Momentum Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 Hi all, I've been a lurker here for a little while and an admitted on-again, off-again vegan and vegetarian. I've found it difficult to maintain it primarily because it is so much different than what I typically eat that it is uncomfortable and inconvenient when I get *really* hungry. I've been eating garbage (including fast food) for many years and food for me has always been that "reliable friend", and to drift away too much from that I've felt "isolated" and so I run back to it. I've probably been vegan no longer than a month at a time, and it's been about two years since I last tried to be vegan seriously. When I don't do the fast food (been doing it a few times a week) I'm primarily cooking vegetarian or vegan meals which my wife and kids enjoy, too, so I have some momentum going there that's stayed with me when I learned some vegan recipes. Today, out of the blue, I received a phone call from my Dad, whom I've had a falling out with over the years, who told me he will be having triple-bypass surgery in a week and two other additional related invasive surgeries. Lost story short, this shocked me more than anything before and I immediately pledged to myself to go vegan forever. Time will tell, but my Dad has always been a "meat and potatoes" guy, yet with otherwise good health and weight. In fact, for his age I even viewed him as healthier than me. I never saw this coming. A couple of weeks ago, my wife's father passed away due to liver cancer and pancreatic cancer and the doctors also suspected poor diet as he had no other ailments or vices. I love animals and abhor the suffering they good through in our factory farming agrobusiness, but I never do well enough to keep a focus on it, and frankly I want to call myself vegan for the health benefits. I've heard making change means having enough reasons, and I have plenty of reasons, including my two young ones. So I hope to gain from this community a focus on healthy eating and also start setting goals for getting fit, creating more lean muscle mass, and increase my aerobic capacity and strengthen my heart through regular exercise and feed myself with balanced vegan nutrition. I do want to include bodybuilding into this, but not for competitive reasons and rather to look and feel good and be able to be there for my kids for many decades to come, including setting an example for them. Thanks for listening.Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vegan Joe Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 Cool dude!I started almost 3 years ago. and went on a vegan diet for what was going to be 30 days to retake (beat) a cholesterol test, because my doctor suggested I take pills befor retesting. I knew he was trying to get me hooked on cholesterol pills. So I read books, probably the best being the China Study, I seached the internet everyday, and learned alot about Veganism. I became convinced that the way of the world was wrong. I knew the truth. I never looked back. I am so glad that I adapted this lifestyle and ways of thinking about me and the world around me. I wish you great health on your journey. PS maybe we can get together and talk as I love Santa Cruz and the beach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 Welcome Matt! So cool you guys live near each other...more and more people form CA are joining and it's great. I've even been down there and have randomly bumped into forum members from CA at a restaurant or something like that. It has been very cool. Great to have you here and I look forward to meeting you one of these days. All the best! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momentum Posted February 14, 2009 Author Share Posted February 14, 2009 Thanks, guys. Yeah, Vegan Joe, one of these weekends we can hook up. Robert, if I see you in a restaurant I'm sure I'll recognize you! We got some good ones here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Im Your Man Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Hi and welcome ! Hope you'll stay vegan for good this time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubby2112 Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Welcome and good luck on your journey! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuc Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Welcome, Matt! Wow, I guess sometimes you really need something shocking to make things happen. Hope your father will be ok (and hopefully he'll cut meat from his diet). You'll be amazed how you'll get great results as a vegan even with moderately small amount of training if you just do it wise and eat enough. Good luck, remember that there are loads of people who will support you on your way here. Don't get stuck with any problem alone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocalBrada Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Welcome and good health! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dropSoul Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Follow your heart and your heart will thank you! The China Study is great. So is Reversing Heart Disease by Dr. Dean Ornish. My good friend Roger (that dude is ripped) was a butcher, his father had really bad heart problems, he read Dr. Ornish's book and became a vegan, now he's a huge AR person here. Best of luck with your goals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momentum Posted March 21, 2009 Author Share Posted March 21, 2009 I'm hanging in. Not really in the stressful sense! Doing good. My father has had weeks of complications, but his experiences have been the strongest motivating factor in my going vegan. Thanks, dropSoul! Actually I've been reading Dr. Ornish's book which is fantastic. Thanks everyone for your kind words; you folks are great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tasha Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 Hi Welcome Great to have you here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryStella Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 Hello! Welcome on, my initial reason for going vegan was having many deaths in my family due to heart disease. my mother has had two double bypass surgeries in the last decade and i did not want to follow in their footsteps. I had cholesterol in the 300s at age 7 and struggled with getting it down all my life until I went vegan and it came down very quickly. I also noticed I became a better athlete after going vegan. Able to train harder, recover quicker etc. but enough about me. I also read dr. ornishs books and they are very good. One other book I would like to recommend to you is "prevent and reverse heart disease" by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn. It is an excellent book that is a quick easy read and had a cookbook with lots of good recipes in the back of it. I had the opportunity to see Dr. esselstyn speak last year at summerfest and also to meet him after his talk and he is very inspirational. Hopefully you can use this forum as your support when your feeling isolated instead of fast food. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbanvegan Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 im def a santa cruz local... been lookin for some locals to get with exchange food recipes etc etc.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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