Veggies

[Bert Le Clos]

Up until now, my diet has been pretty average. 4 years at uni coupled with eating pretty much what I likeafter leaving. Managed to stay in decent shape due to training and playing rugby but had to give up because of a shoulder injury. Still keep in shape, but I'd say I eat red meat at least once or twice a week, drink most weekends and usually smoke a few when I drink.

 

Might not seem a lot different from a lot of people, but 3 of my 4 grandparents have had heart issues; 1 because of lifestyle and 2 hereditary, and both my uncle and dad have been told to go for regular checks, and seriously watch their diet.

 

I'm toying with the idea of going veggie. Not fully, basically veggie during the week but allowing myself the luxury of eating meat at the weekend if I want to or on special occasions. I know I could simply give up drinking or the odd ciggy I have, but I enjoy these things, and having experimented with veggie options in the past I actually don't mind them. I'm not a huge fan of chicken/turkey so it's not as simple as just replacing the beef/lamb in my diet with white meat.

 

Has anyone on here changed to a vegetarian diet fairly late on? Did you notice the benefits? Is cutting out meat likely to affect my ability to train? By that I mean run, play 5s/badminton, and go to the gym which is my biggest worry. Not really wanting to start loading up on supplements but I'm a bit concerned about recovery after the gym without getting as much protein.

[The People's Chimp]

My diet can be totally veggie for a week, then maybe 70/80% veggie other times. I use a lot of lentils, pulses, etc. I've never found if affected me in terms of gym or 5s, just be creative with your recipes and find good replacements for meat - green lentils or puy lentils have a great consistency in bolognese, chilli, lasagne.

 

I suppose it depends on the level you train at, at the gym, but the vast majority of people would get enough protein from a diet rich in pulses and with occasional lean steak at the weekend, for example.