Day One As a 66 Year Old Vegan

We recently watched a PBS program called the "21 Day Vegan KickStart" that set us on a journey to see how changes in eating habits might keep us healthy and add to longevity. At 66 you start thinking about those things.

Wake Up Call ~ Slap on the Back of the Head ~ Hello is Anyone in There?

For most of our lives we have taken our bodies for granted and along the way forgotten the concept of common sense. Our eating habits are a train wreck and self discipline left the building along with Elvis. When we were young we could get away with it because we had something called a metabolism rate and walked to school, played sports, hiked the local woods and spent most of our time outdoors. There were no electronic diversions except perhaps Ed Sullivan and Bonanza on Sunday night.

Over scheduled lives, computers, advertising and fast food have led us down the proverbial garden path and into an endless maze of bad habits. The truth of the matter is we're easy and have mastered the art of justification. The irony is that we now have the audacity to wonder why we aren't as healthy as we used to be and whine about aches, pains, adult onset diabetes, weight, and bad numbers on blood tests. Well guess what it's our fault and we're the only ones that can fix it: no whining, no excuses! So here we go.

To our credit we already work out at the local gym and have a large garden that keeps us physically active. We still however will be making a paradigm shift in eating habits. Sacrifices to come for sure, but it's only for 21 days. And truth be told we may find the new habits are worth keeping.

For me the toughest part is giving up butter, cheese, chicken and yogurt. However that loss is tempered by the fact I'm married to "Chef Boy" who has already been doing a little experimenting within our new perimeters. So stay tuned for further adventures of the 66 Year Old Vegan.

The web site is http://www.pcrm.org/kickstartHome if you're interested in finding out more.