Last October, I was roaming around my kitchen, searching for an afternoon snack when my father walked in. He opened the refrigerator, removed an apple, and casually remarked, “I’m going vegan.” My eyes shot open ㅡ I couldn’t believe it. My dad was a meat/cheese-lover, who would fight my mom over ordering a sausage pizza instead of a vegetable one. With disbelief, I replied, “No, you aren’t. But okay.” And he replied, “Seriously. With my new job in the food industry, I’ve learned a lot about how veganism affects both your individual health and the environment. Also, I watched a Netflix documentary ㅡ” I scoffed, “A Netflix documentary? Alright then.” I returned to the refrigerator and removed a yogurt, replying, “I bet it won’t last two weeks.” It’s now August, almost September, of 2020, and my parents are coming upon a year of being vegan. Back in February, I decided to become 5/7ths vegan; essentially, I would eat a whole-foods, plant-based diet between Sunday and Thursday, leaving Friday and Saturday as my “cheat” days. I wanted to experiment with a “better” nutrition plan simply because one of my New Year’s resolutions (as everyone’s is) was to eat better. At first, I found that eating a vegan diet was fairly easy. Because we hardly had any non-vegan foods in the house, I felt like I was (mostly) eating my normal diet. We had stopped making chicken for dinner last fall, and so I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything. But, because I thought I was eating very well throughout the week, I began to abuse my “cheat” day privileges. I would ensure we had ingredients to make loaded nachos, grilled cheese sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, spaghetti and meatballs, etc. Ultimately, I started feeling crappy. I was drowsy, and I wasn’t seeing any physical gains that should have complemented my vigorous workout schedule. I stopped having “cheat” days and started becoming really cognizant about what I was eating. I ordered a plant-based nutrition reference book, and over the course of the summer, I read a couple of pages every day. I took diligent notes, and once I finished, I decided to conduct an experiment. For thirty days, I would calculate every aspect of my diet (that was plausible for me to keep track of). Every day, I printed out a chart to track my calorie, fat, saturated fat, sodium, protein, carbohydrate, oil, sugar, calcium, potassium, iron, etc. intakes. In the last column of the chart, I had my “target” numbers based on my height, weight, and level of activity (I figured this data out from the nutrition book). By the end of my experiment, I felt like a math genius, for I was constantly adding and taking percentages of numbers in my head. :) But, I learned to become very particular when selecting my meals. Now, I’m great at assessing how healthy a product is based on its nutrition label, and I've even started to cook my own foods that are nutrient-dense. I still maintained my 5/7ths-vegan pattern of eating, but overall, I was a healthier eater.
And from all of my readings and experiments, I’ve come up with my own philosophy on how to eat well: Vegan diets are excellent for your health. They require you to consume the proper amounts of fruits, vegetables, grains, etc. Many critics of plant-based diets harp on about the lack of protein intake, but they 47
