My Vega Experiment

I have been following Brendan Brazier on and off for a couple of years, even before my own transition to plant-based eating.  He is a Canadian-born professional Ironman triathlete who follows a plant-based diet and has developed a line of products that are whole foods/plant based.

I decided to give his Vega Whole Food Optimizer a try in an effort to couple my needs for a variety of different supplements and a plant-based frame of reference into one product.  Also, I am addicted to caffeine again and would really like to rid myself of this habit.

Some other symptoms I have been eager to get rid of:

1.  Restless legs
2.  Bouts of insomnia
3.  Feelings of being tired even after a good night's sleep, lack of energy for running
4.  3:00 PM crash followed with coffee for a pick-me-up
5.  Bloating
6.  Decreased metabolism and inability to drop the weight around my mid-section
7.  Symptoms to remain unnamed as they pertain to my being a girl...

In addition to beginning the Thrive in 30 plan, I have minimized my intake of wheat to determine if I have an issue with gluten, which I suspect I do. 

After doing research on the product and speaking at length with the distributor, I bit the bullet so to speak and made the purchase.  It is definitely an expensive product, but if it delivers what I expect it to deliver, it will be worth the cost.

Yesterday was our first day to try it.  We are using the Vanilla Chai flavor and combined with with Vanilla Almond Milk, blueberries, and a banana.  It was quite tasty!  We only used about 1/2 of the recommended portion of the powder because I've read that it could cause stomach upset during the initial days of using the product. 

I felt full until about 3:00 PM which worked out nicely since yesterday was a hectic day with Volleyball class for Lem and we had to pick up Bean from the airport.  We stopped at Subway and I had a Veggie Patty sub.  It was enough to hold me over to dinner at about 8:00.  I also managed to have the energy to fit in 6.9 miles at 6:45 in 85 degree temperatures.

My first day looked pretty good, but being quite a skeptical sort, I am wondering if it is a coincidence that 7 of my 6 symptoms were non-existent yesterday.


Then I woke up this morning, at a fairly early hour for me.  Here is the kicker...I felt rested.  Ready for the day.  I haven't felt like this in a very long time.  No matter how much sleep I get, I can't ever seem to feel like I've rested well.  I was, quite frankly, very shocked. 


I got up and made myself another smoothie this morning and I only had the urge for about half a cup of coffee.  Mostly for flavor as I feel energetic and ready to take on this week of fun family time! 


I am hopeful, yet reserved in making a complete judgment until I've used the product for at least 2 weeks.  For now, I am going to enjoy this burst of energy and lack of physical complaints.