Today… it falls on a saturday this year, so I get to actually write about it in the present tense! Today is a day celebrated by somewhere around 1% of the population – World Vegan Day – where we can congratulate each other on our efforts and remind ourselves that there’s always something more we can do to minimize our negative impact on the planet and the other Earthlings we share it with.
I know not everyone reading this is vegan, and as someone who became vegan at the age of 38 and spent a good while resenting veganism and many of it’s supporters, I do get it. Not everyone is ready and equipped to take this step at this precise moment in time.
I understand that vegans are an easy bunch to hate on, but for us it’s a catch 22. We constantly see posts online stating that “vegans are preachy” and “Q: how do you know if someone’s vegan? A: you don’t have to ask, they’ll just tell you.” thereby making it IMPOSSIBLE for a chill vegan to say anything without becoming the stereotype, when the truth is, the number of meat-eater responses to vegan posts that are just “bacon” or some tone-deaf and uninformed meme being passed off as actual information is far more antagonizing than any vegan comment I’ve eve seen – and I’ve seen a lot.
Truth be told, I’ve filtered posts with the words ‘vegan’ and veganism’ from my facebook feed intentionally because these comments are irritating, the images of factory farmed animals and abused animals posted in invoke a sympathetic like or share are too intense for me.
I primarily go online to be entertained, and the further I get into middle age, the more I realize that I long for the days when we were given actual, objective news and then expected to form our own opinions on what was happening in our world. At this point, I’d estimate that 95% of the internet is opinions posted by attention seekers who are under-qualified to speak on anything, let alone the subject they’re speaking on.
And although we’re all out here confirming our own biases, I will say that what first led me to become vegan was not animal rights (though that does align with me now – it just wasn’t the first thing that attracted me).
It was a health journey.
I truly believe that; depending on your goals, a conscious, whole food, vegan diet with a balanced macronutrient intake is the best decision most of us can make for overall health and longevity. This is based in scientific study. No, I won’t cite sources, but I will recommend some documentaries below.
I won’t say that veganism is the only way to be healthy, but I will say that a macronutrient-balanced whole food diet is the best way to simultaneously be healthy and minimize your carbon footprint. A whole food Vegan lifestyle is ideal for recovery and prevention of heart attack, stroke, dementia, digestive problems, skin problems. All the natural antioxidant (cancer preventing) foods are plants. The easiest way to follow the alkaline diet is by being vegan.
I didn’t lose 166 lbs on a vegan diet.
I lost 151 lbs on an omnivorous (meat eater) diet.
THEN I lost 15 lbs on a vegan diet.
… Then ran an olympic length triathlon course, and a half marathon.
I kept the weight off, and maintained an active lifestyle for 5 years (so far).
I currently weight 210 lbs, I have a resting heart rate of 46 bpm, and my blood pressure is textbook. I regularly run between 10km and 14km, bike 25km of trail, and can swim 1500m, and lift weights regularly. People regularly forget that I am vegan because I (a) don’t preach about it much, and (b) don’t look like your stereotypical vegan.
You can do whatever you want… if you’re open to change.
Happy World Vegan Day.
VEGAN DOCUMENTARY RECOMMENDATIONS:
Forks Over Knives
The Game Changers
They’re Trying To Kill Us
What The Health
Seaspiracy
Cowspiracy
Christspiracy
… and if you can handle it, Earthlings.
The Conscious Pilgrim 