Ex-Vegan (6 Months): This Unhealthy Religion Destroyed My Relationship

Watch on YouTube · 2018-05-09 · 54 min

[video] 0:00 So yeah, I'll introduce myself. My name is Al Lazar. I reside in California. Right now I'm living in Los Angeles. And I was vegan for six months, but I was with a vegan for three years. And I started off a little bit with vegetarianism. Back in my early 20s, I got into fitness. I wanted to healthy weight and I never really was a meat eater. So I kind of was bouncing back and forth with kind of

[video] 1:01 started eating like a vegetarian. Plus, I was getting more health conscious, too. I was trying to be a competitive fighter for a while. I have a few amateur fights, and I was trying to keep my weight down, and I heard a lot of athletes, they try vegetarianism, and I would always try to eat light, and I'd had some

[video] 1:31 type of eastern philosophy and that those teachings promote vegetarianism so I was kind of surrounded by the thought of the philosophy of the east and plus I didn't want to be associated as like a douche bag because all I did was I was trying to make a pro debut and I was trying to get as many fights as I could get hard when I was working full-time and going to school part-time. And I was just trying to find a way to maintain my weight and just balancing my sleep and rest. So it was pretty easy for me because I already had a lot of weight. I wasn't a big meat eater.

[video] 2:21 Then I met my girlfriend. She was vegetarian. She was kind of like a pescatarian too. She ate fish. And so we would always go out on Friday nights to like a sushi bar. All you can eat. But every now and again I did eat red meat. It was like probably twice a week. So that's a little bit of my nutritional background. But I...

[video] 2:51 Look more into the, well, here's what happened. My girlfriend was taking this psychology class, and one of their assignments was to write some kind of report, or they had an assignment where they had to think about some kind of quote, and what the quote was, or the statement was, it was, imagine being treated nicely by higher beings And one day they decide to eat you because you taste good. How would that make you feel? And I guess it kind of resonated with her. And so she decided to look into veganism because she got some flyers from school. There was a couple of vegetarians and vegans in her psychology class. I'm sorry, it wasn't psychology. It was philosophy. It was philosophy class.

[video] 3:54 farms. She showed me a couple of videos. Yeah, you know, I kind of felt bad. What was going on? And I kind of wanted to ignore the truth, I guess, of how the animals are treated. And so I still, I never, I never questioned it. If we were really like truly meant to to kill and eat, it just never crossed my mind. But little by little, I noticed I was questioning myself and whether my diet morally right. And because I'm surrounded by my friends with their Eastern philosophy and now my girlfriend at the time, and she started to, you know, eat more tempeh. I really didn't notice a difference because I thought it was the same thing.

[video] 4:52 I was kind of naive and I tried it out with her. Well, no, I tried it out first because I was... really desperate to keep my weight. I know I heard some good benefits on, like, because I got, at the time, I got my, I got a new job. I was, the commute was, like, two to four hours, two hours just to get there. So I was, like, spending a lot of time on the road. It was hard for me to, I'm sitting down all day, so I'm gaining, like, I don't want to gain a lot of weight. So I looked into it, kind of like I had, like, a shallow, shallow understanding of

[video] 5:35 look at the reality of it and how it's really going to kill me in the end, in the long run. But I started to eliminate certain foods out of my diet, like milk, eggs, and cheese, because that was pretty much the foundation of my diet. I was just always eating eggs and a little bit of chicken here and there and fish. So I removed that completely, little by little. The first two months were kind of

[video] 6:04 back and forth. Started eating, I think it's nature's blend type of like butter, a lot of potatoes. And when I started school, I went back to school around that time. And so what I was feeling, I thought it was just my schedule, but I was really sleepy all the time. And my mind was really clouded.

[video] 6:33 And everything became like a routine to me. And I just thought I was stressed out from school. I had a big assignment. I'll never forget. I had this big business presentation. I had to make a five-year plan or whatever. And I had all my slides ready. But the day of the test, I got sick. And this was probably like the third or fourth month of trying veganism out. And mind you, I was... I mean, people are going to tell me I was doing it wrong. That's what my ex was telling me. But, man, I was eating my starches. I was getting my protein. I was... I wasn't eating too much tofu. You know, I don't know if you heard of tempeh. Like, I was eating a lot of that stuff. And I had no problem because, like, a food, it tasted good...

[video] 7:32 I didn't notice myself craving steak and chicken and just animal products. I didn't notice myself craving these things because, like I said, everything became routine to me. It was robotic at that point, but I got sick on the day of my presentation.

[video] 8:03 would start from 4 a.m. in the morning and I wouldn't get home till like 10 30 or 11 o'clock at night and have to do everything like all over again Monday through Thursday and I had like Friday Saturday off but I had to do a bunch of homework but I got sick that one morning and I drank like a bunch of coffee because I felt so lethargic I was having I had like flu-like symptoms And I was getting ready, and I was getting ready to drink a bunch of coffee. I kind of felt a little better. I didn't even, like, pack lunch or anything. I just said, screw it, whatever. I'll just eat out fast food if I have to. I have to do this presentation. So I'll save the animals later. I got to get this done, you know. So I made it to work, but my symptoms got worse. And, you know, everything was achy.

[video] 9:03 joint in my body just felt like it was about to snap. And I couldn't stand up straight. I was kind of losing consciousness. And my boss told me, go home. If you're not feeling good, if you don't get better, just go home. Because I was kind of trying to stick it out. I really wanted to do that presentation in class and just kind of wing it through the day at work. But I went home. I drank some more coffee because I was

[video] 9:34 and started getting like a sore throat so the symptoms progressed I made it home alive and um like I've had a fever before and like I I can deal with the pain and I can deal with the sweats but started getting really depressed and I'm not you know I didn't ever it didn't ever

[video] 10:03 played a role in this maybe uh i i don't know like i i didn't i didn't question like my diet could have been like held responsible for me getting severely sick like this so i was out for about about six days and uh the next day i i felt dead i couldn't tell

[video] 10:45 I felt like my whole world was just coming to an end. I screwed up my presentation. I'm missing work. I started getting suicidal thoughts. I'm like, well, I'm no good for nothing and

[video] 11:14 I got over it, I recovered, but I still didn't eat any animal products. I was still sticking to the potatoes, tempeh, a little bit of tofu here and there, drinking a ton of water, drinking a bunch of water, a bunch of soy milk, coconut water, and just a bunch of bananas. There was a point where a buddy of

[video] 11:45 some banana diet. He told me that if I eat like 30 bananas a day, that I'll have all this energy and I won't get sick or whatever.

[video] 11:57 I didn't try it, but what I'm trying to say is I was getting support for this kind of diet by my friends, my classmates, and not so much at work. I mean, I would avoid foods that were brought in from the company. Some people would make comments here and there. It started getting in my head because I felt better than them. I started thinking, I was assuming that since I'm abstaining from these foods and you're not, that I actually want to make a difference in the world and

[video] 12:47 And she was trying to be an activist and going to vegan events. And I was cool with that. I supported her. I had no problem. We always cooked together. And this was about like the fifth month.

[video] 13:07 I would say that I started to look into other diets. And I was going to the gym in the mornings. a little bit more often. And I remember one day, I thought it was my schedule, like I said, because I was so busy. I thought that, like, I'm just not getting sleep. I'm stressed out, so I won't be able to lift as much. And I was working on, you know, I don't know if you know what a military press is. So I was doing stuff like that, and I really wanted to get good.

[video] 13:57 I felt like... I felt that my endurance was... It was kind of... It was like tugging at me, like, hey, let's do... My body wanted, like, was craving endurance training. That's what I felt like, because I would just not be motivated to lift weight. I just wanted to run. So I kind of tapered off.

14:18 Maybe it's because your body wanted to hunt naturally, hunt an animal.

[video] 14:26 Never thought of that, yeah. Like, yeah, I wanted to do just, like, I don't know, like, light intensity stuff. That was just before I, you know, when I was boxing and trained for competitive sports, I would do more metabolic,

[video] 14:57 switch back and forth but I wouldn't really focus on just pure endurance but um no yeah you have a good point but uh yeah so my my training started to become more endurance like and like I don't know like I was trying to listen to my body and um but in the wrong way so I'll never forget man um I start to look into other diets and then I found out about, I came across an article, something about how plant protein, it's missing some, maybe you can help me with this, but I guess there's nutrients that you get from,

[video] 15:46 body absorb and transport the actual amino acids. Does that sound familiar? Not really. Something about nitrogen. Yeah, I read something somewhere that plants are missing nitrogen, something like that. And so it's not a complete source of protein. I kind of like, I kind of pushed it to the side. I'm like, now it's probably just some pseudoscience. It's probably a biased article. I started feeling more weaker, man, during the sixth month. And my training was just, I was just a little endurance runner. I couldn't look at myself in the mirror. What happened was I went from 175 pounds with, like,

[video] 16:39 say seven to eight percent body fat around there I was pretty lean before I started and my stomach kind of my body proportion my arms started getting real lean and my stomach dude it was like protruding out yeah I'm a pretty tall guy and so I'm like

[video] 17:07 long limb, it just didn't look right. I noticed I'd have to hold in, like during like the third month, I kind of like noticed I had a suck in my stomach a bit and I felt bloated a lot. And I, again, like when I felt bloated, I'm like, okay, I'm doing something wrong. And sort of watching the videos around that time on YouTube, I came across a

[video] 17:38 Bite-sized vegan, Emily. When was this, by the way? 2013. It was the middle of 2013, yeah. And, yeah, I watched some videos with her. She did an interview with some vegan athletes. And I'm like, oh, cool, so it's possible.

[video] 18:06 and look like these guys, but they're clearly on steroids. And in the interview, they were talking about increasing your protein intake by putting beans in smoothies. So I tried that out, and I'm like, all right, cool, you know. But then the next day, I just felt super bloated, and my stomach was, like, going into fighting itself. But I was denying it because... During that time, again, I thought it was my schedule causing all these problems, and I was pretty lethargic, too. So I went to the gym. I'm sorry. The last month, man, I remember, like, the food is pretty pricey because I was going to Sprouts and Mother's Market, and all that stuff, man, I mean, it adds up, like,

[video] 19:06 Sorry? Organic? A little bit of organic, yeah. Organic and, you know, you heard of like, well, I was experimenting with like different types of rice and pastas. I was getting into buckwheat pasta. Yeah, yeah. Five bucks just for like two servings. And then the tempeh, like I would, I can eat that raw. None of the food tasted bad to me.

[video] 19:38 close to $200 a week, and my appetite was growing, and I'm like, wow, I can't afford to, I'm gonna have to starve, you know, and I remember one weekend, I just gave up, you know, I just said, hey, I'm gonna take a break from this, I'm gonna try to go vegan, like, without doing the preparation, because I was pretty good with making my food the night before and all that stuff, and meal prepping on the weekends, And I just, like, I said, screw it. And I still feel bad for the animals, you know. I'm like, oh, no, I'm giving in to world suffering. But I said, screw it, man. Like, I need to, I can barely, like, afford gas right now. And I'm spending all this money on food. And I went to Carl's Jr. I went to Carl's Jr. one day.

[video] 20:36 And I just bought a bunch of chicken sandwiches. And I took a bite. And I felt a little guilty. But it tasted real good. I know it was garbage. But the next day, I went to the gym early in the morning. And I was going to go for the military press. I'm feeling pretty strong. I feel like lifting weights now. And I was usually doing 125 or 135.

[video] 21:07 And I would go, like, you know, at a decent speed. But I'll never forget this.

[video] 21:14 I went to go push, and my arms just blew up. Like, the weight felt like leather. And I'd never felt that before. And I put the, I racked the bar up, and I was, like, looking around at the gym. Like, did that just happen right now? Like, whoa, what? I was trying to remember, like, wait, was it something, did I do something before? Like... Like weight, I started eating like chicken. I know it's from Carl's Jr., but this can't be, I don't know, I can't, it's just in my head, man, or whatever. I just adapted to the weight, but all the stuff I was doing, it just, I felt like a superhuman. I was doing a lot of like,

[video] 22:07 So I went back to my vegetarian, pesco diet. But my girlfriend, she was going hardcore vegan. And, you know, she was cool with me, like, not, like, you know, kind of, like, she was cool with me throwing in the towel. You know, and just the diet, it never really, we never kind of conflicted with each other. I'm sorry, man. Am I talking too much? No, man. Okay. Yeah. So, you know, I totally, like, just threw in the towel. And she's like, hey, I understand it's pretty hard. And she just got a new job at the time in the hospital as a registered nurse. So she's around a lot of sick people. And she started getting sick a lot. And, you know, we thought it was just because, well, you know, I wasn't blaming the diet or anything, but...

[video] 23:06 I started to do my research because she kind of like, she kind of got sick how I got sick, how I got sick when I was doing the vegan diet. And I kind of thought it was, I thought her immune system could possibly be affected by her diet. So I didn't want to step on any, I didn't want to make a big deal about it, but I started growing a concern

[video] 23:36 when she started getting these little colds here and there, you know, she's around a bunch of sick people, like I said, and she was also a full-time student, so we were both really busy, but I wasn't getting sick anymore, and so I started, you know, like I said, I wouldn't eat red meat too much, but right now, since I watched your videos, I had my first steak tartare homemade last week,

[video] 24:07 I've been trying to go more raw lately, but I kind of wish I would have watched your videos back in 2014, man, or sooner, so I wouldn't have to have gone through all this. But yes, I started getting sick, and we started feeling bloated all the time, and kind of the same thing I was going through. And then it started to click in my head, like maybe we need to go back to Pesco, maybe she needs to go back to vegetarian. I forgot all the terms used, but basically start introducing some animal products back into her diet. But I was there. I supported what she was doing.

[video] 24:59 a year went by and things got a little better. She wasn't getting as sick, but we started going to more vegan events. I don't know if you heard of VegFest? Yeah. Yeah, we went to one in Pasadena and it's crazy because you'd think that all these people who share the same beliefs and ideas would would all be nice to each other and super friendly and outgoing. But when I went there with her, everybody kept to themselves. It was all these hipster college kids just walking around with all this attitude.

[video] 25:50 I felt like it was a real negative vibe, man. The food there, just for a freaking donut, was like $7. Just for one donut. It was a vegan donut. I'm over here telling my chick, I can't afford another donut. Can we just walk around?

[video] 26:14 We went to more events and You know, I was looking at the people and I noticed a lot of anti-religious paraphernalia or people wearing upside down crosses and pentagrams on their t-shirts. I saw one person wearing a Hail Satan t-shirt and when I was I was trying to be, when I was like looking into veganism, I came across a vegan black metal chef. And I was like, oh, this guy's pretty cool. The food looks good. And, you know, he's pretty good at the guitar. And, but like, I didn't think nothing of it. I didn't think about it being a religion. And I saw, you know, my ex getting more and more indoctrinated.

[video] 27:11 the morality side of this diet. And so it started off with just the food. Then it started with not wearing leather or not buying anything that's associated with an animal.

[video] 27:41 eco-friendly bags, which was cool.

[video] 27:45 She started wearing all black, kind of going golf on me.

[video] 27:51 I'll never forget, there was a shirt that she had. It had a cow with an upside-down cross.

[video] 28:07 Yeah, I was like, and I kind of brought it up, like, why are you guys, like, this is basically a religion, and you guys are attacking Christianity, like, directly. I mean, whoever made that shirt, like, I'm pretty sure they're trying to mock, like, Christianity or all the religions, even though this is, like, kind of a religion, because you have to have faith to believe that.

[video] 28:34 to save the world or whatever, or reduce suffering. And so I started to ask questions because we couldn't go out to eat. Every birthday of mine, I have a little tradition that I go to. I go to Red Lobster. I just get a big, fat lobster.

[video] 28:57 We went there for my birthday one time, and she was like, oh, I can't eat anything here. I'm like, well, they got salad. She's like, that's it?

[video] 29:08 So we couldn't go anywhere and eat. So I was like, whatever, that's cool. Sorry to take you here.

[video] 29:16 We'll go wherever you want to go. And, like, over here in Hollywood, I'd say Hollywood,

[video] 29:28 independent vegan restaurants. And so, you know, I started taking her there and it was weird. It was a weird experience. I remember going to Pasadena one time. I walked into a restaurant and I looked around and there was a few couples there, right? And the men, they had these Like, this is just on a shallow observation of mine, that these men, they looked like the starving children in third world countries with the big heads and the big bellies. These were grown men, all bald. They looked like that. They had the protruding bellies, skinny arms. But the women they were with, They had kind of broad shoulders, and they looked more healthier than the men.

[video] 30:27 And I started to notice that in every restaurant. It was like either these men have a big belly, or they're covering up and they're really skinny. And I was like, OK, man, maybe it's them. Maybe they're doing it wrong.

[video] 31:01 person and so like she became involved with other like oh have you heard of a vigil take vigils of what it's called a pig vigil where they stand in front of a farm no work okay well over here over here in LA we got a former John's and I think like every Thursday or Sunday night there's a shipment of pigs and so there's groups out here that will meet up and protest and try to interfere with the delivery. I get what you mean yeah. Okay so she started getting involved in that and I'm like hey I'll support you on

[video] 31:59 stand out there and protest. I'm not really that much invested into it to begin with. I do care for animal welfare. I don't agree with factory farms and how they treat their animals, but it's not enough to make me... I don't have enough faith in myself to think that if I stand in front of a Farmer John's that I'm going to make a difference.

[video] 32:28 She started doing that, and, you know, that's where I was kind of, like, getting, I got, like, I said, I knew that I had to start to, I had to start speaking up, because this wasn't only, this was not only a diet, it was becoming, like, an ideology, and I was getting worried, because before, because it was just a diet to begin with, and the food wasn't bad, but, you know, the I was worried about her getting sick a lot. And now the people that are involved in this, I'm not trying to disrespect the vegan movement, but I just wish that they would admit that this is unhealthy and it's a religion. I just wish that they could admit that. Me and my ex started clashing heads I started bringing up these points.

[video] 33:28 And then I was the bad guy. I was the problem. And I started doing my own research. And... Hey, dude, you got a second? I gotta let my dog out. It started off as a diet, and then it started to grow into some kind of philosophy. And from that, I... You know, they had research to back it up. I mean, every time me and my ex would talk about, we kind of get into arguments. And I didn't have, I don't know, they just had, they have the evidence or they have the doctors to back up this diet. I mean, I fell for it, but I didn't do, I guess I wasn't doing enough research. I wasn't. Because I have a bunch of books. But yeah, I kind of felt outnumbered was what I'm trying to say.

[video] 34:24 And I'm not too much of an intellect. And I'm not much of a debater. And I didn't feel like this was something to just fuss over about. But I was seeing the disastrous effects. And I was supportive. I was supportive throughout the entire relationship. But we wanted to get... married and have kids. And I was starting to have a concern about the pregnancy. And I asked her if she's willing to put aside the diet for the pregnancy, because I know that women have to deal with extreme cravings. And she told me no. And I was like, OK, you say that now.

[video] 35:24 And we kind of went back and forth. And she was telling me that there's plenty of evidence that shows that you can have healthy children, you can have a vegan pregnancy, and nothing to worry about. It's actually better than your normal

[video] 35:49 And regular diets.

[video] 35:52 Yeah, no, this is where it got ugly. This is where it got pretty bad. Because... I had to put my foot down. Because we're dealing with a life. A new life. A creation.

[video] 36:07 Everything else... Man, don't get me wrong. No one's perfect. We all have our flaws. It's not my job to correct people, but... I want to kind of go by the book when it comes to bringing a new life into this world.

[video] 36:27 We started to bicker really bad about that. And it got to the point where I said to myself, well, I'm not going to put my future children at risk. Because I was talking to some friends, and they told me that when their wives were pregnant, that they were just eating like crazy, man. They were just craving the weirdest things, like ice cream and pickles. And they would just take no for an answer and eat whatever they wanted. And if my

[video] 37:19 I couldn't imagine the effects of that, and I didn't want to risk. You get what I'm saying. I get kind of worked up because it was something I really was looking forward to, and I can't believe something as stupid as a diet got in our way. It pretty much tore us apart.

[video] 37:48 It's pretty embarrassing to talk about this to other people because they just see it as, oh, it's just a diet. But then we started talking about how we were going to raise our kids. And I said, well, we're going to raise our kids on a balanced diet. I mean, we don't have to, you know, we're going to let them decide in the future if they want to.

[video] 38:16 So we're already having issues with the planning of our future children. And it hurt me, man. We were together so long. And it's like we're slowly growing apart because of a diet. And that was like the last straw was

[video] 38:44 was about the children, was about the pregnancy. Because I don't, you know, if we can't have an agreement on this simple thing, then it's going to be a lot worse when we have more mouths to feed. And I'm not sure, I think you had a video about children dying from vegan, okay. So, and I never even...

[video] 39:17 even knew about the deaths that were reported or that weren't reported. But I just, I knew that it was wrong. It was unnatural.

[video] 39:29 Yeah, man. We kind of hung in there for a while. You know, I thought we would give her some time to think about it. And no, man, it was engraved in her heart. It was just, it was religious. I couldn't break through her religion.

[video] 39:52 I was over supportive.

[video] 39:56 My battery's dying. Yeah, that's what was going on. But yeah, I had the... I felt weak. I felt the typical lack of strength feeling and... But like I said, I thought it was my diet. I thought it was my schedule at the time. I experienced some of the nutritional deficiencies of being vegan more than when I was vegetarian. But then again, I did crave chicken and red meats when I was vegetarian. I only had like once a week, but when I went vegan, I went six months without any animal products. And I noticed just a small amount of the disastrous effects. And I couldn't imagine in the long run how I would be or how I would feel and look.

[video] 40:56 And I tried to support You know, I was open-minded, but it really is a belief system. You really do have to have faith into sticking to the protocols for the vegan movement. And it does take, it pretty much is going against fellowshipping. I mean, the people are not really welcoming. That's just what I experienced. They assume if you're in a vegan restaurant that you are a vegan. And if they find out you're not, then... Like, I did have some comments. I did receive some comments during the times when I was going to these restaurants with my ex-girlfriend. It came to a point where I didn't want to eat anything because it's just carbs and it's just... The salads, I mean...

[video] 42:03 oh, you're not vegan, you don't like vegan food, but in a condescending way, condescending attitude. And this stuff lines up with Jainism.

[video] 42:15 And in the end, I tried my best, but I can't afford to put my future children in jeopardy. I mean, I'm not a doctor, but

[video] 42:35 When it comes to bringing a child into this world, I want to stick with results that I've seen because I know that it's going to be extremely hard for a woman to endure the demands of the newborn or of the child that they're carrying. And I couldn't risk having someone who has

[video] 43:07 in with them so did you take any supplements in those six months any supplements oh yeah yeah oh yeah man um i took a uh this cleanse uh product called uh okay i got these uh this whole this this cleansing kit it came with 10 pills Yeah, one was for your respiratory system. The other was for your adrenal support. You've got intestinals. You've got the antioxidant, immune system support. So each pill had a designated area of support. And I got it off this store called a D-Health store, Dr. Thigudi Mahathira. You know, I found his channel on YouTube.

[video] 43:57 He's a vegan. And so I was taking these pills. I had to take all 10 every day, twice a day. And sections of like five, it was in the morning and then afternoon. And I was just going to the bathroom all day. The creatine, it was contributing to me being bloated already. And so I stopped that. And I was drinking a bunch of coffee. And because I was, you know, like I said, I thought it was my schedule making me feel lethargic and tired all the time. And I was trying to support myself in the gym with, you know, I was taking a multivitamin, of course. But, I mean, I was literally peeing the vitamins out. I could see it in my urine. Like my piss was coming out.

[video] 45:01 So, yeah, I was taking some other stuff, too. Psyllium seed husk, yeah, for fiber. I don't know. I thought I needed a bunch of fiber.

[video] 45:16 Can you enlighten me real quick on the difference between, like, or where that came from, where, like,

45:25 did it why do we need a fiber like can you tell me why that uh is being spread that's it why they are pushing the fiber thing yeah to make us constipated so there's gas indigestion and so on it just messes up the gut you can feel it everybody can wow okay yeah i fell for it man and uh yeah and i thought you had to go to the bathroom like four or five times a day

[video] 45:58 I stopped that diet. I was still kind of vegetarian, but now I'm more just chicken, steak. I'm probably like 20% or 30% raw now, thanks to you. But I really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to hear my story. It was an insidious type of attack on our relationship. And it's a good thing that I kind of took an inquiry of the belief in a deeper sense, and kind of threw in the whole pregnancy and what if, what if scenarios, and it really, it was an ugly outcome. But like I said, no one's perfect. If anything, I have compassion for people who fall into stuff like this, you know? Because

[video] 46:58 There's a lot of scoffers that preach and use argumentative tactics to suppress truth. And I think we need more people like yourself to spread, you know, truth and to enlighten and to inspire others to kind of speak out. Because I'm not going to lie. I mean, I saw your debate with vegan gains. yeah they're clearly educated and it almost they're acting like this was like it was like a courtroom you guys were on jury like it was they were I can tell they they studied tactics on how to argue or how to how to debate and they were just trying to turn all of your guys

[video] 48:01 that he doesn't know what he's talking about. But I think there's a lot of scoffers in this vegan movement, and they're educated on how to suppress and to dominate discussions and to appeal to the simple-minded who are the spectators.

[video] 48:26 And I think that we need some more apologists to counteract that balance. Because this is a revolution. That's a revolution. There's always going to be a counter-revolution. And so I just think that we need more guys like you out there spreading the truth and hearing other people's stories. I appreciate your time, man.

48:51 One more question. Do you still have contact with your ex-girlfriend?

[video] 48:57 Yeah.

48:58 And is she still vegan?

[video] 49:00 Still.

49:01 Oh, wow. Okay. How is she doing?

[video] 49:04 Oh, you know what? She has a lot of... She's part of some groups now. Some animal activist groups. And they do more protests, type of like extreme stuff. And they get together and coordinate where they're going to attack They're targeting local markets in the area. And so they'll stand in front of a meat market and protest with their signs. And it's real ugly because these people are just trying to make a living. And you've got this group protesting their business. I think that's crazy.

[video] 49:56 I don't know where you're from, if veganism is popular or big. Yeah, I live in Berlin, Germany. It's the capital of veganism, that's what they say. Whoa. Yeah. Man, okay. Cool, man. Are you planning on crashing any more vegan events? I would like to, but in Germany it's hard. There's just no free speech. But in another country, I would. Oh, okay. You're still in the States? Right, yeah, in Kentucky. Okay. There's plenty of events, man. I know them all. I looked up some events, couldn't find anything. But I'm sure they're going to be in summer, because it's too cold for vegans right now. They'll come out later. Oh, man, that's another thing, man. We'd be sleeping together, and, dude, I had to buy, like, five blankets.

[video] 50:54 blankets man yeah and I'm over here burning up in the middle of the night yeah I didn't even know that ever crossed my mind I thought that you know women like because of the estrogen dominance they can't like that they don't have thermogenesis like like men do to the amount because I just sweat all the time and

[video] 51:25 And I think that's how I got sick, man, because I was getting cold and I felt like my defenses were down. And, yeah, I got that fever. And I never got a fever where I just felt super depressed, like where I was emotionally sick.

[video] 51:43 But, yeah, you know, like I said, I don't have an ill will towards these people. I just feel that you get sick. some good spokesmen for that movement, and who really did their research on how to debate, how to persuade.

[video] 52:06 And I think we need the opposite. We need the same thing, but to counteract that revolution, because it affected someone I really cared about, I really loved.

[video] 52:24 I feel like I didn't do a good job in doing my research and conveying that to change someone else's mind. There's nothing wrong with having compassion for animals, but when you're willing to kill yourself over it in the long run, I think that's a major issue. It started off as a diet, but it grew into something insidious and ugly. And I watched the transformation before my eyes, but I caught it too late. But then again, I was a vegetarian for a while, but like I said, I never took into account the ethical side of it. I wasn't trying to reduce suffering from my diet. I was just trying to, when it comes to ethics, I just try to be a good person. I just try to be open-minded and to listen, help the people, and

[video] 53:20 community like with good means you know it's not like I if I could give money out to everyone I would but I need to take care of myself but I never could I never considered a diet being responsible for my ethics for my morals yeah but now I mean thanks again for having me I wasn't sure if you had some more questions No, that's it. That sums it up, yeah. Okay, man. Well, I'm looking forward to the vegan hate. But thanks for taking your time, man. Yeah, thank you.