Viable Vegan Voyage.
As you may know from some of my previous posts we became Vegan overnight in January of 2016. This happened after researching into animal welfare, canine cognition, discovering the true cost of animal agriculture and then finally what tipped me over the edge was watching Earthlings. If you have not seen this documentary and are a consumer of animal products I strongly urge you to view, see what your choices mean to the animal world. You can watch earthlings completely free Here.
I strongly recommend that you do not watch this if you have anything else to do immediately afterwards. It will take you to the darkest places that our species inhabit. I lost all faith in mankind, I was angry. Angry at myself. Angry at the world. I still have visions that haunt my dreams, things that I can never unsee.
My wife Natasha was a vegetarian and had been most of her life. Natasha also didn't really drink milk because of a childhood allergy she had to it. I on the other hand was a big milk drinker. I was also big into the gym and took 2 dairy based protein shakes a day. I ate at least 2 chicken fillets and at least 8 eggs daily. I consumed animal products without thought to their source, what the animal in question endured during its life, the effects it was having on me and our environment
At my heaviest, I had grown from 78kg @17 % bf (skinny fat) to 96kg @12% bf. My goal was to reach 100kg @10% bf. Oh, I am 6'4" or 193CM in new money, just to put that into perspective. No particular reason for that, I just picked some numbers that I figured would be a challenge. Sure I was big and strong, I could hack squat 375kgs ×10 reps ×4 sets. I can tell you that even though I was a prime example of what people believe fit and healthy to be I was suffering every day. Major pains in my digestive tract, migraine headaches, constant sinus issues, sore joints and recurring chest infections.
Before I became Vegan I had stopped with the gym so I had cut out the 8 eggs daily and shakes but still ate eggs and chicken etc. My digestive discomfort had reduced after stopping my protein shakes but it was by no means gone. I was still also getting headaches, sinus infections and chest infections My joint discomfort had lessened which I had put down to not lifting weights anymore. All of these have completely stopped since I became Vegan
I wanted after I became Vegan to let my body mass alter and return to the higher bf %. I may have let this go a bit too far 😉. Last year I fell through some rotten decking and also suffered torn cartilage, this knocked me out of action for nearly 5 months and I required surgical intervention to repair the damage. My plan now is to reach my goal on a 100% Vegan diet. I will still use some of the supplements that I used when I was going to the gym previously. Currently I take 1 large smoothie with 1 scoop of chocolate peanut complete Vegan blend from bulk powders, creatine, and taurine. All of which are available from bulk powders Vegan range.
Oh, I should add that I am several years older now and nearing 40! I aim to be in the best shape of my life by the time I get there, which is the end of June 2018! So many of my mates are close to my age and some are not in great shape at all. I do not want to be a middle age man with middle age spread creeping in on me. I want to be fight fit all year round and spend as much time with my 2 young children (my eldest is 18) doing everything that we can, surfing, Bmx racing, rock climbing, mountain walking, swimming etc, I hope you get the picture that we are an active family.
Awesome to read about your journey to veganism. It sounds like you're doing a great job of getting there. Currently I still eat cheese and fish (weird I know) but i'm cutting back. I'm essentially pescatarian but live as a vegan 95% of the time. It really works for me and i'm enjoying fish less and less. Cheese for some reason is the only hurdle. Mainly because of pizza. Let's see! Maybe i'll make the full transition some day too. Great to hear more about your life and struggles here. Inspirational!
For a lot of people cheese is an issue, it is addictive though so that would explain that. http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-cheese-addictive-drugs-20151022-story.html
Great to hear that your working towards it, what we picture animal agriculture to be or are sold is completely different from the reality of the industries. With Vegan cheeses getting better by the day it wont be long before your monching down on some potato cheese or coconut cheese.
I am a massive pizza fiend as you well know! And finding a melty cheese was a struggle for me at the start but there are 2 great brands here now that do really great melty cheese without all the badness of regular cheese. Thanks for checking it out too @yasminep
Awesome to know there is some decent vegan cheese. I'm going to check that out for sure! And the article you suggested. Thank you!!!
i had the same struggles as you, especially for cheese, and it's funny that you mention pizza, because it was also a problem for me for that specific reason LOL. Like @Moonunit says, once you find a good cheese alternative it's not so bad anymore. Good luck!
Thanks for the tip @evecab much appreciated.
I fell like that to..
It's very inspired me, LETS SMASH THIS TOGETHER...
thank you for share a good post...
May God bless you..
I followed you...
Thanks a million @asrinaphonna. So glad it has helped to inspire you. If I can help at all please let me know. 😉
Me and my hubby tried to watch Earthlings. Me made it 10 minutes in and then we had to turn it of since I was crying so much. I do how ever always enjoy to read about other peoples journey and your post was really fun to read. I got rid of a lot of issues my self after becoming vegan :)
It is not an easy watch by any means, I don't cry that often bar birth of children, death of family etc but I can safely say that I cried like a baby most of the way trough. I watched it on my own, I did not want to be swayed by other peoples opinions. If you are already Vegan I would save yourself from it.
If you are still eating meat etc I feel that you should watch it, what do you have to fear?
Thanks a million Nicole for checking it out. Your great at supporting my page!
I feel that it should be mandatory to watch in like high school or something. We really should teach our kids more compassion and not to learn them that murder and tortoure is something normal.
Totally agree, if you eat meat you should watch what you pay for.
Always a pleasure to read your posts :)
Ah thanks Nicole. Thanks for the lovely thoughts. 😁
There are more and more of the fittest athletes in the world going vegan, so I'm sure you will have no problem reaching your goals! Even as a female I have had no problem maintaining my muscle mass without animal products. And I also do not use any type of protein powder anymore--not knocking it, I just like to eat so I get plenty of protein from whole foods. ;) I look forward to seeing your journey to meeting those fitness goals and will definitely be here to cheer you on along the way!!
For real, I see people every week moving to at least a plant based diet. The benefits are just huge! Only yesterday I shared another new Vegan MMa fighter on my insta. He of course won his fight! Man he's a monster!
Awesome journey! I love seeing active vegans, just because it debunks the myth that vegans are weak due to our diet. I haven't watched earthlings yet, and I don't think I ever will...I already cry when I write my own posts so I won't survive watching this...but then again I'm already convinced ehehe.
I'm looking forward to reading about your fitness journey!
I can tell you that I gain muscle way faster than I did when I was an omni. I dont get DOMS either. I used o suffer really bad for days after leg day. I would be waking around like john wayne LOL
LOL
Earthlings really is a gamechanger.
And Game changers will also be a game changer!