New vegan advice.

[Jodie91]

Hello, everyone. 4 days ago I made the decision to eat a vegan diet, I just felt very hypocritical and for weeks before, everytime I ate meat or anything like cheese and eggs I just felt disgusted and since I have been eating a vegan diet I haven't once wanted to eat any animal products.
The past 2 days though, I have been feeling sickly and lethargic in the evening at around 5oclock both days. Is this normal during the first few days or am I doing something wrong. I'm eating lots of fruit and vegetables in my salads at lunch. I've been eating beans, rice and things like that. I am currently overweight, I've been losing weight through exercise for a few months but still am overweight at the moment. Maybe this is why? Is my body just freaking out because of the sudden change and just needs time to adjust? I wondered if most new vegans go through that but when i read other peoples stories, they wrote of feeling brilliant the first weeks, which is why i thought I would ask here.

Thanks in advance for any responses
X

 

[winter.frost]

Hello Jodie 91,

Welcome to veganism!

What you describe is totally normal. It's called the Herxheimer Reaction. Your body is going through toxic lymph drainage - all the rubbish you've been carrying in your cells from the animal products (like excess mercury from fish, etc.) is finally getting a chance to purge and it almost always makes everyone feel like rubbish who goes through it. How long it lasts depends on the individual situation, i.e. how healthy you are. An overweight person can, in many ways, be healthier than someone who is not overweight - it all depends on the food they have eaten and other factors such as cardiac function (but that has a little less to do with the lymphs). So yes, in a way, your body is 'just freaking out' but it's a good freak out - it's more like a really good detox after years of going at it hard.

It's really, really, really important that you stay very well hydrated. Keeping well hydrated speeds up this drainage process and helps the cells to function more efficiently.

http://biovedawellness.com/2010/02/the-herxheimer-reaction-feeling-worse-before-feeling-better/
http://evelynparham.com/detox-symptoms-are-normal/

Hope this helps. Keep it up

 

[Jodie91]

Thanks so much for your reply. It's nice to hear it is something relatively normal.
I'm glad I found a forum online too, i don't know any vegans so it will be great to get tips and advice on here