About Me

I was raised in a smallish town in Florida. We didn’t have a ton of money when I was younger and it was just my dad and I, so it was a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup and a nice dinner out was Captain D’s. As my dad’s business thrived, luckily we were able to afford more than bread, cheese, and Campbell’s Tomato Soup, but we still didn’t make good food choices, a lot of processed foods and eating out. I went off to college and then joined the Air Force, all the while, still having bad eating habits. My first husband and I ate out a lot and ate a ton of processed foods. I did aerobics, weight training, walking and roller blading. At this point though, on the outside, I was thin and appeared “healthy”. 

I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder in 2004 and blew up to almost 225 lbs from 150 lbs in a matter of months. Since 2004, my weight has ranged from 119 lbs to 224 lbs. I have tried low carb, low calorie, counting macros, and having a nutritionist monitor my daily food intake for months. Over the years I have really cleaned up my eating. I ate out maybe once a month, if that, and when I did it was Indian cuisine (so not too unhealthy); I cook all of my meals and a lot of them are from scratch.  

I have had stents of consistent exercise, times during major surgeries in which I couldn’t exercise, and times where, like many others, I just didn’t prioritize exercise. I have ran in 5K, 10K, half marathon, full marathon, and many other random distance races. I have weight trained and done aerobics and yoga.

Years ago I was a Pampered Chef consultant and my director went plant-based. I started research back then watching a few plant-based documentaries, but I thought I could never give up meat and animal products. I guess at that point, my health wasn’t bad enough for me to consider giving up my comfort food, those foods I grew up eating.

I have had issues with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Sleep Disturbances, Pain & Inflammation, Stomach Ulcers, Adenomyosis which lead to a hysterectomy, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, to name a few. I was also an off and on smoker from 1995 until 2010.

Now go to January 2, 2024; Weight Watchers had a sale so I jumped on board. On Weight Watchers, you get a point allowance and fruits and vegetables are zero points, so I could eat all of those I wanted. So I started introducing more and more fruits and vegetables each day. One day I was on Netflix and searched for food documentaries and watched What The Health and the Game Changers. After the research I had done years ago and watching these led me to watching and reading for hours on end. On January 10, 2024, my decision was made: Plant-based diet for me. 

All of this to give you a little background. I haven’t always eaten healthy, I haven’t always lived healthy, I haven’t always been healthy. This is exactly what got me to go down this path.

I have a multitude of health issues, both physical and mental.  I have been taking prescription medications every day for at least 20 years.  I am not saying that a plant-based diet will cure everything and I am no doctor nor nutritionist, but I can feel the changes in myself in a 3-short months. I believe in the healing power of nature and that many of today’s health issues can be addressed through mindful nutrition.

When my plant-based diet journey started, that’s all it was, simply a diet. A few weeks in and the more I researched, the more I learned and saw the horrific things that happened to the animals just to satiate people’s taste. This made me sick, literally, made my heart break. I also saw the horrible things that animal agriculture was doing to our planet. So now I am not only eating a plant-based diet, but am a full fledged ethical vegan.

Join me as I delve into the art and science of plant-based eating, explore the benefits of a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes, celebrate the joy and simplicity of eating foods that nourish both body and soul, spread the word of animal advocacy and veganism, and work to save our beautiful planet one step at a time. Embracing a lifestyle where eating transcends the mere act of consuming food to become a comprehensive lifestyle choice is a profound shift towards more mindful, ethical, and sustainable living. This approach to eating considers not just the nutritional content of the food on our plate but its broader impacts on health, the environment, and animal welfare.

This is too good not to share! I want to scream it from the rooftops.

Go VEGAN!