Daniel is 36 years old, half Black, half Puerto Rican and grew up in a diverse neighborhood of New Haven, Connecticut. Growing up as the son of a US Marine Corp/Vietnam veteran, Daniel played ice hockey, soccer, basketball, golf, baseball, football, and tennis. Daniel is married with 3 daughters and started a physician staffing company 3 years ago called MedAtlantic Healthcare Solutions. Daniel has a background in fitness, personal training hockey kids, women clients, and big gym clients between 2007-2010. In 2018, Daniel quickly lost 27 pounds after adopting a whole-food, plant-based diet, and has started a men’s calisthenics/health group to help “busy dads” who want to take control of their health. Daniel is also an avid Spartan Obstacle/Mud Racer the last 2 years and got his first spot on the podium (3rd in his age range 2020).
“If I can avoid any potential cancers by eating plants… I’m going to do it.”
Tell me about your health journey.
I was the guy who started out as a self-absorbed minor league professional hockey player focused on myself, to change to a devoted family man after my daughter was born. My wife and I moved to Florida to raise our children in the Summer sun to be more active versus in New Hampshire’s cold weather. I was the conventional guy. I was the in-shape and not in-shape guy with poor gut health. I was always working out in the “gym,” but also partying and drinking lots of beer on the weekends. Living on coffee and working like crazy with a near one hour commute to work at jobs I wasn’t crazy about. I put on weight. I went from being 200 pounds to 227 pounds. My primary care physician told me I’d have to go on high blood pressure medication if this continued.
We built a home right next door to my mother in-law who would help take care of our children and really was our anchor for us when we were a new couple, new house owners, and as new parents. When she passed away from cancer, I went through her empty home and we ended up donating all of her stuff to a non-profit organization who needed it more. I had an epiphany that things are just things. When you come into this world you have nothing, when you die you have nothing. You can’t take those things with you. We woke up and realized that we were living a toxic life – mentally and physically in terms of our gut health.
How and when did you adopt a plant-based diet?
We went to a personal development coaching event in Miami put on by a motivational speaker and coach and they had us close our eyes and imagine what our life will be like in 20 years. My vision was vividly clear – I was crazy happy; my surroundings had an island feel in a small hut. It did not include Blu-ray and all the technology stuff we accumulated or our 5-bedroom house we built. We realized that our stuff was just an illusion, that stuff was a blocker [to my true happiness]. So, we sold our large suburban home and moved to a smaller home closer to the beach, and detoxed my body with raw plant-based nutrition– no pills, no powders, no meat, no dairy, no caffeine, no alcohol – just plants!
If I can avoid any potential cancer or another disease by eating plants, I’m going to do it. People love their cars, smart watches, homes and clothes more than they love their bodies.
We watched “What the Health” and “Forks Over Knives” documentaries. That night, I went into the refrigerator and threw everything that was dairy and animal products in the trash, then we went full plant-based vegan January 2018. I enjoy influencing family and friends to help everyone’s overall health, the planet, and the animals. Using plant-based is really what we focus on the most in our household. I try not to use the word vegan too much, because we aren’t really part of that trend. There are some vegans out there who don’t focus on gut health or holistic nutrition and generally eat lots of processed vegan food. Although, we will gladly enjoy some Beyond Meat Burgers on some holidays.
What do you typically eat in a day?
We start our day off with lemon water to detox the body to start the day fresh. We follow it with celery juice. A half hour after that, we’ll either have oatmeal with a drizzle of cinnamon, maple syrup, coconut milk and dates. Or a millet bagel with almond butter. Later on, I’ll have a large detox shake with spirulina, turmeric, spinach, blueberries, mangoes, strawberries, bananas, cilantro, water, and barley grass powder. That fills me up and hydrates me for about three hours. For a snack, I’ll have trail mix with nuts, seeds, and dried fruit. For dinner I’ll eat a salad and legume quinoa pasta, and vegetables like broccoli or green beans. Dessert may be some dark chocolate.
What did you learn after adopting a plant-based diet?
The weight loss happened quickly once I moved to a plant-based diet. I was a waist-size 38/40, and now I’m a size 34. I lost 27 pounds in a month and a half.
The other thing I learned was the myth that you must have protein powder to build muscle. As a past GNC salesperson for years, it was crazy to realize that is 100% a myth! I also didn’t know the importance of reading ingredients instead of falling for the marketing labels on the front packaging. There are so many weird ingredients when you really look at food labels that are pretty much made in labs.
I realized that when you eat trash, your gut is trash, and most people try to treat it the easy way, with pills.
Eating plants helps me recover faster after hard workouts, while inflammation from eating meat and dairy delays recovery.
Even my dog is vegan now, and she lost weight and gained more energy after making the change.
What advice do you have for someone wanting to take control of their health?
How to connect with Daniel
Interviewed by Gigi Carter
Gigi Carter, Founder of My True Self, is a nutritionist, personal trainer and author. After 22 years in corporate management roles, Carter made a career change in 2016 to pursue her master’s in nutrition sciences from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she graduated with honors, and launched the socially conscious nutrition and wellness practice, My True Self. Carter is a licensed nutritionist in the state of Washington, and certified personal trainer and senior fitness specialist with the National Academy of Sports Medicine. She is the author of The Plant-Based Workplace and co-author of the children’s book The Spinach in My Teeth.