To be a single parent and a vegan?

[PleaseLetsGoToSleep]

I'm a single Mum to 20 month old ds, I split from his dad nearly a year ago. Ds is a vegetarian at home but I went vegan last September, after 12 years as vegetarian.
At first I found it difficult and restrictive being vegan, but I've done my homework and am much better informed and knowledgeable now about all the things I can eat, and I now enjoy cooking. It was going well, well enough for me to regularly work out at the gym and run long distance races. But over the last couple of weeks, and especially today, I have been totally exhausted, too tired to even take my ds out.

What my point is, although it's slightly vague, is, does anyone have any experience of being vegan, or on a special diet and being a lone parent? Or even of just being a vegan and whether the first year was tough for you?
Or just opinions on whether I am asking too much of myself?
Thanks

What are your reasons for going vegan? Is your diet linked to your exhaustion? Why have you put yourself on such a restrictive diet?

Are you getting iron?

I think you need to be well informed about the nutritional aspects, which is totally possible. I have an handful of vegan friends who are all v healthy but they are really careful about how they plan their meals. There must be numerous websites that can provide advice and info. All the best.

Was vegan for years. It's quite possible to eat well and have energy. I did lots of sport and activity. Does take a while to get accustomed to new recipes and incorporate into the habit of daily life. Some supplements are a good idea at first or when you know your options are limited. I didn't take them long term.

Your tiredness could be to do with diet, or not, maybe you have a virus.

Slightly off at a tangent, but this book is by an ultramarathon runner who is also a vegan, and includes some vegan recipes along the way.

It might be worth a read to see the sort of diet he has to get to this level of fitness.

I was a vegan for about a year following a long time as a vegetarian. It didn't agree with me personally, I found myself very tired as well.
One thing that I found very delicious and helpful were green smoothies. If you have a blender, throw in a banana, a pear, a few frozen berries if you have some otherwise some ice, and two handfuls of spinach or kale. I always added a tablespoon of virgin coconut oil which is an amazing source of very healthy fats (that give you energy! google it)
I would just have a couple of these a week. Otherwise it gets too expensive. Good luck to you!

Lone vegan parent here too. Kids are not vegan, i brought them up to make their own choices, but they do eat all my vegan meals and would choose them instead of meat.
I do take brewers yeast tablets and a multi vitamin and mineral supplement every day just to be sure.
Had a full blood count last year which was perfect.
Why not go to your gp and ask for a blood count, if it comes back as fine, you can stop worrying about your diet, you might be tired for some other reason.

You might 'vegan dad' interesting. He blogged for a few years, not much anymore but did a book. Not single but four kids and a busy job.

Have you found PPK? Great recipes and blog with chat.

If you're eating a sensible vegan diet you should be fine. So if you're feeling like death warmed up, you may be ill. It may be that like me you've got a comparatively low iron count as your normal, which has ended up with me on prescribed iron supplements and I now feel fine, or you may have a virus which you can't quite shift, like dsis did. Some of these seem to take months

Anyway, GP I think.

you might be ill with something completely different - there are some funny bugs going around.

vegan isn't natural and can need supplements. If you want to eat 'difficult and restrictive' that's up to you. It may or may not be making you ill.

O.P., as other posters suggest - could it be due to something else?

I'm also a single mum, vegan for many years, including a couple of breastfeeding a toddler. I cycle everywhere all the time and have a fairly active job. I don't take ususally take supplements, and after so many years, I don't particularly plan my diet either... I do tend to love healthier stuff though so naturally include them (along with a lot of cake, chocolate and occasional chips :)
I do find my energy levels dip though when I have days of not eating enough raw food (i normally eat lots of raw veg, salad and greens - and really end up craving them when i don't have enough); and when i have lazy weeks of too much carbs, pasta and bread, and not enough protein foods (seeds, nuts, beans, etc....). But I guess that's the same for everyone, vegan or not?

Also make sure you spend enough time outdoors and that you simply eat enough calories? And eat your greens, wholegrains, seeds and nuts, you need the minerals!

You might like to see whether you are getting enough vitamin B12.
This explains about it.

Of course you are not BU

Relatives of mine are vegan and brought their 4 kids up vegan from the word go, all are fit and healthy.

Assume you have checked out what to eat for balanced diet etc.

You're prob just coming down with something.

Thanks for all your answers, it's great to hear that it is actually possible to be a vegan and a busy parent and make it work.
Thanks for the bits of advice as well, I especially like the smoothie idea poppettyping, and will be checking out the website recommendations. Doctors first thing tomorrow though to check out the blood count.