What Fruits and Veggies are Teaching Me

Where to begin?  It seemed like a simple plan, juice fruits and veggies for 30 days and kick start a new healthier me.  Here on day 17, simple is not the word I would use to describe this plan.  In my more miserable moments I wouldn't want to share the words I have come up with for this plan, but mostly it has been hard, difficult, strenuous, mind-bendingly hard.

Physically, I feel great.  I haven't suffered headaches, dizzy spells, or anything truly detrimental.  Maybe, I'm a little more tired some days, but overall, I sleep well and have good energy throughout the day.  I have some hungry times, nothing a glass of water or watermelon slice or two doesn't handle.

Mentally, however, is a completely different story.  Right now I feel like I am hanging on by my fingernails to the oh so simple plan.  I have been thinking and dreaming about food for four days now.  If I'm not really busy or distracted by a book or tv, it's getting painful to resist.  I spent last Sunday hiding away from everyone and the food they're allowed to have, not good!

So, what am I learning?  I am embracing the understanding that food is my crack.  I have used it to fill up the voids in my head and heart for far too long.  That, of course, filled up my body with fat and caused another set of problems for the head/heart combo to be upset about.  Can you say vicious cycle, anyone?  I am taking control of my eating impulses, which is leaving me empty in more ways than one.  I'm still searching for the replacement Spackle to fill the holes, but this time it will with something healthy.  If I'm going to heal my Psyche, it better be a true healing, not a band-aid job again.

I am learning that I can do what I put my mind to.  It may not always look pretty during the process, but I can do it.  I wasn't sure it was even possible for me to tame my eating monster.  Forget Weight Watchers, I need a whip and a chair for this beastie.  I needed the narrow parameters of raw fruits and veggies to reprogram my habits.  I dearly wish I could just hit the delete button and download a new vegan operating system, but I'm doing this old school instead.  Time + intent + support = new mindset. 

Which brings me to my next point.  I'm learning to get help.  The other Veggie Divas, my husband and kids, my parents, family and friends have all been a superb support system.  Without them to celebrate with and their shoulders to cry on, I don't know if I would have stuck things out thus far.  I needed to generate an environment for success, and woo hoo, everybody has helped create that reality with me.

I'm also learning to be more flexible.  I started out my plan, thinking I would be on juice alone, all day, everyday.  I did mention I would allow myself to eat the veggies, only if I got too hungry to cope.  On day three the very first tomato was ripe in my garden.  It was way too good to juice, I had to eat it.  The awesomeness of that tomato combined with the pain-in-the-butt factor of cleaning the juicer constantly led me to a new plan.  Now, I have fruit juice for breakfast, veggie juice for lunch and have a mostly home grown salad for dinner.  So, I'm still fruits and veggies, but eating some instead of juicing them all.  I felt like I was cheating. I decided it was better to stay true to the spirit of the law than the letter, but it wasn't easy to let go of the guilt.  In the end, this is what works for me.  I'm not in a competition, I'm changing my life.  My life, my rules, my results, my way, why not?!

Lastly, I am learning that it works.  I have lost 13 pounds and a few inches here and there.  It makes getting dressed a lot more fun and I'm looking forward to needing new, smaller wardrobe soon.  I'm getting ready for an active life,  more walks, bike rides and a small tri-athalon are in my near future.  Because, the season of fruits and veggies alone can't last forever.  In spite of the mental mess, I'm glad I have done this.  Now to get ready to add in other good foods, hummus, I miss you!

Viva la Veggies
Jenni

5 Things I Love About Being (mostly) Vegan

1. My face and skin has not only cleared up, but is practically glowing!  I suspect I have a dairy allergy that I was not aware of previously and my decade-long battle with acne has much to do with an almost obsessive dairy consumption

2. Doing dishes takes on a whole new meaning when there is no more "baked on" nonsense to deal with.  I have noticed that the absence of animal products in our diet has dramatically decreased the amount of time I spend scrubbing dishes.  I'm not totally sure of the reason for this phenomenon, but I'm researching it and I'll let you know what I find out.

3. I can breathe.  Again with the suspected dairy allergy.  Now that I'm not consuming dairy (well at least not nearly as much as I used to, I do cheat occasionally), I find that from doing everyday tasks to running on the treadmill is much easier because I am no longer struggling to catch my breath.

4. My wedding ring fits again.  For a long time now, I have had major issues with water retention and swelling.  Basically anytime I moved, I would swell up.  Forget about actually exercising or doing something useful.  It's not worth it to go on a walk if you can't get your shoes off when you get home.  I love that, along with losing weight, I'm also losing the huge bloated feeling that I was lugging around with me for so long.


5. I just sold the first of many "fat jeans" at a yard sale.  Yup, that's right!  In the last 2 and a half months, I have lost enough weight that I can distinguish between "fat jeans" and "not-so-fat jeans".  I put on a pair of jeans the other day and they practically fell off of me.

Peace and Veggies!
Betsie

Quick update on The Great Juice Fast!

I'm only in the middle of day three, so it's a bit early to tell.  I feel pretty good, even with a tooth extraction on monday.  I checked my weight and measurements on sunday night.  It'll be next week before I'll have the results for my shrinking progress.  Until then,   Viva la Veggie!     Jenni

Good-Bye Old Friend

Last week I wrote about my upcoming juice fast, and the time is rapidly drawing nigh.  I have been lax in my vegan ways the last two weeks, not totally abandoned, but not good either.  Now would normally be the time I let myself give up, based on my past behavior.  I would remind myself how I don't really have what it takes to make such a huge change, no will power, too easily distracted, I like eating junk food and it's just too hard to be good.  Some semi-major stressor would crop up and I would heave a sigh of relief, now is not a good time for me to change, right?  So, then I would drift off whatever diet/exercise program I was using and return to "normal" for me, unchecked morbid obesity and low grade depression. 

I have had all those thoughts and a few major stressors over the last few months, but I'm going forward anyway.  Dealing with stress and difficult situations is a regular part of my life, it's time to adjust to the new normal and stop making excuses.  Besides, I'll cope a lot better when I'm healthy, I'll wager.  I don't want to give up the ground I've gained due to a few stumbles and missteps.  I'm not on a treadmill, nothing is drawing me backwards but my own choices.  I can see the road ahead has some rough terrain, but I'm not exactly in Shangra La right now.  Why not move forward and see where the journey brings me?

That brings me to my friend, food.  I have been gradually mourning the loss of food.  I used food to comfort me, distract me from the pain of life, as a reward for everything, and a way to bond with others.  Had a bad day?  Have some chocolate!  Had a great day?  Have some ice cream.  Feeling depressed and lonely?  Some chocolate chip cookies will fix that.  Having company over for the first time in a while?  Better whip up some comfort food and a great dessert so they feel welcomed.  Food was my everything, it never let me down.

Well, I say never, I mean never in the short term.  It worked as a distraction, soul band-aid, celebration, and kept me company as long as the tub of ice cream lasted.  But then, I was left with the guilt, the fat and the feeling of failure.  Still, I was hooked, it was too late for me.  I was fat beyond saving, too weak and useless to bother saving.  Statistically, I was a write off, never to be healthy again.  I had been told, only 5% of people who are over fifty pounds overweight would ever be able to get back to a healthy weight and stay there.  I wasn't one of the strong ones, not even close, until now.

I believe I am ready to say farewell to food, my old friend and fiend.  I won't say it hasn't been fun, because it hasn't!  It's time for new ways to comfort myself and celebrate with others.  It's time to revel in healthy living, free from a food induced prison.  It's time to run and play with my family.  It's time to treat my body to some true comfort, free from constant aches and pains.

It's time.    I'm ready.     Let's do this! 

Viva la Veggies!
Jenni

Weekend Inspiration :: Check this out!

http://ohsheglows.com/

This is the blog I was talking about in my earlier post.  I am addicted to this blog and think I will probably not stop reading it until I have read every single post it has to offer.  The recipes look fabulous and the posts are amazing.  Go on, check it out, you know you want to!

Peace and Veggies,
Betsie

Why do I do that???

I can totally relate to this song.  I never fit in when I was younger, heck, I'm not even sure I fit in now!  I had a hard time making friends, I had a really hard time figuring out who I was and I had a hard time conjuring up any kind of confidence.  I made decisions that I look back on now and find unbelievable.

The part of the song where she says, "Why do I do that?" in a bewildered and exasperated whisper (at 2:47) is the part that resonates the loudest with me.  I have said this exact same thing in that exact tone of voice a million zillion times over the years.  Why do I do that???

So, now I am asking myself the hard questions.  Why do I eat that?  Why do I read that?  Why do I wear that?  Why do I act like that?  Why do I sit there like that?  Why do I sabotage myself like that?

I was reading another blog (you'll get to see later on in the week) today and I have been having an ongoing conversation with my cousin lately and it just hit me that I have had an eating disorder for about 13+ years now.  No, not the kind you usually read about like anorexia or bulimia.  I have a compulsive eating disorder.  I eat for all the reasons except the right one.  I eat because I'm bored.  I eat because I'm stressed.  I eat because I'm unhappy.  I eat because I'm tired.  You name it, I eat because of it.

I have definitely been on the right track the last couple of months in changing my habits or at least making them have less of an impact.  But I still need to work on some things.  I think the biggest and most important question above is this. Why do I sabotage myself?

I'd like to premise this next part by saying, I am not a huge fan of Dr. Phil.  I don't like most of what he says, but there are a few tidbits that struck a chord with me.  The one pertinent to this subject is, "What's the payback?"  In other words, what do I get out of being overweight and unhealthy?  Obviously there is something keeping me in this place, but what is it?  Am I afraid of something if I change?  Am I hiding behind something?  What do I get out of this?

Well folks, this is something I have been asking myself for a long time and I am no closer to the answer now than I was years ago.  I have a strong desire to be healthy and a strong desire to bring the sexy back, so what is holding me at bay?  What so I stand to lose if I lose the weight?

I think what I have to do while I am searching for the answer to these questions is push through and make it happen in spite of myself.  I have to start believing that I am worth it and start acting that way too.  What I think of myself is none of my business, right???  I can get on that treadmill and spend a half an hour everyday physically feeling my heart get stronger and my thighs get smaller, whether I want to or not.  I can open that refrigerator and then close right back up whether I want to or not.  I can be a more active participant in my life whether I want to or not.  And that, my friends is what I'm going to do.  Whether I want to or not.  Yeah.  I can do it.

Peace and Veggies,
Betsie

Extreme Vegan!

I think I will have to stop watching food documentaries!  Yet another movie has turned my head and changed my mind.  No, I'm not backing out of the vegan thing.  I'm going even deeper into it, kinda scary!

A couple of weeks ago I watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead on Netflix.  The title was intriguing to me, so I gave in to my curiosity.  It features two men working to restore their health and manage an unusual medical condition without medicine.  They did this by going on a juice fast for 60 days, each at separate times.  Their results were amazing and inspiring.  I highly recommend it, even with the goofy cartoon intervals.

Considering my significant need for weight loss and health regained, and the fruits and veggie only component, I began to contemplate a juice fast option.  Could I actually pull it off?  How long should I fast?  Won't I be cranky, miserable and anti-social, nursing a weird, green cocktail whilst my family enjoys solid food?  Do I even own a juicier?

I do think I can pull it off, I'll have to dig deep into my bag of mental tricks, but it's doable.  I have picked a goal of 30 days.  I want to go up to 45 days, but I'm going to keep it at a month to start.  Miserable, maybe.  I plan on starting my fast August 8th, when all three kiddos are at camp for a week.  I should be over the worst of the detoxing by the time they come home.  Hopefully, I can get into a groove to carry me through the rest of the summer.  The garden will be in full swing, and I can juice fresh, ripe tomatoes, watermelons, and carrots, yippie!  I don't own a juicer, but I have two on loan to get me started, thanks Mom and Miss Crafty!

I do like the idea of pumping huge amounts of nutrients into my badly nourished body.  As a nice bonus, all the veggie/fruit pulp will help nourish the soil as well, via my compost heap. Win-win.  I am not looking forward to cleaning the monster mashers, but really, a small price to pay.  My biggest fear is blowing the whole deal on some random craving or eating absentmindedly while cooking for others.  It will take a lot of concentration to keep my eating habits in check.  Focus is sooo not my strong suit..... look something shiny!  I am counting on the pressure of announcing my fast to all and sundry to give me a laser like intensity.  Oh, and did I mention the weekly weigh in updates and daily photos? ( Photos will not be shown till the end when I can do my Incredible Shrinking Woman montage, yay!  ) That should keep me reasonably attentive, probably. 

I am beginning to taste test different juice combos for the big fast.  I don't want to find out the hard way that I just can't stomach the beet-spinach-kale smoothie I was counting on for lunch all week.  I believe I will prevail, with the support of my family and fellow Divas, and give my new veggie life a gigantic kick start! 

They are not ripe now, but I will be juicing them by and by! 

Viva la Veggie!
Jenni

Why Vegan? Why can't you eat a little cheese?

Today I'd like to share an article on dairy. Throughout all this thought and planning to convert my diet to veganism, I've always balked at the dairy. Not milk, I'm not a fan of milk. Not even ice cream. I could live without ice cream. But cheese! And greek yogurt! Mmmmm....good stuff.

Right? Well, right. It does taste good. Then I read this article:

http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2007nl/mar/dairy.htm

The only reason dairy tastes good is because of additives? Like sugar and salt? Well....I guess that makes sense, actaully. Cheese without salt is disgusting. And ice cream without sugar would be just a blob of frozen milk, and we know all know how disgusting it is when the milk freezes. So when I enjoy that cheese, what I'm actually enjoying is the salt. And along with that salt comes a whole host of health problems my body doesn't appreciate, such as cholesterol, animal proteins and chemicals.

So where does that leave me? Honestly, I don't know. I'm struggling this week, my first week of eating 100% vegan. I don't know what to put in my coffee, because I've always liked just a splash of cream and nothing else seems to do the trick. I ate a lot of salads but quite often caved and allowed myself a little feta cheese sprinkled on top. I purchased a vegan cookbook (Everything Vegan by Vegetarian Times Magazine, highlighted in last week's post) which gives instructions for vegan cheese substitutes. And honestly? They look pretty good. I mean, if all I'm enjoying in the cheese is salt, perhaps I wouldn't mind if the salt was carried along with a nut spread rather than dairy. This week I'm going to make one. I'll let you know how it works out.

So all  in all, the veganism hasn't been going perfect. I don't miss meat. But the dairy I'm going to have to work on. The attached article will give me something to think about this week. I wonder if I can find a convincing article about eggs?

Plans and goals

Hi, Kathleen again. The hippie diva, remember? Today I’m going to fill you in on my plans to turn my family’s diet into a primarily plant-based diet.

This is not going to be easy. For starters, our food choices over the past ten years have revolved around the SAD (Standard American Diet), albeit a bit on the healthier end. We’ve never eaten meat on a daily basis, for instance, and we’ve always liked vegetables. But as much as I like veggies, they don’t get on the table as often as I want because I’m not always willing to cook them. I want something quick and easy. We also tend to keep away from junk food, except as an occasional snack. Our biggest food problem is eating out. I’d do it all the time if I could, just to avoid cooking. I'm positively addicted, as a matter of fact, a topic for another post.

But one month of disciplined cooking? I can do that. I don’t want to do it, but I can. Following the vegan-only month, our plan is to continue with the vegan diet on weekdays and allow a little more flexibility on weekends. I’m hoping this transition will allow my family to eat a healthier diet without having to completely give up some of the animal based foods they enjoy. Our Vegan Challenge month will go from July 18^th to August 18^th and I will primarily follow recipes from two cookbooks:

The Supermarket Vegan by Donna Klein. This is for my easier days. Plenty of familiar ingrediants, nothing too complicated or new.

Vegetarian Times Everything Vegan by The Vegetarian Times Magazine. This book has recipes that are a little more complex, but not overwhelmingly so. For example, there are recipes to make cheese substitutes out of nuts. Now, I KNOW cheese will be my weak spot (right after real cream in my coffee!), so I want to have a plan laid out to make sure I'm able to have something ready to substitute on occassion.

Next week I will post a recap of my weekly cooking adventures and let you know how everything went, whether my five pre-teen children approved, which recipes worked and which didn’t.

As for exercise, I have been walking with a neighbor most mornings. We started with simple 2 mile walks and have expanded our daily walks into 3 ½ - 5 mile walks, with a little stair climbing thrown in for good measure. I know the exercise is making me stronger because I’ve been practically ravenous, especially on days we walk 4+ miles. The Vegan Challenge might be tricky to coordinate with these hungry days, so I’ll let you know what types of snacks I choose.

The month of August will be an exercise challenge month for me. Some ideas for this are to walk at least a 5k every day or to walk every day but insert at least a one mile run. If anyone has any other ideas for an exercise challenge, let me know. By the time August roles around I’ll be well-entrenched into the Vegan Challenge and hopefully have a good grasp of how much I need to eat and what keeps my energy levels high.

Wish me luck! Hopefully next Monday I’ll have some positive updates on the Vegan cooking front!

The good, the bad and the getting better

So, for the last 6 weeks or so, I have been really focusing on my food intake.  I decided that I just had to bite the bullet and go vegan.  I have cheated, I have had moment of weakness, but for the most part, I have been quite diligent in this endeavor.  I still have a lot of fine tuning to do and some more adjustments to make before I will really feel like I've got the hang of this.

I find now that I am not even interested in eating meat.  The thought of a nice, juicy, Crispy Chicken Sandwich from Wendy's used to totally consume me, but now it just makes me feel vaguely nauseous.  Hamburgers hold no sway over me and spaghetti with meat sauce is no longer appetizing.  Bacon, now that's a different story.  But really, bacon's not meat, right???  For the most part, I have conquered the animal flesh demon and I'm not even tempted to look back.

You might then ask, "Betsie, what is it that you need to fine tune?  What are your vices here?"  Well, that's a good question and I have a very good answer for it.  Cheese and white bread.  Yup, those are my Achilles' Heel.  In fact, just last night I went out for a drink with my niece and we consumed a staggering amount of yummy white bread.  I did bypass the cheese, so I guess I won that particular battle that time.  But over the past 2 weeks, I've had pizza 4 different times.  I'm awful.  I know it.  Don't even try to make me feel better.

See, the perfect combination of white bread and cheese...  Remember, this is BAD!!!

 

The good news is that this is not a competition or a race.  I have all the time in the world to make the changes I need to make.  I have time to make mistakes and be forgiving.  Which is good, because I'm making a lot of mistakes. 

I know that I need to eat more whole grains and more greens.  I know I need to eat less of the chips and salsa and more quinoa.  I know that while Oreos are in fact, vegan, they are neither plant based or a whole food.  I know that I need to spend less time in front of this computer and more time on the treadmill.  Those are a lot of changes to make and I know that I need to give myself time to change my paradigm.

I have figured out that the more I eat at home, the better I am going to eat.  Restaurants are not even offering vegetarian salads anymore, they all come with meat!  Our families and friends, except the other Divas, are not going to change for us (Which is fine, by the way.  This is our choice, not theirs), so it's not even safe to eat there.  So for now, our social options are limited.  Thankfully the Divas and their families are awesome to hang out with! 

For the next few weeks, I'm going to work on including more whole grains into my diet with will hopefully mean that I exclude the simple carbs more and more.  I'm also going to work on getting 30 minutes of exercise in at least 5 days a week.

Peace and Veggies,
Betsie

I Almost Didn't Go!

Can a movie change your life?  Should it?  It seemed like a simple and straightforward thing to do.  Go see a movie with friends, a girls night out that I badly needed.  I wasn't thinking I would change my mind, let alone my life.  In fact, I had almost backed out of the whole deal, but I'll touch on that in a minute.

I have been a meat and potatoes kinda gal.  Maybe some sad, canned veggies would grace my plate occasionally, but not often and not in large quantities.  I viewed salads as a waste of time, bring me some cheesy fries!  I was proud of my pop swilling habit, and chocolate was my best friend, barring ice cream, of course.  Food was my safe haven, sometimes my only haven, and I sought out it's supposed security often.

I have spent years fighting with my fat, loathing myself and what I had become.  I felt powerless against food and it's siren song, wrecked on the rocks without hope of recovery.  I have considered  grastric bypass surgery, gone to fat camp, tried shake diets and numerous workouts, nothing stuck except the fat and the feeling of failure.  "What should I do?" was my weary and worn cry that didn't seem to have an answer.  Well, a good answer anyway.  Less calories, more exercise, bottom line.  But I had already failed at that, repeatedly.

I decided to take a look at my failures, what was the common denominator, how and why did I fail.  That was fun!  I have taken the last two years to work on my state of mind, more than my state of body.  Gradually, I have rebuilt my mind and how I process my experiences.  This has been the breakthrough I was looking for.  I couldn't fix a broken body with a broken mind.  Once I addressed my mindset, changing my habits has become soooo much easier.

I was already focused on changing many of the family paradigms, from homeschooling the two youngest kids, to planting our first garden, and cutting off the cable tv.  I was interested in learning more about healthy eating, reading recommended books and trolling through blogs day and night. Forks Over Knives seemed like a great opportunity to get more info and get out of the house.  Then I remembered my little social difficulty.  I have had problems squeezing into seats since I gained so much weight.  Booth seats, theater seats, and pretty much any seat with arms can cause me to break out in a cold sweat.  It was a struggle to force myself to go anyway and deal with being uncomfortably, embarrassingly squished for two hours. 

I am so glad I did, it was worth the squish.  I walked out of the theater knowing that I had found a good answer, finally!  Not for just my weight issues and all the underlying hazards that go with fat, but for long term sustainable health for me and my family.  I knew it would be a huge undertaking and tax all my new found mind bending skills.  I am up for the challenge, ready to leave the old, bad habits behind, becoming a happier, healthier me.

Can a movie change your life?  Yep.  Should it?  Depends on the movie! 

Viva la Veggie!

Jenni

I’m in deep trouble, really deep. I have had high cholesterol since I was twenty, danced
around with diabetes for two of my three pregnancies, and just recently developed high
blood pressure. Did I mention I am also 125 pounds overweight? Yeah, that doesn’t help
things much either.

So how did I get in such rough shape? I didn’t struggle with childhood obesity, a little
chubby during adolescence but nothing that didn’t resolve naturally. Some weight snuck
up on me my senior year, about 20 pounds, but I thought some serious bike riding would
do the trick. Not so! I got stronger, but no weight loss. I got married right out of high
school, and added another 20 pounds, for no good reason. By my first anniversary, I was
another 25 pounds heavier and pregnant.

I gained and lost and regained fifty pounds over the next two years, riding a roller coaster
of postpartum depression, bankruptcy, determined exercising and then more depression.
By the time I had found out I was expecting again, I was steady at 235, yikes! Again I
gained some and lost some and regained some more weight over the next years. Long
story short, I’m 36 years old, 5’1” tall and 260 pounds. Like I said, deep trouble.

The good news for me is I have made some head way on improving my health. Just
two and half months ago, I quit drinking pop. It was a huge, major big deal for me. I
was a 2-liter a day Coke-a-Cola gal. Now I am ready to up the ante, diving into a vegan
lifestyle. Well, maybe I’m more wading in to test the waters, but it’s still a big change
for the better.

Jenni

Meet Betsie!

Hi y'all!  I'm Betsie, the Crafty Diva of the group.  I'm the lucky wife to Wood Shop Guy and the mother of 5 ridiculous children ranging in age from 13 to 5.  We're a homeschooling family, always on the look out for the next cool thing to learn about.  Our family functions on two basic principles; Love your neighbor as yourself and why pay someone else to do something when you can google it and do it yourself.  We figure this pretty much covers everything.  I love to knit and sew and I'm learning to like crochet.  I'm constantly on the lookout for things to make my home beautiful and colorful.  I'm also chugging along a path to better health.

I have been struggling with my weight and appearance for the last 13 years.  I had my oldest child when I was just 18 and before he graced me with his presence, I was a slim 5'1" and 105 pounds.  After he was evicted from my body, I was still only 5'1" but now weighed in at 145 pounds.   It only got worse from there, folks.

 Me at 17, lovely.

Knowing absolutely nothing about proper nutrition, I ate a horrible SAD (Standard American Diet).  Boxed and canned food, soda all day long, chips, pizza, fast food, you name it.  And I ate a lot of it.  I was a young mother in a bad marriage and I was miserable and food made me feel better.

After about 2 years, RK1 (Ridiculous Kid #1) and I moved out on our own.  We still ate a SAD, and neither of us was better for that.  We then met Wood Shop Guy and RK2 and that's when our lives all began to change.  After Wood Shop Guy and I got married, we very quickly moved to a new state and almost simultaneously got pregnant with RK3.

While pregnant, we started to attend Bradley Natural Childbirth classes and that was our first introduction to a whole foods diet.  That was the first time either of us realized that food does not actually come from boxes and cans.  It comes from the ground, people.  I know.  Weird.  Although we had this introduction, it took us a very long time to make changes.  We both were accustomed to white Wonder bread, Cap'n Crunch and Jiff peanut butter, and so were our kids.  The shift has been painful every step of the way, especially for Wood Shop Guy.

But, I have persevered and we are eating way better than we used to.  We thought we were happy where we were.  Surely there were no changes left to make.  Right?  Right??? RIGHT???  Crap.

A few weeks ago, I went with the lovely ladies you have met in the last few days and saw the documentary Forks Over Knives.  I sat through the entire movie, mesmerized and occasionally muttering swear words and shaking my head.  I knew 20 minutes in that I was sunk and my family was going to hate me.  We had to make the most drastic change of all.  We had to switch to a whole foods plant based diet (hereafter referred to as WFPB).  I won't give it all away now, but let's just suffice it to say my kids are still demanding cheese and I'm pretty sure Wood Shop Guy cheats.

 Wood Shop Guy and I about 3 years ago.  Still applies...

But, just 3 weeks into my diet change and I'm feeling much better, my knees and hips don't hurt and I've lost 10 pounds.  I've started running and exercising on a daily basis.  I'm feeling very pleased with the success I've had so far and am looking forward to a whole new, better, healthier me in just a few months.  I'm Changing 4 the Better!

Meet Jenni!

Hi! I'm Jenni the Garden Diva. I grew up wanting to be a singer/actress/dancer/author, but most of all a mother. So far only one of those dreams has come to pass. I’m a remarried mother of three loverly children. Two boys and a girl, 16, 12, and 10 respectively, help make my days a constant joy and frustration. Mostly joy, but you know how it goes sometimes.

We live in a quiet Michigan village with one dog, two cats and a couple of fish. My husband is a CAD design engineer and general IT guy for a plastics company. I am the domestic engineer/teacher for our home school, although lately my role is reduced to Mom Taxi for the summer. I love reading, sci-fi and fantasy books in particular, but I’ll read anything I can get my eyes on. Working with beads and clay are my other pursuits of craftiness, although I’ve dabbled in many more. I’m hoping to add sewing, needle felting and crochet in just for kicks.

I have grown up on fast food, take-out, and massive amounts of pop. I learned to cook by reading the back of the box of Hamburger Helper. I can order pizza like a pro and open can of SpaghettiO’s in ten seconds flat. Now, I am throwing all these hard won skills out the window to live life among the vegetables, and fruits, and whole grains. It’s not an easy transition, but one well worth the effort. I think, I hope, it’s a change for the better.

Meet Jenn!

Hi! I'm Jenn, the Dance Diva. My journey of better nutrition stems from the desire to feed my family nutritious food on a tight budget. I have four fabulous kids and a wonderful husband. The problem is they eat, a lot. So after going down the time-consuming and conflicting pathof coupon shopping for highly processed foods that only cost me pennies, I decided to stop.

I started with just making my own bread, then my own buns for burgers and
hoagies. Slowly the snowball started and I was making more nutritious items for my dinners, and it was only costing me pennies. I stopped feeding my children box cereal every morning and started making them nutritionally acceptable breakfasts. Then I watched Food Inc. and that got my mind turning. I started making conscious choices about the products I was buying with my budget. Next I went to see Forks Over
Knives, and wow did that strike a nerve. So here I am, almost forty and starting down another nutritional path with my family in tow. Will we become a totally vegan family? Sadly, I can’t say for sure. I do love a good smoked pork butt, on occasion. However, we will be starting off by adding one or two meals a week and more raw fruits and veggies to the diet. Maybe a little exercise to boot.

Meet Kathleen!

My name is Kathleen. I'm the Hippie Diva of our little group. I am a writer, a bibliophile and and a thinker. One of those people that often spends more time thinking, planning and frantically scribbling in a notebook than actual doing. I homeschool my five lively, passionate children and am married to my best friend, the ever-hilarious Running Man. In our first few years together, Running Man and I prided ourselves on our good health. We ate primarily plant-based healthy meals and rarely ate processed foods. We both ran several times a week and were active in our free time. We both looked and felt fantastic.

 

See? Healthy, happy, fantastic!

But then, as happens to so many of us, the kids began to arrive, time grew scarce and our focus on health waned. Dramatically.

Fast forward 12 years later and we're both 40 pounds overweight. My joints hurt every day, and Running Man - who is a Type 1 Diabetic - is on more medications than he's ever been before. Food in our house has become more processed, faster and easier. Vegetables rot in the fridge. We eat out a lot. Our active lifestyle has become more sedentary (though we are not completely inactive - I'll go more into that in a different post). 
 

I have a thousand excuses for not eating healthier: I don't believe in dieting; I don't have time to cook healthy meals; Heck, I don't even like to cook; I'm too busy; I enjoy eating out and don't want to give up my favorite (read: incredibly unhealthy) restaurant foods; my sanity requires simple meal ideas so I can teach the kids how to cook without wanting to pawn them off on the nearest band of travelling gypsies. You all know what I mean.

But they're still just excuses. I know that, you know that. So here's what's going to happen: I'm going to be healthy again. And in order to be healthy, my eating habits have to change. A few of my blog-mates are choosing to go Vegan, a decision I think is smart and well-informed. I've decided to become a "Weekday Vegan", which means I will eat Vegan during the weekdays (and possibly Saturday) then give myself the weekend to relax and enjoy other foods. My family as a whole is not ready to go completely Vegan yet, and I don't want to force them down that road nor isolate myself from our dinners. I think the weekend thing will be a good compromise.

This will be a life-changing journey and this opportunity to document it excites me to no end. I want to talk about my family's exercise goals and food changes, my health numbers and results from a physical with our family doctor as well as my struggles with meal planning and taking the time to cook (I'm a planner, not a doer - remember?). I have a lot to share; interesting thoughts, lofty goals, a few hard facts, my sweet successes and hopefully infrequent setbacks. My fellow diva's and I will do our best to keep you updated on our progress. I will be posting on Mondays, with a weigh-in and number crunch for all four of us on Fridays.

Our goal is simple: To be healthy. To feel and look fantastic again. Join us!

Welcome!

C'mon in and sit down!  We're so happy you're here and we hope we can entertain and enlighten you.  We're the 4 Divas and we're going to take you along on our journey to better health and life.  Over the last month or so, we've decided to undertake some major life changes in order to be happier and healthier.  Our nutritional journey is based on the documentary Forks Over Knives and the research we have done since seeing this awesome film.  We also hope to include our different journeys toward mental health, education, and financial freedom.  Please leave comments so that we know you've been here and that you enjoy what we've written (or not, but please be nice!).  Thanks for coming and enjoy the ride!