Vegan Keto – Week two

This post is a continuation and conclusion of last weeks Vegan Keto experiment.

Today marks the end of my Vegan Keto experiment. It’s been interesting learning about the diet first hand, because it’s given me a slightly better perspective on it, and what I should increase in my daily diet. I’ve been encouraged to go to the gym more often with a combined increase in calories,  an increased protein and fat intake, leading to a decreased recovery time (at least in my experience.)

I found the second week was a lot harder than the first, mostly because I was never hungry, I stopped being able to stomach large quantities of protein drink, and food stopped being fun. I turned that around by Wednesday with a brilliant “cream” of broccoli soup, but by then, the week was almost over anyway.

While I was tracking my weight since the beginning, the total loss didn’t change between the first week and the second week. Since we paired our vegan keto diets with lots of weight lifting and cardio I must have been eating just enough to cover what my body needed, or (less likely) I gained muscle mass vs. fat.

Most of my days were spent augmenting my intake with protein powder and coconut oil/milk, because it was tough to reach the necessary fat intake. Protein has never been much of a problem, but the fats without sugar were definitely a challenge.

Some resources to help you if you’re considering this are available in my first post on Vegan Keto, I’ve got recipes and some background health information.

Other stuff:
A primarily vegetarian guide to keto in the form of a Google Doc from Unwright – this has some great advice but is not vegan.
Recipe for Parsley Hempseed Pesto from Meat Free Keto

Recipe – Vegan Keto Cream of Broccoli Soup

This was a low(ish) carb soup, with lots of fat and a decent amount of protein. And quite perfect after a seriously fantastic workout.

Simple to make. One pot.

Veggies:
– 1 head of broccoli, chopped
– 1 leek, chopped
– 1/2 white onion, chopped

Other stuff:
3/4 package of Sunrise Fresh Tofu (3 cubes)
3 Tbsp Earth Balance Coconut Spread
1 tbsp Coconut Oil
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp curry spice blend (or a dash of cumin, turmeric, and mustard seed)
salt it in whatever way makes you happy.
Water. At least 1 1/2 cups of good old H2O

Directions:
Chop the veggies. Turn stove top to medium. Throw the onion and leek into the pot with 3 tbsp of whatever non-dairy margarine/oil product you like. Fry them up a little, until they are somewhat translucent. Throw in the chopped broccoli, add some water (your millage may vary – I put about a cup and a half. Thinner soup, more water, thicker soup, less water. Of course.)

Blend the tofu in your blending device. I did two batches because the pieces were two big for my mini-blender. First batch I put two cubes of tofu, and filled the space with water. Second batch I added one cube of tofu, and some of the hot ready to be blended broccoli.

Pour it back into the pot, select more broccoli florets and blend them up (or use an immersion blender) until you reach your desired consistency. I left mine with some pieces for texture.