Short holiday break was perfect opportunity to try the Vegan diet properly. Three clean meals with lot’s of veg seemed appealing. I have dedicated few hours to gather some really tasty recipes and make my shopping list. During the search I have realized that there are different types of Vegan diets and after talking to my daughter we have decided to give High Carb Low Fat diet /HCLF/ a go. We liked the recipes and the fact that carbs are allowed and can be eaten at every meal. People promoting this style of eating looked great – energetic, healthy and optimistic. That was a great promise for us because that is what we are after. We have done a week of HCLF cooking and here is my short report.
I have enjoyed the meals but missed the fat. I am sorry to say this but I just always thought something was missing. I just like my stir-fries or baked veg with olive oil. In terms of energy I have expected a surge of vitality – but it did not come. I felt the same as before and had to turn to my cup of coffee to get through the afternoon. And the third negative would be that I have put on weight – little bit over 1 kg. I don’t know how it happened. I was meant to be eating very healthy food cooked with no oil…When I look back I think I probably eat to much. I think I watched too many videos showing huge portions and beautiful slim girls saying eat as much as you want. I did not think to myself that may be I should eat my normal portions and maybe the girls can burn the calories lot easier because they are younger and more fit. Also during that week I did feel that I filled up more and that my trousers are tighter. When I started to feel like that I have automatically down sized the portions. After that week I looked franticly for people who had the same experience because until then I thought that everyone on HCLF is guaranteed to weight. I did find some people saying that they put on weight, too.. Some of them noted that they have been under weight before they started the HCLF diet so when they started it they have put on weight. But that was not my case.
Now about the positives. I was happy to learn some new recipes that I can add to my repertoire. It was wonderful to see how many people are there turning to vegan lifestyle, wanting to make a difference and the world to be less cruel. All in all a good experience which I will repeat again /but I will be more mindful about the portions next time/.
An extra note – I have checked with my daughter and she has also put on weight 2 kg. This is quite interesting because we are different age and she has faster metabolism. I think we really overindulged in the carbs. We love big portions and the recommendation “eat as much as you want” did more damage than good. So please be mindful of this. Take in mind your age, your activity level, your metabolism etc.
I have used recipes mainly from Hi Carb Hannah and Cooking with plants. Only after I finished the week I have discovered a YouTube channel The Vegan Corner which seems to be very popular and has have lot’s of hi carb recipes. So I recon it is worth to try – maybe next time 🙂
Update: I have found a good video explaining HCLF and weight gain on Hi Carb Hannah channel.
Update 2019: Did not work for me. Both daughter and I we put on weight – so we never went back to this eating style.
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