Currently, at age 45, Ultraman Rich Roll feels “fantastic” according to an interview done with CNN this week. According to Rich Roll an Ultraman is ultra triathlon race which is “a three-day race covering 320 miles on the big island of Hawaii, including a 10-kilometer ocean swim, more than 260 miles by bike and a double marathon run.”

Five years ago, the night before his 40th birthday, Rich had a “moment of clarity” when he feared he was close to having a hear attack while walking up the stairs in his home. He vowed to transform himself by adopting a plant-based diet and nearly 6 months later entered his first Ultraman event.

Six months before training for his first Ultraman event, Rich Roll decided “to adopt a 100 percent plat-based whole food diet. A discipline that involved removing all animal products (and most processed foods) from [his] diet. No chicken. No fish. No dairy. Nada” according to Human Factor: Rich Roll’s ‘Experiment in Fitness’ article. Here’s the web link for the entire article: http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/29/human-factor-rich-rolls-experiment-in-fitness

Rich Roll is currently working on a book called Finding Ultra while competing in Ultraman events. When CNN interviewed Roll, he said the following during his interview: “My hope is that people can see through the extreme endurance event aspect of the book and realize that’s purely intended as metaphor. Not everyone who reads my book will want to do Ultraman or become 100% vegan, but I hope it serves as inspiration for whatever that thing is you’ve had in the back of your mind that you always wanted to do. There is a way and a means to breathe life into those things if you’re willing to prioritize it in a way you haven’t done before.”

Adopting a vegan diet can lead to major changes in your life, whether it be weight-loss or meeting physical challenges, both of which Roll was able to do. I hope you’ll choose a vegetarian or vegan diet the way Rich Roll was able to do.

Sara Sawochka