I'm going Vegan

Yes, I’m going Vegan. Well, at least I’m going to strongly attempt it. As much as I have loved meat in the past, my stomach turns as I think of eating a Filet or some BBQ chicken. The taste in my mind is just a reminder of how I feel every time after I eat a piece of meat. Satisfied, yes, but really I feel more…slow, tired, and too full.

I’ve been reading articles, and watching a lot of videos online about the health benefits of going Vegetarian. I have a couple friends here that are Vegetarians, so I know it is possible to live ok in a meat-fast-food-filled world and be ok. Neither of them have talked me or strongly encouraged me into being a Vegetarian, it’s just something my body has felt I’d be more capable of living a healthy life with.

I began to dig deeper into health and making sure I live a healthy lifestyle, which I’ve failed at doing a number of times. The occasional trip to Houston or California…probably the worst of it was when I was stuck in Philadelphia for over a month. It was very hard for me to get back on track if my trip was too long. The 4 days during the trip all of a sudden turned into 10 days because I just wasn’t in the mood to watch what I ate or go workout.

Some may argue, that’s self discipline that I should worry about, not so much the eating lifestyle (I don’t do diets) that I’ve come to do. Let me engage further for you.

Metabolic Typing

I’ve never officially completed a Metabolic Typing Test, but from what I’ve read, based on my genealogy and how I feel, concludes that I feel much much better eating more Seafood, Vegetables, Fruits, and Grains. This was hard for me to cope with as I was not ready to drop beef and chicken. I attempted this late last year over a period of 3 months, and although I was getting closer and closer to the results I was looking for in the Appearance sense, I was beginning to feel weak and couldn’t even perform fully during a workout: tiring out too soon during a cardio workout, not being able to increase my weights week by week because it seemed the weights were getting heavier (even though they were the same weight!). I began to understand that my body was now attacking my muscles and resorting to them for sustaining energy, rather than going for the fat in the love handles I had desperately been trying to get rid of.

By the end of this run, my girlfriend had moved to town, and she loves to cook. And her cooking is not just really good, but AWESOME…I’ve gone for 2nds and 3rds on several occasions. Not to mention the eating out, and the holidays coming up. There was a lot of meat around. My workout regimen stayed pretty much the same, but now there was meat in the mix, and I began to gain weight…but I was definitely feeling ALOT stronger.

But then I began to feel sluggish again, and my workouts soon became less and less frequent. My weight started to pack on and I was feeling like I was at square one again.

I started off again trying to go strictly Organic and Free Range. That didn’t help because my craving for food was so great. So recently I went back to being a Pescatarian, but as I read more and more about the condition of fish, and how you don’t know where you’re really getting your fish from…especially at a restaurant, I began to reconsider eating seafood at all. I LOVE SUSHI, but I believe its possible to part from it…well, at least I hope so =)

Why Vegan then? Why not just Vegetarian?

Eggs are not my friend. I’ve never been able to feel comfortable after eating eggs. I’ve tried and tried, and every time it ends up with me having to go the restroom at least two or three times a day. I just don’t think my body is capable of digesting eggs properly. So I don’t think I’ll miss eggs very much.

I have a low tolerance for dairy. Any milk you buy at the store gives my stomach a horrible turn (and I can remember this as far as when I was 8 years old), until I found organic milk. On two separate occasions though, I’d picked up my usual organic milk, and both times they came in very foul smelling, and the last time it felt like there were chunks floating at the top of the carton. That turned me away very quickly to the brand, and I wasn’t confident in any other, so cow milk was out of the question. I’d considered goats milk, but that just seemed like a stretch for me.

Ice cream’s worse, I usually have to goto the restroom at some point afterwards, and it was never comfortable. Gelato’s much much worse…after a few licks, I have to go immediately.

Cheese tastes awesome. I loved it on a hamburger (but that’s gone now) and more so on a Pizza. I love, love, looove pizza! Pizza and sushi will be by far the two hardest things to let go for me. But then I think of all the times Pizza has given me stomach problems, or uncomfortableness afterwards. It’s always good going in, but never very good going…well, you know where this ones going.

What else could I mention? Butter…fattening. Cream cheese…yuck. I’ve pretty much gotten to the point where if I don’t eat an animal…why would I even want to eat anything that comes out of an animal? Yes, it tastes good…I can’t argue with that, but I think I’m more now on a mission to give myself a healthier life, and eating meat, dairy or eggs in this day and age is detrimental to my health (I’m only speaking about myself, not anyone else).

What about protein? You can’t live without meat!

The body is a very very smart thing. When the body lacks the protein it needs, it finds it wherever possible, that’s why it attacked my muscles the last time. If you introduce a heaping amount of vegetables, beans, and the sort that has protein (maybe a decent amount, maybe a small amount), the body will hold on to the protein within those foods as long as it can. I was worried about this same case for the longest time, looking skinny maybe even sickly, but I’ve found several vegan athletes (car lewis became a vegan in his prime) and even trainers and body builders.

You’re no longer a normal person. I don’t think I can invite you out or eat with you because you’re different now

Well, I hope that’s not the case with any of my friends or family. All I can ask is that you help support me on my journey. I may fail, I may continue to live this way…who knows. It will be tough, so the support will definitely help.

If you’ve known me long enough, you know that during the months of Ramadan when I couldn’t eat during the day, you would find me hanging out with friends during lunch or even playing a game of basketball. Temptation is probably the least of my worries. I would still love to hang out during lunch or come to a gathering, even if I can’t eat the food.

How can I keep up with your progress (or failure)?

I’ve set up a twitter account and a separate blog for my progression (hopefully not failure =P). I’ve thought about maybe making a Youtube channel, but I don’t know if I’m comfortable in front of a camera. We’ll see though.