Hello,

CVD is prevalent in my family and as I approach the big 3-0, I am taking my future into account.

I have dropped about a grand on a personal trainer (Which I figure will save me much more $$ in future medical bills).

I have cut out all dairy (recently discovered hemp milk- yum) and am slowly cutting out meats. I still eat quite a bit of fish. I've never been much of a meat eater, so that part is honestly not a big deal or much of a change.

Would love to hear ideas for recipes, success stories or positive testimonies of healthy living.

Much love,

Hi! I started getting serious about my health when I got my hands on Alicia's Book. I started there and never looked back. For starters, I recommend watching the documentary Forks Over Knives.They discuss a lot of interesting things about animal food sources and cancer/health factors and rates, etc. That film, Food, Inc, & Fat Sick & Nearly Dead, were very influential for me. I also love the Engine No. 2 cookbook and the Candle Cafe cookbook.

Just to be clear, I'm mostly a vegetarian-vegan flexy person :) I have meat, cheese or butter 1 to 3 times a month. Otherwise, I'm vegan mainly, and I can accomplish it easily and still be the big foodie that I am. 

What's working for me is adapting recipes to my lifestyle & being open to trying new foods to keep me excited about what I put in my body. If I feel like something "meaty," I'll look for hearty recipes & occasionally substitute seitan, soy-products or portobellos in their place. I juice a few times a week, too. I'm a huge cook so I try new recipes weekly. My overall goal is to aim for foods with big flavor, that are nutritionally dense, & vegan. I hunt around food blogs & make changes to try and fit my diet as much as possible. HappyHealthyMama.com is one of my favorites.

Let your tastebuds run wild on a lot of new exciting foods and flavors — Alicia's recipes are a great example of how great you can eat without feeling deprived whatsoever. Eventually you shun crap out of a box & ingredients you can't pronounce. I can't tell you how often I walk around the grocery store now and cringe at what people are putting into their shopping carts.

Deciding to take control of your health is a wonderful thing; you'll learn to love food and your body in a different way. It really is a new way of living and is a new normal. It can be a hard transition if you've been living on the other end of the health spectrum, but it is SO worth it.

Another thing I must add: For me, planning my meals weekly is really key. When I first started going vegetarian/vegan-ish and went to my local Farmer's Market to buy vegetables, I ended up wasting a lot of food by the end of the week because I had bunches of vegetables, or fresh herbs that I didn't know what to do, or that I overbought, that would go bad.

Now I'm able to use what I buy, make sure I'm including a variety of healthy choices in every meal, and don't worry much during the week about what I might be missing nutritionally, because I've already taken the time to think about it at the beginning of the week.

Another fun trick I hear about often, but need to start to put into practice!, is to try to pay attention to what you can or can't use by the end of the week. When you're at loss and don't know what to do with what you have left, chop it up and throw it in a freezer bag, and make and an "everything but the kitchen sink" type dish when the bag is full.

Good luck to you! and welcome :)

Thanks! :-) Love the insight.

The Kind Diet book of Alicia's is truly inspiring!  I am just coming back after a couple years being unhealthy and NOT taking care of myself.  When I was here last, I quit smoking for almost a year and was on a plant based diet as a "flirt".  The best I ever felt in YEARS and am so excited to be back and recommitting myself.  My health problems are GI related, but this diet is the best for CVD!