 Friends         | View all 9 posts    0 View all 5 posts  My dad had a Heart Attack at the age of 46 in 2004. He was not the healthiest eater and a bit overweight at 5'9" and 200lbs..high cholesterol over 250+ but he thought nothing of it..so that day on Easter morning he had a Heart Attack and my mom rushed him to the hospital. It was 2 or 3 am in the morning, Easter morning. He ended up having a triple bypass surgery. After that he ate a bit healthier but not vegetarian or vegan..started eating more salads and white meat chicken and white, lean pork and fish..he had cut out cheese and beer and some other things like red meat (steak and burgers and such)..healthier, yes...but then one day in 2010 around Christmas time, my mom was shopping with me and saw a book at Whole Foods about how to, "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease" written by Doctor Caldwell Esselstyn..so we bought it...it talked about a plant based/vegan/oil free diet....and it included quite a few plant based, no oil added recipes, included..we all tried it..Mom and Dad and I (Mom and myself to support my father on this Journey) on December 27th, 2010 and dad and I have been vegan ever since, mom not so much...but she still cooks plant based food for my dad and such all the time, so she still does her part...we both (Dad and I) lost weight and dad's cholesterol went down... from at the time he went vegan it was like 150ish and it went down to 94..nice and low so much so that they took him off some of his meds for cholesterol (his Cardiologist didn't feel comfortable taking him full off all his medication for cholestrol)..and I went from 185lbs to 150lbs; a nice, healthy weight; less than 6 months later after not even doing any exercise more than I usually did back then, which wasn't much at all!..come to think of it today Is April 11th, the 17 year anniversary of the day my dad had his heart attack..he's still alive and so very healthy..eats clean and works out all the time..I am glad he's still here..his only vice is a glass of red wine every night (or two) but he won't even eat "Plant Based Dessert" or "Vegan cheese."..I envy his discipline. So that's my story on going vegan/plant based..and it isn't ever gonna change! ^_^ That's my story! Vegan/Plant Based story! |
