I was on YouTube tonight and while watching a few X factor video’s of some of my favorite new singers like Ella Henderson, I ran across a video of one of the biggest influences of my career, John Robbins.
A quick trip down memory lane, and what a ride it’s been…
I was working with Tony Robbins at the time, when he brought in this fellow named John Robbins, of the Baskin Robbins family, not related to Tony. John Robbins was the heir to the family fortune but because he saw the damage that the “ice cream” diet was having on people, let alone is father and uncle, he gave it all up; all the money and more to live from the earth and become a pioneer in the Vegan movement. It was an almost unbelievable story that demonstrated the power of someone values.
Not only was I blown away by that, I was also taken by his way of communicating amazing depth and statistics and far reaching ideas that were all connected to the way we ate, especially with his best selling book at the time Diet for a New America. When I heard what he had to say, if what Tony had to say wasn’t enough about food; what John Robbins had to say was enough. Only one year out from having been a competitive bodybuilder and living on a high animal protein diet, I went completely vegan.
I have always been a socially, Eco-responsible type of person, at lease since I had an awakening at around 20 years old; and I run my businesses that way today, but discovering both Tony Robbins and John Robbins would have a huge impact on my life. Both influenced a deep interest in how we eat and ultimately how we live. And that inspiration evolved, to where today, I run nutrientrich.com, which teaches the leading edge of plant based nutrition–nutritarian or “nutrient rich” nutrition, which is part of a broader lifestyle philosophy known as Performance Lifestyle, which teaches the leading edge in lifestyle skills and really “energy” management with some pretty interesting origins and far reaching implications. That’s another story.
I am grateful for those influences.
Everyone has an inspiration that has had such a big impact on their life, and John Robbins was one of mine. Here at the start of 2013, I am grateful for John Robbins (Tony too), and others like him, for all the positive influence they’ve had on me, and those I am able to influence as a result, to eat More Plant Based Nutrient Rich…
I’ll never forget John Robbins saying in his book Diet for a New America – “If people ate just 10% less animal products than they do right now, nobody in the world would go hungry“. This quote alone was enough for me to change my eating habits. And while I did go vegan for a while, as I mentioned earlier, my eating habits evolved. At times I’ve eaten more animal products than others, but never more than say 10% of my diet, simply because once you learn the virtues and practicalities and impact of eating a largely plant-based, nutrient rich diet, and your body gets healthy, you’ll likely always have a bias that way.
Today, of course, I ascribe more to nutritarian ideas because they make more sense intellectually, are largely plant based, nutrient rich, and are practically vegan anyway, but the message is just a real step up in explaining nutrition and I know it both raises peoples eating standards across the board while at the same time, actually provides more flexibility. Its the reason you don’t hear us talking that much about veganism or vegetarianism here at the site .Even though we don’t promote animal products at all, we do acknowledge that people eat them in small amounts for one reason or another.
Eating Nutrient Rich, may not be about going vegetarian or vegan for you, but when done right, eating vegan, near vegan or nutritarian; know this, these are the healthiest ways of eating out there and they were inspired by all the pioneers like John Robbins who’s research and writings such as Healthy at 100, are just as powerful today as they were 25 years ago. Consider what John Robbins is saying here… even a little bit, ok?
And if not for the reasons that influenced him, consider the fact that plants are where all the nutrients come from, first hand. When you eat more plant based, nutrient rich, your body becomes nutrient rich and “healthy”. What could be better for you, animals and the planet?
What might be your inspiration for eating a more plant-based, nutrient-rich healthy eating style?