Milkmaid and I became convinced of the health benefits of veganism in our mid-20s. Like everything else, veganism was pursued with unrelenting zeal by our family of (at the time) three.

We read books, grew a garden, and spent a bunch of money at the local Golden Temple (yes, that’s actually what our local health food store was called — it is/was in Southside Birmingham).

Now, I’ve found that changing your diet is a lot like changing shampoos. They always seem to help. At first.

But, over time, we noticed the following trends in our veganism:

  • we were always hungry
  • we were getting thin (Milkmaid’s very straight-shooting grandfather who fought in WWII told her “you look like you just got out of a concentration camp!”)
  • I was drowsy… a lot!

Every evening around 8pm, I would literally begin to nod off, no matter what I was doing. I would fight it until about 9 and then finally give in. I was usually up at 6 am. That’s a nine hour sleeep. (extra “e” intentional)

Our veganism lasted about 2 years and ended partly for practical reasons (it wasn’t working!) and partly for research reasons (we learned more about nutrition).

Let me contrast that with my life today. I still wake up at 6am. But now I head to bed at around 11:30 or midnight. And when I go to bed, it’s mostly out of principle rather than being forced to bed by drowsiness.

Some days I do take a 10-15 minute micronap. See articles at right.