From the article:
“Since then, I have competed in some of the toughest and most extreme ultra-marathons in the world, including Badwater, a 135-mile race in Death Valley in 130-degree heat. I am now in the best shape of my life at 45 years old.”
– Ultra Recovery: From Depressed Addict to Pro Ultrarunner on a Plant-Based Diet:
In 2005, I was 34 years old, over 320 pounds, had ridiculously high blood pressure, high cholesterol, prediabetes, and two herniated discs in my spine. I was eating fast food three or four times a day, popping pain pills (Vicodin, Percocet, codeine) like Tic-Tacs, and washing it all down with a bottle of whiskey each day in a futile attempt to escape reality.
Despite my efforts to hide it from others, the reality was I was on the fast track to an early death. The saddest part was that I was actually hoping to die. Despite abusing my body for more than a decade, I was somehow surviving—just barely, but alive nonetheless. I was still breathing despite all my medical problems, depression, and hopeless chemical and food addictions.
One morning in 2005, I woke up. I woke up physically from passing out drunk and sleeping for 12 hours, but I also woke up in a much more profound and meaningful way. Until that day, I was a zombie walking through life. But on this morning, as my physical body rose from the bed, a tiny flame woke up inside me—my desire to live and start being a good father to my kids. I slowly and steadily went about the task of putting my broken life and broken body back together.
I dumped the booze down the drain, discontinued my midnight trips to McDonald’s, and started going to the gym. For a couple years, I learned to jog and fumbled my way through dieting. I ate a mostly vegetarian diet with lean meats and some cheese and run-walked my way to a slow marathon finish. I had lost a great deal of weight, but still felt afraid that if I stopped running, stopped dieting, or let my guard down for a second, I would gain it all back. Everything changed at the two-year mark, when I became curious about a vegan diet through some friends. On a whim, I started a 30-day vegan challenge. About two days into the challenge, I watched Forks Over Knives. I haven’t been the same since.
After switching to an entirely plant-based diet, I lost the additional weight I couldn’t seem to get rid of before. I eventually stabilized at 160lbs—half of my former weight! Along with my weight problems, my high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart problems went away for good. Even more spectacular was how I felt—lighter, stronger, faster, and able to run and train harder than I ever had in my life. I was recovering so fast from my hard workouts that my running friends were shaking their heads in disbelief. The year that I made the plant-based switch, I ran a 100 mile ultra-marathon, placed in the top 10 at two other ultra marathons, and went on to set an American record.
Since then, I have competed in some of the toughest and most extreme ultra-marathons in the world, including Badwater, a 135-mile race in Death Valley in 130-degree heat. I am now in the best shape of my life at 45 years old.
I’ve just passed my six year anniversary of being vegan. What started as a health and fitness-based journey has evolved into a peaceful way of life. I find comfort in knowing that nothing must die for me to thrive. Letting go of my old habits and beliefs surrounding food and nutrition was not just an act of taking things out of my life and away from my dinner table. Eating and living this way has added depth to my life and helped me to achieve what I previously would have scoffed at or written off as impossible.
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Jogging between 45-60 min daily, and hitting the gym a couple times a week, I am meandering around at 275lbs, down from 320 2yrs ago. Diet advice comes flying at me from every direction, I’m so frustrated. I really hope Forks Over Knives helps me the way it’s helped you. Thanks for posting, T. Will Crow
To todd crow,
I’ve helped many people lose weight from 22 lbs to 110 lbs in one year, depending on what ideal weight their body needed to achieve.
Go through the provided information of the following tags:
http://www.infiniteunknown.net/tag/raw-vegan/
http://www.infiniteunknown.net/tag/vegan/
Well, there is more to know, much more.
Keep me updated about your progress.
Frustration, as you probably know, is the no. 1 emotion leading to weight gain.
Provide the body with the right fuel (enzymes, which are only available in raw foods and are one of the most important keys; iodine (!); selenium; potassium; magnesium; sodium [NO toxic salt. Any salt!!!]; boron; etc. all from food and some supplements [iodine, selenium] maybe.) and your body will drop weight, i.e. stored toxic garbage, like you’ve never seen before. In fact, you will have to eat a lot in order to not drop too much weight too fast. Seriously.
Drink lots of distilled water …
http://www.infiniteunknown.net/2017/01/09/doctors-and-experts-with-the-courage-to-tell-the-truth-about-distilled-water/
… people who drink at least a gallon per day achieve the best results.
In case you start to make your own vegetable (green) juices, which is highly recommended, then you do not have to drink that much distilled water.
Copied the following from another comment I made:
From now on you will lose weight.
The cleansing can be sped up many times, with less strong detox reactions, by doing colon hydrotherapy and/or coffee enemas (see the Gerson Therapy).
You may want to do a few colon hydrotherapy sessions first and then stick to coffee enemas.
Sounds maybe totally crazy, but it works.
All the best,
I.U.
Thank you for your kind reply. I will immediately pick up some distilled water and get my juicer out of storage. Stocking the fridge with fruits and veggies too. Much appreciated, Todd Crow
To Todd Crow,
You’re welcome.
It has to be a slow juicer, or it will kill the enzymes and some other vital nutrients.
Furthermore, the juicer should be very good at juicing greens, because that will be what will clean and rebuild your body.
Horizontal juicers from Omega, for example, are good in juicing greens (Spinach, salad, dandelion, stinging nettles, ground elder and horrible tasting, but extremely powerful wheatgrass).
More info about juicing you’ll find in Norman Walker’s book: “Fresh Vegetable and Fruit Juices: What’s Missing in Your Body?”
Carrots will also prove to be very helpful achieving your goal.
Start slowly. Learn something new everyday. If you do this correctly and your body is given all the vital nutrients it needs, then it will show you what it can do.
You’ll be amazed and in one year you will be a different man.
All the best.
I.U.