Taste

Las Vegan @monsonmadethis spreads vegan inspiration online

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Michael Monson with okonomiyaki-style vegan frittata and (left) air-fried mini chimichanga
Photo: Benjamin Seider and Michael Monson / Courtesy

Michael Monson went vegan four years ago, and he’s never looked back. With better health and a better conscience, Monson turned to YouTube and Instagram in the hopes of sharing his story with others.

“I had blood work done. I had high blood pressure and I was prediabetic,” Monson, 40, says. “It was basically, like, you either need to make some changes in your diet or we need to put you on medication. I tried more paleo, lower-carb diets, and I didn’t really care for those—my numbers were a little bit worse.”

Preferring to avoid staying on medication for the rest of his life, Monson made the decision to go vegan. “I spent the first two or three days watching vegan YouTube cooking shows, and that’s how it happened,” he says. “It was initially for health reasons, but then I started to learn more about the ethical side, and that’s what kept me going. I was just like, I’m vegan now; I’m never going back.”

Monson says that in order to stay committed to a vegan diet, it helps to truly embrace what he calls “the trifecta: health, the environment and animals. I think it’s important to have conscientiousness of all three to make it stick,” he says.

Through his Instagram and YouTube accounts, the vegan cook, also known as @monsonmadethis, rethinks comfort-food favorites like salted caramel pudding, butternut squash bisque, monkey bread and lasagna.

“When I first went vegan, it was before Beyond Burger and Impossible Burger,” Monson says. “There were maybe one or two vegan cheeses that nobody bought, because they were disgusting.” But now there are so many alternatives, giving up meat is easier than ever, he says.

These days, Monson takes a different approach to his online content, documenting his weight-loss journey and emphasizing whole grains, beans and veggies. His platform-—“making a video and showing what we actually cook”—is proof that the vegan lifestyle can work. “If you’re determined to make the change, it becomes easier.”

MONSONMADETHIS Instagram @monsonmadethis, YouTube.com/MonsonMadeThis

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