Many people try going vegan and quit, one of the most common reasons is that they start feeling weak after a couple of weeks.
Mistakenly, people attribute this feeling of weakness to some mystery ingredients that animal products have.
Nothing can be further from the truth, animal products don't have any magic nutrients that give energy, they do have a lot of nutrients that are bad for you, high amounts of cholesterol and poisnous metals, besides all that bouquet of deliciousness animal product are simply more calorie dense than plant foods.
Animal products have more calories in them, due to a higher fat percentage. For example 100g of cooked beef has on average 250 calories, 100g of cooked brown rice has 110 calories,100g of cooked black beans have 138 calories and 100g of bananas have 89 calories.
The problem is that when people transition to a plant based diet they still eat the same amount of food, getting on average 20 to 30 percent less calories and in extreme cases can be 70 percent of total daily calories. This calorie deficit, although beneficial to some extremely over weight individuals, usually puts our body in starvation mode.
A 60kg moderately active woman that needs about 2000 calories a day suddenly finds herself on 1500 calories after transitioning to plant based foods or in the extreme example less than a 1000 calories. The body will start to eat itself to provide for the lacking calories and the woman will feel extremely weak and of course after a short period return to the detrimental animal product lifestyle.
I am a 90kg highly active male that needs approximately 3000 - 3500 calories every day. To get enough calories on a plant based diet I eat a lot, I start my day with a 500 calorie smoothie and continue with big meals of litterally kilograms of beans, rice and vegetables. Although this is a lot of food it digests very easily and I rarely feel bloated and heavy after a meal.
To get enough calories and to make a successful transition to a plant based lifestyle, simply increase portion size by 20 percent and make sure to have a delicous fruit at hand if you feel hungry.
This way you will get enough calories and be able to enjoy the awesome health and karma benefits of going vegan.
Thank you for your time.
With love.
Eugene
