Vegan/Vegetarianism



LAW DAWG said:
What has been your experience? Did your over-all health improve any? Did your energy level go up or down? Sorry for all the questions, but I'm asking because I'm close to going vegetarian or vegan.
Click to expand...
I can share my journey. It's been about 45-50 days since I last ate any kind of meat. Now this wasn't something I just up and decided to do. I got to this point gradual. Looking back now, it's almost like a divine design for me...LOL I can go back to my undergrad years when I started making changes to what I ate and drank. Then in the back of my mind I started feeling someway about eating animals but I still love certain meats too much to stop eating them. Then came my personal fasts, many that were meatless which allowed me to discover vegan options. The game changer was when I read Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu's book "Satan I'm Taking Back My Health." I actually mentioned this to the author himself. He ALMOST had me converted. But I continued my different fasts, started watching Documentaries in recent years (What the Health, Cowspiracy, Game Changer, etc.)

My birthday was back in early June, I cooked me a nice T-Bone Steak, Baked Potato, Asparagus. It was so good. But a few days later, hard to describe, I just said I need to make the change permanent. And just like that I've done nothing but eat plant based food
 
LAW DAWG said:
What has been your experience? Did your over-all health improve any? Did your energy level go up or down? Sorry for all the questions, but I'm asking because I'm close to going vegetarian or vegan.
Click to expand...

I can share my journey. It's been about 45-50 days since I last ate any kind of meat. Now this wasn't something I just up and decided to do. I got to this point gradual. Looking back now, it's almost like a divine design for me...LOL I can go back to my undergrad years when I started making changes to what I ate and drank. Then in the back of my mind I started feeling someway about eating animals but I still love certain meats too much to stop eating them. Then came my personal fasts, many that were meatless which allowed me to discover vegan options. The game changer was when I read Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu's book "Satan I'm Taking Back My Health." I actually mentioned this to the author himself. He ALMOST had me converted. But I continued my different fasts, started watching Documentaries in recent years (What the Health, Cowspiracy, Game Changer, etc.)

My birthday was back in early June, I cooked me a nice T-Bone Steak, Baked Potato, Asparagus. It was so good. But a few days later, hard to describe, I just said I need to make the change permanent. And just like that I've done nothing but eat plant based food since.
 
LAW DAWG said:
What has been your experience? Did your over-all health improve any? Did your energy level go up or down? Sorry for all the questions, but I'm asking because I'm close to going vegetarian or vegan.
Click to expand...
I was trying to share my response from my own journey but I keep getting that browser console error message. Don't understand why. I might message it to you if I keep having problems.
 
This Vegan life is not a bad thing at all. I've tried some nasty stuff but there so much to enjoy. There is pretty much a meat substitute for everything. I had a vegan seafood boil made for me this weekend. It was so fire! Oh, my favorite even though it's not the healthiest is vegan fried chicken made from mushroom oysters. Yeah, look it up!

I can't say that the temptation goes away. You have to keep training and feeding into you mind to keep it going. So far I am enjoying it. My journey!
 
It's been 45-50 days since I last ate meat. For me to go vegan at the moment is something that has happened gradually over many many years. Why now? For me it just feels right to my soul and spirit. I still think about the beef ribs or the last T-bone steak that I ate, but on the other hand, there is some kinda of substitute for almost every meat I used to eat. I also continue to reread books and rewatch documentaries that have added fuel to my journey. Again, maybe this is just a phase for me or maybe this is a permanent change but for now, it just feels so good and so right.

In addition, yeah I feel more energetic, my bowels seem to be regulated, my workouts are more impactful now that I am dieting better. And there are some very tasty vegan choices for myself. This weekend I dug into a Vegan Seafood Boil that was fire. This vegan life is not bad at all.....
 
Last edited:
I could give up beef, rarely eat pork, I could even give up chicken which is what I love to eat, but I couldn't give up fish or other seafood types. I love to fish and someone has to eat it. Lol Beef is something that I don't care for. To much pork is hypertension problems and I only buy organic chicken. I refuse to buy a chicken over 3lbs. Most I buy from whole foods are 2.5lbs. It cost to eat correctly, but it's worth it. I eat kale and spinach seven days a week. Eating green vegetables and don't use salt will help you. Eat garlic to control the blood pressure and use turkey instead of pork to season your greens.
 
LAW DAWG said:
What has been your experience? Did your over-all health improve any? Did your energy level go up or down? Sorry for all the questions, but I'm asking because I'm close to going vegetarian or vegan.
Click to expand...

It's started off hard, because I didn't know what to eat and how to eat. I mainly ate fruits and vegetables. But as I found different vegan websites with recipes that helped a lot. I still do the fruits and vegetables, but I learned to incorporate different rice and different pasta (most pasta have egg products). It took me some time to learn to cook and season, tofu, tempeh, and jackfruit (great chicken subsitute, if prepared properly).

As for health, one of the frustrating question I got was always about vitamin B12, but I was taking B12 supplemenst when I was eating meat, so when I went vegan, my B12 levels were actually higher then when I was on supplements.

One story I tell is that, I had a physical last year, my LDL/HDL, vitamin and other blood levels were great, my doctor had me come back in two, 3 month intervals, because he didn't believe it.

As for energy level, I've always been kind of busy with working out and other activities, so I didn't see a noticeable change.

I do have to be honest and that is, I do consume fish once in a while, mainly if I go to a resturant where I can't put together a vegan meal. Normal it's baked grouper or baked salmon. If I buy it, I get wild caught.


Also for you or anyone else going vegan or just concerned about overall health, you'd be surprised the amount of foods that have animal products or by products. Sugar has bone char, different flavored potato chips or different flavored tortilla chips have milk or eggs. Candies have gelatin (could be pork or beef). Honey, I really never knew how honey was made until I went vegan, and no bees aren't killed, but I'll let ya'll look it up, I don't want to spoil anyone's appetite. The point of me bringing this up, is thatanother hard part of being vegan is reading ingredients.

Of I forgot to mention most beers and some liquors have some animal by products.

Just to help out with the difference between vegetarians and vegans.
Vegans - will not eat any animals, foods with animal products, or foods where animals were exploited in its production (these are the traditional and hardcore vegans)
Vegetarians - will not eat any meats, but will consume dairy, fish, and some will consume eggs.

One last thing is no matter what you choose and even if you don't choose, watch the oils. One reason my doctor was concerned is that, most vegans go crazy using oils, when preparing foods, even when it's not called for.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top