VEGAN PERSONALITY

How Alex got his life back and became a youtube success

Johannes Holster

Alex Flohr is what many people would call a “really genuine guy”. He speaks his mind, doesn’t think much of convention, and likes to enjoy life. It’s this affable mix which will be noticed right away by anyone who watches his successful YouTube cooking channel HIER KOCHT ALEX (in German). This is someone who really does put all the clichés about vegans to bed once and for all. Originally a trained master road builder, Alex has now become successful in this format. And his success is every bit as self-made as his recipes are. His newest book, VEGAN OCEAN, has just been published, and the next is already in the pipeline. We are delighted that this time, our Velivery Vegan Personality is this guy with his moving story.

Alex the doer

When asked what advice he would give people, Alex says: “It’s always worth trying something new. You don’t have anything to lose.”

Just do it, have a go – that’s Alex to a T. He’s always been ambitious. Everything Alex has, he has achieved by himself with the help of his wife. He completed his training as a master road builder while he and his wife had two young kids to look after, and his wife was working as a teacher. He used the nights to study. Alex just went ahead and did things, and didn’t let anything stand in his way. At the age of just 21, when most people his age are out partying and busy with other things, he founded his own construction company.

He learned about new techniques, and at the same time was always interested in older, often painstaking ways of working – for example wood-block paving (an old way of paving the floors of barns and stables) or using natural stone. Old buildings and historical projects have always appealed to him in particular, even if these require lots of time and effort. Family guy Alex worked long hours and built a life for himself. That left him very little time to think about balance in his life – and his physically demanding work left no time for other exercise to be built into his daily routine either. As he puts it: “I’d have a burger in the morning, then for lunch I’d have one or two kebabs – that’s just how things were.”

The effects on his body and his health in general were, accordingly, enormous. He piled on the pounds until he weighed almost 300lbs (over 21 stone, or 135kg). As many people do, he initially accepted this new development, and tried to a certain extent to justify it to himself. He says himself that he purposely watched films and series where larger actors were playing the lead roles. He had simply accepted that this was the way things were, he says. This went on for quite some time.

The wake-up call

Gradually, however, his physical complaints got worse and worse. Alex was experiencing more and more pain all over his body. He was having problems sleeping, and didn’t feel good overall. The pain got so bad that he couldn’t do anything any more.

Doctor after doctor just shook their heads. They didn’t really have any idea what the problem could be. The only option he had was to lose weight.

Of course, Alex is someone who likes to take matters into his own hands, so he started to find out more about self-healing. One of the typical approaches used was nutrition. He found out more about the effect animal products (especially animal proteins) have on our metabolism. The logical consequence of all of this couldn’t have been more obvious, and so, with the support of his wife and the rest of the family, Alex made the decision to stop eating meat. One of the first steps to take was to clear out his fridge – after which there was very little left.

Becoming a vegan overnight… and then becoming a vegan chef

He soon realized that it would also make sense to give up all animal products, so in essence, he then became a vegan overnight.

Of course, for people who work in physically demanding jobs, it’s even more necessary and more difficult to consume enough calories than it is for people in office jobs. And that was in 2011.

At the time, the vegan products on offer from food retailers in Germany were still very, very limited or even non-existent. The vegan products which were available – mainly from health food shops – were not to his taste at all, but there was no way that he was prepared to go without good, hearty food like his mother had cooked for him when he was a child. What to do? For Alex the doer, the solution was clear. If there’s no solution out there for me, I’ll just have to create one myself. So Alex taught himself vegan cooking.

A tremendous turning point

At the time, he could never have imagined what huge changes his new diet would bring about. He lost 110 lbs (nearly 8 stone, or 50kg) in the space of 14 months, and was wearing trousers five sizes smaller than before. The most important thing, however, was that the pain went away.

But that was just the start of the changes. All of a sudden, he could sleep well again. After four months, the asthma he had suffered from for years disappeared. He was also able to think much more clearly, and his overall wellbeing continued to increase. Today he describes it like a fog lifting. He had got his life back.

And the effect on his health wasn’t all that happened. Vegan cooking became more than just something he “had” to do. He discovered a new passion in what he was doing in the kitchen. Alex was no longer simply cooking – he started going in new directions and experimenting with tasty, hearty vegan dishes.

“Hier kocht Alex” – Alex cooks… and inspires

He was always inventing new recipes or reinterpreting existing ones, which led to him collaborating with the animal protection organization PETA in 2015. Alex appeared in videos for the first time. That was the start of HIER KOCHT ALEX. Soon, he was appearing at trade fairs and other events, and was making a name for himself. His first cookbook, HIER KOCHT ALEX, was published in 2018, and others have since followed.

His construction company, cooking, video productions, trade fairs, cookbooks, family… soon, he simply couldn’t juggle it all, so he decided to sell his construction company and to focus solely on his passion for vegan cooking, even though Alex still regards his original craft as a passion, too.

Right after he came to this decision, Corona happened and the collaboration with PETA couldn’t be continued. For someone like Alex, however, that was no reason to give up. “I’ll do it myself, then.” You could say that this phrase sums up his life.

Alexander Flohr is more than a vegan chef.

He shows that a vegan lifestyle is an option for the whole family, because his wife – and his children especially – eat a vegan diet without having any pressure put on them. Nothing is forbidden in his kitchen at home.

He has proven what a good effect a diet free from animal products can have, both physically and mentally.

And he’s an inspiration for anybody who wants to take a leap into the unknown.

Thank you, Alex, for everything you share with us.