I went meatless for 20 days and this is what happened… | Day 20 of 20
YOU GUYS!
I officially finished my meatless challenge! I was strictly lacto-ovo vegetarian for 20 days straight! Very proud of myself. Before I get into the details, I wanted to let you know that I released a new series on my YouTube channel called “12 Minutes to Toned”!
These are intense 12 minute workouts that are timed, and also set to the beat of the music. They are fun, intense, and will make you die. I mean, it’s Jan 2020 – of course we’re gonna go hard!!! This week we are focusing on arms! And omg – your triceps, biceps, chest, shoulders, and traps will burn. Like SERIOUSLY.
It’s 6 weeks of brand new 12 minute workouts that will challenge you and change you. C’mon. Let’s go HARD.
Also – totally obsessed with the decor for my new set. I love love love interior design and had so much fun designing this one to feel fresh, semi boho-y, and semi havana-y. Do you LOVE!!???? Cuz I LOVEEEEE.
Now…onto to the findings from my meatless experiment! I went lacto-ovo vegetarian for 20 days straight, meaning I could have anything I wanted except for actual meat. So eggs and dairy were ok. In general, I tried to be as grain free and dairy free as possible. This experiment was inspired by the controversial Netflix movie The Game Changers which tries to prove that plant based athletes are stronger than meat eating athletes.
20-Day Meatless Experiment Goal:
To see if going meatless would increase my fitness performance and my energy levels!
20-Day Meatless Experiment Results:
| Day 0 | Day 20 | |
| Weight | 116.6 lbs | 114.8 lbs |
| Body Fat % | 20.1% | 19.6% |
| Muscle Mass | 35.2% | 35.4% |
| Abdominal Muscle Tone | Some definition. | Light to no definition. |
| Cardio performance | Good | Good – no difference. |
| Strength ability | Good | Good – no difference. Lifted the same weights. |
| Energy Levels | Good | Good – no difference. |
| Mental Clarity | Good | Good – no difference. |
| Quality of Sleep | Deep | Deep – no difference. |
| Skin | Normal | Had a 2 week rash on my face. Still on my face. |
| Digestion | Normal | First week I was bloated and had slow and blocked digestion. The next couple weeks, it became normal. |
Analysis:
Body composition:
I went down in weight and body fat a bit, but nothing too significant. The one thing I noticed the most was that I started feeling softer all over. I began noticing a loss in muscle tone in my abdominal region, which is the most difficult place for me to see any definition.
Fitness performance:
Overall, I did not see a difference in my fitness performance or my energy levels, which was kind of a bummer! But at least it did not decrease. I purposefully did not want to time myself doing a sprint on Day 0 versus Day 20 because I wanted to be extra conscious and attentive of how my body FELT. I did not feel a difference in my cardio performance or in how much weight I could lift. Everything pretty much stayed the same.
Mental clarity:
Mental clarity was on point before and stayed on point after. No changes.
Sleep:
With sleep in general – I just don’t sleep enough. It has everything to do with the amount of work I need to get done daily. I averaged about 5-6 hrs of sleep a night on my 20 day experiment, which is about the same as what I was doing before. I’m tired by the time I get to bed, so I knock out immediately. Quality of sleep? Really good/the same before and during the meatless challenge.
Skin:
Ok, I have no idea if this has anything to do with me being meatless but I developed a terrible red rash on my left upper cheek that has been on my face now for over 2 weeks. Usually weird face stuff goes away after a couple days, but this one is still here. I am not exactly sure what this is caused by and I am surprised that it hasn’t gone away yet.
The only thing I did differently during this time period was I tried using a derma-roller on my face the first week of the challenge. It’s a little rolly device that has mini spikes on it. You’re supposed to roll it on your face and it’s supposed to poke your skin so that your face will want to produce more collagen to repair the pokes. It is indeed a modern day mini torture device for beauty. Ha!
Once I saw the red rash come in, I stopped using the derma-roller. And now it’s been 2 weeks and the rash is still on my face. Not sure what happened, but I hope it heals soon.
Digestion:
The first week or so of the challenge, I was having terrible digestive issues. I was bloated, constipated, and my stomach hurt. I believe it was due to the fake meat I was eating. A lot of times fake meat has wheat gluten in it, and in general, I eat pretty much gluten free. So – that was bad. Once I stopped ordering fake meat from restaurants like Veggie Grill and focused on getting my protein more from eggs, tofu, and the occasional Beyond Burger, things got better and my digestives returned to normal.
Conclusion:
My goal was to see if going meatless would increase my personal fitness performance and my energy levels. My results show that everything stayed pretty much the same.
In The Game Changers, they really tried to paint the picture that vegan athletes are much stronger than non-vegan athletes. They did a wonderful job showing how very specific vegan athletes excelled in their sport. But, what they did not do was look at the bigger picture to give the audience a fair understanding of how the top athletes eat. They never laid out the best athletes in each sport to examine what their diets were. It would have been interesting to see what % of them were vegan vs non vegan and to correlate their diet to their ranking in their sport.
So, what now?
The 20 day meatless experiment allowed me to get super creative with my veggies, and I enjoyed cooking so much on this challenge! I will continue to cook and eat with a much more plant-based focus, but I am not going to continue eating vegetarian for now. It was difficult to be a low carb vegetarian whenever we ate out at restaurants and I would often leave feeling hungry. Almost anything vegan or vegetarian had bread or grains in it, and those things make me bloat intensely. Additionally, my blood test results confirmed that the best diet for my body would be low carbohydrate, and I have found that to be true.
The takeaway?
- Eat more vegetables, fresh fruit, nuts and seeds in general.
- Eat whole foods and avoid processed foods, meaning things that have a ton of added sugar, are fried, or have ingredients that sound chemical.
- Realize that your body is unique. We have different genetics and biochemistry, so what works for me may not work for you, and vice versa. You need to do your own experiment.
- When watching documentaries and reading things on the internet, don’t believe everything you’re being told. Do your own research – ALWAYS. Read articles from both sides and come up with your own truth.
Should you try going meatless?
YES! You should. Sam went meatless with me for 20 days and he survived, so I know you can too! I’m a huge believer in committing to something new, different, or difficult, and learning something you didn’t know about yourself. You may discover something that could change the rest of your life. Or maybe not – but at least you’ll know what your limits are!
Yesterday’s Day 20 Food Log:
Tofu with cauliflower fried rice and a side salad of butter lettuce and cilantro dressing.
A snack of plain greek yogurt. I added in some monk fruit sugar to sweeten it up!
A fun middle of the day drink.
Sweet strawberries for snacks!
OMG it looks like the seaweed is on fire – haha.
Dinner! Went to a restaurant called Gjelina in Venice! It was really good. I ordered a bunch of veggie appetizers and shared with our table. This was the kabocha squash! There was a lot of olive oil, pomegranate seeds, and some green leafy thing on top. Super good.
Roasted beets.
Japanese sweet potato.
Brussels sprouts!
Maitake mushroom! So crispy and good. I also had some roasted cauliflower but forgot to take a pic of that.
I was really craving some ice cream, so Sam took me to Target to get some Oatly. OMG. It was perfect. The original plain flavor is my favorite!
Alright you guys! That is all for today! I hope you enjoyed reading my 20 day meatless challenge posts. I will write to you again soon.
96 thoughts on “I went meatless for 20 days and this is what happened… | Day 20 of 20”
There are 96 comments posted by our users.
Some of those recipes look yummy but I did a 30 day + vegan diet and was sicker than heck! It actually increased my autoimmune symptoms, had me dizzy and nauseated and nearly blacked out several times in public. Switched and felt so much better…..now a few years later my autoimmune symptoms are way way down and I’m able to workout in the gym weightlifting and go on three hour hikes and feel great. I feel like my old self again! I’m would definitely like that beet and Japanese sweet potato recipe though.😁
Nice post
Une bonne recette merci
une bonne recette merci!
Une bonne recette merci!
Nice post thank you
Nice post thank you
Hi Cassey, in Game Changers the athletes are actually vegan and not vegetarian so that’s a huge difference. I have been vegetarian (sometimes pescetarian) for about 6 years now and it was definetly beneficial for my health and my skin. When I tried out veganism I had some problems with my digestion but I guess thats normal in the beginning. Thanks for sharing your results! But please don’t forget there’s a difference between veganism and vegetariansm. 🙂
Thank you for sharing
An excellent article, thanks for sharing
Great article
Un bon article
Hi Casey! I’ve been vegetarian for 10+ years and it was really cool reading about how your body responded to trying the vegetarian diet for a short time. Thanks for blogging about your experience, keep it up girlfriend! Thanks for being an inspiration for us 🙂
That’s great thanks for trying this!
I think there are other factors to consider too. Being a vegetarian lowers your risk of cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and kidney stones to name a few. It also reduces your carbon footprint, saves animal lives (don’t get me started on the conditions they are kept in) and recuses the probability of future pandemics/epidemics (COVID, AIDS, SARS, mad cow, swine flu, bird flu, etc…). It might be better for global health and your long term health.
Nice article! You look shredded 🙂
I’m a long time subscriber but, Casey, really? ‘Survive’??? It ain’t torture to eat meatless. Just from your phrasing and not reading till the end people can notice your negative attitude towards eating meatless, there was absolutely no need for you to write that.
And also I thought people in 2020 already knew the difference between plant-based whole foods, vegan and vegetarian? I guess I was wrong.
Idk if you went into this challenge with a bias towards carnivores but it looks like you did because in the GC they emphasized on whole foods plant-based diet + how do you expect you to have more energy/muscle by cutting out complex carbohydrates and eating refined sugar and dairy? Where have you seen a successful athlete on a low carb diet? Let alone do you think that that many people would commit to going vegan WITHOUT grains, legumes and beans? I’d be sleeping all day. That was the reason for so many YTbers to quit veganism because they ate a raw-vegan diet or low carb which is very unhealthy and obviously gave them problems.
Moreover, the rash has nothing to do with ditching meat because meat has literally no positive effect on our bodies. What even was that assumption? Better look into dairy in your diet instead.
And even tho your focus was mainly on endurance and strength, (leaving out that your experiment was indeed flawed from the beginning stage by choosing vegetarian diet) you could’ve written about how going !vegan! is better for the planet we are living on, but oh well.
I am in no way hating on you but yes, I am being judgemental. Because exactly these types of experiments, which are wrong, give people the excuse and justification to continue killing animals and the planet.
All in all, people, do your own research but the one where you look at the statistics and scientific research papers, not the one like this.
Completely agree with this. You are not going to feel good eating fake meat. People should be replacing meat with chickpeas/ beans/ lentils. The game changers movie highlights a plant based diet. I would be interested in you trying out a plant based diet and compare how you feel. And yes it would be nice to highlight the environmental benefits of a vegetarian/ vegan diet and the health benefits.
Très belle démarche qui demande de la persévérance aussi
Hi Cassie! Some people on here really like to pick apart everything you say, huh? I’ve been following you for around 8 years now and honestly you are my idol. I would love to go vegetarian and lose the meat (I already use milk alternatives and don’t often have eggs), but my partner is a real meat-a-holic. Do you have any tips to help avoid spending twice as long in the kitchen cooking two different meals?
Hey Cassie just wanted you to know I went clean eating for a while and developed a rash on my honey anyways I put vitamin e, castor oil and coconut oil warmed it up and it went away i didn’t have to do it to long like a week made sure i heat it up tho.
Cassie, thank you for sharing your story! However, being vegetarian and vegan are two totally seperate ways of eating. Don’t really think it’s a genuine comparison unless you had gone completely vegan.
I myself am vegetarian, so personally would have liked to see you go completely vegan for a fair comparison to Game Changers.
Thank you for sharing about your meatless challenge! In utmost honesty, I think the athletic performance would have improved more has you gone vegan or completely plant-based instead of just vegetarian. In my personal experience and from what I’ve researched, a lot of athletes have been eliminating or reducing their dairy intake. It helps! Overall, the whole dinner you had looked SO yummy—the Oatly ice cream is also delicious!!
That’s great thanks for trying this!
I think there are other factors to consider too. Being a vegetarian lowers your risk of cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and kidney stones to name a few. It also reduces your carbon footprint, saves animal lives (don’t get me started on the conditions they are kept in) and recuses the probability of future pandemics/epidemics (COVID, AIDS, SARS, mad cow, swine flu, bird flu, etc…). It might be better for global health and your long term health.
Thank you for your honest opinion. I also tried going vegetarian (I say vegetarian but we honestly went vegan with my husband for a month. While doing that, we also did your 28 reset challenge. I’m from a Mediterranean country so it wasn’t really hard for me to find recipes or cook or bake vegan – vegetarian foods. The hardest part was doing it with your 28-day elimination diet! Without dairy and gluten and processed food and sugar. 🙂 Let me tell you this, I’ve never felt more bloated and gassy in my life and I have IBS! I don’t like how going gluten-free or dairy-free trends. I recently read articles on Harvard health blogs and some other scientific researches by some famous MD doctors. They all say that if you don’t have gluten or dairy allergy or intolerance, these 2 food groups are not inflammatory for you. If you’re not sure you have an allergy or intolerance, then you need to go see a doctor! I love eating Mediterranian food, I feel like it’s the healthiest diet 🙂 And your takeaway from this challenge kinda describes it.
A full plant based diet is different from a vegetarian diet. The Game Changers showed the problem with eating dairy and eggs. I was vegetarian before for going vegan and the difference is like night and day. I would challenge you to do it again fully plant based. That said I applaud you for eliminating meat for the time you did.
Have you got some chest exercises that you can do please
Although this has been your vegetarian adventure but i feel equally excited just reading it and am inspired to try if not 20 then atleast 10 days of “Veg Only”.
Cassie. Big red flag for me was that you said during your weightloss journey recently that when you ate more carbs and less protein and fat you saw more weigjt loss even though you admittedly said that your dna tests showed you this would not be the case. On this blog post you say that more carbs led you to feel less well and justifiably so because of your bloodwork that shows you in fact should eat leas carbs. So. As someone who has fallowed you and the fitbess jourbey of blogilates for over 6 years I am of course looking to you for inspiration and clarity. Im really confused. Which is it? Were you able to loose wieght keeping your carbs up ( which by the way i hear from other sources is a significant contribution to muscle gain endurance amd yes fat loss) or are you just ad confused as your viewers?
It sounds like you may be getting confused over the fact that in English, we often use the word “diet” to both describe a reduced-calorie eating plan for weight loss (what she was doing on the 90-day thing) as well as simply meaning “the way someone eats normally” (what she was testing here was not a weight loss “diet” but a change in diet as in eating habits/specifics). She was told that a low-carb diet (as in, long-term, maintenance) would be best for her based on genetics; this doesn’t necessarily mean that it would ALSO be the most effective weight-loss program for her.
She noticed that she lost more weight with more carbs – there are several reasons that could be the case, ranging from the specific types of carbs she was eating to the workouts she was doing to other variables we can’t really know. But she said here that she feels better on low-carb diet (as in, long-term eating habit) because a lot of very common carbs make her physically uncomfortable via gas/digestion. She was testing this veggie diet because she’d read a book about it improving athletic performance in people who committed to it as a long-term lifestyle change – not a weight loss tactic or goal.
I hope that helps.
This feels a bit like a really bad experiment to give yourself an excuse to eat meat and not feel guilty about it. 20 days is entirely too short, and you’d have to go plant based to be doing an experiment against game changers. Those top athletes arent consuming dairy, processed foods, ice cream, sugary cereal, etc. Whole foods plant based is completely different than what you were doing for 20 days. I never troll but what an odd thing to share and “de-bunk” a documentary on such an awful experiment, that a lot of your followers will take as gospel. There are a million other reasons to go plant based, including for our environment and for the animals.
Yes! I agree!
I actually thought your knowledge about food and its nutrients was better… I also thought that you love animals and realize that there is no difference between the emotions of your dog and a cow, pig, or chicken. All animals want to live, no animal wants to be eaten, no animal wants to spend its whole, short life locked up together with too many others of its kind. There are no “happy” chicken or pigs or cows. At least not, when humans use them for food or clothing or something else to exploit them.
Most vegans say: “you value your tastebuds over the life of the animal who suffered and died for your purchases”
I feel like to you something like “you value your appearance and convenience over the life of the animal who suffered and died for your purchases”
And I’m sorry to say that. Why do you want to continue eating dead animals and their products? Everybody can be fit and healthy and lean with a vegan diet. There is absolutely no justification for exploiting animals consciously.
Ask for a dietitian for help – a plant-based diet needs some adjustments in the beginning.
I hope you realize the suffering you cause by buying animal products. Also for the climate and the wild animals dying because of our way of living.
Watch dominion, look up people like Earthling Ed or Gary Yourofsky on YouTube… Please, please see what many others have realized already and help others to realize it too!
If Sir George was a pig, he would’ve been killed a few months ago (as soon as he was fully grown up, late teen)
If Sir George was a female cow, he would be forcibly impregnated every year to give birth to a child which is immediately taken away and ultimately slaughtered way too early because the milk production decreases
If Sir George was a calf, he would’ve been taken away from his mother immediately, sold for almost nothing, be raised in a tiny shed and ultimately slaughtered while still a child
If Sir George was a male chicken, he would’ve lived less than a day before getting killed, treating it like trash
If Sir George was a hen, that hen would be exploited for her eggs, staying together with way too many others, desperate chicken until her body can’t stand it any longer and is ultimately slaughtered…
The list could go on and on, I hope that reaches you or at least some others, who make the link between their consumption and the pain it causes to conscious living beings and the planet.
Imposing your views is never going to make you a good vegan. You are an extremist and jugmental. At the end of the day, you make your own choices and you live by them, and so will the rest of the world.
Teaching good practice sounds nothing like what you wrote, you are actually having a negative impact on the cause you wish to defend.
Be conscious of theiving beings on thid planet, respect them and enlighten them if you will, but don’t bring people down because you cannot ask for respect for animals when you give none to humans.
Apologies for the typos, new phone (1st world problem).
*theiving beings on thid planet: this was obviously meant to read “living beings on this planet”
Hmmm… but your experiment was flawed as well. You went meatless but not vegan, yet you compared yourself to a vegan.. 2nd mistake in your experiment was comparing yourself after only 20 days. I’m positive most of these athletes were vegans for more than 20 days. 3rd, your body had to transition and get used to your new diet for about a week, you can’t count those days, so it’s not even right to count those days. If I would hand in a test report and conclusion like this to my boss…. I’d get fired. Sorry. How about going vegan for at least a year or two and then compare some notes.
Appreciate you sharing your honest experience with plant-based eating! I went vegan for 2 years and really, really wanted it to work for me but I was constantly sick, extremely anemic despite taking all the right supplements, weak, fatigued, and just overall ill for the entire two years. Now I have switched back to eating meat somewhat regularly but am still not into dairy and try to keep meat consumption down to once a day or less.
Good on you for giving plant-based eating a go! We need more people who are willing to try new things and expand their thinking. As some other have said, the positive effects discussed in the Gamechangers are reflective of going fully vegan. I noticed this recently after being vegetarian for over a year and wondering how all these people were feeling so good. Making the full switch to veganism has felt much better and given me much more energy. The digestive issues you mentioned are very common when making the switch to more plant-based eating as the body is often not used to eating that much fiber. If you don’t already, I would also highly recommend taking a liquid B12 supplement- it’s made me feel like a new person! All the best for the rest of your journey
CASSEY!!! This is completely off topic but what happened to the 2020 planner?? It’s gone! Hello I want to buy it!!
I believe the game changer diet is based on a whole food plant based diet, therefore no eggs, diary and no processed foods. I love your posts but not too sure this was a credible review of game changers as it was not totally accurate, but I like how you have added some great take aways at the end and have remained open minded. Keep doing your thing it’s great.
Hey congrats on your meatless journey! About your skin… this has nothing to do with you going meatless. A dearma roller causes lots of mini injuries in your skin (this is bad for your skin in general but especially when you tend to have very sensitiv skin) and if you did it yourself it’s almost impossible to provide a high sterile state. So probably any kind of dirt set deep in those injuries. If you additionally used a facial cream afterwards with irritant ingrediants (for example alcohol or fragrances) it’s like putting salt in a wound. So if you really want to use a derma roller(what I would never recommend) do it at a beauty salon. They have better needle rollers than you could ever buy and it’s way more hygenic. But there are lots of better ways to boost the Collagen production… Eat certain foods(mostly red and orange foods, fish, meat, avacados, eggs) or take in some Collagen powder(the ones that incude all three Collagen types are best). If you want a more radiant and growing skin I can also recommend products with retinol or exfoliants (aha and bha) and of course sunscreen all day every day. Clean and unirritating skin care is a huge topic few people know about as we (I also used to) always believe the promises that are made on the package of skincare products but when you learn how to read the ingrediants it’s shocking what is actually in there.
Sorry for writing this long post (and for my englisch) but I just wanted to draw awareness to this topic as we tend to put anything on our skin without checking while we are always so concernd about eating clean an non processed… If you want to educate yourself a little I can recommend liah yoo on Youtube.
I hope this has helped you! I looove your videos, they help me a lot to stay on track! <3
Hey congrats on your meatless journey! About your skin… this has nothing to with you going meatless. A dearma roller causes lots of mini injuries in your skin (this is bad for your skin in general but especially when you tend to have very sensitiv skin) and if you did it yourself it’s almost impossible to provide a high sterile state. So probably any kind of dirt set deep in those injuries. If you additionally used a facial cream afterwards with irritant ingrediants (for example alcohol or fragrances) it’s like putting salt in a wound. So if you really want to use a derma roller(what I would never recommend) do it at a beauty salon. They have better needle rollers than you could ever buy and it’s way more hygenic. But there are lots of better ways to boost the Collagen production… Eat certain foods(mostly red and orange foods, fish, meat, avacados, eggs) or take in some Collagen powder(the ones that incude all three Collagen types are best). If you want a more radiant and growing skin I can also recommend products with retinol or exfoliants (aha and bha) and of course sunscreen all day every day. Clean and unirritating skin care is a huge topic few people know about as we (I also used to) always believe the promises that are made on the package of skincare products but when you learn how to read the ingrediants it’s shocking what is actually in there.
Sorry for writing this long post (and for my englisch) but I just wanted to draw awareness to this topic as we tend to put anything on our skin without checking while we are always so concernd about eating clean an non processed… I hope this helped you! I looove your videos, they help me a lot to stay on track! <3
I didn’t really get the impression that the Game Changer was promoting vegan diet in the sense that any- and everyone will get stronger by going plant based (which as Lucie mentioned in her comment, maybe would have shown more drastic results for you – maybe?)
But rather that top-level athletes who switched from a probably very well balanced meat including diet, went to plant based and in time, also probably more than 20 days, showed improvement in their performance.
The big takeaway for me was the tests they did on the firemen and the sports guys, showing the pretty drastic decrease in cholesterol levels and (for the gentlemen) sexual health/drive. I’ve started eating more lacto-ovo vegetarian and sometimes vegan since seeing the documentary, and the greatest difference I notice is feeling full after my meals without feeling fatigue, and in general have started to notice I am less and less liking the actual taste of meat.
Feels great! Anything to be more environmentally sustainable 🙂
What blood test did you take to figure out what kind of diet works for you? I’m super curious! Thanks
I would suggest also taking a look at the documentary called fathead! 🙂 and I wonder what you will do for your next challenge? May I suggest a sleep challenge?! It really sounds like you could be functioning more optimally there!
Hi Casey, thank you for sharing your experience! It is amazing you were able to do this for 20 days! I was really fascinated by the Game Changers documentary as well. One of the biggest takeaways for me was the positive impact of a vegan diet on the environment. Reducing meat intake not only improves individual health but also the health of our planet. I think it would have been great to discuss this in your post as well! I also think instead of posting subjective changes in fitness, it would be more useful to post changes in biomarkers such as cholesterol level HDL/LDL, blood pressure levels, etc. as these would show a more objective sign of how the diet affected your health. I highly recommend a podcast called Nutrition Rounds hosted by an amazing cardiologist about vegan diet health benefits. I think we could all make a huge impact for the sustainability of our planet by eating more whole food and plant based!
Loved hearing about your meatless ‘challenge’ and your stats. I eat vegetarian most of the time and think I’m healthier overall. AND Gjelina’s is SO good!!! Love it.
I have read when going meatless you be to drink MORE water because you are getting more fiber. Secondly, I believe the rash would be your skin detoxing from the meat, it will clear on its own with more water. 💕
I think it’s important to point out environmental benefits of reducing meat consumption also! If you did not experience any negatives that’s great! Game changers pretends as if the scientific consensus is vegan for performance – not true. But if there’s no degradation then by all means cut back for the resources saved! Speaking as an omnivore trying to limit meat consumption 🙂
The Game Changers specifically focuses on a vegan diet, not vegetarian. I think you would have seen way better results (and no rashes) if you had gone totally plant based and dropped the dairy. Please let us know if you follow the actual vegan diet from The Game Changers, it would make for a great post!
Yes!!!!Exactly!!!!
well done on cutting out dead animal flesh from your diet for 20 days.
seriously!
maybe you’ll continue to go meatless here & there, once a week?
someone else mentioned it and i’d like to agree and add that speaking a bit more about compassionate living, factory farming and animal torture may be helpful for some of your followers.
one more thing:
please let’s all stop saying fake meat, just call it what it is tofu triangles or tempeh salad.
before anyone protests too much…read ingredients and see which items have more unpronounceable names.
soy beans, tofu, tempeh and wheat used to make other plant based foods are real food.
thanks for listening to these thoughts i had while reading your post.
Cassey,
Great blog post! You’re informative and inspiring. But, please get more sleep. The lack of sleep will catch up with you at some point. It’s not if, it’s when. When it does then you will have to deal with whatever comes with it. It could be long term and that would not be good for you.
There is no amount of work on earth that should come between you and rest. 🙂 you deserve to treat yourself better!
All the best to you!
I know…I need to sleep more!!! Will try harder.
Take away all animal products, sugar and most processed foods and your skin will be glowing 🙂 veganism/plant based whole food/vegetarian are all different. Props to you for trying it!
Hi Cassey! I’m a pescetarian from Finland. I also use lakto-ovo vegetarian meal plan. Basically I eat fish, dairy and eggs. No meat. I’ve been like this for 5 years now. First I let go of red meat and then slowly also chicken and turkey. But I’m a little bit flexible on the “white meat” when I’m traveling a lot. Trying to let go of dsiry next. Slow steps on that one. But dairy doesn’t go well for me anyway.
I just wanted to say I get what it’s like to be bloated when you try to leave the meat out of your diet. I’ve noticed I’m very sensitive when it comes to some good replacements. Soy doesn’t work for me. For a while I was eating too much soy per week and my stomack went crazy. I felt I couldn’t hold anything inside me and that went on for a month before I noticed why it was happening! After I stopped using so much soy, everything went back to normal.
Also when I noticed my atopic skin started to get worse, I didn’t understand why. Then my nails also started breaking more and more. And the answer was I wasn’t eating enough seeds and nuts. Something was missing. I added them to my diet and the problem has been gone sense.
So yes, it’s very hard to find the right ood to eat so you can be a vegetarian/vegan and also not to have these different symptoms out of lack of something. Or out of too much of something.
As yiu said, everyone needs to find their own balance and the right things to eat as a replacement. But I stand behind of vegetarism. It has made me so much healthier. Dairy makes me bloated and it beaks my skin. Also grain does that to me. But with the meatness, I just don’t even miss it. It was kind of clean break for me all thise years ago, when I was still in high school. I searched for info and decided to go meatless. And I never looked back or missed it. The principle what I did this for was far greater than the taste of meat and my decicion was final. I didn’t question it.
It was great that you did this challenge! If you ever want to try different vegetarian diets, it would be interesting to follow! Pescetarian, vegan, without red meat… They can all be so different also.
This was an interesting experiment, thanks for sharing! However, if “Game Changers” was your inspiration then I believe for this to be accurate you would have had to eat plant-based (no animal products). I do agree with you that the documentary should have given the viewers more information on non-vegan athletes compared to vegan athletes, but the key point was the effects of a plant-based diet on an athlete’s performance. ***If you ever want to try going fully plant-based for a month then I will 100% join the experiment!!***
Cassie, testing all of those things while still eating cheese and eggs (dairy) was a useless test. Going vegetarian is in no way the same as going vegan. You must have missed the entire point of the documentary. No I know that you went vegan for a bit and it didn’t work but don’t half assed test something and then complain about a lack of result. Love ya…
But no.
I also think you missed the point. She mentioned that the documentary only focused on a few select athletes and their fitness level. The documentary did not compare all athletes in that sport and their diets. The Game Changers documentary was biased and eithee did not collect enough data or just didn’t show it. She was only saying dont take things you read and watch and face value. You have to be smart. For the some people veganism is the best choice. However not everyone is the same. When Cassey discovered is that this diet doesn’t work best for her. She wasnt complaining. She was only analyzing her experience.
There is a difference in Whole Foods plant based, vegan, and vegetarian. She did low carb vegetarian which defeats the purpose. The athletes in game Changers eat a Whole Foods plant based diet and focused their meals on legumes, lentils, grains, complex carbohydrates in the form of sweet potatoes, fruit, oats, etc. food that comes from the earth. Vegan is a lifestyle and uses no animal products what so ever., cruelty free… vegetarian still consumes dairy and eggs. Her experience is invalid. 20 days is not nearly enough to see changes.
I see what you’re saying, but she did not do the diet discussed in the Game Changers. She did a totally different one than what was discussed in the actual documentary. That can be really misleading for readers who might be interested in being vegan. In reality, Cassey just didn’t do the correct diet.
Hey Cassy, nice that you tried that. I just want to remind everyone that most vegetarians or vegans do it only to lose weight but there is the important point that no animal has to be killed for you food an that it is also much better for the environment! I think you could have mentioned an thought about this points also.
I wanted to write *do it NOT only
Except it is not necessarily better for the environment. I wish vegans and vegetarians would stopsaying that.
The carbon emissions from all off the ‘exotic’ and imported foods far exceeds the gasses produced by say, a cow.
Unless you are growing your own or buy explicitly local seasonal produce then no, it’s not better for the environment.
Also, just to put it out there, it’s actually not that healthy of a lifestyle. I’ve been vegetarian since I was a child and I wouldn’t insist anybody follow it just to be ‘healthy’. My two daughters are growing up meat eaters, but their diet is balanced and it is the best thing for them to grow the healthiest
It is true that there are vegan foods that are also not environmentally friendly such as imported foods from the other side of the world, almonds, avocados, heavily packaged foods, etc. However none of these foods are exclusive to vegans. The impact of cows etc is far beyond ‘them farting’ which people like to laugh at and not take seriously. The amount of land cleared for animals to be farmed, the amount of crops grown just to feed animals, antibiotic use, waste leaking into rivers, enormous water usage… Scientists all agree that animal agriculture is incredibly destructive. It’s not just personal opinion or animal lovers who think that. The average diet includes meat, dairy, packaged foods, imported goods, unethical foods like palm oil etc… Because most people don’t think or care. Vegans are at the very least cutting out one category of destructive products. Many are also conscious of other issues as well, it’s not exclusive to caring about one thing.
Except it is not necessarily better for the environment. I wish vegans and vegetarians would stopsaying that.
The carbon emissions from all off the ‘exotic’ and imported foods far exceeds the gasses produced by say, a cow.
Unless you are growing your own or buy explicitly local seasonal produce then no, it’s not better for the environment.
This coming from a vegetarian since childhood
Thank you for your honesty about your meatless 20 days. We are billions of people with different genetics, even if we are an omnivore species. It’s important to find our own best diet. gluten intolerance, celiac disease, as well as other allergies should be put into the account, as they may eliminate whole food groups like beans, lentils and soy; vegan sources of protein.
Good for you Cassey for trying plant based! I wish everyone would at least give it a go! That being said…Every single human on this Earth can survive and thrive on a plant-based diet (no animal products). There are thousands of studies that prove we do NOT need animal products to be healthy. There are also many other reasons to not eat animals and their secretions: such as the BILLIONS of sentient beings that are brutally slaughtered every year. If you believe animal abuse is wrong you are already vegan in your heart. It is the meat, dairy, and egg industries that have duped us into believing we need to consume their products, because they want our money. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHOcox2lvQo
You are actually incorrect in the assumption that ALL humans can live entirely plant based. That’s a fallacy that is incredibly Ableist and outside of reality.
I and many other people have found significant health problems occuring when moving to a completely plant based diet, including needing hospitalisation and permanent damage. Veganism isn’t a perfect solution for all humans, and it’s both Ableist and Racist (it is divorced from the cultural values attached to people that are based on their diet) to assume that.
Survival and thriving are two different things, don’t mix those up. Alas, there are also places where plant alternatives are reduced in availability, therefore it is impossible; or simply one’s own digestive system says no to a completely vegan lifestyle. Food industry always wants your money, whether they be vegan or omnivorous, so there is another thing to think about.
It’s vegan food that’s unreasonably expensive. Soy is super cheap, tofu easy to produce… yet it often costs as much as good quality meat. Think who really wants our money.
I love that you tried this – I have been vegetarian for almost 30 years and an ultrarunner. I never try to convert others to this way of eating, it is a very personal choice. I do wish when others try it and speak about it, though, they would not say they ‘survived’ it – really? Such torture? It’s one food group – I simply don’t understand that sentiment – but after almost 30 years of having fun with EVERY other food group, it really doesn’t seem that limiting. Not a slam, just my opinion. I have recently developed one soapbox issue on the topic though – I feel it’s important for everyone to understand the strain the meat industry puts on the environment in general. I won’t go on and on here – there is plenty of information out there and, as you said, do your research on both sides. Enjoy HEALTHY food – the number goal for all of us to live a long, happy, active life! Keep encouraging everyone to try new things – ALWAYS!! 🙂
Going vegetarian for 20 days is not the same as what they’re talking about in Game Changer. You were still eating diary and eggs which the athletes do not eat in the documentary. Completely different diets.
She also did low carb which and hardly ate any complex carbohydrates which our bodies need to give us energy.
Agreed! Low carb is not healthy!
100% true ☝️ Completely different.
If the only issue was health, then I don’t think cutting out meat would even make sense. It makes much more sense to cut out dairy which is something that humans really should not be consuming. It’s a bovine growth fluid, designed to fatten up baby cows – it is not designed for humans to consume. It’s also loaded with hormones, which is why it really exacerbates hormonal issues like acne. Then cut out the antibiotic-loaded, genetically modified meats such as chicken, and I’d also be pretty wary of fish unless you’re sure it’s from clean waters as basically they are full of plastic and mercury these days. But I don’t see how she expected magical health benefits from 20 days just cutting out meat!?
It is proven in nature that the strongest animals are plant based- elephants, rhinos, gorillas.. all plant based. Its proven over and over that a plant based diet does provide all the protein a human needs to perform and out perform others. There is no benefit at all to eat animals to get “protein” vegetables have more protein than animal products and the only way the animal is getting the protein in their body is by eating the plants they graze on (if people are eating grass fed/organic meats and not hormonally injected) 20 days is not enough time to fully give an accurate analysis. The documentary, like many others are all vegan based and not vegetarian. Also if you watch other documentaries besides game changers which was focused on athletes and their performance; other documentaries discuss the health risks associated with a meat diet.. which should be everyones primary focus when trying a plant based diet- health, not performance, the performance will come once the health is there. I haven’t eaten meat in 22 years and I am gluten free. I am a strong, healthy, athletic woman and I encourage everyone to eat what feels right but do it with the right mindset and it will be a successful outcome.
Hey, I think it’s awesome that you’ve cut out meat for a few days. More people should try it as well 🙂
I agree that 20 days isn’t much to see some results. It takes a bit longer for the body to adjust to a new diet. It’s perfectly normal that your skin reacted that way 🙂 Basically, your body is detoxing itself. Increasing veggie, fruit & water intake, and reducing processed food & sugar usually helps with healing your skin faster.
Still, it’s really awesome you gave it a try 😀
See ya soon
I’m not strictly vegan or vegetarian, but I have been gradually adding more whole-food plant based meals into my cooking repertoire, and the more delicious meatless meals I learn, the less I want to waste money on meat (unless it’s locally raised and amazing and a treat!)
This week I prepped skillet gnocchi with chard and red beans (and cheese… So good, but so optional) and Armenian lentil soup crammed full of multi colored veggies. I keep Morningstar veggie burgers around for 15 minute meals. My absolute favorite vegan recipe source is Sweet Potato Soul. Sometimes I use non-vegan subs (for example, butter instead of Earth Balance) to save money because I am flexible.
The less grocery store meat and processed food I eat, the better I feel. Those are my personal guidelines, and I think it’s more important to establish your own than to strictly follow a given set of rules. But I know I’m lucky because I enjoy cooking!
No offence but your little experiment doesn’t count. You didn’t go vegan/plant based. You went vegetarian. It’s not the same thing. Plus you only tried it for 20 days.
I hope your face clears up soon! Maybe it was the gluten?
Ooooh, oatly is from my home country Sweden! I didn’t realise they exported to the other side of the pond! 🙂
I realise that veganism doesn’t suit you, but I feel like you can’t really measure how your body changes until it changes more permanently. A regular vegan diet would make your body undergo changes to adapt and use the nutrient intake more effectively. My takeaway from your experiment however is that you can exclude meat and not “do worse” in your endeavors. Many people think the body can’t survive without meat which obviously isn’t true.
About that rash though…. maybe go see a dermatologist? Since it stayed for so long and especially since it stayed longer than other previous rashes.
Personally I don’t think ain could survive a meatless diet but I’m actually going to try a gluten free one in February.
But it’s awesome that you were able to complete your challenge Cassey! Great job!
Thanks for sharing your results! I’m currently in the final days of #veganuary at the moment so I know how you feel! As for the rash, I found something similar when I had a meat-free spell last year. It cleared up once I started getting adequate amounts of B vitamins again. Fortified plants milks/yoghurts/breads or maybe some temporary supplements may help in future!
I am personally going vegetarian NOT for fitness goals, but for the ENVIRONMENT. Yes it is harder to come up with recipes, but it is for a good cause. We should all put a bit of effort, if it is not by a meatless diet, ask yourself how you are helping our planet. Recycling IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH. Here are some options:
* Ditch tampons + pads and switch to menstrual cups or period proof underwear. (I use thinx and they have changed my life)
* DO NOT BUY so much stuff, re-use, re-purpose… with each purchase ask yourself, DO I NEED THIS… (I for example re-purpose old clothes into cleaning cloths, or change a pair of old jeans into a long denim maxi skirt.)
* STOP using plastic bags for groceries and switch to fabric bags.
*Avoid buying ANYTHING with plastic packaging – and if you purchase something online and it comes with UNNECESSARY plastic packaging, COMPLAIN to your supplier or retailer.. as a customer YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
Anyways it was very interesting to see your results Cassey. I have noticed SO MUCH GOOD CHANGE in my body by going vegetarian. Skin is better (but because I stopped drinking cow milk and switch to almond milk). Lost weight ( 5kilos in 2 months) AND I go to the bathroom regularly hehehe (if ya know whatta I mean) thanks to my increase in consuming fibre-rich veggies.
I do sometimes miss bacon hahaha…. and at first only ditched red meats and consumed fish or poultry ONLY when I went to restaurants. Now this 2020 want to go full vegetarian… Why not vegan? ´cause I have not found a replacement for cheese ( nutritional yeast doesn´t do it for me). Anyway thanks for the POST ^-^ xoxo
I’ve been following this story very hesitantly and I’m glad that Cassie has been so upfront in saying that everyone’s results will vary and that she didn’t find herself doing better on a meatless diet, was open about having problems, and that she is returning to eating meat in the future. It helps people like me who become incredibly ill without meat in their diet (and trust me, I tried, I was nearly hospitalised. Another friend of mine wasn’t so lucky and has permanent damage as a result of the body shutdown she experienced on a vegan diet that was undiagnosed and untreated for over 6 months) to not feel as demonised by the meatless/vegan moral surperiority complex crowd.
Veganism has some great points, but just like every type of diet is also has foibles that mean it really can’t work for everyone. It’s nice seeing someone advocating for trying it but listening to your body and doing what’s right for your needs, not sticking to a dogma at the suffering of your own wellbeing
Interesting results! Ooh the food at Gjelina looks so yummy!
Looking forward (and also scared for my arms!) to trying the new series! I wish you could decorate my apartment Cassey! 😉 Xx
Also if you actually read the articles used in the documentary “game changers” you’ll notice that they only picked out the parts that were profitable for their cause. A lot of the studies the documentary was based on did in fact write about and conclude both positive and negative sides of eating a meatless diet. So it’s important to remember, that even though it is based on science and scientific studies, they only wrote about what suited their agenda.
Actually, Netflix is not the best resource for watch that kind of reaserch, in fact, they used studies that werent the most exact, talking in biochemistry therms. And I’m sure you are right about they using only the parts they were interested in.
I’m glad you did the experiment, but at the same time 20 days is not necessarily long enough for the body to adapt to for instance the extra fiber (hence bloating) I spent months after going vegan before everything were “back to normal” because I naturally had way more fiber than before! Also -the reason I went vegan was 90% because of the animals. It’s like: if you feel no difference AND save animals in the process, of course that is a positive outcome in total.
Humans can thrive when eating plant based diet, but animals can’t thrive (or even live) when we don’t. That’s a lot of people’s motivation, and that’s something that’s ignored by most people who test out veganism (or in your case vegetarianism). It makes me sad <3
You should actually eat a Whole Foods plant based diet instead of what you did than eat “meatless”. Cut out all animal products. Plant based athletes focused on whole foods plant based and got majority of their protein from legumes, lentils, tofu and not mock meats. They are good as a treat but not healthy than foods that come from the earth. January is supposed to be veganuary and not just giving up meat. Animal products causes inflammation and has CHOLESTEROL. Something meat eaters seem to ignore When trying to prove something against plant based. It’s about overall health and not just appearance.
I don’t think you saw the benefits because you continued a low carb diet along with the vegetarian one. That’s probably why the weight loss was the most prominent difference and not energy.
Thank you for this comment. I forgot to add about her eating low carb. We need complex carbohydrates in the form of sweet potatoes, fruit, oats, etc. not the simple carbs like refined products to fuel our bodies. She did it this entirely wrong and 20 days was too short. I felt like it was more an easy way out. Eve
Complex carbohydrates are found in bread, pasta, rice, cereals, some fresh vegetables and pulses. Fibre, contained in fruits, vegetables or whole grains, which are part of carbohydrates, has no impact on blood sugar levels.
Nice post