Hey everyone, today I thought I'd share with you my story on how I became vegan, which at the time was mainly for my poor health, but it all became so much more!
It all started when I was 25, I was around 310lbs, I would sit on my reclining chair most of the day playing video games and browsing the Internet. Looking back on it, I was massively depressed, but I didn't realize it at the time. I would use video games as a form of escape from my depressing life sat in the chair, living with my parents, not amounting to anything, meanwhile the clock was ticking on my life! Most people by time their 25 have moved out, got a degree or a good job and at least made some progress.
The tipping point
I remember going with my friend to a local motor racetrack to watch some racing. Now I didn't think about the fact that the racetrack was huge and we'd be walking many many Kms all day and there would also be nowhere to sit! Just walking from.his car to the grandstand, I was tired, I started to slow down and my legs and feet were burning. I started whining to my friend eventually about my legs and feet aching, he didn't really care, why would he, I was 24 at this time and could barely stand for over an hour? This was definitely a turning point for me, I wanted to get healthy and not struggled doing such small amounts of walking.
What happened next?
After that episode, it wasn't long before I decided to research what to do. I'd tried the typical calorie restriction diets in the past and failed miserably! When I was hungry I had to eat, I couldn't ever starve myself! I saw a few documentaries like Forks over knives and Veducated, these really sparked something in me and I realized I need to do something drastic. First of all I discovered Juice fasting and it seemed good for weight loss and health. I saw a documentary called Fat, sick and nearly dead and read a few books on it, and it inspired me. So I gave it a go for all of 2 days, couldn't drink some of the juice es because they were disgusting and gave in. I broke the fast with potatoes waffles and sausages.
Luckily I didn't stop here
And I carried on researching the plant based diet, watched a lot of YouTube videos and realized that the vegan options weren't so limited after all! I decided after Easter 2014 I would go Vegan on the 28th April. My dad also did it with me to support me and the two of us never looked back. At the time my mum thought it would be another fad and it would never stick, how wrong was she! At this point I re watched earthlings, the first time it didn't bother me, but the second time, I almost felt like crying, at this point I realized I'd also made the ethical connection. I felt kinder and more compassionate towards every living creature, big and small. I knew at this point, no matter what I'd remain vegan for the rest of my life. I also started riding my bike at this point and it felt good, I actually had the energy for this now!
What I did next
After being vegan for over 6 months and not seeing many good results with weight loss, I could of given up, but I knew this was the way and I just needed to tweak a few things. Someone suggested the raw diet to me and it made sense at the time. So I gave it a shot for 28 days, I felt tired and weak a lot and found it hard get get in over 3000 calories. I had no strength when it came to riding my bike and decided to go back to cooked and some raw.
My life drastically changed
I made a big decision at the beginning of 2015 to go to Thailand and seriously increase my cycling, meet other vegans for the first time and live a life of TRUE independence, for the first time in my 25 years of life.
Over a period of months the fat kept chipping off, along the way people helped me and I helped other people. I went back to the UK exactly 1 year after I'd left and my parents barely recognized me. Not only was I literally half the man I was when I'd left but I had grown so much as a person. They were proud to call me their son, neighbors even took notice of my achievements and I set them on plant based diets too! I really started to clear my diet up further at this point too and adopt a predominantly wholefoods approach, just as Dr's Mcdougall and Gregor recommend.
Coaching others to health
At this point I started to coach others to lose weight. It all started when someone suggested it, they said you should personally coach others, and I was like what? Anyway I offered my services through YouTube and Instagram and clients came my way. One of my longest clients I coached was a young girl named Marte from Norway. She came to me around 260lbs and although she was vegan, she had no idea of proper nutrition and exercise. I set her on the way and she went on to lose over 100lbs.
Where am I now?
I'm currently 29, and I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life, doing what I love daily, whether it's helping people through coaching, making videos or posts on Steemit or just spending time with the people closest to me.
I do my best to have as little impact on the world as possible, whether it means riding my bike everywhere where possible, being careful with water usage, not wasting food etc. I really do get the big picture, we're in this all together and the more united we are vs divided the better the world will be!
I hope you have enjoyed my story, maybe you have found it inspiring, feel free to share it with your friends and "resteem" it!
If you got value from this, please upvote and feel free to leave me a comment 😄