How many vegans out there?

I'm all vegan except a shake I take every morning (has whey, which is a dairy derivative).  My shake is quite similar to the Vega shakes that Brendan Brazier (triathlete referenced in above post) developed, except it has even more ingredients in it (superfoods) than Brendan's, which is why I take it.

I slowly worked my way to vegan over the last ~6 months.  I feel so much better: I had a lot of food allergies/intolerances.  My food is now about 80-90% whole foods and I have never been healthier, and I am far from deprived!

I'm also gluten free as much as possible.

Andi

Veg here, not vegan (yet) have been eating waaaay more eggs/dairy then I'm comfortable with the past 2 weeks in efforts to get adequate protein.  I recently picked up Vega at Whole Foods and I really did not like the taste or texture.  I read that mixing it with almond milk and a banana helps, so I will try that. Greens, man even worse. 

What would you say your staples or go to recovery (fast) meals/drinks are?  

Really a bit of a newbie when it come to this level of endurance training.    

I don't really do anything differently. Sometimes I will drink a single serving of Silk chocolate soy milk after a hard workout, or once in a while make a fruit smoothie with hemp protein powder.

In training for 2 Ironmans I have not had any significant issues with recovery, I just eat normally (which is vegetarian and gluten free for me).

I'm a lacto-ovo vegetarian, meaning I eat dairy and eggs. About twice a year I go on a gluten-free vegan diet for about 10 days to 2 weeks bc I think it recharges my system.

As for recovery, I just drink soymilk, usually. When I want something fancy I'll make a smoothie instead. My recovery diet isn't too unusual - mostly I do lots of stretching and wear compression socks for a bit.

I have heard this term before and just Wiki'd it to be sure.

Interesting!

If you don't mind the 20 questions...
What made you decide to eat with this approach?
With no grains, how many/much carbs do you eat (per day?)?
How many calories do you eat a day?
Do you find it a challenge to get the nutrition you need as an athlete?
What is your training volume? 
What is a typical day's nutrition for you? 

I am not asking to be malicious or tell you you're wrong  
I'm very curious about this diet. 

I am finishing up a month being as vegan as possibly.  It has worked out great so far but I will go back to 80-90% vegetarian with few eggs and fish.  I know I know, not exactly vegetarian but I have felt great doing this over the month.  My sweet tooth has been hard to manage but I have tons of recipes and things that I want to try. 

I will cut out milk though.  I feel dairy has been rough on me in the past and I never drank it besides a touch in my coffee and on cereal.

Hi there,

Well, I guess I'll be the sole carnior responding! Yeah, love my meat and big time dairy eater. Now, I do try to eat healthy, broccoli is my go to veggie also like red pepper and cucumbers.

I try to eat healthy carbs like ww pasta and organic Dave's Bread for other carbs. I love Fage greek yogurt with honey and cinnamon, have that 1x-2x/day, lowfat string cheese on the occasion, like apples and after 1hr+ workouts with have a protien shake with half fat-free milk half water with some glutamine and banana mixed in.I do llike apples and pineapple as well.

I've been indulging in all things yummy lately now that it's off season, need to get it under control but I guess since there's no need for race wt right now I figure I just want to have fun for a while and not restrict so much.

I also eat lots of Go Lean (red and wht) box) b/c I am always freakin hungry, I just throw a couple handfuls down the hatch to keep the hungry monster away for a little longer. Well, there's my input, not a clean eater or a vegan, just kind of wingin it and taking vitamins to cover the gaps.

Patsy

mostly vegan here.  

if i'm making it, or it's at my house, or i bring a potluck dish - it's vegan. if someone else is cooking for me (family, holidays, etc,) or i've gone out to eat, then i'm vegetarian/as-vegan-as-possible-without-making-a-huge-scene.  (meaning i'll avoid obvious dairy and eggs, but if the bread i eat was made with some butter, i'm not throwing a fit.)  

similar to the poster above - vegan for me is my best effort to remove as much animal sourced products from my diet and life.  i feel i fit better within the "plant-based" classification.  

I've been vegan since 1995, after gradually becoming lacto-ovo vegetarian since 1994. 

Before that, in December 1990, I began introducing more whole, fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains and legumes into my diet.  Eliminated soda drinks after Air Force basic training and first assignment in England.  Went too fast, though, when trying to eliminate all sugar.  I realized I was as addicted to it as someone is on crack cocaine.  Have to ensure that I don't get too hungry and make breakfast my biggest meal of the day.

Need to eat a variety of greens and other vegetables, lots of fresh fruits (nothing in a can, but, frozen from time to time), grains, sprouted and cooked, lots of water and coconut water, green food powder supplements. 

For dessert, dates blended with nuts (like cashews), and pressed into bars makes a nice treat.  When I'm pressed for time, Clif, Luna and Lara bars are my staples.  I rarely, if ever, go for desserts like ice cream (unless it's frozen bananas), cakes, cookies and pies that are store bought.  If I want these, I make my own with blended nuts, seeds and fresh and dried fruit.

Wow! Other vegan triathletes! Exciting.

I'm a long-time vegetarian, quasi-vegan (I should probably say quasi vegetarian, too, since I never gave up fish...I don't eat it a lot, but I occasionally like me some sushi!).

Bf and I turned vegan 8 or 9 months ago. He grew up vegetarian. I became vegetarian for ethical reasons, and the same holds true for the vegan stuff...just tired of there not being a solid way you can determine the animals were treated well, even when you go organic...not in this day and age.

I find the hardest is always when I eat out at a non-vegan specific restaurant or hang out with non-vegan friends. When I cook? No problem. But I'm like a previous poster...I don't like to make a big deal about it, so I'll do the "mostly vegan where possible/always vegetarian" thing to avoid being annoying.

Other than that, I don't notice a whole lot of difference in my health. But maybe I'm not paying that close attention. I feel about the same. Just maybe a little more morally superior. (kidding).

Don't know what kind of sushi you normally eat, but lately I discovered most places have rolls without fish. My favorite is a cucumber roll (people make fun of me but whatever!) or jumbo vegetable roll, one place even had a portabella mushroom roll. You still get the experience and most of the tastiness from eating it - just a thought!

my husband makes an AWESOME spicy tempeh roll (kinda like a spicy tuna roll.)    and our favorite sushi place has about 5 different kinds of veggie rolls, too (as well as a kickass seaweed salad.)  love love love!  

I just eat everything else (but I don't love fake meats either).
I have started making a tortilla soup on Christmas Eve though, to substitute the audacity that is oyster stew (gag!) - a weird family tradition. Maybe a soup or stew would be nice? Everyone else could still eat it as an appetizer but you could just eat it as your main meal?

I am very excited this holiday, as my sister and her husband went vegan earlier this year - and they love it. So Christmas will be MUCH easier since I'm not the *only* crazy one anymore  

Yes! Safety in numbers! My bf's parents are vegetarian and his mom recently went vegan. The extended family are meat eaters, so we coordinate dishes to bring with us to Thanksgiving. It's not too bad. I don't mind the fake meats occasionally. We do vegan stuffing, vegan spinach quiche (made with tofu! so good!) and we make either Tofurkey or Gardein dishes for the main course. And no animals are ever harmed in the making of cranberry sauce.

I sort of like the challenge of making vegan dishes for my non-vegan family members. Usually, they're pleasantly surprised (after some moments of trepidation...). I think being vegan is a bit of an adventure. My bf and I even had a cupcake war (with ourselves) trying out different recipes for from-scratch vegan cupcakes. https://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=10150226047589741 Fun!