So You Want to be a Vegan?

I've been looking back on the history of DevolveHealth lately. I started this company in 2010. The reason that I started DevolveHealth was because I saw the results that a plant based diet and good exercise habits had in my life. I went from 350 lbs to 200 lbs, and discovered levels of energy that I never knew were possible.

In 2012, I had a little hiccough in my life. If you define hiccough as your wife has an affair and leaves you, and you go through over a year of depression. Needless to say, this whole episode left me rather devastated. I didn't really care about anything, and that included my own health. I forgot all the hard work I had put into reforming my mind and body, and went back to my old habits of overeating and being sedentary. Not surprisingly, I gained a significant portion of my weight back, topping out near 300 lbs again.

Even despite this, I never forgot the way I was from 2010 to 2012. I longed to get back to the way I looked and felt at that time. I tried multiple diets- I won't mention their names, but they all have very popular books that make a lot of money. For some reason, I didn't consider going back to the vegan diet which had gotten me to my goal in the first place.

Not surprisingly, none of those diets really work. In fact, one of the guiding principles of DevolveHealth is that diets don't work. It is rather amusing, but I didn't take my own advice at all. Finally a few weeks ago, I came back to my senses, and got back to my roots, so to speak.

Returning to veganism made me think about going through the process of eliminating animal products from my diet in the first place. Hopefully, some of you have read some of my other blog posts, and see the wisdom and health value of avoiding animal products. If not, please go back and read some of them. This post is dedicated to those of you who would like to go vegan, but feel like it might be too hard, or just plain don't know how.

For those of you who think it will be hard, I won't lie to you. Avoiding animal products is not easy. Both times I went vegan, I suffered meat cravings for about a week to two weeks. That being said, finding foods to eat is not that hard. Even in your local grocery store, there is a tremendous variety of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and nuts. You just have to be willing to experiment, and have an open mind. When I was just a fledgling vegan, the thing I had the most trouble with was figuring out what to cook. There are loads of vegan cookbooks out there (my personal favorite is the Veganomicon, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero), and plenty of websites which offer free vegan recipes. My favorites:

www.vegweb.com: offers over 10,000 vegan recipes of all kinds.
www.allrecipes.com: not specifically vegan, but has a large vegan section

I promise you, it isn't nearly as hard as you think it may be. I was a staunch omnivore. In high school, if anyone would have been voted "most likely to die while eating a steak" it was me. The term "meat and potatoes man" found its literal meaning in me. If I can do it, so can you. No excuses.

If you fall into the "I want to go vegan, but I don't know how" group, then here is some advice I learned the hard way, through trial and error:

1. Eat a variety of foods. Vegan diets are nutritionally sound, and superior to diets with meat in virtually every way, with one proviso. You have to eat a variety of foods. Rice, beans, green leafy veggies, nuts, legumes, and soy, tempeh, seitan. Use the websites above for ideas and be adventurous. 
2. Avoid processed foods. Oreo's are technically vegan. They aren't good for you. With all the processed vegan products out there today, it is easy to become a "junk food vegan." Make sure the foods you eat are in the form they grew in nature. Avoid processed sugars and refined oils as much as possible. It is fine to indulge once in a while, but refined sugars are just as bad for vegans as they are for meat eaters.
3. Get ready to poop a lot. One byproduct of eating lots of vegetables and beans is that you will probably get 50-80 grams of fiber daily. While this is good for preventing colon cancer, It also means several trips to the restroom per day. On the upside, you'll never be constipated...
4. Get a B12 and a Vitamin D supplement. Vitamin D intake is too low in vegans and meat eaters alike. B12, which vegans would normally get from the bacteria in the dirt on the plants they ate, is gone in our toxic soil, and needs to be supplemented. I recommend 5000 IU of D per day, and 1000 mcg of B12 once weekly. The best B12 is the type of tablet that dissolves under the tongue.
5. If you feel craving for meat, get a meat replacement product. Although these aren't the best for you, as they are heavily processed, they are OK in a pinch, and vastly better than going back to meat. There is a wide array of soy burgers, hot dogs, sausages, and other meat like products at your local grocery store.
6. PLAN AHEAD. This is really important. Although restaurants and cafeterias are getting better about offering vegan options, not every place has them. Some places say they have vegan entrees, but they are cooked in butter or the like. Family gatherings, weddings, and parties can be especially bad, as they usually lack vegan food choices. Be sure to bring a snack with you (some nuts or carrots, an apple, banana, or peach) so that you have something to eat in a real pinch. If I am going to a party or wedding, I like to eat a vegan meal ahead of time, just in case. The same is true of air travel. Airplanes never feed you anymore, and airports have very limited choices. Pack some good vegan snacks in your carry-on.
7. Be prepared for people to think you are odd. Meat eating is very ingrained into our culture. People think all vegans are tree hugging hippies. If you tell someone you are vegan, they will pepper you with questions. Read my post entitled "What are you Eating?" for more info on the questions. Even if they think you are odd, most people are intrigued, and those questions can be a good jumping off point to discuss a better lifestyle with them (as long as you don't sound pompous and preachy)
8. Get ready to feel good. Now that your body no longer wastes half of its energy trying to digest meat, you will feel younger, with tons of energy. Funnel that into exercise, family, and fun!

I'm not kidding about any of this. Try going vegan for a month, and if you don't feel a world of difference, I will refund the $0 you paid to read this blog. (Seriously, you will notice a large difference)

If you need more info on how to make the change and opt out of the Standard American Diet, feel free to comment, visit my website www.devolvehealth.com, or email me at drott@devolvehealth.com