My decision to go vegan happened suddenly and without any prior consideration, thoughts, or plans to do so. The evening of November 28, 2017, I was scrolling through Netflix looking for something new and interesting to watch. Bored and tired of watching the same stuff we usually watched, I came across the documentary What The Health. I had never heard of it and had no idea what it was about. Instead of critiquing, discussing the details of the documentary, or providing a review, I’ll simply say the film piqued my curiosity enough that I decided to start a vegan diet the very next day.
I’ve never been keen on the idea of dieting and typically favor more of an “everything in moderation” approach. As someone who is 6’2” tall and who has consistently weighed over 250 pounds (as high as 306 at one point) for the past 25 years, I understand what it’s like to struggle with diet and weight. The older I get the more I find myself thinking about the potential for, and the increased likelihood of, negative health effects of carrying so much weight into the later years of my life. This, combined with the fact that I’ve been taking medication for acid reflux for nearly ten years now, has made me consider different approaches for the way I treat my body.
It’s funny how differently we think the older we get. When I was young I threw all caution to the wind and frankly, felt invincible. I ate, drank, and pretty much did whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, with little thought to how it might effect my well-being. Now that I’m 46, that’s no longer the case. I try to watch what I eat and drink and generally speaking, how my body feels and responds to different types of stimuli whether it be food, drink, sleep, the environment, workouts (or lack thereof), stress, medication, etc. I’ve also become much more aware of any aches, pains, or changes my body might experience from one day to the next. This is definitely different from the person I was in my 20s and early 30s.
I honestly feel like I know how to eat healthy, lose weight, and keep it off. I’ve actually done it before on a couple of occasions. Twice in the past ten years, I got my weight down to 251 pounds (losing over 40 pounds) and kept it there for a short while. Both times, I did it through exercise, a “healthy” diet, and by adhering to the principle of “everything in moderation”. It felt good knowing I could really do it and that I could repeat it if needed. The idea that I needed to do it again is very frustrating because I know I should have worked harder at maintaining my lower weight instead of allowing myself to gain it all back again.
My motivation for switching to a vegan diet two months ago was not weight loss (at least not primarily). It was mostly to see how it would make me feel and what effects it might have on me. My rationale was, Hell, I’ve never tried it before so what do I have to lose? Besides, after watching the documentary What The Health and hearing about all of the health benefits it could have and in such a short time (as little as two weeks for some people), I felt like I had to at least try it.
After the initial shock and disappointment of realizing how many items we had in the refrigerator that I could no longer eat, I decided to fully embrace the switch to vegan and make the most of it. I threw out anything I knew would have only been consumed by me and for the first couple of days did what I could to create meals from items already in the house considered vegan. It was a rough start but I made it work. After a couple of days, I made my first vegan grocery shopping trip to Wegmans. Even though I had a grocery list, I found myself wandering around Wegmans out of curiosity to see what vegan options were available. To my delight, there were a lot more options than I imagined. After getting everything on my list (and many more), I left with a grocery bill well-north of $200.
My first few meals were basic and mostly cereal with almond or soy milk, rice, beans, salad, fruit, vegetables, and some sort of spread on bread. They were much different than what I was used to eating. I found myself craving cheese, eggs, milk, and meat for the first few days. I started buying vegan sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and tofu to replace my cravings for meat. I also found several replacement options for yogurt, milk, and cheese. I began researching nutrients I might no longer be getting because of the switch to a vegan diet. The little amount of research I did made me aware of things like how to get enough potassium and how to get vitamin B into my diet. I’ve also started to get more creative with my meals. I make stir fry about twice a month with tofu and it’s absolutely delicious. Typically, I alway try to have the following items on hand or readily available: tofu, rice, beans, oats (for overnight oats), avocados, blueberries, bananas, whole grain breads and tortillas, vegan sausages and burgers, vegan yogurt, almond and cashew milk, coffee, nutritional yeast flakes, salsa, hot sauce, adobo seasoning, ingredients for salads, nuts, dried apricots, peanut butter, and a variety of jams, preserves, and spreads.
Aside from my new diet, I make a trip to the Vitamin Shoppe about once every two months to stock up on a few supplements and pea protein. Yes, pea protein. I used to use whey proteins but after the transition to vegan I switched to using pea protein. The supplements I use on a daily basis are a once daily men’s multivitamin, omega 3 fish oil, alpha-lipoic acid, glucosamine and chondroitin, ginkgo biloba, and ubiquinol CoQ-10. For the first time in years, I feel like my diet, combined with these supplements, is actually making me feel better and much healthier.
Other changes I’ve noticed are more regular and easier bowel movements (the first week feels similar to a cleanse), more consistent energy levels, a return to having vivid dreams every night (after having very few dreams over the past several years), no more feeling bloated, too full, and uncomfortable after meals, a feeling of enhanced strength during workouts and throughout the day in general, less soreness after workouts, and an improved sense of well-being in general knowing that I’m now providing my body the nutrients it needs to fully maximize my potential.
Several people have asked me if I’ve noticed a difference since going vegan. My answer is always, “Oh my gosh yes, but it’s hard to explain.” Of course, they always want to know what that means. It means I feel light instead of heavy, energetic instead of sluggish, and healthy and like someone has taken a brush and started cleaning out all the crap I’ve accumulated in my body throughout my life. My clothes are starting to fit better, I feel stronger, younger, and overall healthier. I feel cleaner on the inside (try explaining that to someone). I now look forward to sleeping at night and specifically the recent return to lucid dreaming. I’m always amazed when I wake up and can remember my dreams now. I seriously can’t remember the last time I dreamed as an adult before going vegan. I love knowing I can eat as much as I want now without feeling that heavy and lethargic feeling I used to experience regularly after meals laden with animal products. It’s been quite a remarkable experience really.
I allowed myself to splurge the week between Christmas and New Years and quickly realized how terrible I felt after eating animal products for such an extended period of time. As soon as I returned to my vegan diet, I once again felt a noticeable return of all the positive feelings I experienced the first time I started the diet. It was as if I was once again proving to myself that the vegan diet actually does work for me and that I really could feel and experience the difference. Since then, I have allowed myself to cheat from time to time but only for one or two meals a week. Typically, my splurge meal is Sunday evening dinner at my in-laws. My father-in-law loves to cook nearly as much as I do and he never disappoints as he always has a large chunk of animal flesh of some sort prepared either on the grill or in a roasting pan.
After two months of eating mostly vegan and feeling the way I do now, I’m certain I will continue eating vegan (at least 95%) for the rest of my life while at the same time allowing myself to splurge from time to time. While it may not be considered truly vegan by some, I’ve finally found a diet that actually works for me and makes me feel the way I’ve always imagined a healthy diet should.
Who knew a boring night in November could turn into a potentially, life-changing experience? So… thanks Netflix and the documentary What The Health for sparking just enough curiosity in me.
James
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