The road to being vegan was a long gradual process for me. Initially I did not plan to become vegan but once you learn better you do better right? I started my process as a form of weight management by first cutting pork out of my diet while I was in high school, then over a course of some years I went down the list with removing beef, turkey, chicken, then finally seafood out of my diet which I found to be the most challenging. After cutting out meat from my diet and successfully gaining the title of Ovo-Lacto Vegetarian for about 3 1/2 years.
Despite removing these items from my diet, I still found my body responding poorly to my dietary intake changes. So I set out on a mission to find the reason why I still remained bloated, fatigued, and sluggish despite my very active lifestyle. After reading and listening to such books as Fat Flush Plan by Dr. Ann Louise Gittleman and Skinny Bitch (yeah I typed it) by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouni my whole outlook and intentions towards foods began to change. The authors of Skinny Bitch knew what they were doing by concealing weapons of mass mental re-construction behind an book disquising itself behind an edidemic such a obesity. Hey, I bit the bait and my whole life was changed because of it. My entire life needed to be altered and that's what I did from that day on. While adopting some ideas from these two books my view shift from weight loss to overall health with the benefit of weight loss. What better way to live!? I have been vegan for about 2 years now with some gray areas (nobody is perfect). But I am very proud of my success thus far. Everyday is a learning process and I look forward to enjoying the benefits of being vegan for the rest of my life. By the way I also achieved my lowest weight ever in my adult like while becoming vegan, HOORAY...then we conceived my youngest child....JOY, SLAP.
But enough of me, I also have a Mr. and two young children who I also have the job of managing and preparing what goes into their bodies. As for my children, this has been my hardest challenge yet. Not only am I responsible for nurturing their mind, body and soul, I am also concerned as to what they ingest (which in my opinion is also a critical part of raising a child). Given that there is an abundance of research that links preservatives, pesticides, high fructose corn syrup and more in foods (particularly that in dairy, meats, and sugary goodies) to diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, autism, ADD/ADHD, even bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, cancer and more. I am making it my life long goal to do the best I can to give them the best head start possible. Like most children I know, the whole idea of vegetables are hardly appealing to their senses so for them I am forced to resort to sneaking vegetables into their foods. You may have heard of books such as the Sneaky Chef by Missy Chase Lapine or Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfield. These books have helped introduce me to the world of purees and other tactics and boy has it helped to relieve some stress concerning the intake of quality essential vitamins and minerals in my children. Oh yeah and then there's the Mr.! I was totally surprised that he was as willing as he has been in my "Adventure to Vegandom". He has honestly eaten some of everything that I make and for the most part he approves. But what can I say, The man loves his meat.
My Go to Books of the Moment:
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