There is so much conflicting information out there on what constitutes a healthy diet that I have learned to try things for myself and see how they make me feel. About 5 years ago, I started thinking about trying the vegetarian or vegan diet after watching Food Inc. on Netflix.
I had been considering the diet for a while and had skipped meat for a meal a few times, but never really considered going without meat full time. After looking at lots of conflicting information, I did what I always do in that situation, experiment for myself. Looking back at that decision to try a vegan diet for a month, I realized that was one of the best decisions I've ever made. This is the story of what happened.
My Plant Based Diet Starts
Shortly after watching Food Inc. a good friend invited me to have a vegetarian dinner with his family. The meal included a beautiful, colorful salad with homemade dressing to start with and then a colorful mix of steamed, seasoned vegetables. I loved the salad and the steamed veggies so much that I had a second helping of both! This was the first vegan meal I had that ended with me feeling full and satisfied. This was the moment I knew it was possible and decided to give it a try.
I used to say things like. "I could never give up meat. I can't even get full without meat. Where do you get your protein." Anyone that is vegan or vegetarian and has ever had a conversation about their diet knows that these are pretty much the exact same things almost every meat eater says about being a vegetarian. Don't worry people, plants have protein!
Most of us have always eaten meat and never even considered giving it up. Why would you? It's part of a healthy balanced diet right? Well, that depends on who you ask. I always thought that animal protein was an important food group that was an essential part of getting all the nutrients needed. When I began to pay more attention to this alternate way of eating and truly consider it, my life changed much more than I ever expected.
Exercise, Breathing and State of Mind
Within 1 month of converting to a vegan diet, I had so much more energy that I decided to start working out. Actually, I started going outside a lot more at first. One day on a walk outside, I could not resist the urge to run. I ended up running about 3 miles! I could not believe it. I hadn't even tried to jog a mile in years and one month earlier I would have told you that I could not and wouldn't even consider trying.
I could also do handstand pushups and more regular pushups and pullups than I had ever been able to. I was even able to do back handsprings again, which I had not done since highscool! I also started meditating in the park that I would jog in and began to realize other negative patterns I had fallen into. This was a turning point in my life that brought me out of depression and into the life that I desired.
For me the empirical evidence speaks for itself. In my health transformation, I have overcome problems that had been very hard to deal with, including fatigue and depression. Even more than that though, I ended up getting into the best shape of my life and feeling better than ever!
Within a few months, I was jogging 5 miles a day after HIT circuit strength workout. At 30 years old I could run farther than I had ever been previously able to in my life. To be clear, this may have also had to do with the fact that I was learning to control my breath in a way that increased my endurance quite a bit as well.
The breathing was mostly about getting into a fast, deep, rhythmic breath before my body required it. This enable me to control my breath for much longer during a jog. One day I had so much energy that I decided to do double up and do 10 miles. I actually did it without much problems but I was pretty sore for a couple days.
What The Health
In the last few months, I have seen a couple documentaries that I think will help a lot more people take the leap. Cowspiracy goes into the details of how the meat industry causes damage to the envrionment while What The Health focuses on the health benefits of a plant based diet over an omnivorous diet.
I just finished watching What The Health and it has inspired me to get back to a pure vegan diet. I have been bouncing back and forth between vegetarian and vegan ever since I began this journey, but I have realized for a while that vegan is healthiest way to go for me.
Going from vegan back to eating dairy and eggs and falling off my exercise regimen happened for many reasons. My father became very sick with Parkinsons and Dimentia. I was able to help a great deal with my new found knowledge but unfortunately unable to convince him on the plant based diet. We come from long line of cowboys and ranchers and for my dad, a plant based diet was a silly thing to even consider.
I did increase his intake of fresh whole fruits and veggies but was unable to convince my family to try to get him off the medications and go for the pure vegan diet. The changes that were made seemed to help immensely, but not enough to curb the progression of the vicious disease.
Moving to live closer to My Parent's so I could help my mother take care my father, I completely fell off my routine. I have just recently started jogging again and I have noticed several people I follow realizing these truths and transforming their lives. One example is @jeffberwick. He has recently had similar transformation and has been sharing his progress on his youtube channel.
What The Health has inspired me once again to go for it full force. I have also had more luck convincing my family recently and expect to make a lot of progress over the next few months. This time I'm not going to backslide. I will track my progress and be honest with y'all about all that I experience as I focus myself on this path.
In the last year I have become glued to my computer screen as I learned to trade cryptos and became obsessed with Steemit. I have not balanced that with healthy outdoor exercising and I have noticed the effects. I have been inspired on many other levels and I am learning to balance all my responsibilities.
I am beginning to kick things into full gear and have just launched my new product on Amazon! Some of you already know about the magnesium oil that I have been working on, but much more to come on that in the near future.