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Date: 1998/09/04
When I was younger (early teens until I was 24 (6 years ago), I lived on
a regular North American diet (consisted mainly of meat calories). I was
10 pounds overweight earlier on, and fluctuated between 30-40 pounds
overweight when I was in my early 20's, and probably (NO..most
definately) would have gone higher If I didn't make any changes. I was
exhausted all the time, exercise was minimal, aerobic exercise, forget
it. I was anemic (I had to take this liquid iron shit, but threw it out
after 3 days though, it was horrid, I can taste it to this day,
everytime I think about it), had high blood pressure (that is
hereditary). I was sick all the time, but minor stuff (mostly colds,
flus, inner ear infections, sore throats), and I popped antibiotics like
candy. My cholesterol was way above normal (whatever that means). I used
to sleep ~12-14 hours/day (on the weekends) and ~10 hours on weekdays
(when I had to go to school).
I did a lot of research, and decided to try a marine-vegetarian
lifestyle (if it could swim, or lived in the water, I could eat it..yup
I was a wanna be vegetarian ). So at age 23 (closer to my 24th
birthday), I changed part of my eating habits. I cut out all meat. I
still ate dairy products (cheese mostly, never was a big fan of milk or
eggs), still ate processed foods (stuff made with enriched white flour,
sugar, etc.), I still ate preserved food. Cut out all soft drinks (used
to drink only diet soda, ~2L/day and up). About a few months after I
made those changes, I started having more energy, so I started 20
minutes of aerobic exercise 3 days/week (you know, more or less, but it
became easier to keep the routine as time went on. I lost weight pretty
slowly, but consistently. In a little over a year, I shed the 40 pounds.
The best part was, I was hardly ever sick (now you have to consider that
out of 365 days I was literally sick ~90 of those days, between one
thing, or another). That year I went down to about ~20 sick days.
So, into the second year, I refined my lifestyle yet again. I went from
Vegetarian to Vegan (actually even beyond that). I ate absolutely no
canned, bottled, or any other food that was preserved in any way. I
didn't eat any food that was processed or chemically enhanced
(fortified/enriched). In less then two months, my energy levels started
to skyrocket. I went from working out 3 days per/week at 20 minutes
(aerobic), to 7 days per/week at 20 minutes. Within a month of that, I
was working out 3- 3/4 hours/day, 7 days a week. Most of my days were
spent exercising, cooling down, showering (I sweat like crazy when I
exercise, even to this day), and eating (and I literally had to eat
copious amounts of food, so I would maintain my weight, otherwise I
would start losing). I was sleeping 5-6 hours per night and waking up
refreshed beyond belief. After about 6 months I cut down to one 90
minute session/day (instead of 3, 75 minute sessions) and maintained
that level until 1996, when I found out that to much aerobic exercise,
is more detrimental then none (I really wish they could make up their
mind). So, for the past two years I have only been doing 30 minutes of
aerobic exercise daily (alternating between the Concept II rower &
Stairmaster, for upper and lower body, respectively).
My blood pressure has been normal (since I became vegan), blood test are
"very good" (whatever that means), and I sleep about 6.5 - 7 hours/day
now. My last cholesterol test was two years ago, and I had to go back a
second time, they thought they mixed up the samples. My doctor gave me a
bunch terms (but I know NOTHING about cholesterol), so I just asked him
what it meant. He said something is unbelievably low, and he said
something was unbelievably high (he gave me all kinds of acronyms,
numbers and ratios). He said it was damn good, and that he has never
seen a level like this (for a person my age), in his career, and sent me
for a third test at another lab (which he believed was my second test).
Also, in the past 4 years, I literally have not been sick one day. Other
then my yearly physicals, I don't see the guy (thank god!).
I wouldn't advocate this kind of lifestyle change to anyone though. You
have to eat a lot of food, just to supply your RDA of vitamins and
minerals (mostly nuts, seeds, and legumes for the minerals), and its
damn hard, to keep a healthy balance, while still having variety. Also,
it's impossible to keep any sort of balance when I go on vacation, as
there really are no places that cater to my sort of lifestyle.
I don't know how any of this is going to help, but that is the way I
live my life.
Steve Sebastian
steve_sebastian@ibm.net
PS - No pills, powders, or miracles, just an overall balance.
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