Who Am I?
Hi, I’m Jim. I’m not a superstar athlete, celebrity, doctor or nutritionist. I’m also not somebody who lost 100+ pounds by adopting a vegan lifestyle. I’m just a guy who paid attention to the food he ate over the years and noticed that the cleaner my diet became, the better and more energized I felt. Ultimately it led me to a vegan diet, cutting out all meat and dairy. It definitely was not an overnight thing. In fact, I’m still learning, making mistakes and adjusting. What I eat now is closer to a whole food plant based (WFPB) diet. If you’re curious, a vegan diet is one that is completely devoid of any animal products. A WFPB diet is one in which the food you consume remains as close as possible to its natural state.
My intention with this site is to provide information and advice on what foods to eat and what foods to avoid. I want to keep it simple. There is enough confusion and noise out there. Much of that confusion and noise is on purpose.
From time to time I’ll provide reviews of foods, products, podcasts, books and documentaries that can help you learn to optimize your food choices.
My “Why”
Like many people, I grew up with well-meaning parents who made sure they provided our family with “nutritious” meals. Unfortunately, that often meant a lot of meat, cheese, milk, butter, refined breads and pastas, and sugary juices and cereals. I started to realize a lot of people in my family were overweight or obese, had heart disease, diabetes and other afflictions. When I was younger I assumed this was a lifeSPAN issue, not a lifeSTYLE issue. That is, I assumed that as a person aged they naturally would gain weight, slow down, become sick, and eventually die. It least that was my perspective being raised on the Standard American Diet (SAD) here in the US.
I’ve witnessed family, friends and colleagues in their 50s, 40s, and even 30s become victims of strokes, cancer, heart attacks, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, gastrointestinal disorders and other afflictions. I thought it was simply the luck of the draw. But growing up, the schools we attended fed us absolute garbage for lunch and lined the cafeteria with vending machines filled with soft drinks and candy. PE was part of the curriculum, but food wasn’t. We learned through the media: “Milk. It does a body good.” “Beef. It’s what’s for dinner.” “Pork. The other white meat.” “The incredible edible egg.” In my generation, Saturday morning cartoons had millions of children each week as a captive audience. We were brainwashed into believing Cap’n Crunch with Crunchberries, along with toast, milk and orange juice was “…part of a nutritious, balanced breakfast.”
Breaking The Cycle
I am here to break the cycle. It is not a foregone conclusion that I will develop heart disease like my dad or type II diabetes like my mom or cancer like some other relatives. The cycle ends with me. I don’t want my little girl growing up misinformed or brainwashed about the food she should be eating. Everyone knows that when you put the highest grade fuel in your sports car, you get optimal performance. If you skimp on the fuel, you’ll have some break downs and expensive mechanical bills. And that’s your car. We’re talking about your body here, not your car, and the bodies of your loved ones. Think about it. Why would you knowingly consume anything less than the optimum fuel. Just like a car, you’ll start to break down too. It’ll start by your feeling sluggish and unmotivated. It gets worse from there. You think paying a mechanic for your car is expensive, wait until you start getting bills from the mechanic who fixes your body.
What I’ve Learned
In no way am I going to take an “I’m holier than thou” stance. I’m not. I didn’t pursue a Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB) lifestyle out of deep compassion to animals. It was purely selfish. I just wanted to feel better and perform better in my athletic endeavors. Again, I’m not an elite athlete by any stretch of the imagination. I’m closer on the scale to a weekend warrior. Here’s the intriguing part of transitioning to WFPB eating. Whether you mean to or not, you will become healthier while you help countless animals AND help the fight against climate change. You’ll begin to learn more about, and care more about, the animals you once consumed. You’ll also learn that the US government is not out to protect your family as much as you would like to believe. The Food & Drug Administration is guided by powerful lobbyists whose interest is not the health of you and your family, it’s in making a profit. The same goes for the pharmaceutical industry. I used to think people who said there’s more money in disease management than cures were conspiracy theorists. But now I’m not so sure.