How it Started
With plant-based foods popping up everywhere, I became pretty interested in this way of eating. However, I kept thinking, “I don’t want to be a vegetarian or vegan.” Then, a few months ago, a long-time friend sent me a video discussing the medical benefits of a plant-based diet. I forwarded the video to two other friends, and we got together to examine the facts about plant-based eating. If you want to know more about plant-based eating, what it is, what foods to eat, the benefits and side effects, read “Is Plant-based Eating Worth the Hype?” To cut a long story short, after looking at the evidence, my friends and I decided to go vegan for a month.
Mind you, none of us were vegans or vegetarians. In fact, none of us was ready for a lifelong commitment to plant-based eating, but we figured a month was doable. Knowing that we were going to be accountable to one another helped us commit fully to the one-month experiment. Was it easy? Absolutely not! But, in the end, it was very well worth it!
Our goal was to eat as plant-based as possible. We allowed one day of seafood once a week, so technically, we were more pescatarian than vegan.
Now, let me introduce you to the team
Meet the team
In the beginning, there were no roles assigned. We were just four friends getting healthier together. However, this is how I believe things worked out in the end!
1) Wumi Iyaoromi (“The Professor”) – Family Physician; Family Life and Weight Management Coach, Canada
Wumi supplied us with endless research articles and explained the science behind every piece of information. She is also our media expert who helped us put together our videos.
2) Aderonke Kola-Jebutu (“The Analyst”) – Dentist, Botswana
Ronke analyzed all articles critically, and she was always very candid in her opinions. She is also our boxing champion, and her weight loss journey has been phenomenal.
3) Yewande Dada (“The Entertainer”) – Real Estate Mogul, Nigeria
Yewande’s sense of humor is unbeatable. She provided us with comic relief anytime the going got tough. Every team needs a comedian like her to keep things fun.
4) My humble self, Abimbola Odukoya (“The Coach”) – Pediatrician and Health Coach, U.S
My role ended up being providing materials and meal plans, documenting the program, motivating others in my usual laid-back manner, and possibly being a pain in the neck sometimes as I pushed for more.
Next, let me share the challenges we faced as we went vegan for a month.
Challenges to our Plant-based eating
1) Knowing what to eat
Knowing what to eat was our biggest challenge. What could we eat that would be palatable to our Nigerian taste buds? How would we ensure that our meals provided us with balanced nutrition? Bearing these in mind, we came up with our own meal plan. At the end of this blog post, I will share a sample of our daily meal plan.
2) Finding what to eat
Finding plant-based foods may be challenging at times. We often visited farmers’ markets and natural food stores to obtain our farm produce and ingredients. Accessibility was a lot more challenging in Nigeria. For example, after failing to find Tofu in so many stores in Lagos, we ended up ordering Tofu on Instagram!
3) Getting family members on board
Though our husbands and children supported us, they were not very interested in participating. Some tried our dishes while others gracefully declined. One spouse blatantly refused to eat Tofu in any shape, size, or form! Yes, it was difficult cooking different meals for the family while we stuck to plant-based meals. We had to fight the temptation to taste beef or chicken while cooking for our families. If you plan to eat plant-based, your best bet would be for the whole family to be committed to eating this way!
4) Eating familiar foods
Adapting our foods to our local culture was important to us. Yes, there are tons of plant-based recipes online, but very few are Nigerian dishes. To make the diet easier to follow, we tried to incorporate foods we were already used to eating. However, we introduced some relatively new foods too.
5) Avoiding boredom
We wanted to eliminate the chance of boredom with our food choices. Knowing that it is easier to stick with a diet if you have varied options, we created a meal plan with different meals for at least two weeks. This meal plan helped us avoid boredom from eating the same foods every day. Although, we still ended up eating some meals more frequently than others, for example, brown rice and oatmeal.
6) A more expensive way of eating
There is no doubt that plant-based eating is more expensive than eating a mixed diet. Fresh vegetables and fruits, nuts, and meat alternatives are quite pricey. However, our staple starches, like rice, beans, and potatoes, are more affordable. Unfortunately, they also pack in more calories.
7) Frequent grocery shopping
We found ourselves buying groceries more often. On average, we did grocery shopping at least twice a week, especially to get fresh produce.
8) More time and effort planning meals
Since we were intentional about what we ate, we had to plan our meals ahead. We could not just get off work and eat whatever was available at home. It also meant more time for food-prepping and cooking. So, yes, before you get used to plant-based eating, you will spend more time in the kitchen. Over time, as your knowledge of plant-based eating increases, less effort may be required.
9) Finding plant-based protein
Since majority of the protein we consume come from animal sources, consuming an adequate amount of protein was a big challenge. However, we knew that an appropriately planned plant-based diet is nutritionally adequate and can provide us with all the protein we need. Therefore, we did some more digging and came up with a list of plant-based foods and supplements with high protein content and made sure to include these in our daily meals. Some examples of protein-rich plant-based foods we included are Tofu, beans, soy milk, quinoa, and oats.
How we motivated one another
I am pleasantly surprised that my friends and I were willing to commit to a month of plan-based eating. It just shows the power of community and that, together, we are stronger. But of course, we needed motivation, so we started a WhatsApp group for this project. We did a few things on the forum to motivate one another.
1) We shared new recipes.
2) We shared pictures of our meals.
3) We shared our daily experiences and challenges.
4) We provided support so none of us would give up.
5) We shared our workout videos to encourage us to stay physically active.
6) We shared research articles and new evidence.
7) We held one another accountable daily.
8) We shared preliminary results as they became visible.
9) Of course, we shared real-life events such as stories from work and stories about our spouses and kids.
10) Finally, we had an award night where we gave awards, such as best workout video, most beautiful meal posted, the highest number of meal pictures posted, etc. We had planned to do this initially, and knowing that there is a prize attached helped us stay committed!
Our Results
Like everyone else, my friends and I are very result-oriented. We wanted measurable results to determine if we would be lifelong plan-based eaters.
1) Weight loss – On average, weight loss ranged from 1 to 5 pounds (about 0.5 to 2.5 Kg).
2) Loss of inches, especially around the waistline – an average of 1 to 2 inches.
3) Improved mood.
4) Increased energy levels.
5) Lower blood pressures.
6) Less stomach discomfort and gaseousness.
7) More regular bowel movements.
8) Increased motivation to exercise.
9) Fewer body aches.
10) Better sleep.
Downsides we experienced
1. One of us with a history of dyspepsia (pain or an uncomfortable feeling in the upper middle part of the stomach area) experienced increased symptoms from eating acidic fruits such as oranges and apples.
2. It was pretty challenging to adapt our Nigerian meals to become plant-based. It is doable, but there is a good chance of consuming too many calories from our starchy foods. If and when we do this again, we will need to adapt our meals further to include more vegetables and proteins, and less starch.
Final thoughts
Where are we now?
I admit, we loaded up on meats, chicken, eggs, etc., as soon as our 1-month experiment was over, and they tasted good! However, since then, we have slowed down on animal-derived foods and now eat more plant-based foods. Did we manage to turn anyone vegan or vegetarian? I am afraid not! At least, not yet. But knowing all the health benefits of plant-based eating, we have committed to come back together at least twice a year for a month of plant-based eating. To me, that seems like a good compromise. What do you think? Please feel free to share your thoughts and comments in the comment section below.
Yours in Health and Fitness,
Doctor Abi
Sample daily meals
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