I've been purposefully keeping mum about Arian Foster's new vegan lifestyle, which he announced in early June via Twitter. However, I'm am beginning to plan out my Fantasy Football team this season and the topic is still popping up in my Google Alerts for "vegan diet". I am super psyched that he is taking a stand for what he believes in and shudder at the ignorant comments I've been reading for weeks in response to this change.
The Texans nutritionist Roberta Anding supported his decision and carefully monitors the players' diets. Here's an excerpt from the Houston Chronicle's blog:
"Arian has been one of these guys I call a seeker, looking for optimum nutrition and variety,” Anding said. “In my working with him, he has been open to a lot of strategies to get him where he needs to be, not only as a professional football player but, more importantly, as an adult man who has a child and a wife. That’s the new NFL player. I don’t think Arian is unique.”Finally some support! Everyone else who has been writing about this topic has been attacking veganism from every angle and not fully explaining what veganism really is. I've definitely enjoyed reading the sarcastic and uninformed comments on the articles. These sparked a tiny bit of annoyance in me, but I know that veganism is really just misunderstood.
Some comments I read on this particular article were a little ridiculous. Here is one of my favorites!
"Oh Great! Get him signed to a long term contract and he goes Vegan on us! He will never hold up to the grind and the pounding. Rescind his contract until he eats a Cheesburger! At least eat chicken and turkey Arian!"I really hope this one was a troll comment, because I had a good chuckle after I read it:
"I wasn’t born a vegan, and neither was anybody else. The only other “vegan” athlete I know is a cyclist, and he eats salmon."The point is, Arian Foster is a grown man who is taking responsibility for his own health! I'm now following him on Twitter because he is truly inspirational in the way that he is pushing aside the negativity and criticisms. I really think he is doing this for his personal beliefs and for reasons he may not feel obligated to explain (and shouldn't have to!). In any case, I'm happy that he's made this decision, no matter what the reason, and that he has already shed some light on the topic. I've told my fellow Fantasy Football leaguers that I'd take him off their hands during the draft...
And now, I will end with this retweet from July 18th that captures his spirit perfectly:
"Meat = points. Got it. I didn't have any rollover points? RT@MrJones_HU22: A VEGAN Mr.Foster?? You just lost some big points with me sir."
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