Our, that’s mine and my husband Dee’s whole food, plant based, pescetarian journey didn’t begin exactly yesterday. In fact, it started 690 days ago. We had gone to a resort casino a couple of hours away from where we live. This is something I like to do on my birthday. We’ll go to a stush restaurant and have a stush dinner with a decadent and oh soooo delicious stush dessert. We gamble, go to the movies and generally just hangout.
720 days ago, I decided when we returned home from my weekend birthday celebration, that we, me and Dee, were going to go on a 15-day green smoothie fast. I have written a book on the nuts and bolts of green smoothie fasting.
Well somewhere during the first 15 days, I had a revelation. Actually, it was an epiphany. It was clear to me, that we, that’s me and Dee, should try a whole food plant-based diet for 15 days, after our fast. It was very clear to me, but somewhat confusing and daunting to Dee. But none-the-less I knew what we were going to be doing for the next 30 days. I think the problem was, Dee was conflicted about where this new dietary lifestyle was going and when it would end. And rightly so. You see, unbeknownst to me, he had his own revelation. And that was this new way of eating was going to last a lot longer than 30 days. And as quiet as it’s kept, and between you and me, he was right!
Some 690 days later we are still on this journey. Although, we have added fish back into our diet and Dee will have chicken and pork occasionally. I am a whole food, plant-based ova-lacto pescetarian, also spelt pescatarian. I eat seafood, vegetables and very, very limited dairy products. Dee is a whole food plant-based flexitarian, he eats everything. Checkout Your Diet for more information about dietary lifestyles.
Why did I make the choice to change our diet so drastically? It wasn’t about weight loss. It wasn’t about correcting health issues or jumping on the band wagon of the latest eating trend. The long story is I never liked red meat as a child. Amazingly, I loved fish. However, there wasn’t any short order cooking going on in our home. I was raised in the era of “you will eat what’s on your plate or you won’t eat at all.”
When I met my hubby, I didn’t eat meat, although I ate fish, eggs and cheese occasionally. Well, Mr. Dearborne was a meat eater; chicken, pork and fish to be exact. So, when we got married it was simpler for me to just cook meat and eat it. I’d done that for most of my life. It hadn’t killed me. So, it was very easy for me to slide back into that pattern.
Back to the question, “Why did I make the choice to change our diet so drastically?” Once again, it wasn’t about weight loss. It wasn’t about health issues or any of the mainstream reasons why people change their diets. It wasn’t the current fad of being vegan or gluten-free. The short story is eating meat didn’t make me feel good. Irrespective of the fact that I can “throw down” when it comes to cooking meat. It’s didn’t matter whether it was organic, compassionately and or sustainably raised. None of that mattered. My epiphany told me clearly and succinctly, that I don’t have to eat meat anymore unless I choose to.
And whoomp! There it is! I choose not to. We have had some hilarious moments on this journey. Dee has his fan club who offer to do a drive by at Popeye’s and get him a two-piece dinner with large beans and rice and an extra biscuit. Like, Really!? Then we have the, don’t put vegan cheese on his pizza and let him have peperoni…really meat not the fake stuff brigade. And I won’t get started on the anti-tofu coalition.
As a Choice and Laws of Attraction Expert I am always growing and learning. I’m always asking to be shown the way, as I live my purpose. I’m always asking, what unseen obstacles are in my way?
I was doing something that was counterintuitive to what I really wanted. Something that is as up close and personal as breathing. I was eating meat on the pretext that it was easier for me in regard to cooking, shopping, meal prep etc. But it really wasn’t. How much more up close and personal does it get than the food that we eat?
Look at it this way, the apple you ate today, the burger you ate yesterday has been transformed and transmuted into your flesh, blood and bones. The apple and burger became you. You didn’t become the burger or the apple. The food you eat even effects your emotional responses, your feelings, your beliefs and ultimately your choices. And whoomp there it is!
They say you are what you eat. While that might have a ring of truth to it, I believe what you eat supports your beliefs about yourself and how you choose to show up in your life. And as I bring this blog to a close, my parting words of wisdom to you is this: ‘One man’s green salad is another man’s trip to the emergency room’.
