Veganuary 3, 2023 - What to expect when you’re making dietary changes.

Written By Gina Overshiner

Veganuary 3, 2023


Hi Friends! 

As we move into the first full week of 2023 I hope your new year is going well.  I know a lot of folks make dietary changes this time of the year, so I thought I’d share some of my experiences when I started my journey into plant-based eating. I hope you find this helpful - or at least entertaining.  

I started exploring plant based eating in 2014.  I’d been reading and hearing about the benefits of cutting animal products out of your diet and I was curious but skeptical.  I grew up thinking what you ate didn’t really matter.  What was important was staying active.  Exercise mattered, what you ate didn't matter as long as you didn’t eat too much.  I was a processed-fast-food child of the seventies. Could cutting dairy from my diet really improve my skin?  Would dropping meat really improve my chances of living longer?  Would cutting out animal products really give me more energy?  

I was skeptical but willing to give it a try - what the hell I had to eat, why not try eating something different?  As I started my experiment of one, I was afraid that I might break a hip or die of a protein deficiency.  I figured if I broke any bones or lost all my muscles, I could just go back to my old diet and heal myself.  I kept feeding my family the same old meals because I didn’t want to risk their health until I was sure it was safe.  It’s so embarrassing to admit that now! 

I honestly don’t remember exactly what all changes I made at that time.  I know I didn’t do it cold turkey and I moved through many different iterations of plant-based eating over the next few years.  Things like - if I’m cooking at home, it’ll be fully plant-based.  Or if someone else is paying for it I’ll eat whatever, but if I’m paying it’ll be plant-based.  Even with these less than perfect versions of plant-based eating, I started noticing some physical changes and none of them involved breaking bones or losing muscle mass.

One of the biggest things I noticed was that I could really feel my digestion. I didn’t have any pain or discomfort, it was just like I could feel my stomach working on the healthier, fiber-rich foods I was tossing in there.  My hunger cues changed too and I found this really interesting.  

When I was eating lots of fast and processed foods, I’d get major hunger pangs within a few hours and I’d really need to eat again.  When I upped the whole plant foods - more raw veggies, beans, grains, fruit, etc -  didn’t get hunger pangs any more.  I rarely felt hungry, but I’d get light-headed which became my cue to eat.  I’m thinking this is because whole plant foods contain more fiber and take longer for your body to digest so I’d feel full, but these foods aren’t very calorie dense, so I’d get light headed. At least that’s how I explained it to myself.  Another thing that really surprised me was how much better I felt overall.  I didn’t get as many headaches.  I didn’t have mood swings or feel irritable, overall I just felt more even keeled.   I didn’t realize how crummy and draggy I felt most of the time, until I didn’t feel that way anymore.  

The last big surprise was how my taste buds changed.  I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn’t experienced it, but my tastes literally changed.  It was like when I stopped bombarding my taste buds with fatty, salty, sugary processed foods, they had a chance to reset. I could taste more subtle flavors and many things that tasted really good previously tasted overwhelming, artificial and kind of gross.

Even though I made these changes gradually and imperfectly - and didn’t just jump in eating nothing but organic kale and broccoli sprouts - I noticed these changes relatively quickly.  If you’re making dietary adjustments, I hope this helps you be ready for differences you might notice as you change your eating habits - especially if you’re changing from eating a lot of processed foods to eating unprocessed whole foods.  Everyone is different and your experience will be different from mine but I hope you find this information helpful.   

NOTE - If you’re on medications or have a medical condition, you should talk to your physician when making dietary modifications.  

Resources - 

Article - This is a good overview of what you might expect when changing to a plant-based/vegan diet 

Books  -

  • Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition (2013) by T Colin Campbell PhD

  • How Not to Die (2015) by Dr. Michael Gregor

  • The Proof is in the Plants: How Science Shows a Plant Based Diet Could Save Your Life and the Planet (2021) by Simon Hill 

  • Vegan for Life: Everything You Need to Know to Be Healthy and Fit on a Plant-Based Diet (2011)  Jack Norris & Ginny Messina

  • The China Study: Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-Term Health  (2006) T Colin Campbell PhD and Thomas M Campbell II

Documentaries

Podcasts - 

Gina Overshiner
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Veganuary 2, 2023 - Vegan v. Plant-Based