In the past I would speak with vegetarians about their diets, and they would never push their beliefs onto me, but being curious I would ask about it, and they would simply tell me some of the benefits of cutting meat from their diet. It sounded like a drag, and I thought this was a fad, or something that would only bring you marginal health benefits.
So, in November of 2012 I watched Dr. John McDougall speaking on the subject, and he is the one who explained the real reason for wanting to cut all animal products, not just meat, but dairy as well, from your diet. He is the only one who has ever reached me on this issue (watch Dr. John McDougall speak here), and let me tell you it's very compelling. So I set out to eat more starch, fruits, veggies, beans, etc, and less animal products.
Very soon into my diet, I learned a few lessons, and this post is the first one in a blog dedicated to the lessons learned while switching from a meat-eater diet to a vegan one.
The first few days in my attempt to go animal-free went very well - I felt very good physically, and I felt happy about eating better. But then something drastic happened on about the fourth day: I got really hungry! And nothing I could think of that was vegan, at least that was in my kitchen at the time, could satisfy it. I had to get a cheeseburger, no wait, I want BBQ ribs, yes, that's it!
So I called up my local restaurant that served BBQ ribs, and ordered a half rack, I went there, picked it up (flirted with a very cute young girl who worked behind the bar while waiting for my order), and brought it home to dig in.
It was Baby back ribs that came with a side of mac & cheese, and mashed potatoes. It wasn't as good as I had hoped, but then a couple hours later I got another craving for ribs, again! And I had to order another half rack of ribs! This time I got them St Louis style (the girl was no longer there), brought them home, and ate them.
Yes, on the fourth day into my vegan life style I ate a full rack of pork ribs.
So here's my first suggestion for people who are trying to go vegan: make sure you arm yourself with enough recipes to keep yourself interested in the food, and remember to eat a lot of it.
The thing is when you eat meat you don't need as much of the potatoes, or rice, or whatever else the 'side' is, so at first you may think that filling a whole plate full of rice is too much, but it's not! Visually you have to get used to the idea of eating tons of starch because once you start eating it you realize it just goes right through you as if you hadn't eaten at all. There's no bloated feeling of having just eaten a cow or a pig, there's no cholesterol running in your blood, there are none of the previous signs that used to tell you you are full, and that's because you're not full. You eat a lot more than you used to because the food you're now eating is not as filling.
So make sure that before you take that first step of going vegan that you go online and grab at least 7 or 8 recipes that sound good to you, and that you're able to make at home, and remember to make a lot more than you normally would think to make. Otherwise you'll end up running to the steak house on the 4th day like I did!
Stay tuned for more!
