OP it seems you were leading an unhealthy lifestyle and had a bad diet before. You said you ate at all the fast-food places. Maybe that's why you feel better and more energized now.
Let's see now. According to Consumer Trends, 83% of Americans (Vegans only make up .5% of the population) have to drink coffee every single morning just so they can wake up for the day.
Then in the afternoon they have to drink even more coffee. Then companies started coming out with energy drinks just so these guys can get through their day without feeling so tired and lethargic all the time. They came out with drinks like Monster and 5 Hour Energy filled with tons of crap that's not good for your health and people actually drink it (there are actually a lot of deaths attributed to Monster and 5 Hour Energy and other energy drinks).
Here is a poll on some Vegan forum about the amount of energy they had before and after:
Here are some quotes from the same thread about people who used to feel like crap before, but now they feel completely unstoppable throughout their day. My case isn't special by the way, a lot of other people experience this same exact thing that I describe myself:
More energy. Especially in the morning. It used to take me ages to wake up and get active in the mornings, now I have no trouble. I wake up and seem to bounce out of bed full of life. I also don't get so tired during the day either and can sleep better at night.
My stamina is off the scale now. Before going vegan I was getting fat and could barely run a mile. Now, a short two months later I'm jogging three, easily. I also require less sleep and get more rejuvination from what sleep I get.
I noticed (especially within the first couple of months of going vegan) that I had loads more energy! I am sure my new diet had a lot to do with me not feeling so tired and lethargic all the time. Also, I have found that I can generally operate well receiving approximately 7 hours sleep per night (with the occaisional sleep in). In my pre-vegan days, I used to require 9 hours sleep at night.
I was already pretty energetic before but now I still feel energetic but I dont have that typical "crash" around dinner-time. I can go all day and be productive. It also takes me less time to study. That means more time to run in circles!!
When I became a lacto ovo vegetarian, I didn't notice much of a change in my energy level. When I went vegan, my energy is sky high! It's amazing how much dairy can sap energy.
Sometimes I get maybe 3 hours sleep in a 24 hour period, and whereas that used to kill me, I don't feel half bad. I rarely have to reach for the caffiene, and my brain at work seems more alert than before.
My energy has gone up after switching to vegan! My two friends who just recently switched said theirs went up too.
Even if it wasn't an ethical necessity - I'd still be vegan simply because of the extra energy it gives me - I do manual labour & look after my four kids so I need all the energy I can get...
I am on the verge of 85 and still work as hard as ever. I have lived quite long enough and am trying to die; but I simply cannot do it. A single beef-steak would finish me; but I cannot bring myself to swallow it. I am oppressed with a dread of living forever. That is the only disadvantage of vegetarianism
i used to get tired after playing a 4 hour gig on drums with a band. nowadays, and at 48 years old, i am still drumming like i was 20 years old, and i owe it to the combination of yoga and a vegan diet, plus trying to eat as raw as possible.
The other day I went out...I arrived at the club at 11:30 (btw I hadn't had much sleep the previous night) ....people who arrived a few hours later had given up dancing waaaay before I did....I didnt stop until nearly 5 am. When asked HOW ON EARTH I did it..I yelled "VEGANISM"
If you don't believe yet, it makes us feel unstoppable and filled with energy, plus we rarely get sick, and we are a lot smarter and stronger than before. We don't even miss out on eating 'meat' because that tastes terrible compared to the foods we eat now.
Most people would rather drink coffee every morning, screw up their thinking process, feel a crash in the afternoon, drink more coffee, screw up their body and brains further, rather than just eating healthier food that would literally solve all of their problems.
But you are lucky to see this kind of information online. I would never have become Vegan had I not seen another person talking about its benefits in another website and exposed me to this kind of information. Most people will never even meet a Vegan in their entire life let alone ever know that such a diet that will boost their energy to last throughout days, cure diseases without pills, and make them better overall exists.