I have a confession to make.

I have ulterior motives for wanting to test and integrate Vega into my diet.

It’s not to build huge muscles (not exclusively anyway) or to use it as a meal replacement; I wouldn’t dream of taking any meals out of my day. As it is, I’m already eating all the time just to keep up; veganism can be like that, active or not.

I wanted to try Vega because of their combination of concern for our planet and our bodies.

I was first inspired by their commitment to use local, organic ingredients whenever possible and to, under no circumstances, use GMOs.

Not only that, but as far as I know Vega is one of few companies that is 100% wind powered and also uses 100% recycled packaging.

So, the greeny-weeny in me was psyched on Vega from the start, but the climber in me wanted to know if the product could be environmentally friendly and deliver performance results.

Here’s the breakdown.

I’m a vegan.

I’m exhaustingly active to the point of over-training, (according to my fiancé.)

And, over the last 12 months I’ve become more serious about my training and have been working hard to break into to the next climbing grade.

So, when these two prominent pieces of my personality crossed paths I just about turned into a kale-covered-ball-of-almond-butter-Bdazzled-with-chia-and-hemp-seeds.

I just couldn’t eat enough.

I had also, like most athletes do, reached a plateau.

Remember that second of lag-time in the old Flintstones cartoons between Fred “starting” the car and the point at which the car actually begins to move? Yea, I’ve been stuck in that second-of-a-black-hole for the last year.

As far as I could tell, I was doing everything I could, physically, to progress. In fact, as mentioned earlier, I was doing too much.

It seemed obvious that the only other area I could tweak for better performance was my nutrition.

I’d sworn off protein powders as a dietary supplement long ago because of their inherent use of whey protein; a dairy-based protein that is sited as having many pros and cons, both of which are questionable.

So started my quest for a reliable, convenient and sustainable vegan product.

I’d heard about Vega but was hesitant about trying it at first because there are so many options out there and it’s hard to decide what to invest in. For the most part, there are few things that set brands apart.

Since I had been won over by Vega’s environmental commitment already, when I found out they had a new sport line, I decided to go for it!

I’ve been using Vega for the last six months and after making some adjustments to my routine, I am happy to have celebrated some small and some not-so-small victories.

I’d like to note that the “success” of a climber is a fickle thing.

It’s not always something that can be measured. Often times it cannot even be seen, since so much of the sport is a mental game. Therefore, the small victories; finding a better foothold, moving off that crimper or even attempting a route above your limit, are all worth celebrating.

Now, it would be silly for me to claim that Vega single-handedly propelled me to the next stage of my climbing. It was surely a combination of a new workout plan and more rest days along with using quality vegan nutrition, that helped to boost my progress.

If any of those pieces were to be removed my progress would look quite different.

I can say, however, that adding Vega into my diet was a necessity in order to build muscle and sustain endurance.

Could I have gotten the same nutritional boost from another product? Maybe (probably not.)

But the fact that Vega has enough integrity to demand sustainability from themselves and their products make it the only real choice, in my opinion.

*For a more detailed and technical review, click here.

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Editor: Renée Picard

Photo Credit: Author’s own.