GOALS

GOALS. Today is just a random Sunday in August, not New Years day, your birthday (probably, but if it is HBD!), or anything in particular. However, today could be the day that you decide to change the rest of your life. If you’ve followed our journey you’ve no doubt seen the progress my mom has made. She inspires me on a daily basis but coming across these two photos, before and after going plant based, promoted this post, and hopefully she’ll inspire you. When we went fully plant based it was like rocket fuel. My mind was clear, runs were longer, recovery time disappeared, and I felt better than I ever had before anytime in my life. Boundless energy. 

I was totally shocked when my mom decided to go all in with us. Looking back now I shouldn’t have been. She is compassionate, open minded, and always putting others first. In fact, putting others first is partly why I was surprised she came on board. Emma and I had originally made the switch for self centered reasons - our health and athletic performance. We had found the ultimate life hack. My mom is the least vain person I know but she recently had a new reason to want to live as long and healthily as possible - her grandson Vincenzo. Knowing her heart I believe she would have eventually joined us as we learned about the animal suffering and environmental destruction involved in the standard American diet, but at first it was for Vin.

As we read Dr. Greger’s book “How Not To Die” what drove home the seriousness of the research and studies was the reality of the past few years. Grandma Cleo (my moms mom) had developed dementia. We watched as it progressed and the grandma we knew slowly faded. We lost her long before she passed away. Although in a memory care unit at over $6,000 a month my mom still had to put her life on hold. Between two jobs she was constantly with grandma and helped manage her care. Those years filled with stress, poor diet, and lack of sleep visibly aged her. This photo of her and grandma together really scares me now looking back. I can’t help but think they both might have been on the same path. And genetically I may have been as well. As Dr. Greger says, ‘Genes load the gun, but it's lifestyle that pulls the trigger.”

Grandma slowly fading away 

I totally understand your resistance to going plant based. It seems hard. I shared all of your “what abouts” before making the jump. They were a million times easier than I imagined but even if they weren’t it was SO worth it. We don’t just get dementia, or suddenly have a heart attack, we work hard at it. Over decades on the standard America diet we steadily clog our arteries, muddy up our brains with plaque, raise our blood pressure and cholesterol, and the list goes on. Not only do Vegans live longer, there is more life in those years. Absolutely priceless. Wether you do it for yourself or your family open your heart to today being the day you make the change! We are here to help in any way we can. On going vegan Penn Jillette said “My chances of living longer for my children have gone up significantly… Turns out that being with my children is more important than chocolate cake.” And as for those what abouts, “I now eat whatever I want, but what I want has changed profoundly.” (It's an awesome video, check it out)