From Vegan to Low-Carb / Hypercarnivore BACK to Vegan - My (Our) Story
Why I Am No Longer Low-Carb / Keto / Hypercarnivore ~ My (Our) EX Ex Vegan Story
Don and I have both written articles, and recorded videos explaining why we are no longer low-carb / keto / Hypercarnivore, and returned home to our hearts to become EX Ex vegans. This article captures together the bulk of what we wrote, or recorded in video, along with several books that consider a vegetarian diet (meaning a diet of vegetables / whole plant foods) from various spiritual perspectives, and are worth reading ~ all linked below.
In 2017, or just prior, when we officially had our 'coming out' video, declaring our adding animal foods back into our diet ~ after five plus years following a plant-based diet in various forms, including a year of a high-raw, high-fruit diet ~ we had a list of health issues which we rattled off as our 'reasons' for ending our 'vegan' diet. While they may have been legitimate issues, in the end, we realized it wasn't the health issues driving our behaviors. It was the social discomforts, familial tension, and business stress that overwhelmed our ability to stay the course.
We lacked the appropriate tools, support and wherewithal to realize that whenever we strive to realize our greatest dreams, challenges will emerge to test our resolve. Any 'parts' that are incongruent with our goals and dreams must also be dealt with. That is exactly what 'Returning Home to My Heart' initiated. A much deeper, more intimate reflection of what happened, and why we had a change of heart.
At the precise meal we added animal foods back into our diet for the first time in over five years, we were at a choice point. We were being tested. And, we failed. We backslid. We ultimately unpublished all of our vegan macrobiotic books, wrote new books supporting low-carb diets, and lived for several years in deep denial of our true desires and needs.
(NOTE: I share what all happened ~ why I/we went from vegan to ex vegan to EX ex vegan ~ in the updated Preface of The Macrobiotic Action Plan, Your MAP to Greater Health & Happiness (The MAP.) Read the Preface for FREE here. Read more about The MAP, and/or purchase a copy of the book, here.)
This article, From Vegan to Low-Carb / Hypercarnivore BACK to Vegan, is a brief synopsis of how the mind / lesser or negative ego, or what I have come to call the SOS can sabotage us and derail our lives.
The Preface from The MAP linked above and below, along with the other articles and videos fill in the specific events that took place.
Why We Went From Vegan to Ex Vegan to EX Ex Vegan - The SOS
In a nutshell...
Our ego, and the unexamined, old, unresolved / unhealed 'parts' were triggered, something I will be writing more about in future articles, here or on my website (@www.tracymatesz.com.)
The ego can be our greatest source of self-sabotage. I liken the ego to the Satanic Operating System (SOS). The word Satan (Sawtan) is defined as the accuser. According to Strong's Concordance, Satan is of Chaldee origin, corresponding to ma'bad (pronounced maw bawd), which is from abad, meaning act, work, or works. (1)
I'll be writing more about the SOS versus the DOS (Divine Operating System) in my upcoming book, The Golden Compass.
I share my (our) story about going from vegan to low-carb / Hypercarnivore back to vegan because, like us, many other ex vegans claim it was because of their health. I believe––upon further investigation–– the truer reason is most likely the social discomfort. That, and having not eaten properly for one's needs.
During what I consider to be our dark, low-carb / keto daze, I recorded videos claiming to 'feel more real' or 'more spiritual' or 'more alive / more connected to nature' - you name it. I relished eating lots of bacon and eggs fried in bacon fat, and even ate raw liver and drank raw eggs on camera. Whatever darkness drove my behavior, I now see it as an initiation into the Carnist Club. A willingness to participate in a blood sacrifice, just like all the blood sacrifices ordered by YHWH in the Old Testament.
As a side note, our regress back to eating dead animal corpses, believing we needed them to be healthy coincided with our foray into Christianity. One of the first questions we were asked upon attending a church we were referred to, while gathering after a Sunday service for lunch was, "You guys aren't vegan, are you?" Followed by the sigh of relief, from all sides. We could now comfortably participate in the shared lunch, which they generously prepared for any and all members.
This is the SOS at work. According to the Bible, Satan is 'the ruler of this world.' Yep. Satan, the adversary is busy at work in each one of our minds. I know we want to think Satan is an evil dark force 'out there.' Well, that may also be. Satan is the master of deception. He has us all convinced he's separate from us, and that we are all separate from our Source, and one another!
The SOS has the world captivated like obedient slaves to every form of poison and distraction possible. Slaves to our senses, our wants, our fears, our greed, our ignorance.
I can look back and see how our minds were full of beliefs and rationalizations ~ similar to other ex vegans ~ as we tried to convince others, and really, ourselves that we simply had to give up being vegan, lest our health suffer, and we fail to thrive.
As humans, we default to popular cultural narratives, as there is a strong drive to be part of the 'in group.' One such cultural narrative states that consumption of animal foods is 'normal, natural and necessary.' Believing this makes it easier to kill other sentient beings ~ directly or indirectly by supporting others who do the dirty work of killing and slaughtering animals for us ~ because we believe it's a normal part of life. Something we must do to survive, hence, we shut down our native empathy.
Another narrative rooted in the Abrahamic religions is that God gave us control over all the animals, and all of nature. They are here for us. Therefore, we can (arrogantly and greedily) commodify them all we want, without concern for the consequences of our actions ~ on ourselves, our families and communities, our resources, and all of life. We have to for our survival, after all. So, man (or wo-man) up!
This is a colossal failure as a species to care for the creatures for which we've been given dominion. It's precisely our natural human empathy, morality, and care that ought to be the clarion call to rise up, and properly steward all we've been blessed with, including the animals for which we share this Earth plane. Instead, we trash nature and all her beautiful creatures at every turn, without care for future generations, not to mention the animals.
Don and I have deep regrets over our decision to go from vegan to low-carb / Hypercarnivore. We certainly paid the price, with much deeper, more troubling imbalances than we previously had experienced as vegans.
Thankfully, we are now EX ex vegans. We learned the hard way, and are still dealing with the repercussions of our decision to become ex vegans back in 2017 ~ on many levels! You can read all about our 'journey' in the updated, 2024 Preface of The Macrobiotic Action Plan, Your MAP to Greater Health & Happiness, now available as an ebook.
I also created a separate document of that 2024 Preface, which you can download and read, here.
Below is a list of other resources you may be interested in reading or viewing.
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| The Macrobiotic Action Plan (aka The MAP) available HERE. |
Books
Spiritual Benefits of a Vegetarian Diet, Abbot George Burke (FREE on Kindle.)
Yoga and Veganism, The Diet of Enlightenment, Sharon Gannon
The Essenes Gospel of Peace. Book One, Edmond Bordeaux
Vegetarianism and Occultism, C.W. Leadbeater
Vegetarianism: For Your Body, Your Mind, Your Soul and Your Planet, H.H. Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji .99¢ on Kindle)
Back to Eden, Jethro Kloss
Articles
Why Do People Quit Being Vegan?, Don Matesz
How I Fixed Foot Swelling, Don Matesz
Returning Home to My Heart, Tracy Matesz
Videos
(L) EX Ex Vegan - Where I've Been, Loss, Regrets (R) Why I Am WFPB Again - A Change of Heart
& New Beginnings
Is Dairy Consumption Humane?
Our Visit to a Local Dairy Farm - And Our Return to Being Vegan
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