We are all familiar with the 4 R’s of green thinking: reduce, reuse, recycle, and repurpose. Recently, I have been introduced to a 5th R . . . Revitalize.
A man by the name of Rich Roll has truly embraced this concept of revitalization and the effect it has on your life. At one time in his life Rich was a lawyer, smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, 50 pounds overweight, and admittedly at his lowest point with satisfaction of his life. One day while climbing the stairs at his home, he stopped to catch his breath … and it was there he had enough.
“MAYBE STOP TRYING SO HARD TO FIND SHORTCUTS TO “HACK” YOUR LIFE. THE BEST THINGS ARE HARD. INVEST IN THE JOURNEY. JUST SAYIN’!” ~RICH ROLL
So what did Rich do? Exactly that! He began a new journey, didn’t look for the easy way out. Rich is now a Ultraman Champion (10km open ocean swim, 421km bike, 84km run = 8 gruelling hours for the top competitors). Oh? Did I mention he did this all while being committed to a plant based diet? Yeah! NUTS! Literally, leaves and nuts!
But there is more to the story. While Rich stopped being a lawyer, his family was barely able to make ends meet. One summer evening while attempting to make house payments, CNN contacted Rich asking for an interview. When planning on what to serve Sanjay Gupta from CNN, the biggest concern was not what to eat, but whether or not the stove top would turn on. Needless to say, the natural gas was still on and Rich became quite the famous story.
Why is this important? Because we as sustainability ambassadors have a greater responsibility than just talking about sustainability, we have to be the advocates, the voice, the beacons of change. There is no hack to being a sustainable consumer. Our purchasing behaviour has to be more dependant on our research, our challenges, our communication.
Needless to say, after much research, deliberation and understanding the path and successes of Rich Roll, I have committed to changing my eating habits and beginning the steady switch from a red meat based diet to 6-day vegetarian, with the end goal of being a fully committed vegan. Not only for the healthy benefits, but as well as the sustainable benefits from a plant based diet.
Thank You Dharini. Thank You Tess. Thank You Classmates.
#TOKYO2020
Thanks for this post, Aaron. That is a truly inspiring story. I was sure I was going to get Rick Rolled at some point — but nope, just Rich Rolled.
I made the switch to vegetarianism in 2012 when my entire body chemistry was wiped out by a powerful and vindictive virus. I was horrendously sick for about a week, and it was the week leading up to my birthday, which incidentally falls on the May long weekend. This is a big weekend in Ontario, and it had become tradition to go up to my friend’s cottage to celebrate both the holiday and my birthday.
I had to miss the first two nights, but I decided to suck it up and make it there for the Sunday evening. Being 22 and stupid, I convinced myself I was feeling better and proceeded to get drunk with my buddies.
Well, about a week later, I was in the hospital and I was told my liver enzyme count was all out of sorts. It didn’t seem to matter what I ate, my insides were a mess and I felt truly awful. And so, all at once, I eliminated meat, dairy and bread. This was a big switch for me, but slowly I started to feel better. I lost a bunch of weight (perhaps a little too quickly) but about a year later, I felt as good as I’d ever felt.
Admittedly, I sneak a little bit of chicken into my diet nowadays, but the point remains — you can totally do this if you set your mind to it, and your body will thank you in the long run.
Good luck training! #TOKYO2020
P.S. Shout out for using “NUTS! Literally, leaves and nuts!”. I chuckled.