Hi, babes!
So, if you’ve stumbled into the delicious “About me” tab, you’re either curious about your humble narrator, or you clicked the link by accident. Either way, welcome, but also let’s pretend it was the former.
Well, I am here to reasonably accommodate your burning desire to get the details…at least the ones that are relevant. As may be obvious by the name of this blog, I am a whole-food plant-eater, and as everyone who’s ever subscribed to some way of eating that isn’t “I eat what I’m fed,” there’s a reason why.
As far back as my mid-teens, I was a strict calorie counter (thanks, boy who called me fat). I’ve also been into running, cycling, and especially lifting weights for over a decade now, and because of those things, I’ve maintained my size pretty well. Don’t worry, that’s a preface, not a brag. My problems are a little more… invisible?
My mom’s family has the curse of horrific heart problems, ranging from mild hypertension and perpetually high cholesterol, to the propensity to drop from massive heart attacks under the age of 50. You can see where this is going, right? That rogue’s gallery did not give a single f#ck that I’m thin, fit, and by most standards, very “healthy”. At less than thirty years old, I was staring down lab results that said my cholesterol was consistently over 200, while eating what everyone said was a “healthy” diet. Plenty of fruit and vegetables, egg whites, lean meats, et cetera. The real breaking point was having someone tell me that it “wasn’t that big a deal to get on cholesterol meds.” For the rest of my life. At 29.
NO SIR, NO MA’AM!
So, by this point in my life, a couple of things had already happened. First, I had already done a ton of research about veganism, plant-based eating, et cetera, because I thought it always seemed like the best choice, even if it didn’t always seem doable. And second, I found a love of cooking and trying new and interesting ingredients, thanks to a divorce that left me suddenly scrambling to make life work on pretty meager wages.
This is no shade to my ex-husband, or relationships at large, but living as a single lady for the first time sans roommates gave me the room to experiment with ingredients, and it rapidly expanded a palate that had been previously guided by other people’s choices. Out went the fast food and in came everything I could find on mark-down and in the weekly sales circulars, supplemented with the traditionally cheap staples we all know and love. Purple cauliflower! Sorghum! Enoki mushrooms! Oh my!
So, by the time the big cholesterol moment happened, I had already (1) heard about the benefits of a Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB) diet, (2) cooked all of my meals in my own kitchen, and (3) developed a love for the flavors and ingredients I was using. It finally made me commit to trying the WFPB lifestyle.
And. It. Worked.
My cholesterol dropped 40 points in less than six months. And on top of that, I found a new peace with food. The statement “No one ever got fat from fruit” liberated me from the calorie counting grind. I simply made meals heavy in vegetables, snacked on lots of fruit, and made sure to eat plenty of whole grains and beans/legumes, but always tried to remain aware of my body’s fullness cues. And just like that, I was freed from the chains of constant counting. No calories. No macros. Just eating whole, delicious foods.
Can I get a hallelujah?!
And for the longest time, I just lived with this happy new reality. I didn’t talk about it much unless asked. I know how I sound to the innocent bystander, especially in the semi-urban, Texas area in which I reside. When I list off all of the delicious details of my quinoa/red lentil/roasted vegetable bowl and no-oil vinaigrette lunch prep, I can see that fearful look in my companion’s eyes. I know there is an edge of crunchy-hippy and entitled-foodie to my descriptions.
(I’m not that gal, promise. I just really, really love food, and I love how much eating WFPB has changed my health.)
BUT. Hearing and seeing all of the misinformation that continues to circulate in the world and weight loss communities got to be too much. And while I’m not going to beat people down, or tell them why their way of eating is WRONG (looking at you, Mr. Atkins), the least I can do is share what I do, and what I believe: eating WFPB changed my health and my life, and the recipes I have made, tweaked, or enhanced are a cherished and regular part of my life. If by sharing my food, and my thoughts about food and nutrition (with citations, where appropriate) can help even one person live a healthier, more enriched life, then mission accomplished.
If you want to peruse any of the many, many resources that exist beyond this blog that support the WFPB lifestyle, check out the post category “Resources” for a growing treasure trove of information.
