The Reluctant Vegan

I loved this post. I am fairly recently a "pescatarian/lacto/ovo" vegetarian. I incorporate a lot of vegan meals, though (maybe 60%), and have severely cut down on dairy. I never ate a lot of eggs anyway, unless they were in something else. Fish is a rarity. I want to make the switch to fully vegan but haven't had the guts to do it cold turkey. Seeing your story is an inspiration. I think maybe I'll start a 30-day vegan challenge and see how it goes. Maybe I'll just keep going like you did! Thanks for sharing your story.

I loved the OP's story. It was well-written, funny and inspiring, and it's wonderful to hear success stories. Thank you!

I hope this thread doesn't devolve into a debate of vegan/vegetarian versus meat-eaters. This post was too great for that.

What I find interesting is that the OP DID NOT replace his meat/eggs/butter with candy, mountains of pasta, and processed soylent green. When in Minnesota, he could have had a big bowl of glutinous spaghetti at the steak house, but because he's gluten-free also, he didn't. He had a colorful (yet, bland) salad.

He could have snarfed down huge bowls of fruit loops while his buddies carb-loaded on that lumberjack special, but instead he had oatmeal. To me, regardless of whether he was vegetarian, vegan, or omnivorous... his healthy (albeit reluctant) choices were the key to success.

Was it the meat that was raising his LDL before? Well, maybe, but also maybe because it was eaten along with whatever else he wanted and as much as he wanted. Our OP did not just eliminate meat/eggs/dairy, he has also eliminated gluten, and is eating in a healthy way.

My sister eats a "plant-based diet". She has swooned over Forks Over Knives and the China Study, so I've heard it. I've engaged in crazy texting debates about it. I also eat a plant-based diet minus the grains and legumes, along with meat and healthy fats. I have watched the movie too. I also read the detailed critiques of the movie and the debunking of the China Study. http://rawfoodsos.com/2010/07/07/the-china-study-fact-or-fallac/ Too bad the correlations espoused by the study/movie are tenuous, but I'm not surprised. It's so hard to study pesky humans! And really, does it matter? If the movie gets people to eat in a more healthful way and stop supporting CAFOs... that's great.

Eat meat or don't. Drink milk or don't. What matters is that we get healthier, and support great stories of success like this one.

Now all you paleo/primal/vegan/vegetarian/pescatarian/ketosis-loving people... go eat a salad! Top if with steak. And bleu cheese. Or not.

This was a great read. I watched the same movie. It changed my life along with my families. I have never had such good blood work and health checks as over the last year. I am a new person!