rest of 16 August

Had a great one hour run last night and dinner leftovers with some potatoes.  Spent time in the evening relaxing and reading my new running book by Jeff Galloway which seemed really inspiring.  I spoke to people from the Manchester Tao group which was good so may see them on sunday I think could be cool.  Today I'm about to go and meet with Stuart and will see Dave later.  Will likely have a couple of halves.  Still rather not drink at all but it is being phased out.  All linking with my new blogs I started yesterday as I prepare for my first marathon and doing it as a Vegan person and giving up alcohol.

An unbelievably great day in Kuala Lumpar :)

I had practically a dream day in Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia during my 15 hour stop over.  I met my friends the night before to take me to the airport in Auckland.  I had an idea of how to spend my time then they mentioned that they had some friends in Kuala Lumpar who could potentially meet with me.  I said that would be great.

I was met by Jacqueline and Johnson at the airport who showed me around the city... the twin towers and the main Kuala Lumpar tower (with a trip to the top).  We also ate great Vegan meals together.  Starting with Dim Sum for lunch and other random stor fries etc at a restaurant for dinner.  Also a visit to China Town together.

I feel embarassed although very highly gratuitous that I did not pay for anything the whole of that time other than a DVD of the new superman movie I bought for equivalent of 5 NZ dollars from China Town.

Very very lovely people.  Jacqueline and Johnson belong to the same spiritual development community I am bonded with in Auckland which inspired my decision to become Vegetarian then Vegan initially.  Their diet even if just vegetarian always involves not eating allium vegetables (the onion family) for spiritual reasons that they cause unrest to the heart.  I have to say I haven't gone there myself yet personally but for pure compassionate reasons just love being vegan and obviously my health being super too is great.

The journey to Kuala Lumpar I pretty much slept the whole way.  I was just a little aggrieved that I wasn't on their list for a Vegan meal although had requested several weeks before.  They managed to still get me some food and I just missed out on the breakfast whereas the vegetarian option involved scrambled egg.  I settled for some fruit and a bread roll.

Jacqueline and Johnson called the airline for me to check if I could get the Vegan meal on the way back and just as unbelievable extra support bought me some fruit and a big vegan burger to take with just in case.  Such great people.  They may visit Auckland next year so I really hope I can repay the favour.  The spiritual development group speaks a lot about affinity, possible past lives and being linked to others in that community. That was how I was treated which was very nice and I will repay that.

Overall my Vegan life on the trip has gone exceptionally well.  I remain a sane vegan firmly. :)
 

My path to becoming vegan.. again a re-write

So i joined a personal/spiritual development group in about march 2012.  At the time i had a lot of anxiety.  My job was extremely stressful and i was actually taking anxiety medication at the time (I had been for 5 months).  It was in April i went through the mini initiation process of recieving Tao when I was blessed by a Tao master.  the idea being that the 3rd eye is opened enabling changes to take place.  its interesting as thesedays im not sure how much that ritual had anything to do with anything. I wouldn't want to sound like I hold that was key to my change but it did happen just a few days before.


For me maybe the time was just right for an idea to take hold in me.  I made my first vegetarian friends here in NZ and was enjoying the food and the philosophy around it made enough sense to just give it a go and see how it felt for me. On april 21, less than a week after recieving Tao and a few days after my 32nd birthday when my friends laughed at me for practically eating a whole pig on a barbeque to myself i had chicken soup for my lunch then felt I had enough in place to try.  I had a couple of internet recipes and bought some vege sausages and was meeting my friends for dinner a couple of times.

 It was wonderful to be supported by the Tao group and I immediately felt better and loved the feeling of being full after eating but not in a way that felt so heavy. It felt better for me.  I started running with a running group which helped my anxiety issues.  Concerningly i did lose a few kgs very quickly. Not what i wanted being a skinny guy weighing about 67kgs as it was.  Having said that though i knew i felt healthier. it disgusts me now to think of all that animal fat in my body. It was
not right. It felt like i was eating better for sure.

I became interested in making a change to veganism.  i made my first vegan friends and it was something that just seemed to feel right for me. it's hard to say why, it seemed like just going a full way with an idea. Vegetarianism just seemed part of that. 6 weeks later i became Vegan.  my milk became a non dairy milk, my yogurts i took to work each day became a piece of fruit, my blocks of dairy chocolate became a few pieces of whittakers dark and the honey bars i ate each day became a grain i made using oats, dried fruit and maple syrup. Ah, and my saturday egg and beans on toast became scrambled tofu with beans on toast.  its funny to think back on changing those things
now as everything has evolved a lot since then but it was cool just to change those things over and make them more principled. 

I felt really happy and proud in my new Vegan identity.  I started to read more about animal ethics and read some books which were really useful to me.
This is a free e-book for people becoming Vegan: The Ultimate vegan guide.
Diet for a new America.  Is superb and shows all the health benefits of a shift in this direction.
Becoming Vegan. Also very very helpful.

This combined with hanging out with great people who were Vegetarian and Vegan.  it was also good to join a few groups on Facebook around Veganism. id recommend getting as much support as possible from various sources.  It is certainly out there and is invaluable. It's a change that I have never for a second regretted.

Since the time of changing to Vegetarian then to Vegan I have not once felt even remotely tempted to take a step backwards and the only time i have consumed things that i wasn't standing for has been through an accident.

I know its maybe not that easy for some people and i dont say that to boast. It's just my journey and it is a mini thing i feel proud of but also to promote that it is such a great thing to do and even if it is hard at points in choosing to evolve to a Vegetarian or Vegan diet you are not making anything other than a positive step forward for your physical and mental health as well helping animals and the environment.

In my view its the best absolute no brainer thing anyone can do.  I hope i get to have kids one day and can give them the gift of bringing them up as vegan.