I Tried a Mainly Vegan Diet and Here’s What Happened to Me

If you had asked me ten years ago if I would have imagined so many people would be interested in a plant-based diet in Longview or Tyler, Texas, I would have burst out laughing – literally.

However, the outlook has changed dramatically for a significant minority of people in East Texas. Maybe not when it comes to a FULLY vegan diet, but there has been interest in at least a partially vegan diet.

Several years ago, Brian May of Queen decided to adopt “Veganuary”. to try.

What is ‘Veganuary?’

It’s a movement encouraging people, including celebrities, to try a vegan diet during the month of January. And of course, now that January is almost over, maybe we should rename it… uh, Febreganary? Eh. It doesn’t really work, does it?

Whatever the name, while some may be interested in at least trying it, they may get overwhelmed with how to do it right and give up before they start. Not to mention any worries we might have about giving up or even just cutting back on meat and dairy. I mean, this is Texas after all.

First of all. How about a quick review of what a vegan diet is:

Let’s start with an oversimplified definition of a vegan diet, which does not include any animal products, including honey. Some who follow a vegan diet do not carry or use any animal products of any kind. It’s a different angle beyond our reach. Let’s talk only about the diet itself and not about the ethical discussions surrounding it. Cool.

Am I vegan? No I’m not. But when I tried a few years ago, I wanted goal for about 85-90% vegan.

Well, I prefer the term whole foods, plant-based (WFPB.) Being vegan isn’t the answer, because you could settle for potato chips and technically be “vegan”, but that wouldn’t provide the nutrients your body needs.

From around September 2019 through most of 2020, I consumed a *mostly* PAMPB vegan diet, but a more precise term might be Flexi-Vegan. Why did I do this? After diving into all sorts of food debacles, this seemed like the thing my body loves.

So what happened? Did I feel better or worse? Was it a nightmare to give up some of my favorite foods? Yes and no.

During my mostly vegan diet experiment, I went for blood work so I could get some hard data during the process – you know, off the scale. Here is what happened :

This resulted in a significant drop in my triglycerides, LDL and blood pressure levels. In the future, I also lost quite a bit of weight – almost 40 pounds. Unfortunately, during quarantine, I recovered some of it after succumbing to the standard American diet. I find myself at a point now where I’m going to go back to what I was doing before or make a few tweaks here and there, and so on.

So what did I eat on a “mostly vegan” diet?

Most of the time, my plant-based diet means a diet focused on whole grains, legumes, berries, nuts, seeds, and, of course, lots of green and colorful vegetables. From time to time, I tasted wild salmon or organic poultry, etc. Oh, and I would definitely try to take it easy with the oil.

On special occasions, holidays, and when I really need a little honey in my tea, I indulge in other foods that I love – like beef, cheese, etc. It worked for me. I also discovered that I was actually amazed at the variety of food and was never really hungry.

So eating this way wasn’t boring AF?

Some people wonder if eating becomes boring when you don’t eat high-fat animal products at every meal. As someone who came out of the womb cleaning their plate, I assure you that is NOT the case. It’s amazing how many different flavors you didn’t realize you were missing when you include such a range of foods you’ve never had before.

I have also found many more than kind restaurants to create something amazing that works. Some people like to have more animal protein in their diet. That’s the problem with a ‘flexible’ approach – it’s more of a spectrum than a book of laws.

A while ago I read this article from The Daily Mail website reporting subsequent study and recommendations to take a look at this Flexi-Vegan food and reflection “hey, that’s similar to what I do, more or less.”

The article reports that “Scientists say you don’t have to go vegan to be green because you can have a steak or a piece of blue cheese once in a while and do your part. Just a moderate change away from the red meat, diaries and high-calorie foods are all done to help save the planet and our health.”

– Journalist of Dailymail.com

So even just reduce over-fat, cream-filled, overly decadent pet foods can be an important first step for your health.

This is encouraging news – and we could all use it a little more. If you read it, let me know. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Meanwhile, I’ll try to decide what to eat for dinner. 😉