5 Day Veg - Motivations

Ok, so what made me want to try this diet? It all started with the documentary Forks Over Knives. The film documented the benefits of a plant based diet and highlighted some downfalls of a diet that has a high meat intake, which was dubbed a “western diet.” What got my attention the most was a chart showing the results of a study which surveyed the rate of heart disease in relation to the amount of meat consumed across several countries. The study showed a pretty convincing correlation. Countries that consume a lot of meat, like the US and Russia, have high rates of heart disease among their population. Countries with low meat consumption have low rates of heart disease. This caught my attention because my family has a history of heart disease, and we eat a lot of meat.

I used to make it a point to have a source of protein in every meal. And by protein I mean animal product of some sort. An egg at breakfast, turkey or chicken at lunch, beef or chicken at dinner. Add on top of that a bunch of cheese and my meals consisted of mostly animals. It wasn't very balanced, and I've been learning it's also not very healthy...at all.

Something I learned from Forks Over Knives, which I actually knew all along, is that there are other good sources of protein like beans, nuts, and seeds. So why not swap out meat for beans every now and then?

Another convincing story from Forks Over Knives was the remission of cancers and diseases when people changed from a western diet to a plant-based diet. The theory is that the human body naturally wants to heal itself, it just need the proper nutrients to do so. Therefore, eliminate the animal products, which are typically low in nutrients but high in calories, and introduce a variety of plant foods and whole grains which are high in nutrients and low in calories. Overall, the people studied lost weight, normalized their blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and were taken off of all their prescription medications used to treat those things. And it went beyond that. One story that stood out was of an older woman who was given 3 months to live due to cancer and she was put on a plant-based diet and lived for several more years. The cancer went away. No surgery, no chemo therapy. Food saved her life in a matter of months.

So what to do now? Drop everything and become a vegan? The film was painting a picture that meat is bad. It was saying that any food product derived from an animal is bad. I don't believe that though.

People have been eating meat throughout history. It's a natural thing. But then after thinking about it a while, I doubt the meat we eat today is anything like the meat our ancestors ate. Back in the hunter-gatherer days animals were hunted or trapped. And hunts couldn't have been successful all the time. Take a cheetah for example, they are the most efficient hunter of the big cats and their success rate is about 50%. I doubt a human without a gun could match that. My point is that meat couldn't have been abundant throughout the majority of human evolution. It would have been scarce. Also, it was wild meat. Nowadays meat is farmed as livestock and processed from birth to sale. It's just not the same today in quality and quantity. But still, I don't think it's unnatural to eat meat. I just think we're eating too much.

Ok now what? I learned how beneficial a plant-based diet is and how detrimental the western diet is but I don't believe cutting out meat altogether is necessary. It's so conflicting...

Then I came across a TED Talk given by somebody in my exact position. He loves eating meat, doesn't think it's bad when consumed in moderation, but wants to reap the benefits of a plant-based diet. He came up with the 5-Day Veg idea. He didn't eat any animal products for 5 days of the week, and went back to his regular western-diet for the other 2 days. He lost weight, his blood pressure and cholesterol levels improved and he generally felt better. I had found something I was willing to try.

 

That's the path that brought me to this 5-Day Veg diet. My goal is to increase the amount and variety of nutrients I eat and lower my meat consumption. I'm hoping that doing a 5-Day Veg diet for a short period of time will have a long-term impact on the way I eat...in a positive way, of course.

Non-Existent Credit Score: Good or Bad?

A little over a week ago I posted a question: Why would it be beneficial or detrimental to have a non-existent credit score? Only a few replied with responses like 'no credit is better than bad credit.' Another response was 'it's not beneficial' while another person put it very simply that 'without a credit score you can't borrow but you don't have any debt.' All are good responses. Now it's my turn. Here's my take.

I've recently finished taking an online course on personal finance and learned a little bit about credit, debt, basic investing, and personal budgeting. One of the more surprising things I learned was about credit scores, how they're calculated and what they mean. Basically, a credit score is a measurement of different factors to predict how risky it would be to loan you money. In other words, lenders want to know if you're given money you'll pay it back. Some of those factors include how much debt you have, how long you've had it, if you've been looking to get any new loans recently, and how reliably you make your payments.

 

There's one common factor in these things: debt. The better you are at managing debt, the more likely you'll be able to get loans...and more debt.

 

Now if you have zero debt, you won't have a credit score. It just can't be calculated. Some lenders won't give you a loan without a score, but theoretically, if you don't have any debt you should be able to save up your money to buy what you want. You won't need a loan for pretty much anything less than a house. It'll take a little time but you could save up enough money to buy a car, go on vacation, get whatever toys you like a lot quicker if you have no debt. No loan needed, no credit score needed.

 

But what about that house? How do you get a mortgage without a credit score? Most banks won't because they've grown so used to using a credit score. But credit scores haven't been around forever. They've only been around for maybe 40-50 years and people have been taking out mortgage loans way longer than that. You just need to find a bank that will do a no-credit loan and they'll determine your risk through a process called manual underwriting. Basically, the lender looks into your financial situation, your income, and so on to determine your level of risk.

 

Ok so credit scores really aren't needed. The score just makes applying for loans more convenient. After learning those things and tumbling it around in my head for a while, I now fall on the side that a non-existent credit score is more beneficial than detrimental. For one, I'll have no debt. No bills outside of living necessities and I'll get to keep a good portion of the money I earn. And keeping my money sounds more appealing than sending it away every month.

 

The downside to not having a credit score? You won't be able to borrow money or buy services that rely on credit checks as easily. But the way I figure, if I have to purchase something that relies on a credit check (like cable TV, or renting an apartment) I'll have some negotiating power because I could make a real cash offer. Tell me I can't buy cable when waving $800 in front of your face and I say you're an idiot. As for borrowing money, I'd just have to look around for a bank that isn't lazy.

All in all, I don't put much stock into credit scores anymore because they're directly related to debt. My goal is to get out of debt and get to a point where I won't need a loan. I mean, rich people don't carry debt or worry about credit scores. Maybe if I act like a rich person does, one day I'll be one too.