Well, I'm hoping for at least Zero to a solid 3.5 on the Hero scale of 10. I'm not going to try and fool myself into thinking I can achieve Hero status in four months.
My challenge to myself is to go full vegan for the entire 120 days. And not only vegan but the most fundamental veganism - Whole Food Plant Based or WFPB.
Years ago, a health class teacher showed us a documentary about the abuses perpetrated on animals caught in the meat industry which prompted me to become vegetarian for about a year. For many years I would jump on and off that wagon, mostly because my love for animals conflicted strongly with the fact that getting fast food is so easy and tastes so great.
Two years ago, I watched a documentary called Forks Over Knives where a middle-aged guy with potential health problems investigates the health benefits of going WFPB. I also watched another documentary about vegan athletes called The Game Changers . Even though neither film dwells a lot on the animal point of view, they made me realize that vegetarianism is a mediocre response from any angle and wasn't making much difference in my own health nor for animals in the meat industry.
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| How's this for a vegan breakfast? |
My own health is what is making me look seriously at this change. I am now sixty-four years old and I am at the highest weight I've ever been at 270 lbs. (Man, I hate to put that in print!) Just thirty pounds shy of the big 3-0-0 and, by now, I know how easy it is to gain thirty pounds. I have high blood pressure that makes me afraid to go to the doctor because I don't want to end up on a ton of pills. I'm pretty sure I have pre-diabetes. I have post-nasal drip and acid reflux. I got winded walking from my kitchen to my bedroom the other day and I don't live in a mansion. I have no energy.
I have read testimonials from people with diseases ranging from Stage 4 Cancer to Muscular Dystrophy who claim that going WFPB has cured them and turned them into long distance marathon runners. It sounds so much like Dr. Baum's Curative Potion For Everything That Ails You that I wonder, can this really be true? So, I'm going to try it. I think four months is long enough to, at least, start feeling some benefit from it and decide if it's worth turning into a permanent thing. Alas, I have the will power of a crackhead and I am easily led astray by sights and smells, so I am going to limit myself to eating from two cookbooks and for accountability, I am going to keep a daily log on this blog. I have not prepared for this at all so I'm going to have to wing it today, but here goes. 24 June 2024 to 21 October 2024.
