2 good reasons I’m cutting meat out of my diet at 42 (try it)

There was a time when telling people you were a vegetarian or vegan would immediately result in their eyes rolling out of their heads and bouncing down the street.

Fortunately, times they are a changing.

In fact, I keep running into people I’d never guess would go plant-based who did and are loving it.

My dad and his wife are 2 of them.

I think the normalization of plant-based living can be attributable to a lot of things, among them:

Better public and media education about the drawbacks of high red meat intake
An increasingly popular wellness culture that’s being embraced by younger generations
Modeling celebrity behavior
Some edge coming off the macho culture that denigrated plant-based diets

I think, in general, people are just getting smarter now.

Yeah, you might be a tough guy for eating burgers and steaks every night, but you’re also 30 pounds overweight, so who’s the real winner here?

I’m not perfect, but I’ve been trying to make the shift.

I don’t eat a ton of meat as a rule, but I recently cut milk out of my diet as well.

My goal within the next year is to get to no meat at all, save for the occasional restaurant meal here and there.

Oh, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to shake cheese.

But in general, meat as a treat, you know?

Here are 2 good reasons I’m trying to cut way down on eating meat in 2024.

There used to be some stigma around vegetarian diets, but they’re becoming more and more common. (Licensed under the Unsplash+ License)

Reason 1 for cutting meat in 2024

This is going to sound shallow, but I’m not going to lie.

It’s just straight-up vanity.

You see, I’ve written a lot about celebrities who are fit into their 50s, 60s, and 70s this year, and a common theme has definitely emerged: at some point, you simply can’t outrun your diet.

This was the subject of one of my most popular posts ever on this platform, in which the jacked 60-year-old actor Rob Lowe explained:

“I hate that it’s 80 percent diet.”

“I’ve tried every way of getting around it. And I love working out, but it doesn’t get you where you need to get at my age.

“And that’s a f**king bummer.

“The thing that works for me … there will be days when, no doubt, you’re getting the f**king pie. There are times when I will run over my grandmother to pick up a milkshake.

“But that’s not all the time. So wait till then, have the milkshake, and be cool.”

And as super fit 70+ idol Bruce Springsteen said:

“The biggest thing is diet, diet, diet.

“I don’t eat too much and I don’t eat bad food, except once in a while when I have some fun for myself.

“So I think anybody that’s trying to get in shape, exercise is always important of course, but diet is 90 percent of the game.”

Whether it’s 80 percent or 90 percent, I can vouch for this theme now.

Just lately, I’ve been finding it tougher to keep the pounds off despite getting a decent amount of exercise in every day.

And I’m a naturally skinny guy!

But as I approach 43, staying fit is requiring increasing amounts of effort for depressingly dwindling returns.

To me, getting read of fatty, heavy meats is one cheat code I can take advantage of.

Reason 2 for cutting meat in 2024

Reason 2 for cutting meat in 2024 is that I want to see my kids and grandkids grow up.

Unfortunately, there are huge problems with hereditary heart disease on one side of my family.

For whatever genetic reason, eating fatty or sugary foods is like pouring thick cream into the arteries of some unlucky members … like, more so than normal people.

But my mom, who has been vegetarian for some 30 years, is as healthy and spry a 68-year-old as you could imagine.

That’s what I aspire to be.

I want to spend my retirement years crushing my grandkids at ping-pong the way she destroyed my sons over her Christmas break visit — not visiting doctors’ offices all the time.

What’s next

Already I feel like I’m making progress.

I’ve found that changing my diet — changing any behavior really — comes down to consistency.

I haven’t had milk in a couple of months now, and I don’t miss it at all.

It’s like anything else … you start doing it for a while, and then it feels weird not doing it.

Replace bad habits with good, and you’ll be well on your way to a happier, healthier, wealthier life overall.

Hey friends, thanks for reading! Have you switched to a plant-based diet or are thinking about it? Let me know in the comments!

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Summarize

2 good reasons I’m cutting meat out of my diet at 42 (try it)

Reason 1 for cutting meat in 2024

Reason 2 for cutting meat in 2024

What’s next