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Dec 17

This Expert Grill Master Lost 140 Pounds on a Plant-Based Diet – The Beet

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'Plant-based barbeque' might sound like an oxymoron, butserial entrepreneur, professional barbeque master, and American Royal winner Brian Rodgerswas weighing in around 300 pounds and eating meaty barbeque all day long. Then, he was diagnosed with six life-threatening diseases, turned to a plant-based diet,and transformed his health. Instead of ditching barbeque, he gave it a plant-forward makeover and used BBQ to help others live a healthier life.

In this episode of Awesome Vegans, Brian joins me to share his story of how he lost 140 pounds and created Fools Gold, a line of plant-based barbeque sauces and rubs for tofu, tempeh, sweet potatoes, and more. Brian was determined that if he had to give up meat, he would never have to give up the barbeque. Read on to see how Brian changed his life and adapted his passion to serve his health, and improve the health of others.

Here is a short excerpt from our longer interview, which you can watch below.

Brian Rodgers: I was 300 pounds about a year ago and, for everybody watching this, Im not 300 pounds. Now Im 160 pounds. Yay! So how it started for me: Im from Kansas City born and raised, home of barbeque! Ive been doing professional barbeque for over thirty years and won the American Royal actually, the largest barbeque contest in the world in 1999. So, Ive got a love for the barbeque chops!

I moved to Colorado, about two years ago, and I was still doing barbeque. However, I went to my doctor and I was diagnosed as being morbidly obese. I was 300 pounds. And I also got diagnosed with six life-threatening diseases. I was diagnosed with liver disease, with Despedida, I had severe hypertension. I even had a buffalo hump. I dont know if youve ever seen a buffalo how they have that little extra piece of fat behind their head. Well, humans can get that, too. I did not know that until I went to the doctor. I was diagnosed with buffalo hump, as well.

BR: Yes, yes it is.

BR: Its an actual diagnosis. Its related to several different diseases which- Im not a doctor, I dont even enjoy science or medicine. You have some amazing doctors on your show, Im sure they could tell you exactly what it is. But yeah, so its a fatty build-up behind your neck. I basically decided I was going to have to do something to change or I had to get gastric bypass surgery. Those were my two choices.

So, I went to the gastric bypass surgeon to see what that was all about. And he said, Were going to dissect your body. Were going to do all these different things to you. You could die, and then he dropped the bomb on me. He said, Now Brian, we talked a little bit before we started here and I know how much you love barbeque, and thats what you eat and youre a big foodie.

Im also a classically trained chef as well. He said, So I just want you to know that your taste buds are going to probably change. In fact, you probably wont like barbecue anymore. And that was it for me! That was it for me! That was the trigger!

BR: That was the trigger! He said I could die, you know and that was a lot, but giving up barbeque? I was not ready to do that. So, I started the next day, I went cold tofurky. I havent eaten a piece of meat since. I dont do dairy, I dont really do oil too much. I just stopped eating salt for the most part. And I went on a mission to see if I could still eat [plant-based] barbeque and here I am. I lost 120 pounds and I reversed all six diseases within six months of that first appointment. And now Ive gone on to lose another 20 so Ive lost 140 pounds since Ive started. Im maintaining it and Im still eating [plant-based] barbeque.

EA: Oh, I love this! I want to step back. First of all, shout out to the human body. We can abuse it for decades and sometimes knowingly we dive into the bag of chips and we know were being bad, and we try to retreat. Sometimes unknowingly, meat and dairy are served to us as healthy foods and so we dont even know that were doing something bad for the body literally since were weaned from our mothers. We are talking about decades of abuse. Listen to that! In six months, your body bounces back. Im incredulous and in awe of what the human body can do.

So, when you start to shift the Titanic and you say, Okay, no more meat because I dont want to go under the knife, and I dont want to die either. Im just going to do food as medicine. You decide that the easiest way to do this, the lowest hanging fruitis to change what I eat. Did you have any trip-ups, pitfalls, anything that kind of set you back a little bit? Or was it smooth sailing the whole way?

BR: Oh, every day is still [a challenge]. I got to tell you it was a lot easier to lose the weight and reverse the disease than it was to get it. I worked really hard at putting that 300 pounds on. And Ive been fighting childhood obesity since I was eight years old.Thats what Im all about. Thats what my foundation is. Fools Gold barbeque, thats what we do. All the things we do is about fighting the incredible disease of childhood obesity.

Ive been [personally] fighting it since I was eight years old and nothings ever worked. So, do I have trip-ups? Every single day. Every day its still a challenge. But Ive met so many incredible people that I didnt even realize this whole world of plant-based and veganism existed until I stepped into it. But yeah, challenges every single day. Every single day I want to do something that I know is not right for my body and its not an easy journey, particularly when you lose as much weight as I did. Its a mental challenge, too.

So, I mean I still look in the mirror sometimes and still see my old 300-pound self. Its a crazy thing, your brain takes a little bit to catch up with you. And my doctor is always telling me, Brian thats going to go away. Brian thats going to go away. But its really weird when your wife says, Brian youre 160 pounds and you walk past a store or in a mirror and you see a 300-pound man. I mean, I dont know if youve seen my before and after pictures, but its pretty dramatic.

So, yeah, its a battle. Its a battle every day but its a great battle. It is such an amazing battle that Ive dropped everything else. Ive had a lot of successes in my life. I sold a company to one of the big credit bureaus and made a lot of money. Now Ive dropped everything else and Im on a mission. Im on a mission to kind of be the lead generation aspect of plant-based and plant-based barbeque!

Not everyone can go cold Tofurky, like Brian, but Brian shows us that just because you give up meat and dairy, doesnt mean you have to give up taste! And I can vouch for this! Barbeque tofu, tempeh, and sweet potatoes are the bomb! You can find recipes here.

For the full interview, click here.

Elysabeth Alfano is a plant-based business consultant and helps people transition to a plant-based diet. Follow her @ElysabethAlfano on all platforms and at ElysabethAlfano.com

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This Expert Grill Master Lost 140 Pounds on a Plant-Based Diet - The Beet

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