Gloriousness of a 6-Year Plant-Based Lifestyle

Six years ago today I decided to take control of my health living a 100% plant-based lifestyle and it has been most glorious since! Here I will share highlights from this most incredible discovery and journey to fantastic health.

I turned 53 years-old in October and I’m still wondering when I’m going to start feeling old and begin slowing down. At 46 years old I felt old, tired, and my body was breaking down. I remember trying to out train a bad diet and I found that not possible. When you put crap in your body, your body is crap…that sounds like a great idea for a new bumper sticker and logo!

For 46 years I didn’t care what I put in my body. For the last six years nothing goes in my body without intention. Even when I indulge it is intentional. Ask a few of my close friends how much I can eat and indulge with a sweet dessert when I’m not in prime training season… When I indulge I gain a few pounds and when I dial it in, I’m back to my race weight flying fast. When I was 45 I had a 327 cholesterol. It was inching up over the years and I always thought I would have time to clean things up and nothing would happen to me… I was ignorant with nobody to blame but myself.

I didn’t know at the time heart disease was and still is the number one killer in the U.S. every year. It puts COVID-19 death rates to shame but we don’t hear anything about it. Why not?$?$? Simply a disaster along with all the other chronic health issues we have in the U.S. We have a sick care system, not a healthcare system. It is startling that 73.6% of adults age 20 or over in the U.S. are either overweight or obese and that statistic is from 2017-2018. If I was a betting man I would take the over on the updated number as it has only been increasing. The children are halfway there.

In the last two years I have found our government quite frustrating with its lack of promoting health to fight against the severe effects and death from COVID-19. There are numerous studies showing the severity of COVID-19 illness tied to how healthy an individual is but yet there is little to zero focus on it while it doesn’t cost anything. Well it would cost big pharma… From the study linked above tracking healthcare workers in six different countries, those eating a mostly plant-based diet were at 73% less risk of severe COVID-19. Why isn’t that plastered all over the television along with early treatment once you contract COVID-19? Interesting questions…

Six years ago I decided to take full accountability over my health. I always look for the source of information and identify the agenda behind what is presented. My simple advice – question everything when it comes to your health, find resources you trust…question them constantly as well, consult with doctors and other professionals you trust, and make your own informed decisions.

Positives Since I Switched to Living a Plant-Based Lifestyle

1. Sexual prowess – As Dr. Aaron Spitz states in the documentary, Game Changers, “when I think of a manly man, I think of somebody who has strength, endurance, sexual prowess, and fertility. In fact what the scientific studies are showing is that the more meat men eat, the more quickly they lose their manly manhood.” What a game changer this was! If guys don’t want to try a plant-based lifestyle for this benefit alone… Also the fifth most popular blog from last year demonstrates the long and short of it.
2. An immune system powerhouse!!! I’m going to share on Wednesday the prescriptions I’ve been on for being sick or deficient in one of my health biomarkers over the last six years…teaser alert…
3. So much more energy!!! Not sure how you measure this one…like I was in a coma prior…
4. Not a single migraine in over six years. I used to have them weekly and once every three months I would have to find the darkest room and lay down without the ability to move the pain was so severe. I was once trapped in a Target parking lot for over three hours with the inability to move or open my eyes. I used to take Excedrin Migraine like it was candy. I really had to cut into their profits…
5. Cholesterol plummet from 327 to 132…without a pill…just whole plant foods opening up my arteries! Crestor just wasn’t doing the trick and the side effects sucked…
6. High/Hypertension Blood Pressure to Athletic Level. My resting heart rate is now at 42. When I went for my first annual physical after switching the nurse asked if I was ok because I was so low and different than the prior year. I simply smiled with pride and said, “I’ve never felt better!”
7. Weight shred from obese to normal … 224 to 159. Once I switched I never tried to lose weight. I was eating a ton, just incredible food and shedding all the fat I was carrying. The lost weight felt so much better on my joints, especially my knee.
8. Arthritic left knee eating animals and drinking dairy to now wondering if I have arthritis at all…woah!!! Doc told me not to run anymore at age 45…sorry Doc, eliminated all the inflammation from the animals, dropped five bowling balls of weight and currently run 55-60 miles a week on my up weeks along with 150-200 mile cycling weeks …. with zero arthritis feel… where did it go????
9. Deficient in multiple health measures shown in my blood work to ZERO since.
10. With oxygen and blood flowing vibrantly through my body, I’m handling stress so much better…hard to describe but I’m so much calmer… Now I do get triggered by things that can set me off big time…I’m a work in progress for sure…
11. Thinking clearer…not the brain fog…although some will dispute that…
12. I am intentional about my life vs. being on auto pilot prior…
13. No more diets (yo-yo effect)! No calorie counting. I eat as much as I want and when I exercise a lot, I eat more…without gaining weight. Diets are marketing money makers but do not sustain…
14. I can taste the actual food…not some concoction of salt, oil and/or sugar giving meat taste. Removing the processed salts, oils, and sugars eliminates the cravings… I used to do all these tricks to make the dead, decaying flesh food taste better but at the expense of adding a ton of fat, sodium, and clogged arteries…
15. I am running fast. Oxygen and blood getting to my lungs and cells. I gotta be slowing down soon…I am 53…thank goodness there are age groups!
16. I am stronger on the bike now more than ever…we can hang on to strength longer as we age vs. the lung capacity running…
17. I am stronger mentally now more than ever…I know what is important and how to attack when needed
18. It feels great to feel great!!! So I feel good about myself vs. wondering what was happening to me…
19. Reduced my risk of Heart disease/attack (love that 132 cholesterol)
20. Reduced my risk of Blood Pressure complications and medications
21. Reduced my risk of Type 2 Diabetes
22. Reduced my risk of Alzheimer’s Disease
23. Reduced my risk of Colon Cancer
24. Reduced my risk of Prostate Cancer (more important what I put in my mouth vs. genetics from my dad…in a big way)
25. Reduced my risk of Other cancers…
26. Reduced my risk of Stroke
27. Reduced my risk of Chronic Illnesses caused by being overweight or obese…visceral fat can generate chronic illnesses itself…
28. Reduced my risk of moderate to severe effects if I contract COVID-19…immune system power!
29. Haven’t been constipated since eating animals. Fiber rules here and I eat a lot of fiber!
30. I haven’t contributed to the slaughter of an animal and it feels amazing to make that contribution!

– Add Health to Your Life

Blog Picture

• Top Left – With Steve Purifoy, one of the Godfathers from the, Knight Grillers Tailgate Group. Here we are at a tailgate where I was smoking BBQ ribs on my way to a 327 cholesterol heart attack incubating obese machine. The “GYCH” on my shirt stands for, Get Yo’ Chili Hot. A phrase UCF coach, Geoff Collins, used to mean – let’s get moving in some kind of crazy great way and kick some a$s! Love Steve Purifoy…he has been a great mentor to me since we met by chance at the 2007 Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee cheering on our UCF Knights.
• Bottom Left – My dancing career is quite abysmal but not as unfathomable with what was going on inside my body. I had a smile on my face there but my body was crying out for help. I was in costume for playing a role in my daughter’s dance studio recital rendition of Swan Lake. I didn’t fall during my scene…whew!!! The shirt hid my swell quite nicely… And it does have a resemblance of Jerry’s Puffy Shirt.
• Top Right – Seven weeks ago I completed my first marathon finishing 1st of 63 men in my age group at the Space Coast Marathon while qualifying for the 2023 Boston Marathon. From heart attack ready to attacking races as hard as I can push my body, heart, and lungs with ZERO fear of a heart attack now. It’s a strength now, not a hurdle…
• Bottom Right – Simply feels great to feel great and I love life again!