You can blame it all on this guy (see pic). There I was, on January 25, 2008, minding my own business and reading the morning paper with my breakfast. Then I came across an article with an intruiging title, “The 247-lb. Vegan“. This article was about Tony Gonzalez, a star football player with the Kansas City Chiefs who, for personal health reasons, decided to adopt a vegan diet.
Now, let me step back to tell you:
- I love meat. Love it, love it, love it.
- I also enjoy working out- weightlifting, running, cycling.
- I’ve known vegans before. The adjective which comes to mind is ’scrawny’. Not exactly the image I seek out for myself.
But here was this article about a guy performing at the highest levels in a professional sport which demands speed, strength, and overall manliness, and doing it on a vegan diet. Hmmm, now that’s interesting.
But what really got my attention was the bit about how he rapidly dropped 10 pounds after starting the diet. Now, that was a problem for Tony, given his profession. But for me, seeking a way to drop extra pounds which have piled on… hey, this sounds intriguing.
So later that night, as I was stuffing in a meat-laden meal at a local Mexican restaurant with my wife, I broached the subject: “Now honey, don’t laugh at me for suggesting this…” (uttered with a mouth full of beef burrito), “but I think I want to try out a vegan diet.” The beginning of Lent was imminent, and having grown up Catholic, it always has seemed natural to deprive myself of something I like during Lent. So why not meat, the most important thing in my world? And if I can lose pounds, avoid chemicals and save the world while doing it, so much the better.
My wife didn’t laugh at me (which is why I love her). Rather, the next day, she came back from the supermarket with all kinds of (gulp) non-meat-oriented foods. Uh oh, it’s on now. The commitment - 60 days of veganism. Well, kinda veganism, since it’s not like I’m religious about it. That means I get to cheat if I’m stuck without something decent to eat.
Let’s see what happens!