Looking Tired

tufterween

Hi all,

Was wondering if anyone could shed some light on the situation. I went vegan last Saturday having been vegetarian for some time before that. I'm quite aware of diet and nutritional needs (I think!) and have been looking after myself - haven't been using meat substitutes so far, rather making well rounded meals without using Quorn or the like.

I feel good and not lacking in energy but today I came into work and one of the girls said "If you don't mind me saying, you look quite tired". I went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror and she's right, I have bags and look a bit sunken under my eyes. I haven't felt weak or tired but I'm wondering could this appearance have something to do with my change in diet.

As an idea of what I'm eating, yesterday I had
Breakfast: Porridge oats, rice milk, raisins, almond flakes, shredded coconut, cinnamon and vanilla.
Lunch: Whole wheat spaghetti with soya sauce, onions, garlic, sesame seeds. Followed with a banana
Dinner: Brown rice stew with sundried tomatoes, kidney beans, red peppers, onions, garlic.
Snack: Banana, peanut butter, raisins and shredded coconut.
Drinks: Water, ginger tea and coconut water.

Am I missing something basic here?

Anyway, any help would be great! Thanks in advance

loveisdivine

I'm not sure if this would have any effect on your appearance but the only thing that jumps out as missing for me is some leafy greens/more veg. A bit of onion and pepper wouldnt cut it for me, I need plenty of veg.

But other than that to me it looks good. Quite carb-y I suppose but they're whole wheat which is good.

tufterween

Hi Loveisdivine,

Thanks for the reply! Yeah, I agree with you about the veg, will definitely have to get more of that in there. When it comes to carbs, I was never a big carbohydrate eater. I'm just not sure how to put meals together now without eggs, dairy or carbs so if you have any suggestions there that would be great!

Thanks!

loveisdivine

Yeah the carbs one is a toughie, we struggle with it to be honest but we have started to make some changes. We've started using Swede (Rutabaga) a lot more now as it can be used in much the same was as potatoes, its lovely done as wedges chips or roasts and its got way less carbs. Potatoes have something like 17grams of carbs per 100g of food and rutabaga is only 9g.

We love our pasta and rice too but we've just tried to make sure we only use whole grain and then to make the pasta/rice the smaller part of the meal and bulk it out with veg or tofu as thats extremely low in carbs.

Then again tonight I'm doing a (white rice) risotto! But I'll do a smaller portion than I used too and I'll have a salad with it or something.

Could it be stress making you look a little more tired than usual?

tufterween

Rutabaga sounds interesting, will definitely take a look into that. Where abouts would you get it? If you have any other carbohydrate substitutes or alternatives like that I'm all ears because I've never been one to eat a lot of starchy foods. When I do though it's always wholegrain.

Am gonna try my first tofu recipe tomorrow so am looking forward to that

To be honest, I'm about as unstressed as I've ever been these days so I really don't think it could be that!

ch750536

Ignore negative people. Plenty want you to fail, I found that myself. I have never had so much energy.

Think about how you feel. Learn about the foods and the way the body consumes them.

Todays Post

Gererally its not what you consume each day but each week that counts. Having 3 bananas today will still effect your body in 4 days time.

tufterween

ch750536 wrote: »

Ignore negative people. Plenty want you to fail, I found that myself. I have never had so much energy.

Think about how you feel. Learn about the foods and the way the body consumes them.

Todays Post

Gererally its not what you consume each day but each week that counts. Having 3 bananas today will still effect your body in 4 days time.

Thanks for the link

She doesn't know that I've gone vegan so it's nothing like that I don't think, was just an observation.

ch750536

tufterween wrote: »

Thanks for the link

She doesn't know that I've gone vegan so it's nothing like that I don't think, was just an observation.

My wife has takes thyroxin, she was tired because soya blocks it from working, maybe something similar?

Breezer

ch750536 wrote: »

My wife has takes thyroxin, she was tired because soya blocks it from working, maybe something similar?

Can I ask where you got that information? (Genuine question). Not something I'm aware of and I can't find anything concrete in medical literature.

OP, do you feel tired, or did you just look tired on a particular day? And is the tiredness an ongoing problem or something that has only happened for a couple of days? There are many causes for tiredness. Some but not all are diet related. If it's a problem for you I would suggest a conversation with your GP rather than asking on an internet forum. Well intentioned as people might be, it's impossible to conduct an assessment over the internet. A record of what you eat over a period of time (say a week) might be a useful thing to bring with you, as well as a record of your sleeping pattern over the same period.

tufterween

Hiya Breezer, no I don't feel particularly tired, the bags under my eyes have been getting progressively worse though. I might take your advice and pop down to the GP. Just thought I'd check here first in case there was something basic I was missing.

Also, a bit off topic but just bringing up a point from earlier - does anybody have any carbohydrate "substitutes". I've never been one to eat very much pasta/rice/flour but I find I'm relying on them more since going vegan. Loveisdivine had a good suggestion for using Swede. Was just wondering if anybody else has had this problem and if they might have any suggestions

Breezer

tufterween wrote: »

Hiya Breezer, no I don't feel particularly tired, the bags under my eyes have been getting progressively worse though. I might take your advice and pop down to the GP. Just thought I'd check here first in case there was something basic I was missing.

Also, a bit off topic but just bringing up a point from earlier - does anybody have any carbohydrate "substitutes". I've never been one to eat very much pasta/rice/flour but I find I'm relying on them more since going vegan. Loveisdivine had a good suggestion for using Swede. Was just wondering if anybody else has had this problem and if they might have any suggestions

Have you tried quinoa? It's still a carb, but lower carb than an equivalent volume of 'regular' carbs, and higher protein.

NickyL

When I went vegan from being a long term vegetarian, I looked terrible for the first few weeks. But I used to eat a lot of dairy and drank loads of tea with milk, so I had lots of withdrawal symptoms including bad skin, terrible headaches, and had trouble sleeping. This all passed after a few weeks.
Apart from how you are looking, how are you feeling? If you're headachy etc, that could be making you look tired.

loveisdivine

Last night we had Freekeh with our chilli and it was lovely. We will definitely be having it again.

Heres a description of it,

In short, freekeh is wheat, nothing else. That's it. Well, there's a bit more. Freekeh is young green wheat that has been toasted and cracked. It's a healthy whole grain food, much like bulgur wheat and other whole grains.

blatantrereg

Are you counsuming enough vitamin B12? It is pretty much a requirement to supplement with it in one way or another if you are vegan. A low level of it can cause fatigue.

It's a good idea to consume vitamin C with vegetable sources of iron, as it improves the absorption. It would be coincidental if lack of iron was the cause though, since you've been vegetarian for some time, so you would have already been relying on vegetable sources of iron.

You might be not getting enough of certain amino acids. The protein in cereals doesn't have all the amino acids you need. The protein in nuts has a different profile, but the combination of the two is not sufficient. Beans, pulses, quinoa, Quorn, soy all have good levels of the amino acids that aren't in high levels in cereals and nuts. The kidney beans you list in your stew might not be enough. From the point of view of protein intake, it would be best if the meal had the same amount of beans as rice in it (which it presumably didn't because that amount of kidney beans in a stew would be gross ).

ch750536

Breezer wrote: »

Can I ask where you got that information? (Genuine question). Not something I'm aware of and I can't find anything concrete in medical literature.

One less medical link
Agreed with 'concrete in medical literature', I can only go from what I see. Mrs Ch has been much better since she has followed the guidance on that page & started taking kelp supplements.

Medical journals are on the fence, some tests for, some against. All were animal based tests though...

Best advice, if you feel fine, change nothing. If you don't, change something.

tufterween

Hiya everyone, thanks for the replies.

NickyL, I really am feeling fine, no headaches or aches and pains, or lethargy or anything. Ordered some vegan friendly make up last week so at least I can cover them up until I figure out what's going on.

Blatantrerag, yes, I take a B12 supplement every second day. Am also making sure to eat iron with vitamin C to make sure it is absorbed.