I have been vegan for about 3 months now. It has been a journey that has been incredibly rewarding and I have lost almost 10 pounds now (with exercise). Within the last few weeks I have felt pretty tired and I have been having trouble finding the motivation to do regular things. I am planning on going to my family doctor to check my vitamin levels, I take a B12 supplement and a women's multi vitamin every day, but I have never felt like this. Has anyone experienced something similar, or does anyone have any suggestions on supplements or what works best for them to keep feeling good? I don't plan on eating animal products for the rest of my life and I hope that my health with allow me to follow through with this.

Any advice is appreciated!

Hey April,

Firstly are you getting enough calories and variety of food daily ?. These are two of the most important aspects when it comes to being vegan in my opinion. By variety of foods i mean enough wholefoods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, pulses and soy if you are not allergic.

So many people fall into the trap of eating lots of the processed mock vegan foods which aren't very nutrient dense and are basically the equivelent of vegan junk food.

Getting a check up is a good idea, mention that you are vegan as your doctor will hopefully test your B12 and iron levels. A number of nutrient deficiencies can cause fatigue so it can take abit of diagnostic work.

Keep us updated.

Amla Powder & Vegan Blog

April, I was having the same issue last spring and it turned out my B12 and my iron were incredibly low.  I've always had a tendency to be anemic but I learned a while ago that I need to be really careful when I'm consuming soy because something in the soy deters your body from absorbing iron, so when I'm drinking soymilk (I go through phases between soy and almond

Best of luck figuring out what the problem is, I think getting bloodwork done is a good place to start.

"I think getting bloodwork done is a good place to start."

I agree with you.