Why I'm Going Vegan
Short Version
1 week ago on Friday, the Lord showed me this Scripture while I was praying: Romans 14:14-23. Romans 14:17 says "the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit". When it comes to food, this verse can be the end all argument. And that's okay. Verse 22 says "so whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God." In other words, don't condemn anyone for what they do. But verse 23 pulls it back to the Spirit: "But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin."
The Lord showed me that I had lost faith in my diet... in the way I have been eating my entire life. And that by continuing to do something that I had no faith in, I was sinning against myself, my family, and God.
That is it in a nutshell. The reason I have made a change. My family and I have not consumed anything containing dairy, meat, or eggs for 7 days so far. And I personally can't remember feeling this physically good in a very long time.
Detailed Version
This is a path that I've been heading toward, and even tiptoeing on the edge of for quite some time. But I had 30 years of training, habits, and choices holding me back. And for at least 26 of those years I scoffed at the idea of not eating meat and dairy. I don't remember the first time I was introduced to the idea, but I'm quite sure it was not with a positive connotation.
Since I was young, I always wanted to know the answers to questions. When I found out how to find my own answers, I would do that. If somebody told me something, I would try to see if it was true, and to find out more about it. That practice was only strengthened when I went to college.
When Angela and I moved back to Palestine in late 2006, I found out that my boss at my new job (Timothy Triplett) and his wife (Elaine) were not only vegetarians (no meat) but vegans (no dairy or eggs either)! Again, it was a concept that was foreign to me conceptually (why would they do it?) and practically (how would they do it?). Eating "rabbit food" all of the time? No thank you.
But my practice of trying to be educated on a subject worked here just the same. I was curious. And several things really impressed me about the Triplett's lifestyle.
1) The food that Elaine cooked was not just rabbit food. There were a lot of things that not only smelled very good, but tasted even better (when I could get samples).
2) Elaine's 80-something father was living with them, and was suffering from a degenerative nervous system disorder. And his home-health nurses were constantly amazed at how despite his disease he was amazingly healthy. I heard more than one say to him "You've got the blood pressure and cholesterol level of an 18 year old."
Timothy and Elaine had made lifestyle choices many years ago based on their health that lead them to eating the way they do. And they are constantly trying to refine those choices and make them better and better. As a result, over the last few years, I have been exposed to a lot of information that I had never been aware of before.
And before you say "Sure, if you're being constantly bombarded by something, it's going to eventually get through," think about this: they would have to work constantly for many years to come to get near the amount of exposure I've had to the "American diet". Print ads, radio ads, TV ads, Internet ads, road signs, billboards, family, friends... nearly everyone I know eats the way everyone else does and the way I have.
After all of my experience, the new information and different take was welcome. I started to realize that the way I had been doing things, the way I was taught, is not the best way. Our bodies have certain needs. And the food we eat matters. It matters for a whole bunch of reasons.
It is partially for these reasons that I have lost faith in my old diet. I want to live a healthy life. I want to live to be very old. I want to be healthy when I'm old. I don't want to be a burden on my wife, or my kids, or my grandkids. I don't want to be a slave to medications, or doctors.
So I'm changing my diet. We are changing. My family is changing. God brought me to a place where I am ready to do it. Last Friday, He convicted my Spirit. And he has given us the strength to change. Angela has had the desire for some time to change. But now she has my support, and we are doing it together with our kids.
Right now we are vegan. No meat. No eggs. No dairy. Whole foods as much as possible. As low fat and sugar content as we can. I don't know if this will be forever or not. But it will, at the minimum, be a "reboot". I feel, in a way, like a recovering alcoholic - the last thing they need is a drink of alcohol. So we're going cold turkey. Maybe at some point we will begin to reintroduce some things back into our diet. But if we do, it will be in a controlled way, with very small portions. The whole foods, vegan diet will continue to be the lifestyle.
---------
So here are some questions I've asked myself that have helped lead me to where I am now.
What is meat? Animal muscle.
How do they get muscle? By eating plants.
Wouldn't it be better if I just ate the plants? Sure. After all, everyone knows vegetables are good for you. There is nothing in meat that you can't get from plants.
What about dairy? Oh man.. that's it's own can of worms. [1] [2] [3] [4] And I especially love how the Health and Nutrition section of the Wikipedia page on Cheese has absolutely no negative information! HA! Unbiased my foot. (And did you know that the grand majority of humans on the planet are lactose intolerant? It's really not even a question of whether you are or not, but to what degree you are. Amazing. Bet you're not going to learn that little fact from the Dairy Counsel.) But it's basically the same thing as meat. Everything you get from dairy you can get a healthy selection of fruits and vegetables plus so much more.
So why get all that stuff from some other animal after they've already processed it? No good reason.
1 week ago on Friday, the Lord showed me this Scripture while I was praying: Romans 14:14-23. Romans 14:17 says "the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit". When it comes to food, this verse can be the end all argument. And that's okay. Verse 22 says "so whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God." In other words, don't condemn anyone for what they do. But verse 23 pulls it back to the Spirit: "But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin."
The Lord showed me that I had lost faith in my diet... in the way I have been eating my entire life. And that by continuing to do something that I had no faith in, I was sinning against myself, my family, and God.
That is it in a nutshell. The reason I have made a change. My family and I have not consumed anything containing dairy, meat, or eggs for 7 days so far. And I personally can't remember feeling this physically good in a very long time.
Detailed Version
This is a path that I've been heading toward, and even tiptoeing on the edge of for quite some time. But I had 30 years of training, habits, and choices holding me back. And for at least 26 of those years I scoffed at the idea of not eating meat and dairy. I don't remember the first time I was introduced to the idea, but I'm quite sure it was not with a positive connotation.
Since I was young, I always wanted to know the answers to questions. When I found out how to find my own answers, I would do that. If somebody told me something, I would try to see if it was true, and to find out more about it. That practice was only strengthened when I went to college.
When Angela and I moved back to Palestine in late 2006, I found out that my boss at my new job (Timothy Triplett) and his wife (Elaine) were not only vegetarians (no meat) but vegans (no dairy or eggs either)! Again, it was a concept that was foreign to me conceptually (why would they do it?) and practically (how would they do it?). Eating "rabbit food" all of the time? No thank you.
But my practice of trying to be educated on a subject worked here just the same. I was curious. And several things really impressed me about the Triplett's lifestyle.
1) The food that Elaine cooked was not just rabbit food. There were a lot of things that not only smelled very good, but tasted even better (when I could get samples).
2) Elaine's 80-something father was living with them, and was suffering from a degenerative nervous system disorder. And his home-health nurses were constantly amazed at how despite his disease he was amazingly healthy. I heard more than one say to him "You've got the blood pressure and cholesterol level of an 18 year old."
Timothy and Elaine had made lifestyle choices many years ago based on their health that lead them to eating the way they do. And they are constantly trying to refine those choices and make them better and better. As a result, over the last few years, I have been exposed to a lot of information that I had never been aware of before.
And before you say "Sure, if you're being constantly bombarded by something, it's going to eventually get through," think about this: they would have to work constantly for many years to come to get near the amount of exposure I've had to the "American diet". Print ads, radio ads, TV ads, Internet ads, road signs, billboards, family, friends... nearly everyone I know eats the way everyone else does and the way I have.
After all of my experience, the new information and different take was welcome. I started to realize that the way I had been doing things, the way I was taught, is not the best way. Our bodies have certain needs. And the food we eat matters. It matters for a whole bunch of reasons.
It is partially for these reasons that I have lost faith in my old diet. I want to live a healthy life. I want to live to be very old. I want to be healthy when I'm old. I don't want to be a burden on my wife, or my kids, or my grandkids. I don't want to be a slave to medications, or doctors.
So I'm changing my diet. We are changing. My family is changing. God brought me to a place where I am ready to do it. Last Friday, He convicted my Spirit. And he has given us the strength to change. Angela has had the desire for some time to change. But now she has my support, and we are doing it together with our kids.
Right now we are vegan. No meat. No eggs. No dairy. Whole foods as much as possible. As low fat and sugar content as we can. I don't know if this will be forever or not. But it will, at the minimum, be a "reboot". I feel, in a way, like a recovering alcoholic - the last thing they need is a drink of alcohol. So we're going cold turkey. Maybe at some point we will begin to reintroduce some things back into our diet. But if we do, it will be in a controlled way, with very small portions. The whole foods, vegan diet will continue to be the lifestyle.
---------
So here are some questions I've asked myself that have helped lead me to where I am now.
What is meat? Animal muscle.
How do they get muscle? By eating plants.
Wouldn't it be better if I just ate the plants? Sure. After all, everyone knows vegetables are good for you. There is nothing in meat that you can't get from plants.
What about dairy? Oh man.. that's it's own can of worms. [1] [2] [3] [4] And I especially love how the Health and Nutrition section of the Wikipedia page on Cheese has absolutely no negative information! HA! Unbiased my foot. (And did you know that the grand majority of humans on the planet are lactose intolerant? It's really not even a question of whether you are or not, but to what degree you are. Amazing. Bet you're not going to learn that little fact from the Dairy Counsel.) But it's basically the same thing as meat. Everything you get from dairy you can get a healthy selection of fruits and vegetables plus so much more.
So why get all that stuff from some other animal after they've already processed it? No good reason.
posted by Jason @ 9:19 PM
3 Comments:
At 1:53 AM ,
Dolly Mama Health said...
So, it is 3:30am.
The dog was keeping me up, howling at the full moon. I get on FB, find your bog link, & get blown away! I have been studying nutrition all my life. Before I moved to Texas (from CO, 2003), I was a vegetarian for 25 years. I have since gained 20#.
Tim & Elaine are friends. I am not vegan. I tend to be more vegetarian than anything. I just don't feel good when I eat meat, & pork just never has worked. I do not buy bread, but if I am at a restaurant, I eat it. I do not have any sugar in my house, but if I am at someone else's house, (like your Mother-love's) then, I eat it. I guess I do most of my sinning at church suppers.
I use gobs of vegan recipes at home, never drink soda, use Stevia in my herb teas, juice vegetables or make a smoothie for most of my breakfasts, & am hoping to overcome eating desserts when I am in town. I eat great at home, and lousy when not at home. It is near impossible to eat healthy at a restaurant around here.
Anyway, I do not feel so alone. Tonight, however is a church supper for the Encounter Follow Up. I am bringing the potatoe salad. I usually do not bring a vegan dish.....cost too much & goes unappreciated.
You really inspired me. Pray for me.
At 8:37 AM ,
Jason said...
Hey Dolly Mama! Surfing the web late at night: it's one of my favorite pastimes! :)
Right now we are only a week in. God's grace has been sufficient for my family this week. There have been a couple of days where the temptation has been strong. But I feel so strongly that this is a conviction of the Spirit for me, that it has really been pretty easy.
I believe that there will be ups and downs in my feelings just like there are ups and downs on everything. But if we can get new habits and routines established, then this lifestyle will become our fallback, not our old diet. And that's the minimum goal I have. At the most though, I want this change to be permanent. I want the "slips" to be so few and far between that we forget about them.
Meats and dairys can be so easy to eat. They are so rich in flavor because of the fats and other things in them. But I don't think our bodies are meant to take in such rich foods so often as we're used to.
I will pray for you! If you have a conviction toward a certain way, and you've lost your faith in the other ways, then I would encourage you to pray that God would give you the strength to follow your faith.
At 12:03 PM ,
Anonymous said...
Dolly Mama, Good to hear your comments. I, too, am in awe at Jason's testimony. I will be praying for you, also. As you know I have been on both or all sides of the fence, out, in, and straddling. Also, many have heard me comment that the best place to get a bad dose of unhealthy food is at a church fellowship. We love you! Elaine
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