Three months into going keto from vegan

From vegan and yoga to carnivore and weightlifting, how’s it going three months in?

Back in March I wrote about a shift I was having both physically and spiritually that was leading me to question some lifestyle choices I had adopted and where they came from. For a decade I had identified a lot of myself with my being yoga teacher and being a vegan. 

To summarize, I had adopted veganism in my yoga teacher training which was a pivotal time in my life and a massive shift from the aggressive and excessive corporate life I was living. But recently things have changed. I have changed. I also dove into some things I learned about ethics and sustainability in that blog if you’re interested.

Years of yoga and flexibility training, I surmised, had taken their toll on my back. I also had a suspicion that eliminating animal protein wasn’t doing wonders for my joints and at 38 I was finding it harder to maintain muscle. 

So, how’s it going? In a word, great. 

I had heard some folks had issues going back to dairy and animal protein after being vegan, especially for how long I had been, maybe it’s my Irish roots or just being blessed with an iron stomach but I didn’t experience any of that. I also definitely looked forward to eating again and putting meals together seemed much simpler.

I began with basically adopting a carnivore diet but have now transitioned to more keto. If you’re not familiar, carnivore means you basically just eat meat while keto means you limit carbs. Honestly I didn’t not like carnivore, I more just think some fruit and veg is necessary given what I know about phytonutrients and fiber. However, it did jumpstart my metabolism and fat loss pretty rapidly despite the lack of fiber. I also didn’t notice any change in my ability to digest food, again some of that could be hereditary.  

I also find it much easier to be satiated. With vegan I leaned on carbs a LOT and I could literally eat an entire pizza in one sitting. Now, I load up on veg and with a scaled portion of meat and/or a protein shake with some fruit and I feel super full. I also noticed with vegan I was eating a lot of things from packages with added ingredients and now my food is almost always whole. I also needed to eat a LOT of beans and legumes to get to protein goals which made me gassy and also, interestingly enough, came with lots of carbs I didn’t know about. 

I’ve always felt for me, carbs are not evil but are proportionate to how I hold fat. Meaning the more I eat, the more I tend to hold fat. At my leanest I’ve always been careful about carbs and sugar. FWIW I’ve also found my sugar cravings go WAY down since adopting this eating style. Now with just a small bit of berries or watermelon I feel quite satisfied. 

Workout wise, I LOVE lifting weights. I always have. I find it quite meditative and I love the discipline of it. For me, there’s also more clear metrics on success as I see strength gains clearly. There’s also a great community of folks where I workout. Whereas I think yoga can be such a personal journey, I see a lot of encouragement and support in the gym that I was craving. I definitely see a clear difference in my body and I feel much stronger playing hockey which is important to me. With my whole workout plan now being weights, hockey and walking, I’ve also been able to make a more concerted and consistent effort with the weights. If you’re curious about weightlifting plans, I’m happy to help as I’ve done tons of research!

As far as stretching, I literally stopped all stretching and my body has actually felt a TON better. My back issue lingers slightly but nowhere near as bad as it was when I was stretching daily. As I’ve strengthened my muscles around my injury I feel much more secure in that area. Of course some of this could be placebo but I am amazed that with no stretching my body feels this good considering how long my love affair with flexibility was. 

Some folks have had issues with brain fog or sleep with a low carb diet. Not me, if anything I would say I’m more clear and sleeping as well as I ever have. I would often notice after my first vegan meal breaking a fast (I usually intermittent about 16:8) I would overeat a bit and then crash. I don’t feel nappy now and definitely feel like I get more done and am more organized. 

To be clear, I didn’t do this all without pretty extensive research, however the real guiding compass was my intuition which speaks most strongly to me during meditation and breathwork or even when I’m just walking my dog. 

That listening to your true essence is at the root of so much of what I teach. The pathway to it looks different for different people. Some people find that voice in meditation while others it might be dancing or painting or nature. For a lot of us it simply means some less screen time.

Please feel free to reach out if you need some support on your journey.