Ten years ago, I was a freshman in college, living in the dorms and eating on a starving student’s budget. Microwave pizzas, instant mac and cheese and cafeteria food was the norm. I was focused on school and nutrition was the last thing on my mind. However, the more stressful school became, the harder I found it to wake up and get out of bed in the morning. I once slept through my alarm and missed an important exam, and I knew there was something not completely right with my body, but didn’t give it much thought.
I was also an avid skateboarder at the time, but I found myself getting tired easier and not able to keep up on full skate days like I used to when I was younger. When winter came around, I would be stuck in bed for days on end with colds, flus, and fevers that seemed to never get completely healed. I had a belly on me that looked like I had been drinking nothing but beer for 40 years, even though I had only tasted a few beers in my life at that point. I decided right then that if I was going to make it through college and be successful in life, something had to change. Simply put, I was sick and tired of being sick and tired.
A few of the professional skateboarders I respected were vegetarians. I loved my steak and ribs as a kid and didn’t really think about how switching to a lighter, healthier diet might improve my health. After reading a bit about vegetarianism, I decided to take the plunge.
For the first year I ate nothing but dairy overload; cheese quesadillas, grilled cheeses, potato chips, bean and cheese burritos, waffles, pancakes, eggs, tons of bread, candy and desserts; basically anything and everything that didn’t contain meat. A year of vegetarianism passed and I didn’t feel a lick better, I might’ve even felt worse than when I was eating meat.
Once you get into the vegetarian lifestyle, it’s only natural that you start to cross paths with vegans, people who do not eat anything that comes from an animal- no milk, eggs, etc. After talking to a few of these "weirdos", I heard that many of them had similar experiences as I did. I figured I had been vegetarian for a year and nothing changed, I was going to try this vegan thing and if that didn’t work, I would give up and go back to eating anything under the sun.
I started to educate myself about how food and nutrition affects and interacts with the body. I found out why proteins, carbs, and fats are all essential to a healthy body. I learned which foods contained which vitamins and minerals, and I began to give more thought to piecing my meals together in a way that was conducive to optimal health. I learned about superfoods, antioxidants and empty calories. I learned which products available to vegans would provide the nutrition I was looking for. I won’t lie; it wasn’t easy nine years ago. Today, it’s a whole different story.
Once I became vegan and started taking my health seriously, I saw massive results, and I saw them almost immediately. I lost 45 pounds in four months. I began to have more energy that kept increasing by the day. I would wake up in the morning, ready to attack the day with no alarm, no grogginess and needing less sleep than I ever had before in life. I seemed to breeze through “flu season” with nothing but a one-day runny nose, if that. Gone were the times of laying in bed for days and days feeling like death, without energy, unable to operate in life.
While I originally got into veganism for selfish (health) reasons, I have now come to fully embrace and support the animal rights and even environmental aspects of it. I don't wear any animal products, although I've got some pretty mean faux furs in my closet. I try to be as green as possible at my current stage of life, without breaking the bank.
It’s now ten years since I originally tried vegetarianism, and I look at it as one of the single best decisions I have ever made. I feel young, vibrant, and energized even in the most stressful of times. While I’m not particularly evangelical about the way I eat, I do believe it is extremely healthful and beneficial if done correctly.
I constantly have people coming up to me and telling me how healthy I look and act. They often say they’re interested in the way I eat, or at least in eating healthier. Without fail, the next sentence always seems to be “It’s too hard” or “What can you even eat?”
This diet has become so intrinsic and basic to me that I am never stressing about having something healthful to eat, and I always try to emphasize that when I talk to inquiring minds. Still, just saying how easy it is or how I don’t miss anything never really gets the point across.
What does prove my point is when I cook, or take them to places that cook delicious, healthy, classic foods that people are used to, which just happen to not contain any animal products.
That’s what Vegan Vagrant is all about. It’s about showing people that eating healthier and cruelty-free does not have to be hard, stressful, or a witch-hunt. It’s about showing people that brussel sprouts and cauliflower aren’t the only things vegetarians can eat, but that all classic dishes can be prepared in a healthful and animal-free way. It’s about reducing sickness, obesity, heart disease, and ultimately death, not to mention the suffering of helpless animals, just by eating healthier and yet still very accessible versions of our favorite comfort foods.
Thank you for reading.
Quick Bio
Name: Kyle Domer
Birthdate: 8/6/82
Hometown: Yorba Linda, CA
Currently Residing In: Costa Mesa, CA
Pets: Oscar, long-haired doxie, 7 years old and Benjamin, short-haired chihuahua, 2 years old
Occupation: Entreprenuer, Freelance marketing
Favorite Restaurants: Real Food Daily, Veggie Grill, Native Foods, Wheel of Life, Le Pain Quotidien, Il Fornaio, SOL Cocina
In My Spare Time I: Walk the dogs, work out, read, lay on the beach, skateboard
Unknown Fact: I like everything spicy. It's not good until you add hot sauce or red pepper flakes. Also, I don't eat food like what is featured on this site regularly. I'm a simple man.
RIP Julian Stanley Collender. We miss and love you buddy.