John Karrasch is a 32-year-old in Birmingham, Alabama. He works as a Physical Therapist Assistant at an outpatient surgery center and bike fitter at Cahaba Cycles. John is engaged to Melissa and they have two rescue dogs.
When did you adopt a plant-based diet and why did you do it?
I didn’t immediately adopt a plant-based diet. It happened in two phases. Phase one started three years ago in October 2015. I’ve been friends with Pete Foret for a long time and when we volunteered at races together he would bring the food. One day he brought two boxes of food from Golden Temple, a vegetarian grocery store and cafe in Birmingham. A bit of a change from my normal chicken sandwich, but it tasted so good so I finally asked him more about how he ate. I’ve always been interested in diet, but I didn’t know as much about the science. Pete shared his experience and information with me, some totally opposite to what I believed. I’ve raced mountain bikes and have tried Paleo and other diets. But after reading Garth Davis’ Proteinaholic, it opened my eyes to the science and the animal protein myth. For a time, I was about 80-90% vegan. Phase two started a year and a half later, spring of 2017, when my fiancée said she wanted to do it full-time, so we did it and have been completely plant-based since.
As far as why I decided to do it, it was for health reasons. I had patients that had other issues (diabetes, heart failure) beyond orthopedic issues, and I didn’t want that for myself. I’m around more people in poor health than most people my age. While I knew genetics contributed, I also knew I didn’t want to be responsible for the down-fall of my own health.
What surprised you the most after you made the change to a plant-based diet?
I was surprised and happy with how many new foods I was able to try. Some people look at it as restrictive, but that wasn’t the case for me. I was a cook for a few years while in high school, so I’ve always cooked, but was in a rut. However, adopting a plant-based diet opened me up to new flavors and foods.
I was fascinated by how much stronger my sense of smell became after going 100% plant-based. I’m not sure if it was improved sinuses or something else. Overall, adopting a plant-based diet was more pleasant than I would’ve expected and didn’t contain many of the pitfalls I had thought might happen.
What barriers or obstacles did you face when you adopted a plant-based diet, and how did you overcome them?
There were very minimal barriers. There were some things I didn’t plan out well. Instead of coming home and telling my fiancée I wanted to change our food, I should have gone about it more tactfully. As the primary cook, I should have been more respectful early on. But we worked through it and everything is fine now.
Other little things are meals at work where the boss would buy lunch or bring in cakes. Also, if someone invited us over for dinner, I decided I would be upfront and get it covered ahead a time to where I helped cook or they would make something special for us. There is always an option for something to eat.
I don’t always tell people I’m vegan unless they ask because I didn’t want to fall into the stereotype so as not to make people uncomfortable. If someone offers something, there is nothing wrong with saying “no thank you.”
Because I did it more gradually, it gave me time to figure out recipes, and knowing where to eat, and what to order. It was easier to do it gradually than abruptly.
What do you do for physical activity?
I’ve mountain biked for 17 years and started off racing cross country early on. As I moved into ultra-distance racing, I developed other activities like weight lifting and yoga to supplement cycling. I like the challenge of learning new things and how your body works. I’m not racing much right now since I started back to school, so my activities are for basic health (not training to race).
- Lift weights a couple times each week
- Walk 10,000 steps each day
- Occasionally hike or run a little bit
- Stretch at night before bed because it helps me to relax
- Shorter bike rides, about an hour each time. If I feel good I ride hard.
What advice do you have for someone wanting to take control of their health with diet and physical activity?
Having the motivation and knowledge to properly go about making changes to diet and exercise are important. If your only motivation is losing the flab on your arm, that’s often not enough to successfully change. I like to read a lot and it gives me confidence for what and why I’m doing it.
As far as resources, Dan John is a strength coach and offers books and videos with simple practical advice. Implementing strength training not only helps you when you’re young, but also when you’re older. Garth Davis and Michael Greger are good resources for nutrition.
Having a support network to ask questions or help you along for cooking or workout training is important. Finding online resources like various Facebook group pages have been very helpful for finding odd spices or what to eat at different venues like the baseball stadium. When you don’t have the support, you may find everyone around you is negative about what you’re trying to do.
Respect your health first, and then layer in your fitness. It’s important to not only consider how physical activity is affecting you now, but also two years or 20 years from now. Your health needs to be a priority, no matter what. If you’re getting injured, it doesn’t matter what your bench press is. If you’re not going for a walk each day, start there. A little basic strength training will help with daily activities like getting off the toilet later. Then you can add on other stuff like running and cycling. People run into problems because they are not doing the basics like walking and strength training. Doing these things makes their day better and will help them sleep better at night. People used to get strong from their jobs, such as life on the farm where we grew up. Since work-life has changed to less physical jobs for many, you have to make conscious decisions to be in good shape.
