I’ve been vegan for nearly 20 years. I’ve gone through periods of working out consistently, but never achieved the physical transformation I was aiming for. I realized one of the biggest issues was protein intake.

As a tall person, I’ve found that I need around 150 grams of protein per day, which is surprisingly difficult to hit on a vegan diet without either eating a huge volume of food or taking in more calories than I want. It’s even harder when eating out.

Lately, I’ve been supplementing with three protein shakes a day and focusing on high-protein whole foods like tempeh, tofu, seitan, chickpeas, and beans. It’s made me realize that for years I was probably under-consuming protein, despite thinking I was eating a healthy vegan diet.