Navigating my way into veganism

For the past month I’ve been I’ve following a vegan diet. So in a brief pause from my focus on the future of education, I’ll share some thoughts about this experiment.

It’s actually not that great a topic shift. For one, I’ve written about health and diet issues before. My posts on giving up caffeine and alcohol are some of the most popular things I’ve ever written ( part 1, part 2).

For another, veganism ties into a theme I’ve been exploring lately: climate change and its relationship with higher education. Many commentators and activists argue that one strategy for either global climate mitigation or adaptation (or both) is humans cutting back on eating animals and animal products, since those food subsystems emit methane and carbon in significant amounts. So I’m looking into this food strategy as part of my broader research. And actually living it is a way of practical learning.

The other reason is that I’m concerned about my weight. I’m big fellow, partly because I’ve lifted weights since I was a teenager. Yet my BMI tests above 30, and I know that some part of my lifestyle cause that: extensive travel, long shifts at the keyboard without using the standing or biking desks. Yes, I also know the criticisms of BMI, but as I cruise past 50 years of age I’d like to see about extending my lifespan, and weight loss is key. And my new primary care physician insists.

So: into veganism.

I started with Mark Bittman’s “VB6” diet. That means I eat vegan-ly all day until 6 pm, after which I can devour anything I choose. I chose this path in order to make the transition less shocking to my body and habits. After all, my usual diet involved meat (full gamut: beef, chicken, pork, fish, etc.) in 2–3 meals per day, plus dairy products (cheese and eggs, primarily) in about the same rhythm .

So I checked out dozens, then hundreds of recipes for every meal of the day, from soups to pizza, plus snacks, scouring books and the web. I bought different stuff, or some of the same but in changed quantities, from local grocery stores. I researched some of the science and commentary, which can be both often endless, sometimes contradictory, and occasionally dubious.

At home, for snacks I swapped out chips and pretzels for apples and nuts. I replaced breakfast or lunch cheese or sausage omelettes with various scrambles including tofu, onion, garlic, and ginger. I got back into making corn tortillas and loading them with red or black beans. I experimented with ways of making leafy greens more palatable without adding calorie-drenched dressings — so far, lots of vinegar. I continued eating and baking bread, although avoiding recipes that include eggs or milk. I also cut down the amount of bread, wanting to reduce carbs (as per primary care physician’s advice).

Eating out hasn’t been much of a problem so far. For breakfast and lunch I can easily find fruit, granola, and breads.

There were no changes to what I drink, which is almost entirely water.

One external force impinged on this experiment, as I came down with pneumonia in December, thanks to overwork. Despite that, I didn’t pause VB6 activity. That illness ended shortly after the new year.

So how did the experiment turn out? Where do things stand now?

1. I’ve lost 5–10 lbs. There’s some fluctuation. I can’t see any difference, but my wife says the loss is apparent.
2. I continue to experiment with recipes, more frequently than I did before.
3. Avoiding my habitual meals and snacks proved less onerous than I thought it would be. It might be that I just enjoy exploration and trying out new or altered recipes.
4. My appetite has fallen steeply. I am rarely hungry when I used to be. Formerly I’d wake up hungry and thinking about breakfast. Now I don’t feel hunger pangs until afternoon, sometimes later. I’ll skip breakfast or lunch, or even both. It feels like I hacked my metabolism, ratcheting it down, at least in terms of appetite. The total amount of food and calories has dropped.
5. The post-6-pm, non-vegan dinner is not what I expected. Surprisingly I don’t gorge on meat or cheese, although I still enjoy those to a degree. Instead I actually eat less for dinner — again, my appetite is lower. I eat almost 1/2 of what I did before and leave the meal with more leftovers. Last week I went to dinner with friends and ordered prime rib. Normally I would savage the entire thing, but this time I barely made it through half of the portion.
6. The biggest problem is that my delight in food has fallen overall. I no longer turn to meals with a sense of delight or comfort. Instead I have come to view most eating as something… medicinal, akin to a chore. I observe carefully, but without pleasure. That’s especially true for vegan eating, but also increasingly so for non-vegan foods. My joy in meat and animal products has gradually diminished. For vegan dishes I am not experiencing any of the joy in eating that vegan writers and my vegan friends proclaim.
7. My physical strength and energy feels about the same. They were lower when I started, but the bout of pneumonia seems like the main cause, and they resumed when it ended.
8. My biggest dietary weaknesses are chips and pretzels. It takes fierce willpower to keep them away from me.
9. I don’t feel evangelical about this experiment. It feels… satisfactory in that I’ve managed to carry it out for a month, even through a serious illness and the holidays, but I don’t want to gush about it. The whole thing feels strange and experimental. I haven’t experienced a connection to other people’s diets or other food cultures. At times I just feel melancholy about the loss of joy in eating.

What’s next?

• I’ll keep on with this experiment. VB6 looks like the right fit for now, as I don’t feel up to going 24/7 vegan. I don’t know what it would take to switch me over.
• There’s a truly daunting amount of research to do, which I’ll keep pursuing.
• If you know me, you know that some of that research is social. I’ve already starting talking this up on Facebook, and gotten a range of responses: support, annoyance, recipes.
• In a few weeks I will check in with my primary care physician to see what she thinks.
• I will monitor changes in my mood to see how the diet impacts it.
• In a month I’ll be able to start gardening, and look forward to setting up plants I can eat.

What do you make of my experiment? Is it TMI? Does it sound reasonable?

Originally published at https://bryanalexander.org on January 19, 2020.