6 Friday, April 5, 2024 brooklintowncrier.com In recent months, I've been intrigued by Facebook posts made by Neil Fenton. I met him ten years ago when he joined a running clinic, The Brooklin Run Club, which I owned at the time. A young dad with three kids and a busy job as a nurse, he was living a high stress life while trying to find time for his health. When the running clinic ended, I lost touch with him until noticing through FB he had become vegan. This interested me as I don't personally know any men are vegan. In fact, the only vegan males I'm aware of are those I follow on social media or celebrities. Not only is Neil vegan, but he's also a whole food vegan. He makes interesting recipes from scratch, including dairy-free Why One Man Went Vegan Plant-Based Eating by Sheree Nicholson "cheese." Why the change, I wondered? Plus, how was it going? Health issues He told me he'd had a heart attack last October. Prior to that, he had metabolic syndrome, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and sleep apnea. The only part of the metabolic syndrome he didn't have was diabetes. While on the path to changing to a plant-based diet, his past caught up with him. Neil blamed his past lifestyle for the heart attack, including poor eating habits, smoking and sedentary habits. It surely was the proverbial wake-up call that something had to change considering his father died of a heart attack at 36. That's when he got serious about a plant-based whole-food diet. His medical training allowed him to understand research better than most and research pointed to plant-based eating as the best choice. The findings of many research studies, he said, were observational, meaning participants were asked how they felt rather than being backed by measurable results. Physical changes Since becoming plant-based, Neil has lost 16 lbs, walks 10k each day, and has a healthy glow on his skin. "If nothing changes, nothing changes," he says, which is also a favourite expression of mine. If we want results, we need to change our overall behaviour. The old ways will not take us down a new, healthy path. There is no fast cure or magic pill for good health. It requires consistent and sustainable changes. Neil will soon be working in Fort Albany, a remote fly-in community in Northern Ontario. Rather than going there hoping for plant-based food, he will do prep work by making shelf-stable or freezable foods. Being prepared is one of the keys to sustaining the lifestyle. Meal preparation and researching restaurants before you go somewhere are ways to be ready. Hope is not a strategy. He regards his veganism from spiritual, physical, and mental perspectives. I urge readers to watch his YouTube channel. In the video, he talks about metabolism, and how to reset it. He also shares more about his understanding of the spirituality of his choices. Sheree's hack: Follow Neil on Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/@Being_vegan1/ videos Brooklin High School's girls AAA hockey team came within one shot of gold at the OFSAA provincials held in Whitby March 17-19. The team, defending OFSAA champions, went 4-0 in the round robin led by Mia Antonucci's scoring prowess. She and teammates Grace Warner and Chloe Wight ranked 5th, 6th, and 7th, in tournament scoring leading to the playoff round. In the thrilling championship game at Iroquois Park against Ottawa's Louis Riel Secondary School, the Bears led 3-1 after the first period, trailed, 4-3 after two, then tied it with 17 seconds left in the third to send the game to overtime. After a scoreless OT, the game went to a shootout which Louis Riel eventually won. On the boys AAA side, the Bears, who won the tournament in 2018, went 3-1 in the round robin with Evan Elliott leading the way among the top ten tournament scorers. To qualify in the medal round, they lost 6-1 to St. Martin before losing 6-0 to Uxbridge in the bronze medal game to finish 4th overall. In the last four OFSAA tournaments subsequent to winning it in 2018, the boys team has always finished in the top four. Brooklin HS Teams Fare Well At Provincials