Thanks for tuning into the Greenhero Podcast with your host, Rikard Björkdahl. Each week we'll be digging into the inspiring journeys of people who live a plant-based lifestyle to tease out the most effective and fun ways to add more plants to your life.  Today, we’re sitting down with Dotsie Bausch, seven-time track cycling US national champion, former world record holder, Pan American Gold medal winner, and silver medalist in Team Pursuit at the 2012 London Olympics. Dotsie founded the non-profit Switch4Good in early 2018 with a television commercial featuring six Olympians from four different countries and proves that cow’s milk is not part of a high-performance diet.  Dotsie’s transition to eating green seemed to happen overnight. She started a deep dive into the foods she was eating, and what she found left her shocked, horrified, and sad. After seeing behind the curtain and witnessing some of the terrible things that happen, she made the choice to not be a part of it. Mind you, this is coming from the context as a Kentucky native only months away from Olympic qualifiers. Ultimately, though, she recognized that what she was doing was for the good of other beings—anything short of that felt selfish.  The transition was fast, but it wasn’t always easy. Replacing eggs and cream was the most difficult step, but with the advancement in technology, plant-based milk is just as great and a tofu scramble is a wonderful way to start your day.  As an athlete, Dotsie is very aware of how her body started to feel after transitioning to a plant-based diet. At her age, recovery is crucial. After switching to eating green, she felt like she woke up feeling better, her joints were less enflamed, and she was ready to go sooner. Additionally, while she was concerned that she wouldn’t be able to build muscle mass on her diet, she actually found it easier and faster, in that because her recovery time was so low, she was able to train harder, more often, and feel better doing it.  The content of her diet was important, in that she needs to make sure she’s supporting an Olympic athlete-level lifestyle. Finding high-protein plant-based sources like rice, hemp, or soy, and including them in shakes with legumes and high-calorie foods like cashew butter sustain her through her training.  Now that she’s retired, Dotsie has shifted to helping others transition into a green diet. At heart, she says, she’s an activist. And as a vegan Olympic athlete, the fact that Milk is a title sponsor simply wasn’t okay. So, she presented the facts: cow’s milk is not a health food.  Beyond that, Dotsie helps push policy change on the corporate and governmental levels, directing Starbucks to drop their plant-based milk upcharge, and bringing forth the idea of dietary racism, as BIPOCs are more frequently affected by lactose intolerance. Part of being a Green Hero, for Dotsie, is championing food injustice.  Things You’ll Learn -You can sustain an Olympic level of training with a green diet -Transitioning to a green diet can be at your own pace. It can be overnight or gradually over time.  -Being a Green Hero means looking at the impact of food on society, not just our individual bodies.  Websites https://switch4good.org/ https://dotsiebauschusa.com/ Social Tags @Switch4Good