I'm more appropriately hungry for dinner. That might have contributed.

 

I'd planned on starting to cut back on nuts and nut butters per some advice I received elsewhere on this forum, but now I am thinking that might not be necessary. I feel really great today and yesterday!

 

Day 12

 

Breakfast (6:45am): 2 cups hoppin john (black eye peas, onion, celery, bell pepper, mushrooms, tomato), side of greens

Lunch (11am): red coconut curry: tofu, broccoli, cauliflower, butternut squash, mango

Minimeal (3pm): half sweet potato, closed handful chickpeas, 1/2 open handful coconut shreds

Dinner (7pm): half sweet potato, 4-5oz tempeh sauteed with a few green beans, 1/2 lb baked asparagus, all drenched in 1-2Tbsp olive oil

 

 

I went for a >5 mile walk after my minimeal, but didn't count it as needing a pre or post workout meal?

 

My red curry was AMAZING. Pretty easily adapted for a meat-eater, too:

 

1 14oz can coconut milk

1 4oz can red curry paste

20oz block sprouted tofu, chopped and baked (or 4 servings animal protein)

1/2 lb broccoli florets 

1/2 lb cauliflower florets

1 medium butternut squash, chopped and baked

1 mango, peeled and chopped

 

1) Chop and bake tofu and butternut squash (400F for 30 mins), or prepare meat however.

2) Saute red curry paste in some of the separated coconut cream for 3-5 mins

3) Add the rest of the coconut milk, broccoli, cauliflower, simmer until veggies are cooked

4) Add in tofu and squash, simmer as long as you'd like

5) Stir in mango and serve

 

Four big bowls of ~2.5 cups for me. I cannot wait to eat some leftovers at lunch.

[onlyifchased]

Day 13

 

Breakfast (6:45am): 1/2 sweet potato with 1-2tsp tahini, asparagus, green beans, tempeh in olive oil

Lunch (11am): red curry with coconut milk: tofu, broccoli, cauliflower, butternut squash, mango

PreWO (2pm): chickpeas and mayo

PostWO (4:30pm): sweet potato and chickpeas

Dinner (6:30pm): hoppin john (2cup black eye peas, onion, celery, bell pepper, mushrooms, tomato), side of greens

 

 

Day 14

 

Breakfast (8:45am): 1/2 sweet potato, cup cauliflower, chickpeas, coconut milk 

Lunch (12:45pm): red curry with coconut milk: tofu, broccoli, cauliflower, butternut squash, mango

Minimeal (3:30pm): handful of red chili beans, salsa, 1/3 of an avocado

Dinner (6:30pm): hoppin john (2cup black eye peas, onion, celery, bell pepper, mushrooms, tomato), side of greens

 

 

I don't know if I have ~*~tiger blood~*~ but I feel really amazing! Haven't really been experiencing strong cravings, though I'd really like a square of my 85% dark chocolate that's sitting in my cabinet. Made my partner his favorite breakfast 2 days in a row now (peanut butter chocolate chip pancakes) and haven't been tempted at all to even eat a bite.

 

I do still really wanna weigh myself... but I am actually considering breaking up with the scale for good. I'd have to weigh myself to compete in weightlifting, of course, but that's a ways off given that I'm about to have surgery. My pants fit well, maybe a touch looser, and my workouts are going well, so maybe... who cares what I weigh right now?

[onlyifchased]

Day 15

 

Breakfast (8:30am): red curry with coconut milk: tofu, broccoli, cauliflower, butternut squash, mango

Lunch (12:30pm): grapefruit guacamole with red beans

PostWO (4pm): 1/2 sweet potato + beans

Dinner: (6:30pm): taco bowl with black beans, onion, poblano pepper, zucchini, salsa, and 1/2 avocado

 

Added 4kg to my front squat PR today -- for a triple! C&J with 75% of my PR felt like light weight. Maybe this is tiger blood? 

[onlyifchased]

So, I have mentioned already that I am having surgery this month. It's a minor, laproscopic, outpatient procedure involving the abdomen, and it's happening this Thursday.

 

I'm planning to take some kind of compliant bar in case I need to eat while I'm at the hospital and there's nothing Whole30 there. This is unlikely. I'm also planning a smoothie that my partner can make for me that day at home in case I can't stomach whole foods yet, and I'll be making some split pea and potato soup beforehand.

 

Smoothie recipe:

1/2 banana

handful blueberries

30g pea protein isolate powder

1 Tbsp flax seed

2 Tbsp tahini

 

Does this seem like a good plan? Doctor expects I will be able to eat solid foods the same day, but I want to be ready just in case!

[onlyifchased]

I was super hungry yesterday. Big PRs seem to do that to me, dunno if that's physical or psychological.

 

Day 16

 

Breakfast (6:30am): cup of acorn squash, cup of cauliflower, cup of red beans, 1/4 can coconut milk

Lunch (12:30pm): grapefruit guacamole (1/2 grapefruit, 1/2 avocado, garlic) with cup of black beans and a cup of sauteed zucchini/onion/poblano

Minimeal (3pm): 1/4 cup red beans, closed handful cashews, 1/2 open handful coconut shreds

Dinner (6:30pm): cup of sauteed mustard greens, 1/2 block tofu scrambled with olive oil, poblano, and nutritional yeast, 2 medium red potatoes sliced, olive oil'd, and roasted

[onlyifchased]

Day 17

 

Breakfast (6:30am): cup of acorn squash, cup of cauliflower, cup of black beans, 1/4 can coconut milk

Lunch (10:30am): grapefruit guacamole (1/2 grapefruit, 1/2 avocado, garlic) with cup of black beans, a cup of broccoli, and about a 1/4 cup salsa

Dinner: (4:30pm): cup of sauteed mustard greens, 1/2 block tofu scrambled with olive oil, poblano, and nutritional yeast, 2 medium red potatoes sliced, olive oil'd, and roasted

Minimeal (8pm): closed handful chickpeas, a ~3Tbsp coconut milk, and 1/2 a grapefruit. Uh, not mixed together.

 

Had a reunion thing for alums from my school tonight. It was at a brewery, and there were free snacks: fries, barbeque and sweet barbeque sauce, fried mac and cheese, and hummus with cukes and pita. The hummus was covered in feta. I took a larabar and I was glad I had backup food since I obviously couldn't eat any of the food, but I didn't even need it. My early dinner held me over and I wasn't even hungry. Came home after and at the minimeal you see above.

 

I actually might not go back to my morning oatmeal after these 30 days are up? I am really loving my starchy veg + fibrous veg + beans + fat sauce breakfasts, and I feel like they are more filling and healthier than oatmeal with fruit. 

[onlyifchased]

Day 18

 

Breakfast (6:30am): acorn squash, broccoli, garbanzo beans, coconut milk

Lunch (10:30): Buhdda bowl: sweet potato, eggplant, okra, chickpeas + homemade dressing: tahini, lemon juice, olive oil

PreWO (2pm): cashews

PostWO: skipped - ended up doing a very minor workout, didn't think I needed the snack

Dinner (6pm): Nola-style red beans without rice

 

Day 19

Day 19 is surgery day! First meal was more or less immediately post surgery, not allowed to eat before that. Skipping breakfast sucks!

 

Breakfast (11:30am): 3 larabars (SO HUNGRY and the hospital had no compliant food)

Lunch (1pm): Smoothie with 1/2 banana, handful strawberry, 30g pea protein isolate, 1/4 can coconut milk, tablespoon flax seed (too nauseous to handle something too solid yet, as expected.

Snack (3pm): closed handful cashews

Dinner (5:30pm): Buhdda bowl: sliced and roasted sweet potato, eggplant and caramelized onion dip, curried okra, and chickpeas + homemade dressing: tahini, lemon juice, olive oil

Snack (9pm): chickpeas and coconut shreds

 

 

Had to eat something before bed so I could take another pain pill!

[onlyifchased]

Day 20

 

Breakfast (8am): pea protein isolate blended with blueberries, sauteed carrots and broccoli with toasted coconut shreds

Lunch (12pm): split pea soup w/ lots of veggies and olive oil

Snack (3:30pm): coffee with coconut milk and closed handful cashews

Dinner (6:30pm): Buhdda bowl: sweet potato, eggplant, okra, chickpeas + homemade dressing: tahini, lemon juice, olive oil

Snack (9:30pm): quarter cup of unsweetened applesauce

 

I keep having to snack due to medicine timing. Irritating.

[onlyifchased]

Day 21

 

Breakfast (8am): tofu scrambled with carrot, celery, and kale; side of baked potato wedges

Lunch (11:30am): Buddha bowl: sweet potato, eggplant, okra, chickpeas + homemade dressing: tahini, lemon juice, olive oil

Snack (3pm): strawberry banana pea protein smoothie, pickles (digestion got really bad, so I was trying stuff that the doctor suggested...)

Dinner (6pm): split pea soup w/ lots of veggies and olive oil (did not manage to eat this, but I tried!)

 

Day 22

 

Breakfast (8am): oats with applesauce and strawberries, coconut milk (relief!)

Lunch (12pm): tofu scrambled with carrot, celery, and kale, plus nutritional yeast and salsa

Dinner (6pm): eggplant and mushroom casserole with tomato sauce and tofu and olive oil

 

So, as you can see, I have added in non-gluten grains at the advice of my doctor. I've been having persistent and very bad digestive issues since surgery, and after exhausting the Whole30 compliant options my doctor suggested, without any improvement and in fact with worsening digestion, I agreed to eat some oats. I used whole oat groats, not processed, and soaked/pressure cooked them myself. My digestion issues resolved within hours! 

 

I'm still sticking to the rest of the Whole30 restrictions, and I'll be transitioning back to the meal template now that things are back to normal. I'd have liked to wait the 8 more days before reintroducing grains, of course, but I still feel like I learned a lot about my personal digestion and health, and I'm looking forward to learning even more once I make it to proper reintroduction!