Vegan Veg Coach is back again

I took a little break while Google I hope took care of the spamming that happens on these blogs. It's been awhile since I've been here, and I'm glad to see that only one spammer has been here since my last visit. I continue to teach cooking classes, coach people individually on weight loss struggles and plans, and monitor, write and photograph the Ospreys that are camped outside our house in a tall tree. The story with photos were on the cover of our local newspaper yesterday. It is something to watch these awesome "birds of prey" tear into live, wiggling, flopping fish with a vengeance. As I pointed out in the diary that was published, these birds' beaks were meant for serious filleting.

As for us humans, many would argue if we were meant to tear through flesh like that, we would have beaks or canine teeth that could rip and shred. After watching this mom and pop operation, I'm really hoping that fish don't have feelings.

In between Osprey journaling, I'm writing the story of living well when your genes are stacked against you. The more classes I teach, students gasp when they see my "before" and "after" photos. I only lost 25 pounds, which for many is not a big deal. But on a 5'3" woman, it looks like a lot. Keep in mind, I was not trying to lose weight. I was just trying to save myself from the emergency room ordered hysterectomy. Fortunately, I had a great doctor who said, why don't you return to that low-fat plant-based diet and call me in the morning.

I was never hungry, never counted a calorie. A month later, all symptoms, including hot flashes and other problems associated with menopause were completely gone. 6 months later, so were the 25 pounds I'd managed to put on in a sedentary, stressful period of my life.

It wasn't until I'd lost the weight that I was able to return to my favorite sport of my 20's & 30's of running. Up until I lost the weight, I'd had knee, ankle and back pain. But once the weight came off and the inflammation resolved, the miles started packing on. One year later, I placed third, then second for my age group in local 5K races. Amazing.

It is possible to do this. I think this is the best kept secret. And cheap, cheap, cheap. Both in the food you eat, and the money you save in health care. Insurance companies tell me they fight over people like me. Who wouldn't? I pay my low premiums and don't go to the doc unless I overtrain in running. Who would do that? ;) Be sure to eat lots of green raw veggies to make that weight melt off. A salad at lunch and dinner will go a long way in revving up your metabolism. Despite what you may hear in pop-up daily journalism, (low-fat) vegans really are on average much healthier than other populations.

cooking class was standing room only!

I teach low-fat plant-based cooking classes in Florida. I taught at Whole Foods today, and even though they had people sign up in advance, we had an extra 10 people come in above the 30 that had signed up. Everyone asked such good questions. We made calabacitas which we loaded onto low-fat whole wheat tortillas. We made guacamole plus with peas mashed in...couldn't even tell the peas were in it. We also used low-fat refried beans. Yummy.

I eat tortillas with lettuce and salsa all the time. A great thing to shove down before going out to dinner to a place you know won't know what the word "vegan" means.

Management told me, "you have quite a following." When people see my "before" pictures...145 at 5'3" is not a pretty site, they gasp as they realize the chef standing before them is the same person. They also get wide-eyed when I tell them both my sisters and parents had/have major heart disease, and my mom, sister and aunt all had/have breast cancer.

I really love teaching these classes. I think it is in part because no one in my family of origin ever took my vegetarian eating and recommendations seriously. My audiences are so hungry ;) for this information.

The Whole Foods assistant today kept saying, "I'll organize and serve the food. You just keep talking." I'm used to serving and talking at the same time in my other classes. It was nice to have the help and to focus on addressing everyone's questions.