What made you decide to become a vegan?
“I became a vegan for a few reasons. One I do not like killing animals, two, I want to eat better for the world and three I developed an intense hand pain from what I thought was purely my decade of training in the martial art of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. At the time, I was almost 40 years of age and my hand pain was so much that I could no longer grab the gi’s of my opponents without pain. Went to 4 different doctors and all said “your 40 years old Jon, you simply have arthritis.” I did not agree and then life brought a guy by the name of John Allen Mollenhauer into my life. He told me to to read the “China Study” by T. Collin Campbell. John told me it was simply all the animal products and their acidic nature that pulls calcium out of the bones which shows up first as hand/joint pain. I was desperate for relief so I said “what do I do?” Cut the meat now and in a month or two I promise you’ll have no hand pain (was the answer). He was right!! The pain was completely gone in 2 months.”
— Jon Hinds, Owner and Founder of the Monkey Bar Gymnasium
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- Jon Hinds- Vegan Strength Training Coach & Gym Owner (fitvegan4life.com)
You know, even as a kid the idea of eating other amnials did bother me and the meat part of a meal was almost always my least favorite part of a meal. Then after all those years of eat your meat was hammered into me, I continued with it. I do tend to eat way less meat than your average blue-collar guy though. Seeing you so apparently healthy has given me reason to reconsider. I threw out my organic milk and bought cocoanut and almond milk. I like the almond better. What’s your opinion?
Flavio, I drink almond milk cause I love the flavor but if I liked coconut milk, I would choose it!
I eat little if any tofu. That iedulcns the fake meats that many love to have as a main staple to their diet that is soy based.I eat pretty much what I have always eaten, but make it without the meat. Sounds difficult? It isn’t.Something like a stuffed bell pepper is usually stuffed with meat. I instead go for rice and veggies with a tomato base sauce over it.Soups are no problem. Vegetable soups are easy. Go just with the veggies or add grains such as barley to them to add more nutritional value to them. There are also tomato based soups.A baked potato is not just a side dish. You can add all sorts of things on top of it. Broccoli, sauteed veggies of all sorts bell peppers, carrots, zucchini, onions, cilantro, parsley only limited by your imagination or personal tastes. You can even bake them ahead of time which saves on wasted energy and have them ready for you when you get home from work or school to be warmed up.I even have a traditional Italian sauce that is carrot based for pasta dishes. Vareity is not a problem.Kabobs that have veggies, mushrooms that you like on them a total treat that I have never had any to refuse.Mushrooms are fabulous, the variety is more than many people know. Stuff them, broil them, add them to other things. With the things that they have found out recently about capers, you might want to think about adding them to your salad or other dishes.Cold salads with pasta, grains, or just the veggies another wonderful experience for the palate.The things that you can do with a rice dish again only limited by your personal taste. You can go from main dish to dessert with this versitile grain.Baked apples, fruit salads, or just plain fruit a healthy addition to a balanced diet.Whole grain breads of different variety of grains is something else that I would suggest. Pumpernickle, rye, sour dough are great. Something as simple as switching over to a pita bread can bring variety to something that you may not have considered.You can juice, you can make fruit smoothies for quick fixes and treats. My suggestion is always for people to go with what they eat now and see how they can adapt and adjust what they already know and like to fit within a healthy diet. Reason that I suggest this is because you already have most if not all of what you need on hand and the outlay of money is not going to be a big bite out of the budget.If such is more than you can handle, or you just are not convident enough to do such I strongly suggest talking to a good dietician/nutritionist and getting their helpful insights. They not only will help you to know if what you are eating is meeting all your dietary needs, they can help you with formating a grocery list to make sure that you get all the things that you will need to have a healthy diet.Last but not least know that spices are your best friend. Learning about them and how to best use them in cooking is something that is going to make what you eat either something that you really enjoy or something that you just do and make do with. When you get comfortable, start trying new things. Add to what you already know. I suggest going to the library and getting cookbooks to see if the cookbook is something that you want to invest your hard earned money in buying. If it is filled with ingredients that are hard to find, foods that you really are not suited to your personal taste matters not if everyone else loves it.There are websites but I have found that many of the sites will rave about some dish that many times comes from an ethnic taste that you might not be familiar with and ingredients that are not easy to find. So make sure when searching such sites on the web that they are things that you can find easy or at least order.Again, can’t say it enough. At first, I would suggest going with what you know. Helps to keep the budget down. Add the ingredients that you think that you might need as you need them easier than a massive outlay of monies on things all at once.