I Went Vegan and Got Stronger - Here’s Exactly What Changed
I didn't go vegan because I was a fitness person. I went vegan because I was furious. And then, almost by accident, I became the strongest version of myself I've ever been.
Let me take you back to a random evening in 2019. I was in my college dorm when my mom called and casually suggested I watch a documentary called What The Health. I had no agenda. I wasn't looking for a lifestyle change. I just pressed play.
I never finished the rest of my snacks that night.
By the time the credits rolled, I was angry — genuinely, deeply angry. Not at myself, but at the years of misinformation I had unknowingly absorbed about food, health, and what a "normal" diet was supposed to look like. I felt deceived. And I decided, right then, that I deserved better than that.
The very next morning I cleaned out my entire kitchen. Everything. I went to the grocery store and came home with the basics: rice, beans, and broccoli. That was day one.
"I didn't ease into it. I didn't do 'Meatless Mondays.' I just stopped — because once I saw it, I couldn't unsee it."
A few days later I watched Game Changers. And if What The Health made me angry, Game Changers made me excited. Watching elite athletes — people whose careers depended on their physical performance — thrive on a plant-based diet lit something up in me. I started to think: if they can do it, why couldn't I?
As the weeks passed and I learned more about veganism, I also found the ethical side of it. The animal cruelty, the exploitation — it became impossible to ignore. That's what sealed it permanently for me. The health piece got me in the door. The ethics made sure I never left.
What I Was Secretly Worried About
Here's what I won't pretend: I had no idea what I was doing in the beginning. Going vegan felt overwhelming. Not because I doubted the decision — I never did — but because food is woven into everything. Social events, family dinners, meal prep, travel. Learning to navigate it all felt like learning a new language.
And fitness? I was lifting in high school and had always cared about being active. But I wasn't lifting consistently yet — that came later. My fear wasn't about losing muscle I didn't have. It was more of a low-grade worry: Is this actually sustainable? Am I going to be able to do this long-term and still feel good?
The complexity I feared wasn't really about the food — it was about unlearning. Everything I thought I knew about nutrition was built around animal products. Once I started from scratch and built new habits, it genuinely got simple. Simpler than before, actually.
Rice, beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, oats, fruit, vegetables. These became the foundation of how I ate. Not complicated. Not expensive. Not sad. Just whole, real food — most of which I'd never even used in a recipe before going vegan.
Then I Started Taking Strength Training Seriously
In May 2024 — five years into being vegan — I committed to strength training in a real, structured, intentional way. No more going to the gym occasionally or doing whatever felt right. I got consistent. I got educated. I tracked what I was eating, I prioritized protein, and I showed up.
What happened over the next 19 months is something I'm still a little in awe of.
I lost 55 pounds. I dropped from 47% body fat to 27%. I went from 63 lbs of lean muscle to 71 lbs — meaning I built muscle while losing fat simultaneously. My body completely recomposed itself.
I fit into clothes I couldn't before. My body looks different in the mirror — not just smaller, but shaped. I have definition I've never had in my life. And my strength? I keep hitting new personal bests. I am genuinely stronger right now than I have ever been at any point in my life.
On a plant-based diet. At 25 years old. Having started with rice, beans, and broccoli from a college dorm.
"I didn't just lose weight. I built a body I'm proud of — and I did it fueled entirely by plants. That's not a coincidence. That's the point."
What Actually Made the Difference
I want to be real with you about what changed, because I don't think it was magic, and I don't want you to think it was easy every single day. Here's what actually moved the needle:
Protein became non-negotiable. This is the piece most vegan women are missing. Not because protein is hard to get on a plant-based diet — it isn't — but because you have to be intentional about it. I built every single meal around a protein source first. Tofu, tempeh, lentils, edamame, protein smoothies. When I started hitting consistent protein targets, everything else fell into place: my recovery improved, my strength went up, and the fat started coming off.
I stopped being complicated about it. I meal prepped simple things. I rotated the same high-protein bases. I didn't try to make gourmet vegan food every night. I made it repeatable, and repeatable made it sustainable.
I trusted the process even when the scale didn't move. Body recomposition is slow. There were weeks where the number on the scale barely changed — but my measurements were shifting, my lifts were going up, and my clothes were getting looser. I learned to read more than one number.
I stopped waiting until I "figured it all out." This is the one I see most in the women I talk to. The plan doesn't have to be perfect. You don't have to know everything about macros and periodization before you start. You just have to start, and adjust as you go.
Why I'm Telling You This
I didn't become a certified personal trainer and plant-based nutrition specialist to prove a point to anyone. I did it because I lived this transformation and I know — with complete certainty — that other women can too.
I know what it feels like to stand in a grocery store with a cart full of plants and no idea what to do with them. I know what it feels like to walk into a gym and feel out of place. I know the quiet frustration of doing everything "right" and not seeing results fast enough.
And I know what it feels like on the other side of all of that. The PR you didn't think you had in you. The morning you put on something that didn't fit six months ago and it does now. The shift from working out to feel smaller to training to get stronger.
That shift is available to you. You don't have to be a lifelong athlete. You don't have to have it all figured out. You just have to be willing to start.
Absolutely — and I'm living proof. I gained 8 lbs of lean muscle over 19 months eating 100% plant-based. The key is being intentional about protein: hitting your targets consistently using sources like tofu, tempeh, lentils, edamame, and protein smoothies. It requires more planning than an omnivorous diet, but it is completely achievable.
A commonly recommended starting point is around 1.6g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day for women focused on building muscle. That number can vary based on your goals, training intensity, and body composition. The most important thing is building every meal around a protein source first — and tracking at least loosely until you get a feel for what hitting your target actually looks like in practice.
Start simple. Build your meals around a few high-protein staples — tofu, tempeh, lentils, beans, edamame — and add whole grains, vegetables, and healthy fats around them. You don't need to have a perfect, varied diet on day one. Repeatable and simple beats complicated and inconsistent every time. Once you have a few go-to meals down, you can expand from there.
Then you already have the hardest part figured out — the lifestyle. Adding structured strength training and dialing in your nutrition is absolutely something you can layer on top of where you already are. In fact, women who are already plant-based often see results faster once they start training intentionally, because their foundation is already solid.
Mine took 19 months — and I want to be honest about that because I think the fitness world does a disservice by implying it happens faster. Body recomposition (losing fat while gaining muscle simultaneously) is a slow process by nature. The scale may barely move for weeks while your body is actively changing. Progress photos, measurements, and how your clothes fit are often better indicators than the scale alone. Trust the process and give it real time.
Fill out my coaching inquiry form using the link below. I review every submission personally and will reach out to send you an onboarding form so we can figure out if we're a good fit. If you're not quite ready for coaching yet, join my free community — The Plant Powered Women's Gym — as a great place to start.
If Any of This Sounds Like You — Let's Talk
I work with women who are ready to get stronger, feel confident, and finally make plant-based nutrition work for their training and their life. If that's you, I'd love to connect.
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