Recent switch, decrease in cardiovascular endurance? (x-post from /r/vegan)

[donut]

Hey all, I posted this on /r/vegan but they referred me over here. Just wanted to ask a quick question.

I've recently switched to vegan about 1.5 months ago, and it's going great! I love it. Its simple, easy, and I feel wonderful. I'm also an athlete, so I was originally a little apprehensive about the switch--I work out just about every day of the week and do a lot a lot of running and sprint work.

I have noticed a sharp decrease in my cardiovascular endurance in the past month or so--with no other changes in my lifestyle, I am becoming increasingly concerned this may be in accordance with my vegan diet. Is this something normal? I can't find anything similar on the web.

Just for extra information, I'm gonna post what a daily calorie intake and set of meals looks like for me, just in case it may have something to do with my diet.
Calories: 3,000 Fat: 20% (66g) Protein 25% (184g) Carbs 55% (405g)

Meal 1: 2 cups steel cut oats, stevia sweetener, some fruit (raspberries and strawberries), and a vegan protein supp, kale, pineapple, almond milk, and banana smoothie.

Meal 2: 1 large veggie refried bean burrito with sauteed onions, peppers, mushrooms, spinach, and olive oil. 1/2 avocado.

Meal 3: 2 servings veggie infused angel hair pasta, 1/2 block tofu, tomato sauce, sauteed veggies again, hot sauce.

Meal 4: 1 PBJ on whole wheat bread and 1 cinnamon raisin bagel with peanut butter

Meal 5: vegan protein shake, 1/2 block tofu, steamed broccoli and zucchini.

I've had some people tell me do the 80/10/10 macro split, and then I've had some people tell me .7g protein/lb and then just "fill in" the rest of my macros from there. What's macro split do you all use for building muscle but also keeping up cardiovascular endurance?

 

[dawn16]

@donut I'd say just try different macros until YOU feel YOUR body is functioning best. For me, something closer to 80/10/10 helps me feel on point for running every day. So it's just carbs carbs carbs all day and I honestly feel great physically.

 

[shatteredparadigm]

@dawn16 This. Eat more carbs. Don't worry about protein so much. Check out this video from Sage Canaday.

 

[puckett]

@donut Endurance athlete here; ever consider that your sodium consumption is too low? Everything you eat sounds clean and without meat/processed foods you won't be inadvertently taking in salt. If you aren't sweating as easily or at all while trying to put in effort I'd wager that is the issue. A lot of non-athletes disregard the importance of sodium, but I doubt they've been through multi-hour endurance events and consequently don't understand its importance in increasing blood volume.

i.e. try out some Celtic/Himalayan/unrefined sea salt (1500-2000mgish of sodium spread throughout the day with accompanying water)

 

[dawn16]

@puckett Huh I didn't even think about that. Good point.

I love faux meat so lack of sodium isn't something I ever had to worry about lol

 

[donut]

@puckett I'll give it a go!! Thanks for the rec!

 

[strivingforabetterlife]

@donut First thing I thought of was iron, because I had an iron deficiency when I didn't pay attention to it, and I'm pretty sure that causes a decrease in cardio. It's not in multivitamins(unless you're taking ones specifically for women).

Also as far as protein goes, I shoot for 1.4g/kg, but that's for weightlifting/bodybuilding. I've heard 1g/kg in the past for general athletes.