Despite eating a low fat, vegan diet for 10 years, I always seemed struggle with low energy levels & excessive appetite, this and other issues caused me to re-think the veganism, so I’m now eating small amounts of animal foods (free range eggs and occasional fish).

The diet rules I try to follow are:

Avoiding sugar & refined carbs.

Basing each meal around a protein & accompanying vegetables/salad (less carb focused).

Not restricting fat quantity, just type (e.g. no refined/hydrogenated/processed vegetables oils, plenty of nuts, olive oil, coconut, avocados, flax seeds and other seeds).

I follow the No S diet rules – No Sweets, No Snacks, No Seconds, except (sometimes) on days that begin with S (weekends and “special days”). So I eat 4 times per day with nothing between meals apart from tea, coffee or water (I therefore make each meal count!). Plus, I do have treats at the weekends (and make those count too!).

I also loosely follow macrobiotic principles, but this is more by personal preferences than a significant conscious effort.

This approach is working well at the moment, I’m at a weight which I’m happy with, sleep well and have good energy levels.

Though everyone is different of course. I seem to digest & metabolise food very quickly, so the 4 meal per day approach & high fat intake keeps excessive hunger & fatigue away. My husband on the other hand only eats 2x per day, limits his fat intake & focuses on lean proteins & good carbs in order to have best energy and be able to sleep well (if he eats a heavy meal after 7pm he’s usually up all night!).

I guess everyone just needs to experiment to get their ideal fuel mix

I believe in eating small meals throughout the day to keep the metabolism rate going high and have a consistent higher energy through out the day.

I read your post on Problogger.net, it was fantastic! You are doing great with your blog and keep up the good work.

Cheers
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger

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@Emma: You raise some great points!

My basic thought behind the meat point was based on the fact that I can eat too much meat before I can eat too many veggies. It’s just always seemed like meat could much more quickly overload my ‘fire’. But I know, I not basing these thoughts on any kind of science.

@jared: I guess I wasn’t too clear here. I certainly don’t suggest anyone under feed themselves. I just think that we, as a society, tend to over eat and that finding that ‘perfect’ amount, and no more, is a healthy habit to fallow.

Thanks, though, for you excellent insight!

@Pace: I know, I thought there would be more vegan’s as well.

@Sean: I’ve always been super sensitive to my body and how things affect it. It’s one of those blessing/curse things.

@Kelly: Well said!

@Neil: Exactly! More frequent, smaller meals is the way to go.

@Chris: Your absolutely right! In the end it really comes down to the details. Everyone’s different. Thanks for elaborating on that point. Eric.

What are your goals for your body? To build muscle? Protein is essential to development, and not all protein is equal. As much as people would like to believe it, soy does not aid in muscle building like meat. Too much soy also has an impact on estrogen levels.

Is your goal fat loss? There is much evidence of low carb high protein diets (keeping fats in check) effectively aiding fat loss. A high carb % with a low calorie diet will result in fat and muscle loss, which will reduce your resting metabolic rate and your natural ability to burn fat.

Assuming you want to stay where you are at, I’d agree that the less processed foods the better. Since all bodies burn at a different rate, you can establish a baseline diet and adjust it based on what your goals are.

One of the best authors on nutrition I’ve read has been Chris Aceto. His books focus on bodybuilding, but the nutritional advise presented in them is more than worth the money even if you are not interested in working out.

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Kelly Turner
http://www.groundedfitness.com

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http://www.vegetariantimes.com/features/archive_of_editorial/667

This page says that about one out of seven vegetarians are vegan. One-seventh of 33% is about 5%, so I guess it’s not surprising given a sample size of 46.

End statistics geek commentary. (:

Pace´s last blog post..Making a habit of being happy: 8 things that help me be happier

Calorie restriction for someone who has a thin build, a high metabolism, and exercises regularly would be more detrimental than to someone who is slightly overweight, burns calories very slowly, and lives a less active lifestyle. I don’t see how restricting calories could a cure all for everyone or could be a cookie-cutter solution for everyone.

Maintaining a metabolism that constantly burns the calories you consume can be achieved by allowing the body to feel as if it could release (burn) them without going into starvation mode. All things being equal, if we generally restrict our body’s nutritional consumption, our bodies will horde the calories it consumes, storing them as fat. At the opposite end, if we constantly over consume calories, our bodies won’t be able to burn them fast enough, storing them as fat. Each person’s metabolism is different due to his or her unique physical makeup and physical behavior.

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Calorie counting aside, I don’t really see a link yet between diet and living longer because of slowed metabolism. Exactly how would vegetables ‘burn’ slower/differently than meat? There are other reasons to eat mainly vegetables, but I’m not sure that’s one of them. Maybe I’m missing something.

Personally, I’m waiting for more human test results (and not just two-three people’s personal statements) on calorie restricting. In the meantime, I’m one of the ‘none of the above’s, who eat a primarily vegan diet with small portions of seafood 2-3 times per week and ‘whatever I am served’ when a guest in someone’s house.

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