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It’s funny, I usually find out about these types of anniversaries shortly after they’ve ended so it’s momentous that I am reflecting on this day some timely.

I officially became vegan in March of 2020 – a month & year that none of us will ever forget. At that time I’d been vegetarian for a few months (again), after several phases of vegetarianism throughout my life. This time was succinctly different in that my health had already become a priority, and had recently become aware of something that I found completely mind-blowing – a thing most people continue to disbelieve – the plant-based athlete.

My previous bouts with vegetarianism were plagued with doubt from the onset as I was continually barraged with misinformation about how unhealthy that lifestyle can be if you don’t do it properly. My penchant for unhealthy eating through most of my life was obviously no help, and deep down I knew definitively that each of those pursuits would be doomed to fail before they even began.

However this time I saw not only social and societal benefits by way of preservation of animal life and the environment, but personal benefits as well. In this endeavor there would be no losers and no sacrifice, and although I am still what many would classify as a ‘new vegan’ I really can’t see a scenario in which I would willingly go back to being omnivorous.

I think about this a lot, but I’ve ultimately decided that I don’t want to be one of ‘those vegans’ who preach & condemn and become difficult to talk to. I have my ways and my methods, and other people have theirs – and I learned a long time ago that you can’t change anybody’s mind. I used to think that you couldn’t change anybody’s mind by beating them over the head with information – but through the pandemic I’ve learned that you can’t change anybody’s mind AT ALL. They have to change, and all I can do is be open and live in a manor that is open and approachable, and show what’s possible by being a living example. With that, I’ll state that I did not lose my previously mentioned 166 lbs on a vegan diet. I lost less than 20 on a vegan diet. I lost almost 150 on an omnivore diet.

I’m not better than anyone. I’m just a better ‘me’ than I was before.

That said there’s a myriad of documentaries, books, and podcasts available on the subject – and although I’m sure your google search works just as well as mine, but I recommend checking out ‘What The Health’ and ‘The Gamechangers’ – both of which were huge documentaries for Lu & I. There are others, of course – more coming all the time, but I personally found these to be an excellent place to start.

Many vegans recommend a film called ‘earthlings’ that covers all of the animal atrocities you can imagine and it’s absolutely heart-wrenching. I personally couldn’t get all the way through it.

Ultimately, despite the intense amount of meal prep that can pile up from time to time, we can’t imagine living any other way. The think & live more clearly, we recover from physical exertion much faster, and are more in tune with our environment. If you’re truly curious, try it for 21 days.

You can eat anything for 21 days.
We know this because you can eat nothing for 21 days.

Wild week that it’s been, I somehow managed to upload BOTH Episode Zero AND Episode One of The Conscious Pilgrim video series to YouTube. This gives me a brief reprieve from the camera lens and puts me back in front of the computer screen as I start piecing together the next episode which will be centered around food & nutrition.

After a little across-the-kitchen brainstorming session it seems that there’s way too much I’d love to say to ever compress into a single video that caps our around 10 minutes. After all there are entire YouTube channels dedicated to that topic, so (a) how could I possibly say what I want to say in such a short amount of time? And (b) What can I possibly say that hasn’t already been said? These are things to be pondered another day.

This Week in Training has been good.

Continuing along with our new approach to swimming, with markedly improved timing and technique was great, yet not without it’s challenges. Lu & I learned in no uncertain terms that if you’re planning to warm up before your swim, that you should absolutely warm up in the same water you’ll be training in. The public pool where we warmed up and the lane pool where we swam our required 400m was a rather cold transition. We did what we set out to do and it felt great to complete it.

We’ve renewed our memberships to our neighborhood Recreation Center, which means all training is now happening there with rare exception – and just in time, as the climate turns on us. It’s very difficult to film in the Commonwealth outside of some short clips, but not impossible, and I have some footage of my basement weight training that is yet to be used. The access to some of the equipment that we now have as a result is fantastic.

Today we were running outdoors. We’re certainly on borrowed time in regards to running outside, but to me, there’s nothing like it. Our training program indicates that we should be shooting for 15-20 minute runs at this stage but we enjoy it, so we go much longer. Truthfully our biking is closer to what would be required for an Olympic Distance, rather than a Sprint Distance, too – if there’s an obstacle to overcome, it’s swimming – so we’re meeting that challenge head-on.

This week outside of training has been one for the books. It’s been a busy work week for Lu, who works evenings, and between the final touches on these episodes, as well as preparing for my band, The Confusionaires‘ Halloween show this Saturday, it’s been busy. We’re learning the importance of rest and balance this week – but sometimes things are like this, and it’s important to be fluid. All of these things are great contributions to our lives – they just add up, and the first thing to get sacrificed is sleep, which is a detriment.

The full training program is here.

At this stage of the game, there’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll be able to complete the challenges beset us. It’s now a matter of efficiency, technique, and timing and I believe this is all within reach.

If you’re reading this, then you are likely learning right now; at this very moment, that I’ve just launched a website – consciouspilgrim.com – and although Episode Zero AND Episode One of the docuseries are impending, there was a last minute revision that needs to be done before those get uploaded.

In the meantime, here’s a training update:

LAST WEEK, which was WEEK 1 (Oct 11-16) of the official training program that we’ve built (that’ll be available for your perusal very soon) was a a battle fought uphill and in the mud. A training week fraught with tumult and woe; as it were, when time was simply not on our side for the first half of the week, and ultimately we ended up having to make up for lost time in the second half of the week.

The swim didn’t end up happening at all, and the only consolation was the fact that we’d been building up to it for a few weeks anyway because – as it happens, my swimming is certified ‘piss-poor.’ The run was a brisk and effective 6.5 km early morning jaunt and certainly brought the week back into focus. I managed to get 2 heavy weightlifting sessions in lieu of the bike component, and we’re just going to have to live with that.

Emotionally and mentally, to say that it was taxing for us would be a wild understatement. The changing of the weather and the early setting of the sun is not a factor, but just adds insult to injury – in this time of year when your natural inclination is to hide from the cold and eat comforting food, we’re pushing hard in the opposite direction.

THIS WEEK is a completely different feel. We made a huge breakthrough with our swimming progress early this week thanks to some incredibly detailed instructions from a very informative YouTube Channel. It was very much back-to-basics but I can honestly say that I’ve never been as comfortable in the water as I was this past Monday and I’m genuinely excited to get a second session in this week, which will be tomorrow.

I got a great weightlifting session in yesterday, along with some solid footage for an upcoming video, and today’s run was a surprising 11.29km in 58minutes, making for an average time of 5 minutes & 13 seconds per km, which is easily my longest distance and my best time per km at any length. That all leaves me with an early morning spin on Saturday which I look forward to before recovery/feed day on Sunday.

If anything, reflecting on the contrast between last week and this week just illustrates; under the microscope, that every problem is temporary and that fresh perspective should always be welcomed. We strive to be more diligent and less reactionary in our day to day lives through meditation and writing, and as I take a step back to analyze these past 10 days I feel like I am being shown the importance of that in no uncertain terms.