Vegan Diet Experiment
Here’s Craig Ballantyne’s Vegan Diet experiment so far…
November – World Vegan Month Experiment
By Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
So far, so good. Almost three days down and having no problems sticking to a full vegan diet – rather than the regular vegetarian lifestyle.
Tonight I plan to grill some portabella mushroom burgers and cook up some edamame and snack on some pistachios while I watch the Maple Leafs game and read a book. Probably have something else too, but here are some of my favorite meals I’ve had so far…
On Sunday, while watching the Green Bay-Minnesota game, I cooked some wild rice and added a can of Amy’s organic chili (the green label) to the rice. It was a perfect, hearty meal to go with the game. Even though it was a huge volume of food, I think I could have ate more. Didn’t leave too much for Bally the Dog to eat. Sorry bud!
On Monday at lunchtime, just before my workout, I made one of my big boy salads that includes spinach, broccoli, red peppers, mushrooms, onion, avocado, black beans, and salsa.
After my workout I had 3 killer almond butter sandwiches on amazing flax meal bread from Vege Hut. That was some of the best bread I’ve had – ever. Washed it all down with 2 cups of chocolate almond milk.
And I’ve also been making some blender drinks too, with this being my current “go to” recipe:
1 banana, some raspberries, some spinach, 2 cups almond milk, 1 spoon almond butter, sunflower seeds, raw cacao nibs
That blender drink can keep you full for a long time. And the cacao nibs will give you a lot of mental energy. Perfect start to the day if you are looking for something fast. Sometimes I pour it over almonds and oatmeal and raisins.
And finally, here’s today’s lunch: I made a 3-serving bowl of pasta – using organic Kamut and Buckwheat pasta – and added some tomato sauce. Now most “fitness folks” freak out and scream, “where’s the protein”…
…but only because they don’t know that each serving of that pasta has 11 grams of protein, so my meal was probably closer to 25 grams or more of protein.
Alright, so that’s it.
Time to go get the grill ready for the mushrooms,
Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, The Lazy Man’s Guide to Vegetarian Eating