Hey there new Plant Based Beard fan! My name is Ian and I am now from Saint Paul, MN. I grew up in Kansas City, MO and moved up to the frigid North in middle school. Needless to say, there are some stark differences in culture, weather and other aspects of life in that move, but I consider myself a Minnesotan through and through now!
I went to college in Ohio and even moved back to MN afterward and joined the workforce. I worked in fitness, selling gym memberships for a few years before pivoting towards management and working for a local convenience chain. I have learned a lot over the years of working with the public, and in some very interesting situations. Whenever I think I have heard or seen it all, there is inevitably something that catches me off guard and managing people is also something that will give you all kinds of insight into humanity.
Over the course of my ten-plus year management career I have often fluctuated with my focus on my health. In the fall of 2016 I had been told that I was prediabetic, have always been borderline obese (especially by BMI, but don’t get me started on that…) and was not feeling great about my health. I thought I was trying to be moderately healthy and worked out somewhat regularly. I ate well much of the time, but would cycle through phases of weight gain and loss as many do. Nothing stuck very long term and I was always searching for a diet or way of eating that would help me find the balance I was looking for.
After binging on many of the most popular Netflix documentaries over the holidays I decided to go plant based on 1/2/17 and that was a change that has reverberated through my life ever since. The environmental impact was the predominant thing that sold me to be perfectly honest. I had no idea how wasteful our food system really was… However, another benefit was my health. I lost 20 pounds in two months by focusing on eating food cooked at home mostly. My health numbers dropped just as quickly. Cholesterol down. Blood sugar under control. Blood pressure back down. It was amazing!
Not only did a plant based diet benefit my health, it made me gain so much sympathy for other living beings by seeing just how unnecessary the entrapments of the food industry have become. The fact that animals are bred just to be killed, and their lifespans are shortened merely for human consumption, was not something I had the ability to wrap my mind around before.
Fast forward to today. I am working harder on my fitness. I eat well and splurge on vegan junk food from time to time as well. Nonetheless, my weight is much more stable than it ever has been. Although not everything I eat is “healthy”, it has made a measurable difference. I started an Instagram account to promote the great food I was exposed to and show that it is not nearly as restrictive as people thing. A side effect to that IG account was that I met many people in the Twin Cities vegan community and it has been a great experience to be accepted into such a warm group of people that just want better for all life on the planet.
Now I have decided to start this blog as another way to express my experiences. I want to explore more depth than Instagram allows at times, so this will have some posts that are deeper and more emotional. I will likely have some that are superficial and food oriented to center the discourse, but I want to have some real conversation. Please join me and comment and start a dialogue. I would love to hear your thoughts as well!
