My vegan life officially began in June 2007 on my 42nd birthday. While there is nothing magical about June 26th, my birthday does create a line, which I've used to mark significant life-changing decisions. A big one came on my birthday in 2004 as I turned 39 and gave up a vegetarian diet to become a meat-eater again.
Believe it or not, the first part of this veggie tale begins as a weight loss story as a carnivore!
In 2003, I was a partial vegetarian, limiting my meat consumption to one meal a day. I am not totally sure of the reason for the decision at that time, but the roots of my vegetarian convictions run deep (and I will eventually articulate them).
By the end of that year, I was down to about 1 meal with meat a week, however, my weight was up as my vegetarian diet consisted of lots of pasta and parmesan cheese. I was weighing in at 180-185, and on my 5'6" frame, I was looking rather round. I really didn't notice how much weight I had gained until I saw a picture I took with my godkids for Christmas. I looked big, but wrote it off to the angle of the camera.
I enjoy the outdoors and pride myself in being a backpacker. But in April 2004 on a hike for a friend's 40th birthday, something occurred which really got my attention. I hadn't been out hiking much that season. I knew I was out of shape, and had gained some weight, but I didn't think much about it. "I am a hiker," I said to myself. "I know how to do this stuff. I'll be OK."
Unfortunately, I was not OK. I was not doing well on the hike and didn't want to admit it. I blamed it on the warm weather, the steep inclines, the "getting over a cold", but I knew that wasn't the truth. I was in the rear huffing and puffing. I was out of shape, and all of a sudden, something clicked. If I want to keep hiking and backpacking, I knew I needed to do something to get into shape.
Thus, as I prepared to turn 39 in June 2004, I set as a goal to be "fit and 40" by my birthday in 2005. In a Men's Health magazine I picked up one day in a grocery store, I read about the Abs Diet. It intrigued me with the promise to "lose 10 pounds in 6 weeks." Could this diet really do that? I purchased the book by David Zinczenko, read it all in about a day, and decided to go for it.
Thus, as I turned 39 in June of 2004, I ceased my vegetarian diet which had caused the weight gain over the past few years. Would I be a sucker for empty promises? Only time would tell.
Though I had been a "partial vegetarian" before the Abs Diet, I was not eating a healthy diet. I was eating little to no protein, and lots of carbs. I liked desserts, and also enjoyed drinking Coke (and not the diet stuff). The Abs Diet began to teach me about nutrition.
The first thing I did was cut out soda, and I began to simplify my meals around the 12 power foods in the Abs Diet. I started an exercise plan beginning with weight training during the summer, and the initiation of running in September. It took me about 8 weeks to lose 10 pounds, but the diet started me on a journey of health and fitness, and as I continued to learn more about food and my body, by the end of that year I had dropped 25 pounds. I was feeling good.
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