Hello! New to the board and new to being a vegan.
I decided to go vegan about 11 days ago. I've been experimenting/researching/trying veganism, vegetarianism and raw foods for about a year. Last year I found a guy called the liferegenerator on YouTube. He has a channel with lots of people on who've all lost a lot of weight being raw foodists which got my attention. A year later of following the leads from there I'm here!
I am overweight and my last blood test showed things have started to go south in a hurry during the past year. 35 years old, 5'9", 256lbs/116kg currently, down from 266lbs when I started. I am fairly muscular, however. My bodyfat is "only" 35%, which puts my lean body mass at 175lbs (out of 266lbs). I say "only" because at least I'm not 50-60%.
Right now I am having an energy problem, and I'm sure this is related to my rapid weight loss. I must not be eating enough or the right portions, right? I've been working out for 10 years and even my workouts are suffering. I'm used to hitting the gym pretty hard for an hour but I'm gassing at 20 mins and have to will myself to 30mins.
I eat tons of fruits, vegetables, beans all day and some grains at dinner w/more produce. I feel stuffed all day. What can I do? Should I swap out some produce for more grains? Add nuts, maybe?
I also have been falling asleep earlier and earlier and waking up earlier and earlier! I was an 11pm to 7am schedule, now it's shifted to 9pm-5am! Sup with that?
Maybe on the same note is that I'm only using the pot every other day now. When I do go it's fine, don't feel constipated at all. But every other day? Shouldn't I be more regular than ever? My wife sees this as proof as not eating enough but she also sees how much I eat! We're both perplexed.
Ok, one more thing....
People have started to notice my weight loss. I have *not* gone around and openly proclaimed I'm vegan, I keep it to myself, but when they ask I do tell them I've switched to veganism. I'm already wayyyy tired of this conversation. People think I'm freaking nuts. My own best friend (who's female) who's normally very kind suddenly turned red and shouted "I CAN'T TALK ABOUT THIS!!!!" when I told her that I planned to become a vegan. I've already been called fag, hippy, told I'm not a "real man" etc etc. This is not to mention the countless dismissive looks I get. It really bugs when it comes from people who could use a little health in their lives, too.
To be clear, I don't get preachy with them. I don't even offer an explanation as to why, but they usually ask anyway. My simple explanation is "I've done a lot of reading and *I* feel this will help me with my health. A lot of men in my family have died of heart attacks early and I don't want to be next." Even that simple thing has not been good enough. Clearly I must eat meat to death.
Anyway, any pointers on how to deal with it would be great. The naysayers are not going to change my direction, tho'. After a year of reading about diet, animal rights, etc I've made up my mind and I didn't do it lightly. I'm glad to be here and overall I feel better than I have in a very long time even if I am a bit tired all day.
