My hubby and I wanted to try a juice fast at the beginning of the year inspired by the documentary, "Hungry for a Change." We decided to fast for three days with prep time on either end by cutting out caffeine, alcohol, refined sugars, meat, and dairy. We filled up a shopping cart with piles of carrots, celery, kale, pears, apples, cucumber, ginger, beets, purple cabbage, pineapple, parsley, and romaine lettuce. We drank juice for breakfast lunch and dinner. For me it was more challenging emotionally. I found myself sitting with feelings, stress, and anxiety that I usually would suppress with a sweet treat or a crunchy snack. It was profound to really delve into my relationship with food. I also found it incredible that I still had a ton of energy while not packing in big meals. I drank a ton of water and even made a tea of fresh juiced lemon and ginger for a wake up. On the whole the experience was life changing.
Our family now eats a plant based diet 95% of the time with an occasional egg from our chickens or a very rare bit of locally sourced meat or fish. We have cut out dairy and refined sugar almost entirely. The kids love vanilla soy and I love almond milk. We juice 2-3 times a week and enjoy a weekly family smoothie. The best part has been the amount of time and energy I devote towards food preparation, planning, and connecting to our food. I adore visiting the farmers markets for our veggies and various local grocers for bulk grains and other items. This week I have even started making our own vegetable broth to reduce our weekly grocery bill. We have saved money, I have lost significant weight, and have never felt better. But more importantly we are proud to no longer support factory farms and to reduce our food footprint globally. That had been an issue for me for many years but I felt overwhelmed at making the vegan commitment. I started this journey for health and discovered a bigger and more important goal. I want to make sure that every bit of food I give my children is delicious and nutritious and has not impacted someone in a negative way. We now vote with every dollar we spend by trying to shop as locally, seasonally, and sustainably as possible. This is the very same philosophy our father fed us by growing up. In fact this food adventure has brought me right back to those days on our families avocado farm.... and yes avocados are still our favorite kitchen staple.
I could have never made the first few "baby steps" of this journey had it not been for my treasured best friend Lisa. She has supported and inspired me every step of the way. She became a vegan last year and has sense inspired many people around her to think more about their food. She is my hero!
