Becoming Vegan - Fellow Blogger Raf Kiss tells his story

I'd like to introduce you to Raf Kiss fellow blogger, vegan, adventurer and interesting person.

I met him just recently via my @meatlessly (follow me on twitter here) twitter account. He's been sharing interesting
tweets about his Brazilian life and adventures as well as Vegan lifestyle and issues. I've enjoyed reading many of his tweets.  

One of the interesting things he shared with me recently was his story on becoming Vegan. I know you will enjoy reading it as much as I did.

The following is a portion of his story. The full post can be read here on his blog "Brazilian Road Trips and other adventures"

Becoming a vegan – Raw food: the key to a Healthy Life

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Raf Kiss

Almost twenty years ago, I became vegan which turned out to be a life changing experience .

The book that changed my life.

Although I shiver when I think about the way chickens, cows, pigs, goats, sheep, fish and other animals are treated before getting butchered for human consumption, that was not my main reason to adapt the vegan lifestyle.

I’m not a doctor, nor a scientist. I’m just a regular guy who likes to lead a healthy and active life. Ever since I was 16 years old, I have been practicing sports like running, bicycling, swimming, squash, fitness and the occasional rock climb. I guess you could say that as a young boy, I was pretty active as well. My friends and I used to play soccer at a field near my house, play in the woods, make camps or ride our bicycles the whole day.

We didn’t have any video games, computers, cartoon network and all the other stuff that kids get hooked on these days and keeps them from being active, and I guess I’m still thankful for that.

A history of weight problems

A first mayor change in my life occurred when my father, who was military, decided to send me to school in the army at the age of 15. It was one way to get me a cheap education and the same career as he had. But here’s the thing: I’m not really the army type I guess.

Being more of a free spirit, I don’t like/need people to tell me what to do and how to do it (basically having my life run by other people) all the time. The only thing I gained in the army during the six months I was there, was about 25kg and an unhealthy taste for beer… lots of beer.

That’s right, after only six months (I had done really bad at the year-end exams), I was “discharged” and returned to the civilian world, almost an alcoholic and weighing 89kg, which with my height of 170cm makes for a BMI of 30,8, which is Obese (not that I really cared).e and my dad made it clear to me that he had no intention to pay anymore for my further education, and that I should start looking for a job, which I did. I started working in the sawmill that was run by my grandfather and his brothers.

The hard physical labor at the sawmill made me lose weight very quickly. After only 3 months, it was down to 75kg. No need to say I felt a lot better by then.

Around that time I also started to do some jogging. After a hard day’s work at the mill, I still had enough energy to go running. It started with 3km, then 5km and pretty soon I was  running 15-20km per day. My eating habits had changed too. Ok, I ate lots of meat and other “animal food”, but there were fruit trees at the sawmill and at lunchtime, I used to climb into one of them and just eat fruit (apples, pears, cherries…).

The 6 months I had spent at the military school hadn’t saved me from having to do my “military service” so at 18, I had to go back to the army for 8 more months, but this time I didn’t come out obese. Running had become my number one hobby and I managed to keep my weight around 70-75, which was still pretty high for my 170cm.

The vegan turnaround: Fit For Life

The second book really goes into the negative way the food industry impacts the health of almost every human being on the planet.

Fast forward… At the age of 28, I had a wife, two sons and was still running a lot, but I started to develop serious pain in my joints, especially my knees. Every time I went running, I was in a lot of pain for a few days. It was so bad that I had difficulties walking up the stairs.

I went to see several doctors, but the only thing could come up with was, that I had “over-trained”, or that I had “destroyed my joints by not stretching enough”. One of them, a specialist, even told me that I had better forget about running for the rest of my life… Ouch. The only solution was to take pills, heavy painkillers, and I felt bad to be having to take them in order to be able to practice my beloved sport.

Around that time, my wife (now ex-wife), who never felt good about her weight and was constantly on some kind of diet, came home from her doctor and told me that she had been advised to read the book “Fit for Life“, by Harvey Diamond. She became very exited about it, so after she read it, I did too…

The book basically describes how we can be in control of our weight and our general health by just being logical, going back to the basics and make sure that 70% of what you eat is fruit or vegetables, preferably raw. It is called the method of “natural hygiene“.

Unfortunately, most people aren’t aware of the amount of crap they put inside themselves, slowly poisoning themselves, while they do so much effort to look good on the outside. This book really opened my eyes. Everything was so logical, so clear. It all made perfect sense, and especially because it also talks about how the right eating habits can lead to a life free of pain, I decided to give it a shot.

Read the rest of the story here.

To get a copy of Fit For Life check out this deal on Amazon: