Transitioning From Vegetarian to Vegan

As originally posted on: https://www.arespectfullife.com/2017/05/23/moving-vegetarian-vegan-lifestyle/

I call a vegan ‘diet’ a lifestyle instead of a diet because it really is not a change in diet as much as it is a lifestyle and mindset change.  When I began my journey in October 2016 to change my eating habits, I started with a vegetarian diet.  I primarily consumed whole grains, fruits and vegetables.  I was also eating dairy products, especially cheese,  along with eggs, and fish.  I did not like the idea of giving up pizza, cheese and crackers, and I was concerned about getting enough protein.

It is important to realize that the meat, diary, and egg industries in the Western world are extremely powerful.  In the U.S. the Meat, Poultry, and Diary Associations are deep-rooted in the USDA and FDA.  We have seen powerful campaigns in our education system and on television.  For example: “Got Milk?”  We have essentially been brainwashed into thinking that the only way to get enough calcium, vitamin D, and protein in our diets is via the consumption of meat, eggs, and dairy products.  Once you begin to realize that you are a product of your upbringing, teaching, conditioning, and training, and couple that with your desire to do the best possible things for your health, you begin seeking the truth.

The fact is, multi-billion dollar industries are not going to go away without a fight.  They will spread misinformation and propaganda in order to protect their financial interests.  If you think that greed and corporate capitalism will give you unbiased science, research, and information; I hate to tell you that you are dead wrong.  Unfortunately many people end up with massive health problems as they grow older.  Think about this as well: How big of an industry is modern medicine and pharmacology?  Do you really think that you will receive proper nutritional information when your poor health brings benefits to these industries?

To choose a vegan lifestyle, one has to change their mindset and throw out much of what we have been taught.  It is not easy to believe that you have been lied to your entire life.  It is almost unfathomable to consider that your fellow countrymen/countrywomen would feed you misinformation to the detriment of your best well being in order to profit from your eventual demise.  You don’t have to believe me.  The science and research has already been done by non-profit organizations.  I would encourage you to do the research yourself.  I have included some research information below.

If you choose to live a vegan lifestyle, it does not mean that you have to throw out all your leather shoes and become an animal activist! The things that I have found for me personally is that I feel a whole lot better, and I have gotten my health and life back.  I went from a 350 pound BBQ restaurant owner to a healthy person living a vegan lifestyle.  If you are interested to learn more about my journey, start with this blog post: “How I Lost Over 100 Pounds Eating Mindfully”.

I was asked two questions recently during an interview.  1. What would you tell yourself prior to choosing a plant based diet?  2. What would you tell other people that are considering a plant based diet?  The answers are:  1. I would tell myself to slow down, stop to think, and do your research in order to make the best you.  2. Don’t listen to what everyone else tells you and don’t be afraid of not getting enough protein and nutrients in a plant based diet.  If you are at all concerned about plant based protein sources, I have at comprehensive list on my blog post, “What Do Gorilla’s Eat?”.
Another question that I sometimes get asked is if I miss meat and dairy.  The answer is no.  I am not going to say that it was easy to stop eating animal products and bi-products.  I can tell you as a Chef that after a little time you will begin to really enjoy the taste of fresh produce and whole grains.  Processed foods taste horrible to me now, and the smell of meat is a turn-off.  I have also found so many foods that taste so much better!  There are tons of resources available for vegan recipes including on this blog.

I feel that I have to make a mention about eating fish and seafood.  For those concerned about animal welfare, fish do feel pain.  For those concerned about the environment, commercial fishing is destroying our oceans and its habitat.  For those concerned about your health, there is so much pollution and plastics in our oceans that I think it is a detriment to our health to consume products that come from the ocean that may be full of chemicals and plastic particles.  For More Information on Plastics in our Ocean click here.  Enough said.

I’ll leave you with this thought: Do you want to grow old gracefully?  Would you prefer to not experience a myriad of health issues?  If you desire to live a healthy life and grow older gracefully, please consider a vegan lifestyle.  I promise that you won’t be disappointed!




Additional Vegan Resources HERE.

As always, feel free to reach out to me directly if you have any questions about this post or any of its content.
JT

Giving Up Cheese & Going Vegan

As originally posted on: https://www.arespectfullife.com/2017/05/25/giving-cheese-going-vegan/ 

Giving Up Cheese & Going Vegan

It is with sad regret that I must inform you that as a Vegan you must give up cheese!  I am a long time Chef and a restauranteur.  I am a lover of pizza.  I am a wine connoisseur and wine was always best with CHEESE.  I am not going to lie and say that it was easy to give up cheese!

I was a teenager in the 80’s and the American Dairy Association ran commercials called “Cheese, Glorious Cheese”, which was a take on Lionel Bart’s opening song in the musical “Oliver”.  The commercial depicted cheese in many forms and people basically having a love affair with their cheese.  I am sure you have seen commercials from Kraft, Velveeta, Pizza Hut, Dominoes, Cheez-Its, Laughing Cow, Wisconsin Cheese Maker Association, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Panda Cheese, and the likes.  They all depict close up images of cheese and all of its melty goodness.

What those cheese commercials don’t show is cholesterol clogged arteries, heart attacks, flatulence, irritable bowel syndrome, or casein (found in dairy products and causes tumor growth)!  The fact is, refraining from eating dairy products is beneficial to your health.  The benefit to your health far outweighs the potential outcome of eating dairy products.

Think of cheese like heroin.  It feels good at the moment, but the detriment to your health and well being is just not worth it.  In fact, dairy products are addictive!  Cheese (as well as all bovine milk derived products) contains casomorphins – which are protein fragments, derived from the digestion of the milk protein, Casein. The distinguishing characteristic of casomorphins is that they have an opioid effect, just like heroin!

The science concerning my aforementioned statements is solid and readily available.  I would encourage you to do the research yourself.  I am have additional information on dairy HERE.
Here is the good news about giving up cheese:

1. The addiction to cheese becomes easier with time.  Like any addiction, it becomes easier to abstain as more time passes.
2. Fresh vegetables will begin to taste better to you in time.  Having a pizza without cheese and loaded with fresh goodness and herbs will be a wonderful treat.
3. You can make cheese-like products out of nuts!  Cookbook links below.
4. There are LOTS of cheese-like dairy alternatives available on the market.  Here is a quick list for your review:
   1. Daiya Foods
   2. Dr. Cow Tree Nut Cheese
   3. Field Roast Chao Slices
   4. Follow Your Heart
   5. Go Veggie! Foods (not all products are vegan)
   6. Kite-Hill Artisan Vegan Cheese
   7. Miyoko’s Creamery
   8. Nacheez Vegan Nacho Cheese
   9. Parma! Vegan Parmesan
   10. Sheese by Bute Island
   11. Teese by Chicago Vegan Foods

My final thoughts on cheese consumption:  Not only is diary horrible for your health, the dairy industry is extremely cruel to the cows, and animal agriculture is destroying our environment.  It takes approximately 2,500 gallons of fresh water to produce one pound of cheese.  The average size dairy farm of 700 cows uses 3.4 million gallons of water PER DAY.  Besides water consumption, there are many other environmental concerns over animal agriculture.  I will not list all of those today but I would encourage you to watch Cowspiracy.

If you have any concerns about getting enough protein in your diet, please see my article “What Do Gorilla’s Eat?”. In addition, please read my post “G.OughT Milk?  Does It Do A Body Good?” HERE.

I hope this article is helpful.  As always, please feel free to reach out to me directly if you have any questions at ctiexec at gmail dot com.

JT

Do Gorillas Eat MEat?

Do Gorillas Eat Meat?  As originally posted on: https://www.arespectfullife.com/2017/06/07/gorillas-eat-meat/

A Silverback Gorilla is a mature male Mountain Gorilla weighing between 300 and 400 pounds. He is incredibly strong and lean and has massive canines (teeth). Females gorillas are 150 to 250 pounds. The gorilla diet consists of eating 40 plus pounds of vegetation and fruit daily. Gorillas are Herbivores and snack on termites, ants, and termite larvae but gorillas DO NOT eat meat or the flesh of other animals.

Chances are that you are reading this article because you are considering a vegetarian or vegan diet. Gorillas have a similar digestive system as a human. There are, however some major differences in what humans should consume versus a gorilla.

First, it should be noted that gorillas derive much of their Vitamin B12 from eating plants that are not washed in chlorinated water! Vitamin B12 is found in bacteria in soil. In addition, they eat termites and ants that are covered in nutrient rich soil. Humans wash much of their produce and the produce you buy is washed with chlorinated or purified water thus losing much of the nutrients that you might have otherwise derived from ingesting soil. It is also important to note that much of the agricultural products produced for humans are produced in soil that is mostly depleted of nutrients. It is paramount that humans have adequate amounts of Vitamin B12 and is highly recommended for vegans to take a Vitamin B12 supplement.

Humans have a smaller colon and a larger small intestine than gorillas and other primates. As a result, we require softer, less fibrous, and more nutrient and energy dense foods. It would be difficult for a human to digest much of the stems, leaves and seeds that are part of the diet of other primates. Thus the reason we crush, chop, and cook much of our produce and fibrous foods. It is believed that this is a result of the human agriculture revolution and human adaptation.

Since gorillas have larger colons, they ferment much of their plant fibers in their gut. The gorilla has six times the absorption available from the colon than a human does, which means they have many times the amount of bacteria available for digestion of plant cellulose. Humans pass most of the plant cellulose and are unable to digest it, and human capacity to convert plant fiber to fatty acid is quite limited. Fatty acids (Omega 3 and Omega 6) are essential to human health.

Another big difference between humans and other primates and most other animals is the amount of amylase (a digestive enzyme) that we produce. This enzyme helps in the digestion and break down of starches like rice, wheat, maize (corn), and potatoes. It is likely that this is a direct result of adaptation as some studies suggest that cultures with a higher intake of starch (Japan) produce more amylase. In other words, humans are able to easily consume and process starchy foods and thrive on those starches.  Some believe that humans are essentially ‘Starchivores’.

It is most likely that early humans lived in warm climates and ate the fruits of the what nature produced naturally. Namely fruits and nuts. As our population has grown, we rely on agriculture and foods that humans plant and produce. What we consume today may not be what early humans ate, but it does show that humans are highly adaptive.

Could we eat like a gorilla? A gorilla diet would allow for our survival but I don’t believe it is the most beneficial diet for a human. At the same time, the diet that most cultures eat today is dangerous to our health and the health of our planet. Obesity rates and chronic diseases have run rampant. Our planet is dying and if we don’t change what we are doing, we are destined for extinction.

If you are considering a vegetarian or vegan diet, I would highly recommend it for the benefit of your health and the benefit of this planet we share. All you have to do is look around you to know that our current course is not healthy. I can tell you from my personal experience that it changed my life! (You can read about that HERE). I would encourage you to do the research to ensure that you are getting the nutrients that you need in your diet and to not just ‘go vegan’ uninformed. I have many resources available in this blog. I would also encourage you to visit NutritionFacts.org 

A well balanced diet is important for your health and longevity so please know what you should and should not put in your body!  I am very careful about my diet as there is a lot of longevity in my family, but there is also a lot of chronic disease like diabetes and heart disease.  I will likely live into my 90’s and I plan to grow old gracefully!

As always, if you have any questions about my posts or content, please feel free to reach out to me directly.

JT

P.S. I have an additional article on this subject titled “What Do Gorilla’s Eat”

The 3 Best Things I Did For My Heath

The 3 Best Things I Did For My Health as originally posted on: https://www.arespectfullife.com/2017/05/12/the-3-best-things-i-did-for-my-health/

If you have followed along with my blog posts, I recently posted ‘How I Lost Over 100 Pounds Eating Mindfully’. As a recap, I was a BBQ restaurant owner (smoked meats) and a craft beer drinker. I had gained about 150 pounds in a little over 5 years doing things like eating late after I closed the restaurant, and drinking too much amazing Michigan Craft Beer. My health deteriorated and I ended up in the hospital with a long list of prescriptions.

How could someone gain that much weight? Some of it, as mentioned above, was life circumstance. Part of it was poor discipline and poor choices. Another part of it was that I was on a bit of a destructive path after some devastating events (see blog post here) in my life and just didn’t care. It was all a toxic combination.

Being hospitalized scared me. I didn’t know what was wrong exactly and neither did the doctors. Their answer was to give me a long list of prescriptions. I had severe Edema in my leg, and my hands and wrists were swelling. I also had an allergic reaction to one of the medications my personal physician had prescribed.

When my health deteriorated, I lost everything. I lost my business, my relationship with my girlfriend, and my income. I could hardly walk. I couldn’t work. I could barely function. I am very fortunate to have a supportive and loving family. They helped get me back on my feet.

After being hospitalized, I spent several weeks doing some intense research about healthy eating and an anti-inflammatory diet. I realized that I needed a mindset change. I needed to re-prioritize my life and my choices. I found out the hard way that if you do not have your health, you do not have ANYTHING.

My research led me many different websites. I did find a lot of conflicting information. There are some very powerful lobby’s and industry advocacy groups in the U.S. that make finding facts difficult. I also found a nutrition website that had a LOT of great information, but they were trying to sell a few certain products and supplements, and it skewed their perspective and their reporting of so-called ‘facts’.

The biggest thing that I found is that FOOD IS MEDICINE. Treating a condition from the inside is the best possible route for your health. I decided to use food AS my medicine.

I have had a couple of serious back injuries. (See previous blog posts). I was an ibuprofen fiend. I would take SEVEN (7) 200mg ibuprofen 2 to 3 times daily! It would only take the edge off. I never wanted to take prescription painkillers as they are highly addictive so this was the route I chose.

Change #1: I stopped taking ibuprofen and started including Turmeric in my diet. I started taking 3 teaspoons of Turmeric powder daily (one teaspoon, 3 times per day). Turmeric is a powerful anti-inflammatory and better than any drug on the market. You can buy the powder in the spice section or you can take a supplement (buy on Amazon by clicking here). More information on the benefits of Turmeric click here.

Change #2: I started hydrating with water that had Lemon and Lime juice in it. This meant that I stopped drinking diet soda (which robs your body of calcium and is full of sodium). Lemons are full of Potassium and Limes are full of Magnesium. Your muscles need Potassium and Magnesium to properly function. When your muscles are ‘spent’ or worn out, they stop receiving blood which also means they stop receiving nutrients. This is the main reason that people experience muscle spasms. As a person with muscle and skeletal issues from injuries, the severe muscle spasms can be debilitating. Lemon juice also helps with weight loss. I am happy to report that I don’t experience muscle spasms any longer. My healthy muscles continue to get stronger every day!

Change #3: As a BBQ restaurant owner, you can imagine that I ate a LOT of meat. In the past when I wanted to lose a few pounds, I would do a low carb diet and drop off 20 pounds in no time. I followed the Adkins Diet years ago and it worked for me. This time was different. I had to lose a lot of weight quickly to regain my health. I STOPPED EATING BEEF AND PORK, rarely ate chicken, but would eat eggs and fish. I also stopped eating dairy products. I went to a primarily plant based vegan diet.

Since making these changes I can tell you that I am a lot happier and healthier. I feel great! I exercise regularly and I have now cut chicken, most fish and eggs out of my diet and am almost entirely plant based. Essentially, I have followed an anti-inflammatory diet. My follow up post on this is here.

As a Vegan, one of my primary concerns was getting enough protein. I will do a follow-up post to this concerning protein and Vegans. In the meantime, here are some decent resources if you are curious about a plant-based diet. 

Also, check out my Top Amazon Vegan Picks here.

https://www.veganmotivation.com/

http://www.thekindlife.com/

I highly recommend the documentary Forks Over Knives

‘What The Health’ The Film and Documentary Highlights

As originally posted on: https://www.arespectfullife.com/2017/06/17/health-film-documentary-highlights/

What The Health the film is a groundbreaking documentary that tells you what the health care industry, big pharma, and the American government does not want you to know!   It details who supports and is in bed with the American Cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association, and the American Heart Association.

According to the World Health Organization, processed meats like hot dogs, bacon, and sausage, are linked to an increase in cancer and classified as a class one carcinogenic (like cigarettes, asbestos, and plutonium).

Two thirds of American adults are obese, one out of three have diabetes, and over fifty percent have heart disease.  Our medical community is not trained to treat the cause of these health issues, OUR NUTRITION.  They are trained and schooled to treat medical conditions with medications and surgeries.

The whole low carbohydrate diet movement plain and simple is wrong.  We simply don’t need protein from animal products in order to get enough protein in our diets.  Sugar is NOT the issue and does not cause diabetes!

We as humans can REVERSE adverse health problems by changing our diet to a whole food, plant based diet.  This is documented and there are many doctors and nutrition experts interviewed in this documentary.

This documentary is excellent and is a MUCH WATCH.  There is also a paperback available.  I am posting the link to the FREE documentary on YouTube here (also below).  There are also links to the paperback and the DVD on Amazon below.  This documentary is now available on Netflix.
If you would like more information on a plant based diet or need nutritional coaching, please contact me and see my other resources HERE.  #GoVegan

As always, if you have any questions concerning this post or any of my content, please feel free to contact me directly.
JT

10 Easy Weight Loss Tips

10 Easy Weight Loss Tips

As Originally posted on: https://www.arespectfullife.com/2017/06/15/10-easy-weight-loss-tips/ 

I have personally lost a lot of weight. It is not because I eat poorly or am malnourished. I have had a full blood work up done twice in the last year and all of my numbers are excellent so I must be doing something right. I also do NOT kill myself in the gym. I have bad knees and any exercise that I do is low impact. I do not do cardio at all. I am also pretty lazy and not consistent in my work out routine. My workout is mostly walking and biking and an occasional swim. I lift a few weights now and again but nothing strenuous – just keeping some muscle tone.
When I say I have lost some weight, hear me clearly: I lost 80 lbs. in 3 months and an additional 40 lbs. In another 5 months. All together it was 120 lbs in 8 months. That is pretty significant! And I know what I did was doing it the right way and I am certain that I will never be overweight like that again.
I will save my rants about fad diets for another post. I have studied them and tried some of them to know what works and what doesn’t. The diets that work usually make it easy for a person (like ready made meals) and have personal support. Also, low carbohydrate diets (Atkins, Paleo, SouthBeach, Zone, Ketogenic, etc.) work to shed some weight, but most people don’t keep the weight off. They are also dangerous as you shed most of your electrolytes and minerals while in ketosis. In addition, anytime that you have restrictions in a diet, you will cut calories. However, restrictions usually cause people to relapse because of the many of the foods they miss and crave.
Here is the primary reason my regimen worked: I addressed the habits and reasons why I overate and made poor food choices, and I changed my lifestyle. I chose a method that could sustain me and that I could enjoy for life. I chose a well balanced vegan diet. I know where my sources of protein, calcium, Vitamin B12, Vitamins C, A, E, D, micro-nutrients, potassium, iron, magnesium and other minerals come from. I also know how many calories and carbohydrates I need to maintain or to loose weight.
I am not a nutrition expert, but I do know a couple of nutritionists and there is a lot of great information (as well as misinformation) on the internet. What I did obviously worked so I hope you find these tips helpful! Without further ado:
10 Easy Tips for Weightloss:

1. Avoid Alcohol!Alcohol is straight sugar any way you look at it. Most people drink alcohol in the evenings and then it metabolizes while you sleep. If you are going to drink alcohol, stick with a higher quality red wine and keep it to a minimum.
2. Avoid Processed FoodsMany people out of convenience purchase packaged and processed foods. Many of these off the shelf items contain fillers and tons of sugar and refined grains.
3. Watch Your Carbohydrate IntakeWhen watching your carb intake, please know that it is dangerous to drop below 40 grams per day. If you are doing a low carb diet, it is recommended that you take potassium supplement to avoid seizures! When counting carbs, I do not count dietary fiber and only count carbs from sugars (or bad carbs). The minimum recommended carbohydrate intake when you are not trying to lose weight is 120 grams daily.
4. Avoid Refined CarbohydratesIt is best to eat complex carbohydrates. Complex carbs are found in whole grains, beans, nuts, fruits, and vegetables. This means that you avoid things like refined sugar, refined flour, white rice, white potatoes, and pasta. A personal trainer friend of mine once said “If it’s white, it ain’t right”.
5. Don’t Eat LateOne of the reasons that I gained so much weight is that I got home late from work and was famished by then. I would eat at 11:00PM and usually overeat, and then would go to bed. It is best that you don’t eat within 4 hours of doing to bed.
6. Snack OftenYes you heard me right. If you are hungry, eat! What you choose to eat will make a big difference. My snack is an apple, a carrot, a glass of soy milk, 2 TBS of peanut butter (my guilty pleasure), or a handful of nuts. If you are hungry, pay attention to your body! If you are not hungry all the time, you will be a lot happier and have more success in your weight loss goals. Avoid sugary or pre-packaged snacks at all costs.
7. Drink Lemon JuiceI know this sounds strange, but lemons have an amazing effect on weight loss. I’m not talking about sugary lemonade. I am talking about lemon infused water. Personally, I add lemon and lime juice to my water. I buy bottles of 100% pure lemon and lime juice and squirt a little into my water. I chose this because of the potassium and magnesium, and it also tastes great. Sipping on lemon water helps boost your metabolism and aid in digestion. It is rich in antioxidants.  Note that the citric acid in lemons can erode the enamel of your teeth so it is best to use a straw (get a reusable straw here).
8. Get Plenty of AntioxidantsAntioxidants are found in fruits and vegetables. An antioxidant is a molecule that inhibits the oxidation of other molecules. Without going into great detail, antioxidants keep your cells healthy and balanced. A person is supposed to have 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily.
9. ExerciseI know, I know, everyone says you have to exercise to loose weight. I am not telling you to kill yourself in the gym! Just get some level of exercise daily or several time per week. Even if that means taking a walk after dinner.
10. Stop Eating Meat and Dairy ProductsAs I mentioned earlier, I needed to have a lifestyle change. I started my weight-loss journey on a Pescatarian diet (vegetarian but still ate fish, eggs, and dairy). I was concerned about the amount of protein I would get in my diet. As I have done more research, I have found that I do not need any of those things and that there is plenty of healthy protein in beans, nuts, and many vegetables. Meat and dairy also have unnecessary saturated fat. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the western world and guess what causes heart disease? Plaque build up in your arterial walls from cholesterol, and unhealthy cholesterol comes from meat and dairy. I later found out about casein in dairy (which is cancer causing) and decided to avoid it at all costs.

I could list a lot more reasons to stop consuming animal based products and turning to a plant based diet. You can find more of that information in some of my other blog posts. I will say this though: I needed to find a lifestyle that would sustain me for life in the healthiest way possible. The only diet and lifestyle effective in doing that is vegan. There is a lot of longevity in my family but many of my family members suffered in their old age. I intend to grow old gracefully.
For more information on health and nutrition, I highly recommend Dr. Michael Greger’s book ‘How Not To Die’ and visit his website at NutritionFacts.org
As always, feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions about this post or any other content in my blog.
JT