Going Vegan as a Professional Triathlete

[@christoph_wattever]

A video update of this would be very interesting :)

[@jamesromero3282]

After watch game changers went from 260 pound couch potato to 200 pound marathoner/ 70.3ironman since 2020. Thanks Barkleys I'm an even bigger fan now

[@scottreutter]

Love this! I’ve been vegan 6 years now and have noticed a huge benefit in my recovery between workouts

[@dostuffiguess]

Jumping in at the deep end and going plant based right away would be difficult for anyone, but it's a learning curve. I've been vegan ten years this year (and I'm still alive!) and it really doesn't take long to reach a point where it's second nature!

[@goldenretriever6261]

Regarding the hangovers; I am primarily plant based and cant drink at all. One beer takes me two days to recover from, but I never thought about it having do with my diet.

[@KiwiBigfoot]

Awesome to hear!! My guess is you will love it and not look back. I’m 5.5years vegan and did an Ironman last year too. I reckon you both will get even stronger!

[@paveltomicek2855]

A big and wise step, in my opinion. Now it is time to watch another documentary and that would be about the background of the company and products of Red Bull.

[@dr.tommymartin]

I respect the two of you so much! Your drive, passion, and work ethic are second to none! But with that being said.... The documentary game changers was far from scientific.... tho it is good that it helped you to try new diet regimens and experience I hope you will further your research! Some people I would believe are very good in their field and in covering research are: Layne Norton, Martin Macdonald. There is also a debate on the movie that you can find on KZbin that was also very good on the Rogan show! Anyway love following your journey and look forward to hearing more about this journey! God bless you my friends and maybe one day we will do the same triathlon event!!! I am definitely a novice as I have only done two... my first Ironman Texas and my second triathlon was a half Ironman Waco Texas! I have loved the transition to endurance sports! God bless and much love!

[@pulsefitness6044]

Tommy Martin, Reece here. Yep I’ve listened to that one on the Rogan show. Certainly some strong arguments for and against and agree that the game changes doc was far fetched. That’s why I decided to experiment for myself. Thanks for the kind words, hopefully see you on a triathlon start line in the not so distant future!

[@dr.tommymartin]

Pulse Fitness sounds like a plan! My apologies for the poor grammar in that last post! Voice over in the airport.... the struggle! If you are ever in the Midwest area and need someone to train with let me know!

[@lizperkins4097]

Hey Reece and Lucy. I'm a raving fan of your channel (well done on the recovery process Lucy!) and I've just found this video while researching plant base diets for triathletes. Reece in more recent videos you have gone back to animal products. Any reason? Also I have tummy troubles. Did your time on plant base have any noticeable effect on your gut health? Super appreciate all your content team!

[@TriathlonDan]

Awesome! I'm 2 years in to eating a plant based diet and I've gone from strength to strength fitness wise, can't knock it :)

[@joziahisaias1696]

I realize I'm kinda off topic but do anybody know of a good place to watch new series online ?

[@michaelkennedy9031]

Just a quick explanation about B12 which is in the soil is killed off due to the way we process food, the bacteria is killed off which is why its no longer in our fruit and veg. The animals we eat are given the supplements hence the reason they are in the meat and dairy.

[@shaynedimmer1680]

😂

[@Red_River_Vinyl]

Did you get a chance to watch the “Game Changers Debunked” rebuttal on KZbin? I’m doing a vegan experiment myself, but looking at both sides of the argument only seemed fair. Their biggest points were how the information was misrepresented or skewed.

[@dbsherwood]

After you watch the Chris Kresser rebuttal, watch the JRE episode with James Wilks (Game Changers producer and protagonist) and Chris Kresser. Kresser was sloppy with his initial rebuttal.

[@pulsefitness6044]

Matthew Smith yes I also watch that. I was always a skeptic even after watching game changes. That’s what drove me to try this diet out for myself.

[@clairecolbert7344]

For every game changers rebuttal, there’s a rebuttal to the rebuttal lol... I think it’s best to try, then judge!

[@desmondyap5391]

Here we go again. Lol

[@w.nas.9806]

According to the usda only 2 diets.... plant based diet and Mediterranean diet (limited meats, fish, etc) both have extraordinary benefits...one problem with meat is digestibility...tough thick fried pieces are no good for ur tummy compared to slowly boiled or slow cooked meats which digestibility easier..assuming fiber intake is the same or more, boiled meat, chicken soup, etc..my question is about plants not providing the benefits of boiled cartilage and others bone nutrients...and not does it affect performance but rather does it accelerate recovery

[@imterribee]

This was great! I would love to see Lucy try out this experiment. I know I got a lot stronger and faster as athlete after switching to a plant based diet but it’s just anecdotal evidence coming from me. If Reece was able to show that he got stronger just in one month, then maybe this might be the difference between first and second place at Kona next year for Lucy?? 🤔 I train with a lot of people who are so slow at making progress in their training and need a lot of time to recover after tough workouts and I always bounce right back. They just think I’m lucky and don’t believe me when I say i wasn’t like this when I was eating meat and dairy. It would be great to have an elite athlete such as Lucy show the effects of a plant based diet on performance. Apparently the athletes in the Gamechangers aren’t elite enough? 🙄 BTW... my husband and I noticed a “big” difference in his sweet spot after he switched to a plant based diet. 🙊

[@samuelmedina-conchi8757]

Whats a sweet spot?

[@rickyricardo9918]

Coffee - people are addicted to their drug-in-a-mug & will have an anxiety attack at the suggestion of reduction. The good news is after doing a caffeine reset a 75/25% blend of decaf / caffeinated coffee is pretty satisfying.

[@joerg.schneider]

Two years in… are you still on a plant-based diet and if so how would you describe your learnings?

[@solrac3666]

Is Reece going to continue the diet?

[@pulsefitness6044]

Carlos Dorsman I am continuing currently but have reintroduced eggs into my diet.

[@solrac3666]

@@pulsefitness6044 Cool! I did same experiment 1 year ago after watching Netflix What the Health docufilm. I also eat a steak once a while ( 1s or twice a month). Good luck and thanks a lot for doing & sharing this.

[@PrincessWarriorNatalie]

As a vegan age-grouper triathlete (bariatric patient too!), I also do sugar free. How will you be handling fueling on course this upcoming season with so many non vegan fuels offerings on course?

[@pulsefitness6044]

Natalie Williams I carry my own nutrition on the course. One of the perks of racing Pro is we have our own aid stations.

[@darrenleslie981]

Have you tried jack fruit? It's amazing as an alternative to meats or processed vegan foods.

[@Monte14281]

Thanks for sharing! We just recently just went plant based following hip surgery. Doc said he has never seen anyone recover this fast 🥳 What was the name of the food you said you put on top for more B12?

[@JAHinHK]

Haven't watched yet, but most folks use nutritional yeast for their B12. It takes some getting used to.

[@danielruehle2175]

I think he said he was using marmite

[@tom_sorrell]

Hi, interesting video. Reece, would you be happy to share the numerical changes in your cholesterol profile? E.g. improved total cholesterol/HDL ratio.

[@super-cubeleadershipskills3813]

Love this too! Thanks so much for doing this, awesome :-)

[@lizwelu2144]

There’s plenty of vegan junk food and alternatives if you get some cravings. I think the hardest part for most people is changing their habits. It helps to remind yourself why you’re doing it. You get used to it pretty quick :)

[@rickyricardo9918]

Reece is doing it right, viewers of _the game changers_ might think they can simply take meat & dairy off their plate & be a vegan athlete. Most likely an athlete will need to add a few scoops of plant based protein powder (with all the essential amino acids) + a B12 supplement to their diet - then you should be good to go. To his credit, James Wilkes says as much in his post movie interviews.

[@XX-is7ps]

You said that you were going to do the vegan testing before/after scientifically, but then the actual testing was next to useless for testing relevant markers for a performance athlete. The drop in cholesterol is expected and well documented as a general health marker but as a professional athlete I'm really surprised that you didn't test for common deficiencies that vegans see, such as Iron, calcium and some B vitamins. Most vegans have to supplement these when not eating meat, dairy etc, but you seemingly didn't test for these or address this at all.Perhaps you could address this?

[@travismcgarry]

Worked well for Frodo and Lange, hope you do it smarter than Lionel Sanders did... good on you

[@vladovladiswlado]

Sleep tracker? Check oura ring, pretty happy with it.

[@zacwilliston6208]

I vegetarian by choice, vegan by force. And the eggs and milk were definitely the hardest out of no soy, oats, barley, egg "shell", dairy.

[@johnnyb1897]

Pushed 250w for the whole video. 🇨🇦✌️🇨🇦

[@andyolsen4517]

They probably push that for 6 hours haha 😂. Na that’s still great power nice 👍🏻

[@michaelkennedy9031]

The dairy industry is just as bad as the meat industry and could be considered worse. I recommend to continue to research and see if these industries are ones you want to support as animal lovers. Maybe even speak to guys like Joe Gambles or even Rich Roll for their insights as endurance athletes.

[@jesuscruz836]

Thanks so much for sharing

[@lazarsankovic5767]

yeah heard a lot of good but also bad things about Game Changers... Am of an opinion that u should eat like 80% of vegan style but throw some meat / fish / eggs / dairy here and there. I believe that is enough cause there are really so much data and info out there and everyone has there own perspective. Just eat everything but in smart portions that's the best + honestly I could never give up half of food just like that :D Love everything too much for that.Anyway keep up the good work happy holidays and all the best in 2020

[@Steven-ko6ky]

I think the key here is that the average athlete could probably cut back on meat, but still eat it sparingly. A diet should be well-balanced. You don't want to over nor under do anything. Sometimes strictly going vegan can be over doing it. Just depends, I suppose.

[@mrbeancounter90]

I love you two!

[@Miss33S]

thanks for sharing!

[@stijndeklerk]

Reece, keep a close eye on your bone density, i.e. have a periodic DXA scan done. Calcium often gets a bad rap, so a lot of vegan menu's lack it in sufficient amounts (also as an athlete you need more of it). I attribute having been diagnosed with osteoporosis at a young age to eating Raw/Vegan for a long time. I'm now back on moderate amount of dairy for a number of years and I have improved, which I was told was never going to happen.

[@pulsefitness6044]

stijndeklerk thanks, I’ll keep a close eye on this.

[@Justin_253]

Going Vegan this year! Better performance, and better for the planet!

[@alex31721able]

Reece goes caffeine free. Big difference to Lucy the redbull sponsored athlete.

[@LaMartiLoca]

Reece Is a pro?

[@fernandowilkiam8403]

My dream life !!! Have a beautiful girl friend and traning hard triathlon... Live and Just enjoy!!!

[@seannifermike1964]

Hey guys, congrats on the dog! You guys need to read John Joseph's book, meat is for p@$$ies. He is fellow Ironman and lead singer of the Cro-mags.

[@larsproductions8071]

Hi I've watched it too. Really eye-opening movie. I went vegan for a bit too but then I was told that the movie was literally vegan propaganda. I'm not saying that vegan is bad. I really liked to eat vegan. But when they talk about the pro athletes that went vegan, they had a small improvement in the beginning but after a bit their fitness dropt massively. The strongman put down his weight during the walk. But they cut it out so it would look like he had done it. Also the sprint. She was the worst in the sprint and got slower by time. Their is a lot of fake news in it. Excuse my english it's not the best😅 I wish all the best for you in 2020🎉

[@rickyricardo9918]

Vegan + fish is a good fall-back if 100% vegan becomes too much like a crucifix.

[@UnwarrierChicken]

Reece's sweetspot is stil the same XD

[@michaelkennedy9031]

Great work team

[@Oldmaite]

Old mate chasing gains in the girth

[@sweatnosweat]

cant love animals and eat them too

[@marcmezy5254]

Yes we can

[@christoph_wattever]

Hangovers favor unhealthy foods in my experience😅

[@peacetalktopurple]

Lucy should test out carnivore and let us know how that shakes out!

[@ccamire]

Love you guys. First watch Zach Bitter videos for athletes Second. No diet will make a big change in 1 mth Third. Dont forget that protein bioavailability from plants is lower and studies shows that proteins should closer to 1.3gr/kg, usually vegans are lower in average Fourth dont just be influence by one movie, do some more research like Fifth. Yes people loose weight on eating less but maybe loosing mass Sixth. Meat is not detrimental to the environment. The USDA shows that meat is responsible for

[@stijndeklerk]

Hi Claude, as this is a subject close to my heart and as you are trying to make some genuine points, I want to give you a constructive reply. However, the one thing you didn’t comment on is the ethical question of, if given a choice, why would anybody want to keep supporting the meat industry? The cruelty is quite literally insane.. Just because it’s the norm or a tradition doesn’t make it right. Please give this some concideration & I applaud Reece for doing this too. Ad1. Intresting, thanks. Ad2. I’m not sure what qualifies as a diet in your opinion. Any dietary change can have an effect in time, ranging from more or less immediate to a lifetime in to the future. Ad3. Bioavailability from protein isolates is the same if derived from plant of animal sources. However wholefood plant based sources hardly ever have a complete protein profile, except for foodstuffs like: Amaranth and Quinoa, Tofu. With modern conveniences, these are not hard to come by. Ad4. Good point. Ad5. I don’t think caloric restriction was mentioned, but your point is a risk for anyone who starts tweaking their diet. Ad6. Meat production is very much detrimental to the environment unfortunately. Globally, vast amounts of forest (the best natural way of storing carbon) have been lost, to make way for livestock & the production of feedstock. Besides this, livestock produces large quantities of methane, which is very potent greenhouse gas. It also uses a large amount of resources like fresh water and feedstock in a very inefficient way. Ad7, This actually works the opposite. Toxicity accumulates the higher up in the foodchain you go. Animal feedstock (plants) contains these herbicides as well (often more, as legal limits are higher), along with a whole host of other stuff that gets given to the animals like steroids & antibiotics etc.. Ad8. Which studies? Ad9. I don’t understand your point here. Ad10. Always good to check. Same goes for any foodstuff. Ad11. I’m not aware Dr. Plews specifies food sources. A lower carb higher fat approach can be just as effective with plant based foodstuffs.

[@jase2990]

Had it improved enough to warrant living like a Monk 🤔🤣

[@desmondyap5391]

you guys watched game changers? wait till you see videos debunking those what you call facts on the so called documentary. lol

[@manooms78]

First?!