Went vegan and gave up weight lifting for 8 months - PR after PR

It happened because you lost weight, and possibly you were lifting in a counterproductive way. Any diet that has you lose 8 lbs of unnecessary tissue will improve your times. You could have done this on paleo as well. What lifting were you doing.

I was on program that stressed heavy Olympic lifts. I've been lifting since I was 15, so I knew what I was doing

And you quit why?

8-month vegan wrote:

I was on program that stressed heavy Olympic lifts. I've been lifting since I was 15, so I knew what I was doing

Reality Bath wrote:

And you quit why?

8-month vegan wrote:

I was on program that stressed heavy Olympic lifts. I've been lifting since I was 15, so I knew what I was doing

I wasn't making progress with my times.

You changed two variables at once. Makes it hard to discern what had an effect, huh?

8-month vegan wrote:

8 months ago I decided to start eating a vegan diet with high fats and carbs and gave up weight training. It resulted in me going from 168lbs. to 160lbs., body fat went from 12% to 10%. My 5K time went from 17:45 to 17:12. I'm 35 years old and that is the fast I have run in 10 years.

My question is why did this happen? And is it sustainable or am I on a road to injury?

I'm guessing you kept your running routine exactly the same as well

If you lose 8 pounds and train for 8 months you should get the improvement you saw, perhaps more.

Your 5K PR should have dropped closer to 16:55 based on some calculations.

From my math, based on your change in fat %, it seems like half the weight you lost is muscle. Maybe add some of those leg weights back in to counteract the muscle atrophy/loss you seem to have incurred. Just a guess.

redux wrote:

Your 5K PR should have dropped closer to 16:55 based on some calculations.

From my math, based on your change in fat %, it seems like half the weight you lost is muscle. Maybe add some of those leg weights back in to counteract the muscle atrophy/loss you seem to have incurred. Just a guess.

My previous pr of 17:45 was acquired when I weighed around the same weight as I am now. I was just saying I lost 8 lbs in 8 months

I can back this up. I went on a diet of bacon, burger and pizza for 8 months, ran less and lifted more. My weight went up 15 lbs and now I'm slower than ever. I think you're onto something

If it were me, stopping the weights let your body adapt that strength to running.

I do a block of heavy weights, low intensity running, then a block of light weight room work and high running intensity.

Very scientific. Works for me.

Vegan=PED wrote:

I can back this up. I went on a diet of bacon, burger and pizza for 8 months, ran less and lifted more. My weight went up 15 lbs and now I'm slower than ever. I think you're onto something

I've been on that program for 3 years now. I also drink coke several times a week. I keep getting slower too. Surely there is some scientist somewhere that we should inform of this discovery.

Ah. Wasn't clear to me in the original post. The math still works.

My question is why did this happen? And is it sustainable or am I on a road to injury?

Your running can be sustainable IF you supplement certain minerals, vitamins, and essential oils.

Your weight loss is typical from a vegan diet. Vegans have the lowest BMI; fruitarians lower still.

This is due to the "food" you consume possessing a higher caloric density, soluble fibre, insoluble fibre, higher water-content, and require more energy for digestion.

NB: Celery requires more energy than it provides.

Vegan diets have less fat, "sugar", and PH profile, this translates into better performance. If you are a male or female you will need to make "gender-specific" considerations as you build your meal-plan.