What I Ate Wednesday: Debunking the Vegan Protein Myth

Helloooo there lovelies! While I’m in Croatia, I have the wonderful Hannah of Clean Eating Veggie Girl here to share with you her plant-powered day of protein packed eats! I couldn’t stand the thought of you leaving you What-I-Ate-Wednesday-less, so I figured I should enlist another herbivore to showcase her fabulous eats while I stuff my face with every type of pizza, crepe and gelato known to mankind. Hannah always has the best eats, including loads of fruits and vegetables plus some incredibly unique veggie fare. More often than not, she ends her day with popcorn…so obviously we’re besties. Enjoy, and miss you all!

Hi hummus lovers! …Or at least I am assuming you love hummus as much as Alexis and I do since you are here! My name is Hannah and I blog over at Clean Eating Veggie Girl, a healthy living blog that chronicles how I cook, dine, and live life in my mostly plant-based world. Alexis and I are definitely on the same page when it comes to loving delicious foods like almond butter, kale, dark chocolate, avocado, and hummus (of course)!

I know that Alexis follows a mostly vegetarian diet, I am a vegetarian, and maybe you are too! Or maybe you are not, but are curious about vegetarian and vegan diets and whether or not these diets contain enough of the vitamins and nutrients that our bodies need. Once people find out that I am a vegetarian, they are often very interested in learning more about what types of food I eat and whether or not my diet is “healthy.” I have fun showing others that vegetarians and vegans truly eat delicious food and that we are not missing out one bit! I must admit that sometimes it can be annoying to consistently get the questions, “but where do you get your protein?” and “how do you eat enough protein?” However, I have a really great time proving to those who may be a bit skeptical that vegetarians and vegans eat plenty (and often times a great deal more) protein in our day-to-day eats!

While protein needs can certainly vary based on gender, weight, and activity level (among other things), on average I tend to find that my recommended daily protein intake amount is around 46 grams of protein. I do not keep track of my protein intake, but when I randomly add up a days worth of protein, I always exceed the recommended amount. If you are curious about protein intake on a plant-based diet or are just curious about what in the heck I eat, let’s take a look!

What I Ate Wednesday: Debunking the Vegan Protein Myth

I always start my morning out with a green smoothie. In the mix for this smoothie was a cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, one frozen banana, three to four large handfuls of spinach, and two tablespoons of vanilla Vega One protein powder. And yes, I am still drinking my smoothies out of a glass with snowflakes on it. I swear I am not crazy. I just have the hardest time finding cups large enough to hold my massive smoothie concoctions. So until I find the perfect one, this will have to do!

– 13 grams of protein

My “second breakfast” was a bowl of cereal with unsweetened vanilla almond milk. I never eat a bowl of cereal with just one kind and normally eat three to four varieties. This specific bowl contained Kashi Go Lean Original, Kashi Heart to Heart Warm Cinnamon Oat, Arrowhead Mills Puffed Kamut, Whole Foods 365 Peanut Butter Balls, and Mother’s Best Honey Nut Toasty O’s. Now that the hot Summertime weather is here, I cannot get enough cereal!

– 18 grams of protein

Another thing that I cannot get enough of right now is salads. I got in a salad rut and hardly ate them in the Winter and Spring months, but now that there are so many fresh vegetables in season, I am excited about salads again! This particular lunchtime salad contained organic field greens, tomatoes, onions, carrots, sauerkraut, Hilary’s Eat Well ranch chia dressing, and (my favorite) roasted chickpeas! If you have not added roasted chickpeas to your salads yet, you need to ASAP!

– 12 grams of protein

My afternoons always involve a snack (sometimes two). On this particular day I went with a serving of almonds.

– 6 grams of protein

I may be a vegetarian, but even I still crave burgers during the Summertime! I prepped six spicy lentil burgers (which also contained veggies, oats, bread crumbs, flax, sunflower seeds, and spices) on Sunday and had them ready for the week. This veggie burger was served on a lettuce “bun” with tomatoes, onions, relish, ketchup, and mustard. I balanced out the savoriness with a sweet apple. This dinner majorly hit the spot.

– 11 grams of protein

I am a carrot lover. No seriously, a major carrot lover. I rarely go a day without eating them. And of course I could not write this post without including some hummus (Sabra’s roasted red pepper to be exact!).

– 2 grams of protein

This final picture is of one of my favorite bedtime snacks. Many people often look at this strangely… until they try it! If you have not topped a baked sweet potato with nut butter then you have been missing out! I generally top mine with Justin’s maple or vanilla almond butter. The combination is heaven in my mouth.

– 5 grams of protein

If you were following along then you know that my total protein intake on this particular day was 67 grams. Therefore, I consumed approximately 21 additional grams of protein than what I “needed.” I would say that this is about average for me, but on some days I even consume closer to 75 or 80 grams of protein. And for those who may not be interested in protein powders (Vega is the only one that I will use!), even without it, I still would have been about 11 grams over my daily recommended value.

Protein needs can and will certainly vary from person to person, but I hope that I have opened your eyes a bit regarding the protein intake in a healthy vegetarian or plant-based diet. We eat healthy food. We eat delicious food. And we most certainly consume enough protein. So let’s celebrate that fact with some hummus, avocado, nut butter, chocolate, etc. …but probably not all at once! ;)

Thank you so much for allowing me to guest post for you, Alexis! I hope you are having a wonderful vacation!