Veganism was a logical choice for me personally because:

1- I used to suffer from IBS until I completely eliminated animal foods (this was the only change I made that eliminated IBS symptoms completely, I was already eating healthy whole foods for the most part).
2- Ethical reasons – mostly an objection to factory farming, treatment of animals and the rubbish they are fed (I don’t object so much to people eating animals that have been well cared for and fed their natural diet, or to eating hunted wild animals/fish, but I still probably wouldn’t choose to myself).
3- A natural preference for vegetables, wholegrains, tubers, legumes, nuts/seeds and fruit.

I’ve only had 3 problems which I attribute to being a vegan (and I’ve been a vegan for 10 years+).

1- Occasional problems with concentration and short term memory – however this has been remedied by including more nuts, seeds and especially ground flax seed (I think the problem had something to do with lack of omega 3s).
2- Sensitivity to cold – though not sure if this is due to being vegan or just me.
3- The need to supplement with vitamin B12 – though I don’t perceive a problem due to lack of it, but do take it as a safeguard.

Thinking about it, I have also noticed a tendancy to get “skinny-fat” as you call it if I get lazy and neglect the exercise, but as long as I get regular exercise this is kept under control (for me that’s some yoga & body weight exercises 1-2 times per week, daily walks and the very occasional class of weights, cardio or whatever - not exactly an athlete :D).

However, personally I’ve found the benefits I’ve experienced (the resolving some health issues, needing less sleep, higher energy levels & endurance to name a few) more than outweigh any negatives.

In terms of exercise, I’ve never perceived a lack of ability to build muscle (at least no more than the average woman I guess) and have high endurance for low to medium intensity activity (yoga, body weight exercises, aerobics, circuit training, hiking) and barely even sweat. I do find high intensity activity more challenging (e.g. running, lifting heavy weights) and have no idea if this is related to my diet or not, but it doesn’t bother me much as I’m not really into running and lifting heavy weights anyway

I’m not too keen on the McDougall version of veganism though due to the strict elimination of fats, I once tried eating “McDougall style” for a couple of weeks because I figured it wouldn’t be much different to my own wy of eating. However, I noticed that my skin got very dry and I felt excessively hungry, I found the excessive hunger intolerable, so went back to my normal way of eating (the moment I included some avocados, nuts, olive oil etc. back into my diet, the excessive hunger went). I think also avoiding nuts means eliminating a good protein source, which when you’re a vegan probably isn’t such a good idea. I agree that McDougall’s heart is in the right place, but think it’s a bit too extreme.

As mentioned above, just because you’re a vegetarian doesn’t mean you eat healthy. I haven’t eaten meat for the last five years (I just feel really crappy when I do) but eat a lot of fish and some dairy. I started with crossfit about a year ago and even though I don’t crave meat, I definitely need more protein. I find hemp protein to be excellent (it’s complete and easy to digest) and with the addition of rice, pea protein etc you can perform very well.

Brendan Brazier (vegan triathlete) has a good book (http://www.brendanbrazier.com). I’m not saying that you should become a vegan (different things work for different people) but he has done extensive research and there is a lot of interesting information that you can use regardless what your diet is.

I switched from a “Mediterranean” Diet (a lot of non-processed food, but a lot of bread) to a Paleo/Zone diet and have lost significant amounts of body fat and seen my CrossFit performance and overall health increase dramatically.

Thanks Mark.

Brian

Good stuff
Scott

As for being around 125 vegetarians, they were so docile from lack of testosterone, I was never in any danger

That’s not to say carbs are bad is it, I just agree that it’s pointless to reduce every problem down to a single nutrient. It’s normally a combination or nutrients in decent proportions. To make things easier our bodies are highly adapted to sorting out the wheat from the chaff themselves so why try to control them so much.

I’ve spent much more time learning about the basics of my body, what cells are made of and require for good health for example than I have with following all sorts of rigid diets. At least now I know that there’s lots we do know and lots we still don’t but I can make good judgements with what I know.

There we go. All said. This blog really inspires me to chat away. Thanks Mark, great article