My Story

My roots began in a Christian, homeschooling, American family.  As a child with a fairly crunchy Mom I 

was encouraged to eat things like brown rice, homemade granola, homemade BBQ sauce, freshly juice fruits and veggies, and whatever else she read about in her Vitamin Bibles and other health books. Products with high fructose corn syrup, pink packets of sugar, and white bread all meant death at an early age and therefore we were told to avoid them. On a daily basis I was given a handful of colorful vitamins the size of my eyeballs (usually 9-12 of them) and was asked to swallow them. It was only thanks to my Mom's insane sweet tooth that I was never lacking in junk food.

Despite the juices, homemade BBQ sauce, and colossal sized vitamins I ended up being a part of the sad American tale about weight gain. In my preteen/early teen years I struggled with being overweight and was often very depressed about it. I tried everything I could to drop the pounds including Green Tea Supplements, Slim Fast Shakes (which really only left me hungry) and various other terrible diet plans. Around the age of 14 I started working out at Curves (yeah, that purple place where all the older women go). I remember feeling so insecure about going that I tried talking myself out of it on the way there saying, “Oh I’m not really that fat am, I? I can wait another year or so…”. Thankfully I made it there and immediately felt comfortable and excited about what I was about to do. Over the next few months the weight began to fall off and one day I got on the scale only to realize I had dropped 20 pounds! I was ecstatic! However, it was at this point that something went dreadfully wrong in my mind. The fear of gaining the weight back became an ever constant thought. One day I got sick and couldn't eat for a few days and after those few days were over I realized my clothes were much looser than a few days before. I thought to myself “wow, could it really be this simple? Just don’t eat every once in a while and I’ll stay thin?”

Throughout the rest of my teen years I struggled with something I didn't even know I had: Anorexia. I was never diagnosed because it wasn't terribly severe and I still ate, but not everyday or every meal. Some days it would get to the point where I would collapse on the kitchen floor next to the cereal cupboard because I was so dizzy from not eating and I’d grab a handful of cereal then be on my way. On a few occasions I blacked out and fell from dizziness. I went to the doctor to find a cure, knowing there something wrong with me, but they just said I wasn't eating enough salt, so I started drenching my food in salt. It wasn't until my brother was diagnosed with Anorexia and I sat listening to his counselor that both my Mom and I realized that this was indeed what I had been struggling with for all these years.

It was at this point that my life took a huge turn around. Through prayer and asking God to help me overcome this disease of the mind, I realized that all I really wanted was a healthy body. I began looking at the ingredients list rather than the calorie number. I started researching things that were good for me as well as how to understand my body better. Throughout high school and then into my married years I would get sick consistently every month which was part of the reason I succeeded so well at hiding my disease, because I always had an excuse not to eat-I never felt well! However, once I realized that there was something I was consuming that my body didn't like, I began all kinds of experimenting. I stopped drinking milk and eating butter first because I knew I had a bit of struggle with dairy and that helped, but it wasn't until I stopped eating all animal products that I really saw a huge difference. I had more energy, stopped getting sick, my skin cleared up, and my overall mood improved. When I tested it by trying animal products again I felt horribly sick, so I knew I had struck gold! 

I am now working on three years of a vegan life style and I feel absolutely amazing. I love sharing my story and recipes with others as an encouragement to them to pray and research to find out what is best for their body. Don’t just blindly accept whatever you find in the isles of the grocery stores, because you would be surprised what kind of things go into your food and what it can do to you. Choose to live a clean life and share your stories with me and others!