Chris Brown is a 41-year-old father of three, former professional boxer and truck builder at Ford Motor Company in Detroit.
When did you adopt a plant-based vegan diet and why did you do it?
I started my journey in 2002 as a vegetarian and it took me six months to transition to a plant-based vegan diet. This was 15 years ago.
As far as why I adopted a vegan diet, it was back when I worked for Waste Management company. I viewed myself as the McDonald’s character, “Hamburglar” where I would eat upwards of 10 hamburgers in a day. One day, during a lunch break I was crossing a street and ran into a guy who was ripped with lots of muscle. I struck up a conversation with him and learned that he was a lifetime vegan. He was 61 years old at that time, but looked like he was 40 years old. That planted a seed with me. We spent my entire lunch break talking. He shared information with me about food and how it can be toxic to our bodies. I was truly grateful that he took the time to share his journey with me. After that conversation, I went on a crusade to learn more. From that day forward, I decided to go vegetarian.
I started out as vegetarian, because I struggled with giving up cheese. After reading about the dairy industry, it grossed me out. It was difficult, but I removed dairy from my diet and have not looked back. I’ve been vegan since 2003, and my two daughters, ages 23 and 7 are both vegans. My 21-year-old son is not.
What surprised you the most after you made the change to a plant-based vegan diet?
At that time (2002), I was boxing on the side and often struggled to make weight. In boxing, making weight is a big part of the sport and is very difficult and sometimes unhealthy. Boxers will often “drain” themselves to make weight which involves losing (say) 15 pounds in a short period by sweating out water weight. This is done by wearing a special sweat suit, sitting in the sauna, not drinking fluids, among other things. After you cut weight, then you re-hydrate yourself to get balanced out. I noticed that after eliminating meat and cheese and going vegan, I no longer struggled to make weight. I maintained my proper weight all year round. In addition to getting my weight under control, my energy, strength, and motor skills improved. My mind and mental focus also improved. Overall, I enhanced my quality of life.
Tell me more about what you eat on a regular basis.
I eat based on what I think my body needs. Most of my food is eaten in its natural form – where about 60% of my meals are raw. You can be a vegan and be unhealthy if you’re eating processed stuff. I don’t eat packaged processed plant-based meat – it’s okay every now and then, but not something I view as a healthy way to build my diet on. Next year, I’m going to try all raw vegan.
I’ll drink a juice or smoothie in the morning. This will typically include green vegetables, complex carb or starchy vegetable, fruit and seeds. For example, a smoothie with celery, sweet potato, banana, pumpkin seeds with coconut milk. I also enjoy watermelon or another melon for breakfast. Melons have a high water content and it helps my body to rehydrate. I also enjoy oatmeal with chia seeds and hemp seeds, banana and cinnamon. So, I don’t eat cereal out of the box, but instead try to eat real whole plant foods. In the afternoon or evening, I might have veggie pasta. I also eat a lot of black rice and wild rice and sweet potatoes.
Tell me more about your physical activity routine.
I’m the John Coltrane (jazz saxophonist and composer) in the gym, meaning I just get into the moment and will be in my zone. I will lose track of time, because I’m not even looking at the clock. While I don’t do it often, there have been times when I’ve been at the gym for 4 hours.
For cardio fitness, I skip rope and run about 3 to 4 miles. My weight training workouts are broken out by working certain muscle groups on designated days. Specifically, I’ll do chest, calves and triceps on one day, legs on another day and full back including lats and deltoids on a different day. I incorporate HIIT (high intensity interval training) where I’ll start with yoga stretching, I’ll do five 3-minute rounds of shadow boxing, jabs, skipping rope and other running combinations. I will also designate a day where I just do all body weight training, so no weights. That day I’ll do push-ups, air squats, pull ups and core work. In addition to the planned exercise I described, my job at Ford Motor is physical because I’m in constant movement.
What advice do you have for someone wanting to follow your path towards a plant-based vegan diet?
As far as my approach, I try to be kind and do it in love. Unfortunately, sometimes vegans can be too arrogant which can turn people off. I believe it’s important to stay humble and share information with love, kindness and compassion. Doing this improves the chances of the advice taking hold. Practically speaking, this means helping people with a plan of action on how to transition without being radical and militant.
I let people know that I don’t believe the human body is made to consume flesh given its impact on colon health. Meat, including chicken are filled with chemicals, drugs and antibiotics. I also let people know that most Americans have a fiber deficiency, and eating a vegan diet with real plant foods provides plenty of fiber. Even if people limited meat to just once a day and explore eating more vegetables, fruits and other whole plant foods for other meals during the day – it could go a long way to help with transitioning to a vegan diet. I also share that the options are practically unlimited as there are fruits and other foods I haven’t even tried yet!