4 eggs and a Vegan? Sounds like the beginning of some joke, doesn’t it? No joke, but it certainly makes for a good story…
“So how was your trip?”
“Good. Pretty relaxing, no hiccups.”
“You must be hungry. I was just going to make lunch. You want some?”
“That would be great thanks.”
“Oh wait. You’re eating vegan now, right?”
“Nope. I mean yes, I have been for the last while, but I’m not anymore.”
“Really? When did you stop?”
“Today.”
“WHAT?!!”
“Today will be the first day I eat any meat or animal product of any kind.”
“What made you… well, here, lets get you some food first. Do you want some eggs?”
“That’d probably be a good place to start.”
“How many? Three or 4? These are great. Organic.”
“Mmmmmm… I should probably go easy. Lets just do 2 to start.”
(My friend heats up a pan, pulls an egg out of the carton and cracks it in… It’s a double yolk.)
“I… wha… huh. Wow. That’s funny, I’ve never seen that happen with these eggs before. Do you still want another one?”
“Sure, why not. A 3rd one won’t kill me.”
(As my friend pulls another egg out of the carton, I’m chuckling and think to myself “Double or Nothing.” Crack! Another double yolk.)
“OOOHH MMMYY GOD!! HaahHAAA! No Way!! Well I think we know what this means.”
Lets Rewind a Moment
Back in late 2012, my wife and I decided to go Vegetarian. We were coming from a diet with a fair bit of meat and my eating mostly “Paleo” like. Now, people who make this shift do so for a wide variety of reasons. You can see my reasons for doing so here.
In making this change, it was not a lifelong commitment. It was an exploration. But a deeper exploration that we wanted to give some time to. Not an “Oooohh, we’ll give it a try for a month”.
- We decided we would go vegetarian for 1 full year.
- We left it open ended after that.
- If it felt right, we would continue.
- There was no lead up getting started or gradual transition time.
- Just straight into “no meat”.
I started with a 7 day cleanse, subsisting on only water and one serving of fresh fruit juice per day (this is not a recommendation, be sure to check with your doctor before trying something like that, it is a little extreme). After which I took 3 days to build back into eating solid food. As it turned out, I ended up going full on Vegan from the get go.
And I felt good. There were no cravings whatsoever. I didn’t have a massive drop off or get sick from detoxing. I was fine being around others eating meat. I found no difficulty finding alternatives to eat. It actually felt like I’d been a vegan my whole life. And the entire time that I was doing it, I felt like I could do it for the REST of my life.
The Only Thing Missing
The thing that seemed to be missing was the one thing I was looking for in this exploration: higher degrees of energy and mental clarity. I didn’t have a drop off in energy or the increase that people often speak of when they stop eating animal products. My energy levels just stayed… normal.
I thought “Well maybe it just takes some time for that to build up.”
After 2 months, 3 months 4 months… normal. It just stayed the same. Neutral. Of course by this time I wasn’t hyper focused on it or looking for specific results. I allowed myself to go through the process and see what happened organically. I continued eating vegan without missing meat or feeling deficient in my diet (and training normally).
Then It Happened
Then one day, coincidently an exact 6 months from when I began, I was hit by a strong feeling of:
“That’s it. You’re done. Time to re-introduce meat into your diet.”
It was strange how definitive it felt, because I hadn’t been thinking about meat at all. I shared this with my wife the next day and she said she had been feeling the same herself. So we honoured both the commitment we made and listening to our intuitions, feeling good about having completed 6 months of this journey and that we could let go any attachment to the original 1 year mark.
Only I didn’t start eating meat right away. I had been steering clear of it so completely, that it felt odd to actively seek it out. So I allowed myself whatever time I needed until I started eating meat again.
Over the course of the next 2 weeks I started feeling tired, dragging my feet, difficulty thinking clearly, runny nose. If I feel under the weather, I tend to clear it pretty fast, but this was dragging on for nearly 2 weeks, and I was feeling worse as time went on.
Finally, the night before I was heading down to California to attend a training seminar, I thought:
“What is going on?!! I have felt fine. Why am I falling apart? I haven’t changed anything.”
It then hit me like a bolt of lightening.
“Wait. That’s exactly it. I HAVEN’T changed anything. After my system was already telling me it was time to eat meat again.”
I committed to consciously start the next day.
The Eggs that Opened the Flood Gates
This brings us back to the 2, double yolk eggs. Obviously it was time for me to start eating meat/animal products. I thought I would ease myself into it (and I would recommend you do if you ever try something like this), because after not eating any animal products for some time, too much too soon can wreak havoc on your digestive system in the transition back.
Not quite the route I ended up going however. After 4 days, I looked back on the weekend and realized I ate pretty much nothing BUT meat. Barbecue this. Barbecue that. Beef, pork, chicken. Hot, cold. Spicy, bland. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. In mass quantities. Bad idea right?
Not this time. Just as my shift to a vegan diet didn’t miss a beat, with no adverse effects, my shift back to eating meat didn’t miss a beat either. Digestion was totally fine with no “transitional” effects. There was, however, one difference.
My energy felt like it turned on after being neutral for a long time. I felt a spark of reconnection to myself emotionally. My mind felt clear and sharp. I felt like gears were starting up again after being off for awhile.
So is a Vegan/Vegetarian Diet Worth it?
I’m not making a case for or against it. I’m sharing my experience. Some might say “Yeah, but Shane, you obviously felt better when eating meat.” At that time yes. But I was feeling kind of “Bleh” before I went Vegan, eating a fair amount of meat.
I believe eating Vegan for those 6 months helped me hit a very important reset button. Bringing me back into a greater state of balance so I could connect to that next layer of energy. In retrospect, it served as exactly the “vehicle” I needed at that time as well, because I was also in a space of “quieting” things down and de-cluttering in my life.
When it comes to our “Diet”, we tend to view it in extremes.
It’s either/or.
It’s this/that.
It’s yes/no.
It’s best/worst.
It’s us/them.
When in actual fact, it’s all of it, in various combinations at different times, for different people, serving different purposes. And that the differences are okay, is what I make a case for.
It’s not: 4 Eggs OR Vegan
It’s: 4 Eggs AND a Vegan 😉
Dare To Evolve,
Shane.
Excellent, reflective, well written piece here Shane.
I gave up meat as an experiment. That experiment has been going on a little over 5 years now.
Since things feel great, I will keep on going until it does not.
As I continue on with this experiment, I feel a different aspect to my ethical thinking coming on that worries me. I love animals, most times more than people. 😉 Since it has been 5 years without meat, things start to trigger in my brain that have nothing to do with my health; more-so the guilt of eating my buddies. That concept wasn’t in the cards when I introduced my plant-based lifestyle.
I am never one to judge others but it’s amazing how easy it is to judge myself..
I remind my clients that their Nutritional Lifestyle is NOT a religion and should never be treated as such.
Rhetorical: Am I turning my nutrition into a religion because of the involvement of ethics, which was never part of the deal, in my diet..
Time will tell but at least I am aware of this little dilemma.
Thank you for sharing Brother!
-Hg
Thanks for taking the time to read it Bro. More than that though, thanks for sharing your own journey and experience. From the sounds of it, it is going really well. A good fit for you that has continued to give positive benefits. Interesting to hear the other developments that have come along with that and how it continues to feed the ongoing evolution.
“As I continue on with this experiment, I feel a different aspect to my ethical thinking coming on that worries me. I love animals, most times more than people…”
HAHA!!
“I am never one to judge others but it’s amazing how easy it is to judge myself.”
You and me both. While I am constantly working on it, I’m guilty of judging and being very hard on myself 100 times over. A part of why I am constantly speaking to being compassionate with ourselves through the process… because I need the constant reminder. 😉
Even when we witness judgement being doled to others or us, by others, it’s really that screaming judgement of themselves needing to be externalized because it is not being faced or dealt with from within. And I believe that judgement (essentially of self) plays a major role in not listening to our intuition when it comes to diet. Sure, there’s a process of developing greater awareness of what it’s saying, but it’s there none the less. Yet we turn away from it and JUDGE ourselves for what we feel we need most at this time. For example I’ve met folks eating a plant based diet that are just downright angry all the time whenever the topic of food gets brought up. I can’t help but wonder at the connection:
a. maybe what they need to eat at this time is some meat.
b. is that anger the result of “judgement” coming to heads with “intuition”?
Your story is a wonderful and empowering example of following your… haha, yes I’m going to say it… Gut. And the positive, beneficial results that come with it. I respect you for honouring that and being true to its process.
As to the rhetorical question, whatever reflections you come to over time, one thing I see for sure is the “vehicle” that your diet has been serving as in your finding continually greater and deeper connection to your heart and soul (the very opposite of what comes from a more dogmatic view). And that can never be wrong.
Keep Rock’in it strong Helder!
Thank you for sharing and for doing what you do Shane. I learn from you every time that I read anything that you have to share.
I actually posted this post in my NTC Tribe member area because it is such an important topic. People need to realize that they need to do what is best for them, not what is best for us.
Honored to have you as a resource and as a Brother!
Thank you!
-Hg
Right back at’cha Brother!
One of the greatest gifts for me in all this is the continual connection with others such as yourself throughout this journey.
Those working with you have a major pillar in their corner.
Hi Shane,
Very interesting article.
I have been thinking alot recently about going at least vegetarian for 1 month (to start with – veganism is another story!) but have all these concerns about getting unhealthy, losing muscle, having to do all that food combining stuff; it seems like so much more of a hassle than just “eat some nutritious meat”.
I love meat, and I also love veges, seems like I’d have to eat so much more food to make up for the meat – let alone veganism.
Were you doing your usual ‘hard’ training during this experiment, or did you dial it back a bit?
Can you offer any suggestions/tips/tricks etc to someone who may be considering this lifestyle for a unspecified time period?
p.s – recent clubbell convert, I am so addicted! Just thought I’d mention that.
Jordan! You’ve identified some very good questions before starting. Questions that many of us have. There is one important question not written there (or rather the answer to it), though I’m sure you’ve already asked yourself. If you are thinking about moving to a vegetarian/plant-based diet: Why? Why do you feel yourself drawn to exploring this?
In answering that, it will address many of the concerns you’ve shared.
With regard to training, yes I did continue through it. While not a particularly hard push, I was still challenging myself. I was working through Cyclone Strength (from Club Flow Evolution) with the next weight up for me (35 lbs club). I felt no issues. In fact, after my 7 day cleanse, I dropped 13 lbs (and I didn’t have much fat to begin with). Within 2 months I’d gone back up 10 lbs to a “lighter” (but still strong) feeling 180 lbs.
There’s alot more to share and I certainly have some suggestions for exploring this shift. But this is a conversation that would be more fitting in the Dare To Evolve Forum (we have a “Nutrition” section): http://daretoevolve.tv/forum/nutrition/
I invite you to hit me up there with:
1. Your answer to “Why?” you feel yourself drawn to explore this
2. and just restating your questions and concerns moving forward with it.
p.s. re: Club’in, happy to hear it’s resonating. I’m kind of a fan myself. 😉
I love what you say about not having to be either/or. It is the same thing with exercise.
Thanks Ricardo!
“It is the same thing with exercise.”
Exaaaaaactly. 🙂