My Two-Week Raw Vegan Bodybuilding Experiment
Before I begin my in-depth “vegan meat head” analysis of the raw vegan diet, I’d first like to mention that I can’t believe how many peeps have expressed their interest in hearing my thoughts and feelings on this particular diet experiment.
And well, truth is, I’ve kind of delayed writing this post because I didn’t want to offend the raw foodies! But at the end of the day, I want to make it clear that ANY vegan diet is A-okay with me and like many things in life, it’s all about different strokes for different folks.
It’s funny how non-vegans think the standard “vegan diet” is sooooooo limited and difficult to stick with. And yet, they don’t even realize just how many variations of a vegan diet actually exist!
“80/10/10,” Raw until 4pm,” fruitarian,” “high carb/low fat…” Yes, these are just a few of the plant-based “diets” which my vegan brethren and I choose to follow. And at the end of the day, as long as nobody’s being killed, harmed or eaten and we’re still able to live a healthy, fruitful (no pun intended) life, then I say all the power to ’em!
So what type of “raw vegan” diet did I choose to follow for my little experiment?
It was basically called the “I’m going to eat whatever the hell I want for two weeks so long as it’s a whole, unprocessed, unrefined plant food” diet. For those who don’t know what the textbook definition for “raw vegan” is, it basically entails that we do not eat anything cooked above 115 degrees Fahrenheit (or 46 degrees Celsius for us Canadians.) Raw vegans eat this way because they believe that any food cooked above this temperature has lost its enzymes and nutrients. And many raw foodies often report health benefits such as weight loss, more energy, clearer skin, improved digestion and improved overall health.
My reasoning for going raw was simple. I wanted to give my body a break from eating the same vegan “bodybuilding” type foods every day. And I wanted to cleanse my body of all the vitamins and supplements I take, the soy, coffee, protein powder and essentially perform an “internal cleansing” if you will. And more than anything, I was curious to see what kind of positive and/or negative effects I would experience as a vegan bodybuilder consuming nothing but earth-grown, whole foods.
I had it all mapped out. I journaled my daily findings. I determined how many calories I would consume, where I was going to get my protein from, what my six daily meals would be. I even bought a dehydrator, thus taking my raw veganism to SUPER HARDCORE status!
And how did it go? Here is my “Two Sentence Summary” for each of the 14 days.
DAY 1 – I’m so excited to be eating this much fruit!! I probably shouldn’t be throwing back this many dates though… And yet, I can’t stop…”
DAY 2 – Wow, cleaning this juicer is a HUGE pain-in-the-ass… But I’m loving how I FEEL drinking all this green juice! Coffee withdrawal headaches are, however, STRONG today.
DAY 3 – I do seem to look leaner today. Could this be due to how many times I’m crapping? Seriously, I thought I went a lot as a “regular” vegan (no pun intended.) But this shit is CRAZY!!! (Pun INTENDED!)
DAY 4 – I’m kinda diggin’ this whole raw thang. I never have cravings. And I’m not feeling deprived or even missing cooked foods or coffee! I actually kinda dig starting my day with green juice.
DAY 5 – Okay I’m really starting to hate this effing juicer clean-up. And for real, the constant shitting is getting outta control!!!!!!!!!
DAY 6 – Today was “Leg Day” at the gym. Otherwise known as “I Just Devoured an Entire Package of Medjool Dates Day.”
DAY 7 – Went for a morning run and noticed how much lighter I feel. Could also be due to my early morning run TO THE BATHROOM (thanks to yesterday’s 2 lb. box of dates hog fest!) I feel lighter but I look so much softer.
DAY 8 – Today I used my new dehydrator and made “raw crackers” with all my leftover juicer pulp. That’s right. I’m hardcore raw vegan now.”
DAY 9 – Today was rough. My digestion was not good at all and I’m feeling pretty over it whilst I eat this bowl of cold, sprouted quinoa. I miss tempeh.”
DAY 10 – I tried to get creative with my cooking and made a raw zucchini lasagna and super tasty, fat-laden mint chocolate bars. So many nuts and dates but damn, they were good.
DAY 11 – EFF THIS SHIT. I’m so over sprouting! And beans! AND cleaning this stupid, piece of s&*! juicer. Give me that bag of dates and jar of raw almond butter and leave us alone!
DAY 12 – Okay Shorkey, you gotta finish this raw diet strong. Nothing but juice and salad for these last two days. You can do this. Dates and nuts, you have FAILED ME! I still love you though.
DAY 13 – So…. close….to… being…. DONE…. Man, my workouts have sucked this week. Though interestingly enough, I’m convinced that raw vegan farts are completely odorless.
DAY 14 – Well, my skin sure looks clear & vibrant! And who knew that “juicer pulp raw crackers” would become my new fave snack?! But seriously, I am beyond stoked to cook up some veggie soy-sages and kale tomorrow.
In conclusion, what did I learn? What did I take away from this experiment? And would I recommend a raw diet to other vegans and vegan bodybuilders?
Well, I certainly don’t regret this two week experiment. And you know what the biggest benefit I discovered was? Going raw completely reset my metabolism and literally made ALL sugar cravings go away completely.
I’m proud to say that I’ve been back on my high-protein, low-carb “vegan meat head” diet for almost three weeks now and in this time, I have not eaten one bite of dessert or sweet treat other than fruit. I just haven’t even cared for it. I’ve also lessened my coffee consumption by half which is HUGE for the former 3 – 4 cups a day I was having prior to going raw.
And I’m obsessed with dehydrating…. tofu. I know, I know. It has nothing to do with being “raw” and I can just imagine the raw foodies rolling their eyes right now. But what can I say? You can take the soy out of my diet for two weeks. But you can’t take the meathead out of me. 😉
All in all, I’m really glad I gave this a go and stuck it out. And I sincerely do encourage others to give it a try. I would like to follow a similar diet every few months but maybe just for one week instead. Two weeks did seem quite long for me but MAD RESPECT to the raw foodists who follow this time-consuming lifestyle year-round. Seriously, I thought MY bodybuilder meal prep was a big enough pain-in-the-ass…
Anyway, I hope I don’t offend anyone by saying that a raw diet just wasn’t ideal for my particular goals and lifestyle. I love my protein and personally, I just feel best when it makes up the majority of my daily calories. Nevertheless, I’ll take a 2 lb. box of Medjool dates over a brick of tofu ANY DAY!
Though my protein powder-covered tofu jerky wasn’t half-bad either 😉
-Samantha Shorkey, Jacked on the Beanstalk
27 comments
The reason you were feeling weaker sometimes was probably due to the large consumption of juice. This is also why you went to the bathroom so much (and just detoxing in general does that). When you juice you get rid of all of the fiber, which our bodies need. Juice is great, but it should be consumed in moderation and as a snack. Especially green juice. It generally isn’t very calorie dense which can lead to under eating and feeling week. Sugar cravings for fruit just means your body needs carbs. Glucose is the main source of fuel for the body and the brain so never fear fructose (plant sugar).
Hey. Loved your article. Is there anywhere I can see what you actually ate and recipes?
Hi Cherrie! So sorry for the delayed response but I knew I had written down all kinds of notes about the food plan I was following and couldn’t find it until today! So here goes! Basically I was trying to consume about 2,000 calories daily and getting most of my protein from green peas, pumpkin seeds and sprouted beans and lentils. My pre and post carbs were mostly sprouted buckwheat and rolled oats and fats came from almonds, avocado and coconut butter. Then I ate a TON of leafy greens and parsley for nutrients and dates and bananas to keep me from passing out :) Hope this helps!
Awww thank you, Barbara. Glad you liked it! I actually like to go raw every summer for a couple weeks myself. I plan to do it again this summer so I’ll try to post all about it and hopefully give you some more insight :)
That was hysterical! I’m considering going vegan raw for the summer. I really enjoyed your article.
Hi Kevin! Aww thanks so much for the kind words and sharing your own experience. K so first off, I have a suggestion for you to include more greens. I saw one of Bite Sized Vegan’s videos once where she said she wraps a Medjool date inside a lettuce leaf. So whenever I go on my little raw spurts, I try to practice restraint on my date binges and I find this is a good way to do so. I usually wrap my dates inside a piece of organic romaine or leaf lettuce. But yeah, you definitely need to get more greens into you! Have you tried my morning matcha green smoothie recipe? You could try subbing your same repetitive meal for one smoothie everyday and toss some frozen spinach, a baby cucumber, some fresh mint leaves, fresh ginger and turmeric (great anti-inflammatories for you as an active vegan.) And ups your greens intake. I’ll have to try your fave meal either way. Although the thought of avocado in a granola-type bowl sounds rather putrid, I did just tell you to eat a date inside a hunk of raw lettuce. :) Either way, glad you enjoyed my post and I sincerely appreciate you sharing your own fave recipes. I plan to go raw for most of the summer again this year so I’ll no doubt be posting more weird but surprisingly tasty recipes soon :)
Your writing amuses me as I hardly chuckle or “LOL” at an article I’m reading but you really seem to capture some good (tofu?) nuggets here! You have better puns _ I’ve been raw for about 6-9 months now (4 years total vegan) but of course I still eat cooked food each week as a treat. Here’s what I’ve noticed: Yes — clearer skin, my skin is better than most girls I meet _ (I’m a guy, so I didn’t even know this was a benefit!) I’m much much less hungry than I used to be. In fact, with my raw foods, I’m way more full and satiated than when I was eating like rice/sweet potatoes, cooked beans, tofu etc My workouts, especially sprinting goes amazingly when I stick with it. Weight lifting is strong when I stick with it, I do an HIT circuit, with push/pull/legs days. It works amazing (look up Drew Baye or Dr Doug McGruff, body by science) Energy levels are pretty amazing, there are some days I have to “come down” from being so high, and it can take me a few minutes in the evening to settle for bed.. But sleep is amazing! I think its two fold that my digestion is much better and the raw foods allow me to sleep well as my tummy is satisfied and calm. Here is my diet in a nutshell (another pun? you’ve got me started :P): Breakfast — I make my bomb ass bowl of cereal, which I take with me on the go, its sooo good I do not mind eating it everyday! 1 cup sprouted buckwheat (just started dehydrating it so I’ll have a ton ready to go!) 5 tbsp hemp seeds 1 avocado 5 bananas (500 grams) 1 cup Almond milk 1 scoop raw garden of life meal replacement Lunch — You’re gonna hate me, I eat the same thing for lunch!! “ditto on breakfast” :P Dinner — Sometimes same thing haha, But now that I have the dehydrator I plan to make better stuff (whatever that is!) Overall its 3k calories, with all my micronutrients hit, and I’ll add good salt to keep sodium up. And it has about 140-160 grams of protein. I was originally aiming to hit my macros, I wanted a 60/20/20 carb protein fat mix (sometimes higher on the fat). And get a hell of a lot of omega-3s in because the conversion from plant matter is pretty low from ALA to DHA/EPA (like potentially 1%) I’ll also throw in some coconut I that I make into coconut butter with my juicer, and dates that I turn into date paste and use in the cereal. You’ll notice that I don’t eat a lot of greens, and I really ‘should’ I just generally don’t like greens that much! What I can say is that I find this way much easier and way less time consuming. When I started eating this way it was because I was working so much and literally had no time to cook in the mornings or evenings, so I had to figure out a ‘get up and go’ plan. I also juiced for a while, but as you said it can be very time consuming. Okay I just wanted to throw my $.02 in there. Hope everything is going well for you! Fun to read this post, I’ll prob dig through and read more! Yours warmly, Kevin