When I was much younger (I’m currently 20) I didn’t really have a very healthy diet, nor did I eat a large variety of foods (at this time I was eating the “standard” diet with things such as milk, eggs, cheese, meat, vegetables, fruit, etc.). Once I got a bit older I started buying/cooking my own food, so that gave me the flexibility to experiment with my diet. I’ve always been a fairly health conscious individual, so once I took control of my diet that was naturally an area I wanted to see if I could improve/refine.
Once I learnt what the hell I was doing in the kitchen, I made an attempt to drastically cut down the time I spent with meal preparation as I saw it as a time wasting nuisance. Eventually I got over that (although not completely, hehe
), and I made the switch from unprocessed/refined foods to unprocessed, whole foods (not that I was eating much processed foods, but I was yet to eliminate them from my diet and was quite pleased with the effects I experienced from not eating processed rubbish). Then I started experimenting with adding other things into my diet that were (largely) previously absent, such as good fats, a better balance of nutrients, as well as learning to eat A) only as much as I needed (you really aren’t helping your digestion and your body in general if you overeat – and many people do overeat without knowing it), and B) proper proportions of protein and carbs (which is important if you want your body running efficiently without either getting too much of one thing and causing problems or getting too little of one thing and not having the resources required to get through the day and to keep your immune system in good shape). Most of these changes, by the way, were a result of what I had learnt from reading the book
Sly Moves by Sylvester Stallone (a great book by a great man -- someone who could probably bench press many younger, lesser men right out a window, despite his being 60 years old; I wouldn’t recommend the book to everyone, but if it’s up your alley and you’re able to appreciate the subtle wisdom contained within, it’s well worth reading/owning in my opinion).
Not too long after that, I found Steve’s website and began ploughing through his many, many other articles. As you can imagine, after just finding Steve’s website (as well as shortly before, which was the reason I found Steve’s site in the first place) I was somewhat interested in making some improvements with my life, particularly in area of mental performance/clarity. Steve had a lot to offer, and I was eager to learn and absorb his 1337'ness (never mind if you have no idea what that means). After reading about the experiences Steve had with veganism and the positive effects it had on him, in an attempt to satisfy my intense curiosity to see if there was potential to be tapped, I decided to transition to a vegan diet (my real goal was and still is to try a raw foodist diet, but I’m not quite ready for that yet in terms of appliances needed as well as knowledge/culinary skill). I never thought much of the vegetarian thing (I usually like to go all the way with things I do; half way doesn’t cut it), so instead of doing a 30-day trial or something similar, I decided that gradually removing things from my diet and eating things in lesser quantities over time was the most intelligent option for me, and it would give me a chance to notice the gradual effects (if any) associated with the reduction/removal of animal products. I had no idea when I would be able to officially label myself as a vegan (as I had no idea how long the transition process would take -- I wasn't in a hurry), but my experiment began there and the transition process lasted for about, oh, probably just under 6 months.
First to go was milk and cheese. I honestly never really liked milk before, and while I did used to like cheese, once I stopped eating it I actually became quite repulsed by both milk and cheese and would probably never eat either of them again. Next up was meat. Initially I was concerned about not including meat in my diet (for things such as protein, iron, etc; I was doing weight training at the time, so I had a definite need for such things and I had to be sure I got them elsewhere in adequate amounts), but I thought “what the hell, I can take it”, and over the course of about 4 months I gradually ate less and less meat, eventually removing it from my diet completely (and being thankful I did since meat was/is so bloody expensive these days, and not of terribly high quality). There may have been a
few times after that when I would eat some meat to due to lack of other desirable options (such as when I was eating at a friends place, eating out at non-vegan friendly restaurants, etc.), but eventually I put a stop to that in an effort to no longer corrupt my experiment and so I could see the results of new vegan diet. I’ll also mention that I had absolutley no withdrawal symptoms or anything like that from removing animal products from my diet. I’d attribute most of that to my discipline (if I want to do something I’ll do it no matter what -- withdrawal symptoms can get the hell out of my way as I have no need for such things), but mostly, it wasn’t a particularly difficult thing to do. Quite the contrary, I found it pretty damn easy -– you just stop eating milk, cheese, eggs (which I didn’t really eat much of anyway), and meat, and you’re vegan!
Since then I’ve been strictly vegan (which means I get to contend with people who try to get me to eat animal products and people telling me my diet is stupid/over restrictive
), and I’m still in the process of optimising my diet and becoming accustomed to it. As you can probably imagine, while "transitioning" to vegan isn't that hard (at least it wasn't for me), getting used to veganism isn’t the easiest thing to do (there was/is lots to learn in terms of cooking preparation, nutrition knowledge, how to deal with being vegan in a non-vegan world, etc.), but it is perfectly manageable without too much effort and I’m yet to run into any issues. As with anything in life, if you make a series attempt, it usually yields to your presence and lets you proceed to victory.
As for the effects of no longer eating any animal products, they haven’t been as profound as I would have hoped, although what I have experienced is definitely desirable, enough for me to not want to go back to my older, less efficient diets (after experiencing it, I consider veganism an improvement). After cutting out milk and cheese out of my diet I noted significant improvement to my digestion process. My body seemed much more efficient at processing food, as if it was no longer being weighed down my some sort of undesirable substance (or substances in this case). I noticed no real difference between eating meat/not eating meat (although I was eating mostly chicken in the last few months I was a carnivore, so maybe that had something to do with it, I don’t know), although I have noticed a difference from eating more plant foods. Generally my body is more functional and alert, and I feel much less lethargic, even if I haven’t eaten much for the day or if I haven't had enough. In general, my body is much more resilient and I have a general feeling of “wellbeing”, very similar to what I experienced when I first stopped microwaving my food as well as when I started eating more organic foods. Food seems to be more “energised”, nutritious, and higher quality, and you feel as if you’re getting more content from what you are eating.
So as you can see, my motivation to go vegan had little to do with thinking it was the "optimal" choice (is there really ever an optimal choice?) and everything do to with satisfying my curiosity, trying to tap further efficiency and superior results out of life, and making an intelligent, conscious choice (one that I'm sure will benefit the environment in some way, unlike my previous dietary choices). Overall, I'm pleased with the results so far, and I'm keen to further optimise my vegan diet further, as there is much more I can learn and improve upon. Once I've done that, it's onward to the next challenge which will be the inclusion of (and maybe the total transition to) more raw foodist type foods. From there, I don't know -- maybe I'll figure out how to absorb energy from the sun Superman-style and rid myself of this inefficient thing we call "eating". Either way, the future looks good diet-wise!
Denny Crane. Who's your daddy? Denny Cane.