DEPROGRAMMING THE MYTH: "Vegans don't get enough protein"
I've been vegan almost two years now and I'm STILL having to deprogram my own beliefs about how much protein we need. From personal experience, it's less than we've been programmed to believe. The health industry has taken us along for a ride long enough, their profit at our expense.
I've had a solid two decades of indoctrination into the belief system that says you need 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, give or take. So when I went vegan, I carried this myth into it. I even increased the amount of protein shakes I took to be sure I wouldn't dwindle on a plant diet.
Well two years in and I'm down to taking just one scoop of vegan protein powder and still making gains! I know I can go without ANY shakes..that's my next step. I've been discovering it's really more about total calories...I know..what a concept. All those years and decades always carrying around an extra protein bar for hunger emergencies when really a banana or two is all it takes. At the end of the day, it's about total calories which does include enough protein.
I've come to learn that the average adult male needs about 50 grams of protein per day. I know, seems like so little! An athlete will obviously need more, but how much more?
My weight fluctuates between 170 and 205 pounds, depending if I'm training/eating consistently or not. But I'm now eating 100-120 grams of protein per day. That's about 0.5 grams of protein or pound of body weight.
I've always been that skinny guy. I'll be blogging more about that journey and the transformation. And even up to today, I seem to workout in phases. When I'm consistent and working hard, I gain. When I slack off, I lose quickly and I shrink right down to my default slim look. At this moment and in this photo, I've been back to training hard consistently for 4 weeks. So all my gains are on a vegan diet, not carried over from a meat diet.
I've been a pretty private person but I'm ready to start coming out and sharing my journey more because I realize there's a movement going on and lots of people are now looking for inspiration, tips and information. I'm now ready to share!
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Further, just started a youtube channel. If I get one subscriber, I'll take that as a cue from the universe to start doing vlogs! Here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1KsE-d_GKHhkaXt4_SVs6g?&ytbChannel=You%20Are%20the%20One%20You%27ve%20Been%20Waiting%20For
Protein is so overrated! haha I've been almost 100% percent vegan for the last two years. I look good and never felt better.
I hear you on the "feeling better" part. Most of my life I had low energy and felt sluggish. All that's been cured! Why didn't anybody tell me earlier haha
Food should energize and heal us instead of poisoning our body. Feeling better and having more energy was one of the many reasons I decided to go vegan.
btw, just saw your logo. Fellow Vancouverite! :)
I couldn't live without meat. I love it. It's so nice to cut into a good steak or slather a good bratwurst in mustard. I think vegans miss meat a lot because you can find "veggie-burgers" and "veggie chicken breast" and all of these different fake meat items in the grocery stores.
You can eat your beans.... I'll have my bacon!
No worries bro. I'm NOT one of those annoying activist vegans. I was happily full meat up until something in me shifted one day. I tried meat later on and felt sick. We're all on our own journey.
Personally, because of all the extra energy I have these days I've been drawn to even go more raw vegan. Crazy, I know. Some vegans love their veggie burgers and fake meat products. I feel it's still all processed and not good for you. I'm more interested in whole natural foods that grow out of the earth. Cheers
Not trying to sway you man - but take the time to read this article: http://www.npr.org/2010/08/02/128849908/food-for-thought-meat-based-diet-made-us-smarter - it's well documented scientifically.
I went through that article. Not sure if I want to open up a can of worms here. For now I'll just say, they have some theories. Nothing conclusive. Further, I looked into that archeology foundation and have some questions about their authenticity. (I can elaborate if you wish..) Regardless of some article, what I've found in my own life is that after 4 decades, it's only NOW that my brain fog has cleared, I have distinctly better memory and can think clearer. I'm going to stick to what's working for me. Wish I discovered this WAY sooner.
This article is just an example - there have been many other studies that point to the same. Personally, I think the proven lower IQ levels of people from the continent of Africa might be because they don't have as much meat in their diets when their brains are developing. The constant malnutrition is also a problem. I think this is also Israel's long term strategy with the Gaza strip - starve them stupid and they'll forget what they're fighting for or just become obsolete as a people.
But it's all good, what makes YOU feel good is what's important!
Agree that myth is rubbish. YOu can get enough protein it is just a bit more work. that's all
I like to use the term "conscious awareness" instead of "work" :)
yep I like this term. Just a bit more effort to source the protein subsitutes/replacment.