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Special Guest Inspirational Story
Hey all, Rose here. Today I'd like to share with you another special guest story. Please welcome Brian, he's been a vegan just over one year and this is his inspiring journey so far into veganism, health and physical well-being. If you feel enlightened by Brian's experience of a wholefoods plant-based diet and wish to embark on your own personal journey into wholefoods, please feel free to contact me for more info.
So without further ado, allow me to introduce you to Brian.
I had just gotten back from visiting my doctor where I learned that the “Mediterranean diet” I had been challenged with six months prior to lower my cholesterol, actually raised it by 30 points. My doctor wanted to finally put me on a low-grade statin (Pravastatin 40) with another blood check in 8 weeks. She was concerned and we needed to get it under control. I was 44 years old. I weighed 197 lbs at my best, with cholesterol of 251 and tryglycerides of 540. I didn’t go to the gym or do much activity. I mean, I played golf but that was usually with a Corona and a cigar so… Anyways, I was bummed out. I didn’t know how to move forward, let alone my confusion of what to eat, but I knew statin drugs were the last thing I wanted to be taking long-term. I felt like all my choices were wrong. I just didn’t know.
A good friend of mine called me that day to hear the results of my blood work. We had been texting back and forth so he knew where my head was at. I relayed my angst and frustration. He gave me the best two word advice - dig deep. Those words gave me pause. I took what he was saying to heart and really began to evaluate myself through those words. DIG DEEP. I started to ask some tough questions. Was I doing the best I could? Was I being truthful with myself? How bad did I want it? Did I have the mental fortitude? Can I be the person I think I am? It was all beginning to swirl.
That night, in between rounds of beating myself up and wallowing in self-pity, my wife and I watched a documentary called “What the Health?” on Netflix. It hit me like a ton of bricks. It changed my life. I found the answers to a lot of the questions I was asking and answers to questions I didn’t even know I should be asking. It was like an awakening. It was weird, for sure. It’s like everything clicked into place. I knew I wanted to be better and could be better. I knew I had the mental toughness or at least I hoped. Finally, I had the answer. A plant-based, vegan, low-sugar lifestyle.
The next day, armed with an overhauled mindset, I began my quest to lower my cholesterol and live a healthier better me. I had 8 weeks to shock myself and the doctor. DIG DEEP.
OK. Where to begin. (Rubs hands together)
I thought I was going to starve the first day. I had no idea the road I took. But, I’m an all or nothing type of person. Always a cannonball into the deep end. So for me, I had to be militant about certain things. I needed hard guardrails. I had to abide (the dude abides) to a few strict rules for myself.
- Do not use the word “diet.” This is not a diet. Diet means “short-term” and something you go on. This is a lifestyle. Everything will change and be affected by this lifestyle - eating out with friends, going to the movies, seeing a sporting event, etc. Food is a part of everything we do. Diets are restrictive - a negative view. Lifestyle is positive and open ended.
- Stop using the phrase “I’m Starving” because you’re not. You’re just hungry and it’s ok to feel hungry. When we use words like starving, mentally, we go into the next meal and eat too fast and over eat. It’s a mental journey as much of a food journey.
- Start grasping the concept that food is fuel. Instead of ‘live to eat’ (which was sooo me), flip it on its head to an ‘eat to live’ mindset.
- I don’t eat tofu. Never liked the spongey-ness texture.
- Don’t try to emulate meat. Stick to whole foods.
- Learn what ingredients are. Get smarter. Read EVERY label. Dig deeper on ingredients.
- And the most important one - No sugar! No sugar! No sugar!
I’m not going to lie, the first few days were tough. Not knowing what to eat and looking at everything in the refrigerator contained some form of sugar or sucralose. This is where holding strong and practicing some mental fortitude comes in handy. It was a little daunting looking at every label, but once you start it becomes a game. My wife and I cleaned out the fridge and cabinets. Boxed up everything that we couldn’t eat or didn’t want to eat anymore and gave it away. Lifestyle change. DIG DEEP.
As my level of ingredient education grew, I became more aware. I began to realize that it wasn’t my fault I ate the way I did. My parents didn’t know. I’m not looking to blame anyone, but I needed to stop blaming myself. It’s what American culture has become - over celebration of food. Bigger, cheesier, gooier. The “What the hell can we fry now” generation. We are bombarded by triple-bacon this and all-you-can-eat that. Driving down the main thoroughfare, we are inundated with cheap meat and sugary big gulps with free refills. Take a look at the back of any food label. Sugar is the only ingredient on that label that the US government doesn’t require your recommended % Daily Allowance. For the record, an average man is 37 grams per day and an average woman is 25 grams per day. Shocking. In my opinion, it started in the 70’s, when the sugar industry gave a non-independent report that sugar was good for you. The government ate it up, we got fat and the boomers are paying the price via Type 2 Diabeties with help the drug companies there to sell you pills and insulin. Just look at the statistics! Almost 10% of the population in 2015. Statistics About Diabetes Type 2 Diabetes has QUADRUPLED since 1980. Type 2 Diabetes Rates Quadruple Worldwide Since 1980 I find this quote interesting "The number of adults with diabetes has reached almost 450 million worldwide, and low- and middle-income countries have experienced the fastest increases” Why? Because there is a ton, a ton of salt, sugar and fat in fast food, meat & dairy. The more I learn, the more my Rule #7 comes into my head - no sugar, no sugar, no sugar.
Needless to say, I cut my sugar to less than 20 grams a day. No processed sugar. Rebooting my taste-buds. I couldn’t believe it. My brain had forgotten what things tasted like. Far too long have my taste-buds had been slathered in sugary sauces, buttery goodness and creamy cheeses masking the real taste of vegetables. Again, total shocker and game changer. It’s like learning what things tasted like for the first time. After a couple of weeks, even the slightest sweetness in foods was almost too sweet - like eating a honey crisp apple for example. Wow! So good! Who would have thunk it?!
Side note: As a general rule of thumb when cooking and following a recipe, I generally cut the sugar in half.
So what did I eat?
That’s the question I’m sure all vegans get. I certainly got it from everyone I know, as I’m the first person in my family and close friends that live a Vegan/Plant-based lifestyle. We stayed at home for the first month cooking all our meals. That was a big change - food as entertainment. We don’t have any kids so going out to find the coolest and best new restaurants was our thing. What would that be like now? Fortunately, our schedule allowed us to cook all our meals - both my wife and I work from home. To get us started, we bought a few cook books (Eat Like You Give A Fuck and V is for Vegan) and followed a few bloggers - Vegan Richa, My Darling Vegan, Chef Chloe, and of course, The Vegan Nutritionist! The easiest way to explain it is we looked at macro food styles – Mexican, Thai, Greek, Italian, Asian, Indian, etc… and worked from there. We created a Pinterest board and just had a ton of fun finding new things to try and cook. We learned all about secret spices like Takii Umami Powder. We got into grains like, bulgar, wheat berries, faro and found out that I am a huge lentil fan. Again, shocking. SMH. After a few weeks, we found some tried and true dishes that have become our go to a year later. I won’t even get into the fact that my wife got into vegan baking :) Mind-blowing.
OK, fast-forward 8 weeks of eating vegan/plant-based diet and keeping my sugar intake down. I gave blood and anxiously waited for my doctor appointment to get the results a couple of days later. My blood work results shocked the doctor. The results shocked me. My overall cholesterol went down from 251 to 183 and my triglycerides went down from 540 to 147. My protein levels tested high-normal on the scale. The doctor took me off the medication. As a bi-product of eating this way, I lost 18 lbs.
8 weeks later, we did another round of blood work to see what the results would be of taking me off the statin. My numbers went up a bit - to be expected. My cholesterol went from 183 to 206 and triglycerides from 147 to 183. I lost another 7 lbs for a total of 25 lbs.
Dig Deep.
It’s now been a year later that I’m writing this. I consider myself living a Dietary Vegan/Plant-based lifestyle. I still wear leather. I’m glad I’m saving over 200 living creatures a year, but I’m doing it more for my health. (Selfish bastard.) Sugar is always going to be a battle, especially now that my wife has gotten into vegan baking! But, at least I know what I’m putting into my body. I’m definitely more educated and learning every day. I’ve added the gym into my lifestyle. I go 4 days a week for 60 minutes. That was the final “puzzle” piece for me. Tone my body now that I’m feeling better, sleeping better and having more natural energy. I went from a large to a medium, a 36 to 32 waist, 3 chins to 1 (Damn Family Curse!) and changed my body inside and out.
On my latest blood work, I learned I was low in B12. No biggie. The remedy is taking a couple of squirts of a B12 mouth spray. Cherry yummy! My cholesterol is 200, HDL is 43 and Triglycerides are 168. Still have some work to do but it’s UNDER CONTROL. My blood pressure went down 25 pts and I’ve been holding at 170lbs down from 197 lbs when I started. It must be weekly that I say to my wife, “I’m so happy we are eating and living this way!” I would have never, ever, in my wildest advertising days, thought, I would take this journey. What I’ve learned, is it comes down to timing. I was at a point in my life that I didn’t know what to do to be healthy. I had a cholesterol problem that was out-of-control and I didn’t want a life of pills. A friend’s words of encouragement that became a philosophy drove me. A documentary that jarred me and opened my eyes. And, quick results that I could see and quantify. We’re also living in a time when Vegan and Plant-based are becoming more mainstream making it easier to find faster, healthier choices. What does that all equal? Happiness on a whole other level.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
DIG DEEP.
Brian Moore
Website: bmoorecd.com
Twitter: @bmoorecd
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