vegan

3 Years of Vegan and the Surprising Facts in Numbers!

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Yesterday marked 3 years of being vegan for me. The health benefits are above and beyond. But in this post I am going to concentrate on the other benefits. I have stated before that I made the switch for health reasons and the “other” environmental reasons would come naturally.

Yesterday I visited http://thevegancalculator.com/#calculator and all the sudden I realized the impact. As you see the screen above it may look exaggerated at first, but after looking at their source at https://www.cowspiracy.com/facts it made sense.

By not eating chicken, cow, sheep, or any of the bi-products like milk, eggs, etc., I have single-handedly saved over 1000 animal lives.

Here are the numbers:

  1. Animal lives saved: 1,095
  2. CO2: 21,900 lbs
  3. Water: 1,204,500 gallons
  4. Forest: 32,850 Sq Ft.
  5. And 43,800 lbs of grain.

I look at these numbers and I have nothing else to say.

One Year Vegan Experience (And the best restaurant dish)

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So… A little over a year ago, I’ve had my appendix removed, then after watching a documentary called ‘Food Choices’ I decided to become a vegan. Well, it’s been 365 days of being vegan, which means I have survived and still alive today without milk, eggs, cheese, red meat, chicken, or even fish. And I have to say, I am healthy.

Not going to lie, still crave a steak, seafood and even chicken. But just like when I quit smoking years ago and still crave one here and there, it doesn’t mean to just go for it.

And to be completely honest, I did it because it’s healthier, not because it’s better for the environment or whatever, yeah it’s all good and all, and you can call me selfish, but the way I was thinking, is that it’s better for me in general and the other good stuff come with it automatically.

Not to mention the fact that I live in NYC which is like a heaven for vegans and it did help a lot.

I’ve had so many new choices and alternatives, the majority of my food was home made, and my new best friend is a company called Gardien, smoothies, vegetables (frozen or none), and even eating out in a strictly vegan places. The best thing I have had in a restaurant is hands down the impossible burger:

See… It’s science.

A post shared by Alex (@1lx) on

Any way, I am going to try to make it another year and hopefully more with this awesome experience.

 

6 Months of Being Vegan, Top 5 Things I’ve Learned.

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A couple of days ago, I officially passed 6 months of being vegan. For the past few years I’ve lowered my meat intake and always wanted to become a complete vegan. Six months ago, I had an appendectomy (that’s the surgery where they remove your appendix) it’s a fairly easy surgery, in fact, I went to the emergency room at 11:30pm, started the surgery at 1:30pm and was discharged at 5:30pm. That’s a total of 18 hours. My instructions in terms of food was: to go back to my regular diet almost right away.

Being an extra careful person, I’ve decided on no meat or chicken for a couple of days just to give my body that extra recovery time that my digestive system may have needed.

Only 2 days after I made that decision, I watched a documentary called “Food Choices“. Combined with a few other documentaries I’ve seen. And the fact that I’ve quit smoking years ago cold turkey. I decided to become a vegan.

Here are the top 5 things I’ve learned about being a vegan:

  1. It’s really not that hard at all:

Since I made the switch, everyone I told that I’m now a vegan always asked “how hard it is?”

I do miss meat and fish here and there, but there’s a ton of alternatives, from awesome recipes on YouTube, to vegan products that mimics meat, chicken and fish. And even help from vegan friends. I’ve found out that it’s not that hard at all to become a vegan. Go ahead, search YouTube for vegan recipes, you’ll see.

Here’s a picture of this fake chicken with mushrooms over rice dish that my awesome wife made:

Not to mention the fact that we live in the heart of vegan heaven “NYC”, this is awesome on its own, there are so many vegan restaurants within a walking distance.

  1. I’m so much happier in general:

I’ve quit smoking 11 years ago, I don’t drink alcohol and I don’t do drugs. I bike and walk a lot. Yet, I haven’t felt this happy and more open to a positive life, not to mention the extra energy I felt just a couple of weeks since I’ve made the switch.

I don’t know if this is a common thing with vegans, but that’s truly how I felt.

 

  1. A positive health effect:

This is a tricky one, some vegans I’ve met said they gained weight. The reason is the extra carbs they ate. I’ve always been extra careful with carbs. I’m not a pasta guy, I like rice, it’s more natural. Same goes with bread, pita bread is my favorite, and it also happens to be the least carbs bread with the most natural ingredients. I don’t do sugar either.

With all of that, I’ve lost a total of 48 lbs in the past 6 months. Hit my BMI goal without even working out, just eating right.

Also, my sleeping habits went from an insomniac to a full 7 hours a day of a fully rested sleep.

  1. The huge impact on the environment:

Being a green and sustainable couple, we’ve learned throughout the years the impact of the food industry on the environment, being a vegan on its own delivers a huge positive impact on the environment. I like that.

  1. Some awkwardness:

I said it wasn’t that hard at all, but there is only one thing that I found a bit difficult: Events and gatherings. When we go to an event, or a friend’s event, we can’t find foods that’s dairy free or with no meat. I’m OK with that, the thing is, when I go to a friend’s place and they feel bad that they didn’t prepare a vegan meal, that’s when I feel awkward, I really don’t mind that my friends did not prepare a vegan meal or dish, they are in no way obligated to do so, then they start apologizing, they totally don’t need to. I recently started bringing a bag of chips or a vegan snack with me. No awkwardness needed.

 

In conclusion: it’s awesome being vegan, I’m going to continue, for the rest of my life, it’s a choice I have made.