Born to Run

Okay folks, I'm going to lay some serious knowledge on you. Prepare to have your mind blown. Since becoming vegan about 3 months ago, I've been doing some serious reading/documentary-watching about veganism/plant-based diets. Now I am definitely no expert, but I've got some definite wisdom floating around in my brain and I'm dying to share it. When it comes to being vegan I definitely have decent support, and it helps that Nick is completely vegan also. But I feel like people still think I am little nuts, and people either act interested (rarely) or look at me with this skeptical expression that drives me crazy. No, I am not lying to you when I say I love being vegan. And NO, my vegan boyfriend DID NOT "brainwash" me into becoming vegan. I'm also annoyed with questions like "where do you get your calcium?" "how do you get protein?". And statements like "my cousin went vegan/vegetarian and wasted away" or "well we were made to eat meat".
Now the purpose of this post is not to harass or berate you guys. I'm just not down for confronting and arguing with people (unless they say something really really stupid). So this is my harmless way of stating my case. Honestly, the vegan stuff can be hard to grasp, it goes against everything (nutrition-wise) that we've been taught our entire lives. If you're not ready for that, then skip this post. Or just skip down to the running section.

Vegan
So, let's go back. The two early species of humans were Neanderthals and Homo Erectus. Neanderthals were stout, muscular and strong, and they ate a shit-load of meat. Everything they could lay their hands on. Now Homo Erectus (our ancestors) yes, they did eat some meat, but they ate a mostly plant-based diet!!! Those canine, pointy teeth in our mouths? Those are there so we can eat hard fruits and vegetables like carrots, apples, potatoes, etc. There is an activist named Gary Yourofsky and he travels around the US giving lectures about the benefits of vegan diets. He poses some interesting scenarios (his lecture on youtube is actually why I became vegan. I totally recommend it, he's a great speaker). He has bet every class he has spoken to, that if anyone can make these scenarios come true, he will eat a bacon cheesburger. So far, no one has been able to. These tests "prove" we are not meant to eat meat. Number One: all carnivorous mammals can hunt, kill, and eat their prey with their own "two hands"(and eat it RAW, I might add). So, therefore, as mammals, if we were meant to eat meat, we should be able to do the same. Okay, so go out, chase down a squirrel, kill it, and eat it raw. First, can you even catch it? Second, how does your body react to that raw meat? Scenario Number Two: put an apple and a pet rabbit in a crib with a baby. Guaranteed everytime, the baby with play with the rabbit and eat the apple. Hunting instincts are primal, not taught. If we were true carnivores, that baby would instinctively play with the apple and eat the rabbit.
Okay, here comes the ethical part. All vegans become vegans for their own reasons, but ethics and health were my main two. The amount of cruelty all animals involved in factory farming/slaughter houses is unimaginable. This next section might get a little graphic, so I'm giving you a head's up. And I won't go into too much detail, just gloss over some facts, and I'll hit up slaughter houses last. These are descriptions of what happens to animals in "non-lethal" food production: dairy and eggs. First of all, cows. Just like humans, cows only produce milk after giving birth because it is intended for their calves only. Just like our human breast milk is only intended for human babies. We are screwing around in a major way by drinking milk from another mammal. So in order for a cow to constantly be producing milk, it must constantly be pregnant. Cows are RAPED and injected with bull semen so that they will always be pregnant. Male calves are taken from their mothers and killed for veal. Female calves are taken and immediately pumped with antibiotics and hormones in preparation for the time when they will be raped and forced to give milk. None of the milk actually goes to the calves. Cows are intelligent animals, they feel pain, fear, and grief. They are aware that their babies have just been ripped away from them. Not to mention that they are constantly beaten and prodded into submission, and their udders are extremely sore and infected from constantly being attached to mechanical pumps (ladies: think about that happening to your breasts, and having your baby stolen from you right after childbirth). Chickens are kept in cages so small they can't spread their wings. And since they constantly peck at each other and their captors, their beaks are seared off so that they do not try and fight for freedom. Plus an egg, is essentially a hen's period. Its an unfertilized egg. Think about it. Slaughterhouses are even worse. The animals know what is happening. They are beaten and pulled with hooks when they try to resist. Baby pigs are beaten and thrown against cement walls when they won't stop crying for their mothers. Babies are treated like this. The animals are hung upside down and sliced open. They are dropped in burning water, their insides pulled out and their limbs chopped off while they are still alive.
Would you want your dog, your cat, your horse, to go through this? No? So why is it okay for cows and pigs to be tortured, raped, and killed?
And now for the health portion. Eating fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains provides you with EVERY NUTRIENT AND MINERAL YOUR BODY NEEDS! All these foods have an abundance of calcium and protein. The people who "waste away" on plant-based diets do so because they are still not eating properly. They eat white breads and processed foods. Same with iron. I have textbook perfect iron levels and while I've only been vegan for 3 months, I've been vegetarian for over 2 years. Actually, animal protein/by-products is harmful to us because it's so acidic. So to compensate, our body leeches phosphate from our bones, therefore over time making our bones increasingly weak. All that crap about drinking x number of glasses of milk a day to prevent osteoporosis? Actually making the problem worse!! Actually tons of research worldwide has demonstrated that the rural areas in countries like China, parts of Africa, etc. that consume little to none animal by-products are virtually disease free! And not only osteoporosis, but cancer, heart disease, obesity, hyptertension and diabetes (amoung others). Read The China Study, or watch the documentaries Food Matters or Forks Over Knives if you don't believe me. One doctor, actually took patients who were diagnosed with fatal heart disease and multiple bypass surgeries, and gave them all a plant based diet and after 5 years, their diseases not only stopped progressing, but regressed as well! This began in the 1980s, and today 8 out of the original 24 participants are still alive and healthy today. Including one woman, who was given less than a year to live because of her heart disease (this prognosis was given in 1985)... AND SHE IS STILL ALIVE WITH NO HEALTH PROBLEMS. This method has also been proven successful in curing cancer patients. One woman, a marathoner, was 47 when diagnosed with breast cancer. Instead of poisoning herself with radiation and chemo, she (on the advice of a different doctor) adopted a completely vegan lifestyle, and simultaneously began training for her first Ironman triathlon where she won a gold medal in her age category. She is also still alive today and is running marathons and triathlons IN HER SEVENTIES! (All this athletic stuff will tie back in for part 2: running :) ) Its incredible. Did you know that its impossible to have high cholesterol on a vegan diet? ALL BAD CHOLESTEROL COMES FROM ANIMAL BY-PRODUCTS!
Besides these physical health benefits, your hormones are balanced. Cows and pigs are pumped full of antibiotics and hormones so keep them "healthy" and to make them grow faster and larger. So all of those are then transferred to our bodies when we consume those products. Not only that, but just like us, these animals have a rush of hormones when they are scared and in pain, so we also receive doses of those hormones when we eat.
Personal Experience: All my life I have been plagued by headaches and consistent (though not terrible) acne, and some mood swings. Since being vegan my moods have stablilized, my headaches have subsided in their intensity, and slowly but surely, my skin is clearing up. I have not had completely clear skin since I was 12 years old. I have also lost weight and now feel constantly happy and healthy. My body feels clean. I know we all think we feel healthy, but how many of us feel cleansed and clean? We've all had that feeling where your like ugghhh shouldn't have eaten that. On a vegan diet? Doesn't happen. Because there is nothing that we shouldn't have eaten. And trust me (or ask my friends and family) vegan food is amazing. You cannot taste a difference, and because of the amount of substitutes for milk, cheese, and meat that are out there, you can recreate any of your favourite meals/foods.

There you go. Are your minds blown?
Message me if you want places to look for more info. I just want a chance to educate anyone who is curious. I also plan on writing a section on Running, which will require a separate post, as this one turned out to be much longer than I anticipated. :)
Also to any of you who are still reading at this point, thank you for sticking it through. I'm not asking you guys to change your lifestyle, but maybe just be a little more open-minded. And if you run into me, I would love to talk more about it.