Jared Six Vegan Transformation
MY VEGAN TRANSFORMATION
Hello, my name is "Jared Six" and I went vegan on the day that I turned 30. (Which was October 6th, 2008.)
Back when I first went vegan, there were a lot less vegans than there are today. (I had never actually met a vegan in real life before I turned 30.)
It was also strongly believed back then that vegan diets were deficient in protein, and that being a vegan would cause you to become really skinny and weak.
To make matters worse, I was already really skinny and weak to begin with, so I was nervous about going vegan, and a lot of people who knew and cared about me were nervous about me going vegan as well.
But after watching the documentary "Earthlings" I decided to try the diet anyway, and within a month of being vegan I felt so much more energetic that I started going for walks, and I ended up enjoying walking so much that I got rid of my car and started walking instead of driving.
I also felt a lot more "peaceful" and "spiritual" on this diet, so I got into yoga, and my flexibility increased dramatically as well.
And even though I was underweight and I had just switched to a diet that many believed would be "impossible" to get bigger and stronger on, I started lifting weights with the hopes of finally gaining some healthy weight, and below are some pictures documenting how my body has changed since going vegan...
This is the very first yoga picture that I ever shared online as well as a picture of me flexing my muscles from the back. Both of these pictures were taken when I first started the vegan diet.
As you can clearly see, I was underweight and didn't have much muscle mass when I started this diet, and just to show that I had always been that way,
CLICK HERE
to see pictures of me when I was even younger.
"Muscles Starting to Sprout"
This was me after being vegan for a year, and when I first shared this picture online, people who hadn't seen me in over a year didn't even believe it was real, and I got accused of photoshopping my head on someone else's body.
As my body continued to grow, even I started to wonder if what I was seeing was really me or my head photoshopped on someone else's body.
I'm greatful that I had the strength to do what I felt in my heart was right and not allow fear stop me.
I'm not claiming to be a big strong guy, but I will say that I've noticed that whenever people need help lifting something heavy they seem to always want to ask me for help now, and I don't remember that ever happening before I was vegan.
I am currently 47 years old and have been on a completely vegan diet (no meat, dairy, or eggs) for 17 years now. (Or as I like to think of it, I'm 47 years old in "Human Years", and 17 years old in "Humane Years".)
My diet is fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and sprouts. Most of what I've eaten in the past 17 years has been "raw" (uncooked) and when I buy food it is all "whole foods" without added ingredients.
I also haven't taken any protein supplements in the past 17 years, and I don't even know or care how much protein is in anything that I eat because I don't believe in the idea that vegan diets are deficient in protein.
Someone could EASILY get 2 or 3 times as much protein as me on a vegan diet by just looking up how much protein is in different vegan foods and intentionally eating the foods that are the highest in them. (Or they could just take a plant-based protein supplement and get as many grams of protein as they could possibly want.) But I don't think it would be necessary to do all that.
The beliefs about plants and protein have changed a lot in my lifetime, and I still remember back when people used to say...
"Plants don't have protein."
Then it changed to...
"Plants do have protein afterall, but it's "incomplete protein" that we can't use."
Then it changed to...
"Plants do have complete proteins afterall, but it's in too small amounts to be reliable.
And I believe that the accepted belief in the future will ultimately be...
"All plants contain protein, and as long as someone is eating enough calories to maintain their weight and energy expenditure, and as long as their diet is based around whole-foods their protein requirements to be healthy should be easily met on a vegan diet."
I also want to say that I haven't had to take as much as a cough drop in the past 17 years because this diet has done a great job of protecting me physically from sickness. (As well as a great job of protecting me mentally from the fear of sickness by giving me a "peace of mind" that I wish more people could feel.)
17 years would be a long time to live without something that we "can't live without", and I don't believe that I could have spent the past 17 years suffering from something as serious as a protein deficiency without feeling some actual "suffering" along the way. (Much less feel BETTER and STRONGER than I did 17 years ago.)
Plants aren't just a source of protein, they are THE source of it, and instead of eating animals who eat plants, or eating animals who eat animals who eat plants, I will continue to avoid eating animals by simply eating the plants myself.
ALSO CHECK OUT
MY FEATS OF STRENGTH, ENDURANCE, AND FLEXIBILITY
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