Vegan Vacation

It is summer. Travel season. Now that the kids are out of school, everyone is planning their summer trips, and going to such exciting vacation destinations as Disney World, Vegas, Hawaii, and the Caribbean. My family and I have a trip planned as well. I have to say that I am quite excited about it.

One of the things I find hardest about vacations is the travel itself. As a reformed overeater and vegan, travel is quite scary at times. At home, I control my diet and exercise stringently, as that is the way that I lost all the weight in the first place. When I travel, all of those rules go out the window. That being said, there are strategies which can help you deal with the rigors of travel, and still keep to your vegan diet and exercise. I will outline these below:

1. The Airport: Unfortunately, the airport is a hotbed of bad food. I have been to many airports in my time, and I am sad to say that the vegan options are very limited. In smaller airports, you are usually limited to a small salad or some fruit from one of the few restaurants available. In larger airports, there will occasionally be an establishment which specializes in vegan cuisine, but at least you can usually find a sushi place or something similar, and get veggie rolls or the like. What I usually choose to do is pack my own snacks ahead of time. Dried fruits, nuts, and fruit bars, such as Larabars are wonderful vegan options.
2. The Airplane: Once you cross the jetway, forget it. I don't know of a single airline who still offers vegan meals. Their pathetic a la carte "menus" offer no vegan choices. Even if you request a vegan meal, the request won't be honored. This applies even if you fly first class. In 7 years of flying as a vegan, I have yet to get a single vegan meal aboard an airplane...
3. The destination: Once you reach your destination, your job is often the hardest. The temptation to eat bad foods "because I am on vacation, and the rules don't apply" is very high. Additionally, if you are like me, you plan lots of activities on vacation. Thus, exercising is difficult, as time is limited. I have learned a couple of strategies to deal with this:
1. Lose the vacation mentality: First, forget you are on vacation. You still need to eat the same as you would on the DevolveHealth eating plan at home. Remember, though, the DevolveHealth plan does allow for "occasional" animal products. If you want a bite or two of dessert, go ahead. Just don't throw the rules out completely
2. Wake up early. I know this is difficult on vacation, but getting up an hour early allows you to get a run in (hopefully on the beach), and still be back and ready before your vacation companions even wake up. You can run 3-4 miles every day during vacation, with only a little discipline.
4. Back Home: Believe it or not, I find this to be the most difficult. Because we all have that vacation mentality, once you return to your home, it is often hard to get back into your normal routine. Saying to yourself "I will start running and eating well again tomorrow, but today, I am going to let everything go" is very easy. I find the best way to deal with this is to re-establish the routine from day one. Get up. eat a breakfast of fruits and veggies, and go for a run. Get right back on the train, so that the human sense of routines kicks in. We are creatures of habit. If you reclaim your routine, it will take over, and your good eating and exercise will support themselves.

Most experts, including me agree that vacations are very hard on a fitness routine. I hope the strategies that I have shared will help you maintain healthy habits during your vacation, yet still allow quite a bit of fun. If you need more help on eating or exercise, please visit my website: www.devolvehealth.com, or contact me: drott@devolvehealth.com. Also, please feel free to post your experiences with diet and vacation on this blog, as other readers may need the inspiration.

Good luck to all and enjoy your summer!!!

M. Jacob Ott, MD

So you call yourself an environmentalist?

I read a recent study that 70% of Americans consider themselves to be environmentalists. Green is very much the in color right now. People are opting for higher fuel efficiency cars, recycling their trash, putting solar panels on their roofs, and using fewer utilities to save our precious resources.

I  don't know about all of you, but I love the environmental movement. It is good to know that we can help pass the earth to future generations with hopefully minimal impact. If you ask most people who are the biggest offenders to the environment are, they would say humankind. In a way, they are right.One sector of human endeavor does contribute massively to energy waste and greenhouse gases. It isn't the automobile industry, nor is it factories and other manufacturing. What is this huge drain on our resources? Meat.

The meat industry, in particular factory farms, is a leech on the environment. The meat farmers claim to produce quality products at a cheap price. I'll give them one thing: the price tag on the grocery store packages is relatively low. What they don't tell you about is the cost to society and the planet. Since they won't, I will.

1. The raising of billions of animals for slaughter takes a lot of grain and water. It takes approximately 12 pounds of grain and 2,500 gallons of water to produce just ONE POUND of beef. Due to the fossil fuels required to produce the grain, that equals 1 gallon of gas. Since the average beef cow weighs in around 1000 lbs, it takes 1000 gallons of gas to raise one cow. All in all, factory farming accounts for 18% of the fossil fuel used in America today. That is more than all the cars on the road, even before you take into account the gas required to ship the dead cows around the country to get to your local grocery store.
2. The concentration of thousands of animals in a small enclosure leads to humongous amounts of waste (urine and feces). The waste is pumped into giant lagoons, some of which is used as drinking water for the animals themselves, but the rest of which seeps into the ground water, ruining the quality of the water we all drink every day. Some even seeps into the air, causing asthma and other respiratory ailments. People who live near or work on factory farms have 3 times the rate of asthma of the general population.
3. The cheap corn and soybeans that are used for feeding this mass of animals can come from South America and other places, contributing to deforestation of the precious rain forests.
4. The massive amounts of Methane and Sulfur dioxide produced by the animals (farts) contributes more to greenhouse gases than all vehicles on the roads combined.

The reason I find this interesting is the statistic I quoted at the beginning: 70% of Americans consider themselves environmentalists. Yet 95% of Americans eat meat, and 99% of Americans eat dairy, eggs, or other animal products. Given the facts presented above, you simply CANNOT be an environmentalist if you choose to eat animal products. Unless you farm the animals yourself (in a non factory manner), you are enabling that system. Eating organic doesn't help. Organic operations are just as factory as the next guy.

If you care about the environment like I do, I hope that you use these newly learned facts to opt out of the factory farming system. Your health and our planet will be all the better for it.

Feel free to share any experiences or thoughts you have on your journey to true environmentalism and a truly sustainable lifestyle. Good luck!

M Jacob Ott, MD

Fat Pride. Why it Isn't Good for Us

Let me begin by saying that this post may not be completely politically correct. I don't really like political correctness very much. Being super careful not to offend anyone is not really a great way to motivate. I will also say that I am sensitive to the issues I am about to present. As a fat, then skinny, and now fat again person, I more than most understand the issues that overweight people face. I have been made fun of, and felt insecurity and depression about my body image.

With all of that said, I HATE the current "fat pride" movement. In this era of equality and social progressiveness, we are taught that however a person chooses to live is totally OK, and that we should celebrate their life choices. Now, I am in no way racist or sexist. I am really glad that women have achieved equal rights, and that people of non-white ethnicities have made huge strides in social, economic, and academic circles. I am also very glad that gay marriage has become acceptable. Regardless of your beliefs about the sinfulness or lack thereof of homosexuality, I think most people can agree that gay marriage is a political, not a religious issue. I truly believe that everyone deserves equal protection under the law, regardless of what the dominant religion has to say about it. (I am Christian, but in America, religion and law are two separate issues).

The fat pride movement is quite different. There are plusses and minuses to it. I'll start with the positive. It is a good thing that people are happy with who they are, and don't have to suffer major self-esteem issues because they don't fit society's standard of beauty. Here in America, beauty seems to be the most important objective. Most people want to lose weight because they need to fit into a bikini, or look good in their little black dress.

Which leads us to the big minus: beauty is a secondary concern. As a doctor, I am primarily concerned about people's health. Unlike being a woman, being African American, or being gay, obesity leads to scads of health problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, depression, chronic pain, and most likely early death. This is my big problem with fat pride. People use it as an excuse to forgive themselves for what is usually a deep emotional issue, or a major addiction. It would be similar to having a movement for alcoholic pride, or meth abuser pride. Just because someone chooses a certain lifestyle doesn't mean that it needs to be celebrated.

I am pissed off at myself because I gave up and got fat again. I don't want to accept my body. I am not depressed or unhappy, but I am not satisfied with how I currently am. My goal is to reach 175 lbs (about 100 from where I am now). After reflecting for a long time about the fat pride movement, I have decided to selectively accept a few things, and reject others. I accept that overweight people should not be ridiculed or disrespected just because they don't fit our narrow view of beauty. I reject that we should stay how we are out of some misguided sense of pride or arrogance. Thankfully, no one need ever be obese. All it takes to find health and a normal weight is a few lifestyle changes.

The DevolveHealth eating plan is simple, easy to understand, and works every single time. All you have to do is follow 3 guidelines:

1. Eat foods like they grow in nature. (No processed sugars, oils, or "food products."
2. Eat a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and grain, and very little if any meat, dairy, or eggs.
3. Choose food for nutrition, not flavor.

Easy to implement, sometimes hard to follow. As I always tell myself in a weak moment, nothing worth having is easy. So refuse to be insulted because you are overweight, but also refuse to accept that obesity is the only possible outcome for you. Join me in reclaiming your health and fitness, and post your comments on here, or on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/devolvehealth). Or go to my web page, and send me an email (www.devolvehealth.com). I would be thrilled to share in your journey, or hear about your successes and hardships.

M. Jacob Ott, MD