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Happy New Year to you!!!

Many people start diets in the new year. This post may have you rethinking that a bit. Lately, I have been studying more about Intuitive Eating which is about rejecting diet culture, listening to the body’s cues, and trusting oneself with food.

Eating a plant-based diet has helped me to work on Intuitive Eating. A plant-based diet is not a weight loss diet; it’s a lifestyle choice. I’ve noticed that going plant-based has helped me to allow myself to eat what I want and as much as I want more of the time. I am learning to trust myself with food. 

This week I reflected on the problems with dieting and diet culture. 

Evelyn Tribole says, “The problem is that whatever names diet culture falls under, its roots remain the same: the perpetuation of fat phobia, body shame, and self-disconnection.” Dang! That’s quite an indictment against dieting.

I started dieting at around 13 years...

My daughter was right. My 17 year old daughter had been begging me for almost two years to make nourish bowls for our lunches. These bowls are filled with raw and cooked foods and are also known as macro bowls and buddha bowls. I was not that convinced that this would be a game changer for us as we are already eating a lot of vegetables and we are 100% plant-based. Also, my husband likes eating hot, cooked foods except for lots of fruits and the occasional raw cucumber. So, I was hesitant to make these hearty salads as our regular lunches. Then my business coach Corinne, who is also plant-based, shared that she was feeling so great after eating these bowls for lunch. So, I set off towards the nourishing world of nourish bowls.

What makes a regular salad into a nourish bowl?

1. Greens: Start with a bed of raw greens like romaine, baby spinach, spring mix, or massaged kale.
2. Grains: Cook a cup of quinoa, brown rice, wild rice, millet, bulgur, couscous or other whole grain. I use...

Have you had a chance to watch the new documentary on Netflix called Seaspiracy? It is an absolutely shocking look at what is happening to our fish populations and our oceans.

When I finished it, I felt truly gutted. Scientists are saying that by the year 2050 our oceans will have run out of fish. The biggest reason is that industrialized fishing is destroying our seas. 

We now have these giant, trawling fishing nets that not only capture the fish that people eat, they also capture tons and tons of bycatch. Bycatch are animals such as marine sea mammals, sea turtles, sea birds, dolphins, and sharks. These fish are usually thrown back into the sea dead or dying. According to some estimates, global bycatch may amount to 40 percent of the world's catch, totaling 63 billions pounds per year

Even tinned fish brands with "Dolphin Safe" labels are actually not safe or sustainable at all for dolphins, or other animals. It turns out there is no real way to stop the bycatch practice...

A diet high in animal-based and highly processed foods make people sick and overweight. However, many if these sicknesses can be prevented or reversed by eating a whole food plant-based diet. There is abundant medical proof of this claim spanning the last one hundred years. There is also abundant living proof of this. 

As for me, after transitioning to a fully plant-based vegan diet in the fall of 2019, my bloodwork, weight fluctuations, and overall well-being have never been better. I feel like I finally found the secret to harmony with my body and with food.

Some benefits of a WFPB (whole food plant-based) diet are:

• prevents and reverses chronic ailments
• helps people to reach their ideal weight
• improves mental clarity
• helps people to experience positive effects rather than side-effects of medicines
• increases our sense of well-being and empowerment
• saves time and money now and later

One misconception about a WFPB diet is that it is based on eating a ton of vegetables...