To Vegan or Not to Vegan? - Let's Dispell Some Veg Myths

After being vegetarian for over 7 years, vegan for a year, then raw vegan for a year, before getting extremely sick and nearly destroying my own immune system, I get such a huge amount of questions about that lifestyle, that I thought I'd post a short few set of myths that I end up repeating on a weekly basis :

1. VEGAN DIETS MAKE YOU LOSE WEIGHT - Its usually not the fact that a diet is meat-free that makes you lose weight; its the fact that usually when you go vegan, you focus on eating more natural foods that come from the ground, instead of a box filled with chemicals and crap.

The honest truth is that in my lifetime, I've met more than a fair share of overweight and extremely unhealthy vegans and vegetarians, because they still continued to eat foods that were from a box, highly processed, that just didn't have meat. Not a great way to support body health.

2. EVERYONE CAN GO VEGAN HEALTHILY - Trust me folks, as much as I'd love to believe this one were true (as a big advocate for cruelty-free products), this one totally depends on each individual's body type, blood type and what works for them.

My nine year almost meat-free diet actually tore my immune system down so much, that I contracted viral meningitis. Unless I re-incorporated meat into my diet, I may not have recovered my health to such a strong level where I haven't even gotten so much as a full-blown cold since (over 2 years later).

Also, my body was trying to tell me over those nine years that I needed meat because I was consistently jittery, was battling multiple candida issues the whole time, and really had some severe hormonal imbalances. Folks, I learned the hard way what my body needs; please do not do the same.

3. NON VEGANS DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THE PLANET - One of my biggest pet peeves honestly about becoming an omnivore again after being vegan for so long, is having some vegan eaters tell me I'm a part of destroying the planet. OH REALLY?

Considering
a) I might most seriously still be debilitated if I didn't start eating meat again, and may not healthily be here to tell my tale,

b) I buy mostly organic where I can, use the 3 R's (reduce, reuse, recycle, with emphasis on the first two) every day,

c) Use awareness in nearly all of my buying choices, where I choose local, lightly used, and upcycled wherever I can, and last but not least

d) Have finally started to make a true impact in my love for all things green by relating it to people with their health,

my comment back is, I'd rather eat my meat (thank you very much), continue to have my positive impact on this planet as a whole, and teach thousands of others (which I do every day) how their small choices cumulatively as individuals have a bigger impact than one person going hog-wild.

I thought it would be useful to not only vent, but also help countless others in this vegan/omnivore debate... Now that I've been on both sides of this fence, I really get how futile the argument sometimes is. It's more important that people know what real food looks like period, as right now most people believe that fast food is really food. We've got a much bigger issue to tackle than we initially may have thought.

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Waking up from the Numbness?

Come on.... We've all been there. Not wanting to get out of bed. Having people talking to you, and you're not even mentally in the room. Sleepwalking through life and thinking "There's GOT to be more than this!".

Been there, bought that t-shirt.

Remember the last time you took a vacation? Let's say you were sitting on a sunny beach, feeling every last grain of sand as it went between your toes. Hearing the sounds of the waves crashing on the beach. Watching the colour of the sky, the water, the sand, seeing others walking along the beach too... Isn't that scene so vivid for you? Wasn't it magnificent? 

Well here is where I teach you some simple tips that help you to feel like that all day, every day, and wake back up to ALL of the life that's around you:

•  Be aware of your awareness - This might be a funny statement, but sometimes with all the media and stuff we're bombarded with each day, we forgot what life really is : experiencing our 5 senses REAL TIME. Begin to notice the sky again... The sound of children as you're going to work. Stop to feel the softness of the petals of flowers. Heck, if it helps, keep a bowl of sand near your workspace for when you start to feel that numbness again! The whole goal of you being aware of how your body feels is to be aware of your feelings. It takes practice to be always in a state of awareness, but it helps to get the body to tingle all over again (yes, we should ALWAYS be tingling! :) ). 


• Appreciate the small and free things - Yesterday, the kindness of two complete strangers made my day! One held a door open for me. The other told me I had awesome hair. These two things alone made my entire day! What things that people do for you out of kindness, without expectation that you may be overlooking? Heighten your awareness to moments like these.


• SMILE!!! - For no reason at all... Just because you're blessed with LIFE! Think about it; The Universe, God, or whatever/whoever you credit for giving you life, is never obligated to give you LIFE. For that reason, and that reason alone, we have the opportunity to be thankful to get a chance to experience all the wonderful things listed above, and all the ones that YOU can think of right now!

Each and every single person born in the past, present and future is born to be an amazing treasure to this planet. Somewhere along the way, we all began to believe the lies media, television, toxic people, exes, and the other sources tell us about how wrong, bad, evil and mean, and worthless we are.

I'm on a journey to dispell all these lies!

Each of us is born whole, complete, perfect and worthy of love. Free from judgement. I teach people how to take back this power. And most of it, I do for free, because I LOVE MY LIFE and want as many people as possible to love theirs as well. 

You willing to fight for your life?