Are vegans healthy or crazy?

Jeff Peterson

Jeff Peterson

I still can’t believe I’m doing that vegan thing! Heck, I used to think vegans were crazy people. No animal products? No way!

Not that long ago, I was the normal guy who ate meat 3 meals a day, loved scrambled eggs and ate pizza with lots of cheese at least 2 times a week. I was also the guy who was a bit overweight with 5 children and preparing to turn 50-years-old.

Just in case you didn’t know, a vegan is someone who doesn’t eat animal products. So, how did I go from meat, dairy and eggs to tempeh, tofu and kale? I just dove in head first and never looked back. It all started with watching the documentary, “Forks Over Knives.” The film examines the claim that most degenerative diseases can be controlled or even reversed by eating a plant-based diet.

I thought it would be an interesting story for the news to go vegan for 60 days and see how it would change my life. Wow, did it ever. My wife and I switched to a plant-based diet overnight. I weighed 228 pounds when I started. Two months after not eating any meat, dairy or eggs, my weight dropped to 197. That’s not all. My overall cholesterol went from 128 to 87. Then there were triglycerides. They are a type of fat found in your blood that raises the risk of coronary artery disease. After going vegan for 60 days, my triglycerides plummeted from 151-69. My doctor was amazed at the changes and I decided a vegan diet for a news story would now become a lifestyle.

Over two years later, I’m still vegan, weigh 182 pounds and I’ve never felt better.

In my 27 years of television news, I’ve never had so many people ask me so many questions about a specific topic. People want to know what vegans eat, where we get our protein, how do we get our children to eat healthier and what are some good recipes?

In the weeks to come in this blog, I will answer all of those questions. Also, I’ll feature some recipes that the whole family will enjoy and some dishes that may be a little challenging to prepare and to get the kids to try. I’m not pushing any kind of agenda or trying to take anyone’s meat, dairy or eggs away. I’m just providing some healthy new recipes to spice up your menu planning and giving you an inside look at a newscaster and his family powered by plants.

Join me as I continue what I believe has been a life changing journey and what some other people may think is crazy.

Jeff Peterson

About Jeff Peterson

Jeff Peterson anchors Good Day Maine on CBS 13 from 4:30-7:00a.m and on FOX 23 from 7:00-8:00am. Back in 2012, he decided to become vegan. Jeff has lost over 50 pounds and his cholesterol has dropped dramatically. Besides having kids, It's the best decision he's ever made.