I think I am becoming Vegan

So this is a journey that happened by accident. I truly had no intention of becoming a vegetarian. I still would not call myself a vegetarian. I just choose not to eat that much meat.

I am out with some friends after we were moving. Getting some late night dinner and not having any food in the new apartment. We went to a Boston Pizza. I am looking at the menu and I am trying to see some food that won't overwhelm me. I worked hard that day, I needed fuel but I also needed to eat smart for my bike the next day.

So here I am looking at calories, looking at protein, doing math in my head. I ask
"do you have any vegetarian meals"?

The table goes silent. Everyone else is ordering Pizza, wings, Nachos and Calamari. I am looking at salad. I follow my question about salad with

"do you have a vinaigrette dressing"?

It hits me at that moment. I am not making this decision to save the animals. Sorry to all those that do choose to be vegetarian for that reason (especially you Nadja). I don't. I am choosing that because of my experience the last month following the Vegan Diet.

I have not only enjoyed the food, but I have noticed an increase in my recovery and my ability to push a little harder when biking. For me it is purely a selfish reason. I hurt less, and I can perform more. It makes economical sense.

I get all the other reasons to do become vegetarian, or vegan (I don't like to call myself vegan because I feel like I will never eat anything from an animal again. I still eat honey)

It just made sense to help my body out. The thrive diet book was well written and explained about how the least amount of processing means the least amount of energy it takes from your body to process it. In short it takes less energy to turn that into gas for your engine. As a Triathlete training for my first Ironman that just made sense to me.

What I did not expect, and what was kind of subtle, was how after a month and a bit, I can really feel when I have eaten “processed food”

I have the Whole Food Health Optimizer and the Sports drink. I eat allot of salads and I have gone out and followed the book. I now have a pantry filled with Hemp protein, nuts, berries and oils. I eat anything that is green and I am getting an addiction to Kale wraps!!

This again was not a pursuit to become a vegetarian; this was to improve my ability to sport.

So I am sitting in Boston Pizza and my friends are looking at me. I don’t care; I know how I will feel tomorrow if I eat all the processed food. I will have less energy; it will take me a day or two to get that crap out of my system. I can actually feel the “weight” of the meal before I eat it.

I came back from visiting my family in Toronto for father’s day, and before I left I was making sure they bought lot’s of greens, lot’s of fresh fruit and veggies. I brought my own protein and made sure there would be grapefruit in the morning.

What is happening to me? Before my accident and even during my marathon training and up to the Ironman training, I had no problem ordering a pizza, eating cheese. I even had the occasional hamburger from McDonalds. I also had a love affair with Taco Dell Mar.

It took a very short time for me to make this change; in fact I didn’t even realize I was changing. It was so natural. It just made sense. I think I will still enjoy some meat now and then. Christmas, special occasion, but even as I type this I start to think how that will feel. Maybe I won’t.

I was recently at my wife’s house and I find the traditional Chinese diet to be less intrusive than the North American diet. I still, however, choose my food a little better.

I was known as the guy who would eat anything. I know look at food completely different. I had a conversation with my wife recently about growing our own vegetables. If you knew me this is an odd thing for me to say.

I stopped drinking coffee during my marathon training. I pretty much drink water and green tea. How did this happen? When did I become this guy? I like him, but it is funny. I truly recommend all the Vega products. Check out their website. http://sequelnaturals.com/en/vega

I mean if a past couch potato, TBI (Traumatic Brain Survivor) turned marathoner, turned triathlete can do this, so can you. It happens and you don’t even know it.
You too will find yourself looking at a menu and wondering if they have any greens!