Page 66 - Vegan Food & Living (February 2020)

The path to
Veganism:

Stories of struggle

and resolution

eciding to become vegan who had their own problems to
can throw up some huge deal with, and we see how changing OVERCOMING
Dchallenges to be overcome their diet ended up completely GENERATIONS OF TRADITION
as well as yielding extraordinary changing their lives. These stories

benefits. Here, Veganuary (www. show that no matter what the Animal lover Renee King-Sonnen married a fourth-generation
veganuary.com) meets four vegans challenges, you can meet them. Texan rancher in 2007. To help her become “a good rancher’s
wife”, her husband suggested she take care of a young calf,
whom Renee named Rowdy Girl. Renee named all the cows
at the ranch, in fact, and spent time singing to them. She loved
them, but it came at a huge cost.
OVERCOMING When the young were taken from their mothers and sent
ATHLETIC BARRIERS for slaughter, Renee really struggled. “The mamas wailing for
Lisa Gawthorne had been vegetarian a week and the absence of their souls in the pasture haunted
since the age of 6. She grew to me,” she says. And with each separation, Renee felt worse until
become a committed and talented eventually something snapped.
“I realised I could not stand to watch the babies leave their
athlete and yet it was when she
mamas even one more time,” she says. She asked her husband
went vegan in 2003 – a decision she
if she could buy the herd from him and told him if he sold
made for ethical reasons – that her
them to someone else, she would simply buy them back using
training and her performance really his credit card!
switched up a gear.
“He thought I had lost my mind, and frankly I had, but it was
“I noticed immediately that I my only hope,” she said. Desperate not to lose any more of
had more energy, better sleep, the animals she loved, Renee
improved skin, and better recovery set up a crowdfunder and
in between workouts, and it gave raised the money. Today,
me the impetus and energy to start Renee and her former
training functionally.” rancher husband are both
With every year that passes, Lisa vegan, and their ranch
gets fitter, stronger and faster. In is named Rowdy Girl

Sanctuary.
2007, she was running 10k races
in 50 minutes; by 2019, she was
crossing the line in under 39.
“I now lift heavier weights than I have ever lifted, I am running and cycling
faster than ever before, and I am recovering so much quicker in between
sessions. Some of this is down to my focused commitment to following

training plans, but it has definitely been complemented and boosted by the
vegan way of life and eating clean and green.”
It seems the sky is the limit for Lisa, who is on Team GB for her age group
in the sport of duathlon. For the last three years she has competed in both
the European and World Sprint Duathlon Championships in Canada, Spain,
Denmark and Finland. Has she plateaued yet? Not a chance.

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