Undergoing a change in diet is, in most cases, a pretty good thing. Whether you've had a recent health scare, don't like the way your gut hangs over your jeans or simply because you wanted to try something new, as long as you're eating enough and enjoying yourself, I'm here to support you. Even if you decide to go vegan.
Depending on your friendship group, announcing that you're going vegan will be met with either words of encouragement, or eye rolls defensive protestation about how it's okay to eat meat. Either way, their opinions do not matter; this is a decision you're making for you.
But once you hit a certain age, you start to get set in your ways, and deciding to go vegan at that age is a great deal harder. A new study looked into middle-aged people undergoing life changes such as this, and if you're a middle-aged man, then you may want to sit down for this.
Take it away, Bupa Health Clinics! They put together a study involving 3,000 adults in the United Kingdom, and found that nearly half of them (47 percent) view middle age as a time to feel considerably older, beginning to worry about their health.
On the whole Women felt this sensation earlier than men (around the age of 30), but men were more likely to make changes to their life as a result of those feelings, undergoing lifestyle changes primarily around the age of 40.
"Entering a new decade is one of many triggers that can prompt us to think about our health," explained Jake Williams, who's the lifestyle health Adviser at Bupa Health. "In our clinics, we often see customers coming in for a general health check shortly before or after turning an age ending with a zero."
So, what were men most likely to do as a result of their midlife of their crisis? At 31 percent, signing up for some kind of competitive event like a marathon was a popular choice, but right behind that at 24 percent, men at that stage of their lives tended to go vegan on a pretty regular basis.
This goes hand in hand with the idea that most men in that age bracket want to stay healthy, with as many as 53 percent of them giving up alcohol entirely. Six percent wanted to keep up with a younger partner.
Healthy dieting, however, is a much bigger item on the agenda for women than it is for men. A whopping 67 percent of women surveyed saw a landmark birthday as a prompt to adopt a healthier eating plan, while a lot of them also hired a personal trainer or opted to join a gym.
So there you go, folks. We usually associate midlife crises with fancy new sports cars, terrible haircuts or moving to the Bahamas in order to make most of that bartender course that you finished when you were literally half your age. But if you've recently had a birthday and have suddenly started to get into avocado bowls and meal plans, then you may be having a midlife crisis.
