WFPB Livin'

I've always considered myself an educator. From being a dance teacher as a teenager, a swim instructor through college, a French, Spanish, and ESL teacher throughout my adulthood, to finally being a yoga instructor, teaching others about the things I love has always felt natural to me. One of the things that I've been learning more about in the recent years is the benefits of keeping a whole food, plant-based diet. Ahead are some facts, opinions, and experiences on what it's done for me in my life.

**Disclaimer: I'm not here to tell you how to live your life. I have nothing against people who choose to eat meat: I simply wish to put my testimony out there and provide some information on the topic.

I've been an "official" vegetarian for a little under 3 years. Before that, I never labeled myself as anything for fear that the second I "declared" myself vegetarian, all I'd ever crave would be meat. Regardless of labels, my diet had been pretty light of meat already, save for some chicken here or there, or the occasional burger on my worse anemia days.

The factor that gave me the final push towards the veggie side was the extreme negative impact that the meat industry has on the environment. We all know the culprits that are contributing to the destruction of our planet: greenhouse gases, deforestation, depletion of our resources. Nearly 80% of deforested land in the Amazon is used as cattle pasture to feed our growing demand for meat (a demand that tripled world-wide to about 600 billion pounds between 1971 and 2010). While carbon is by and large the most prominent of greenhouse gases, methane warms the atmosphere 23 times more. 37% of said methane comes from bovine emissions- in layman's terms: gassy cows. (To be fair, cow farts have been getting a really bad rap- it's actually more cow burps than anything). While some researchers are working on developing cattle feed to reduce methane-fueled belches, cattle currently have a greater impact on the environment than cars, trucks, and planes combined. With beef and milk production predicted to double over the next 30 years, it's not lookin good for ol' Mother Earth.

There are days when I feel like my actions couldn't possibly make a difference in the grand scheme of things (and people love to take any opportunity to remind me of that; hats off for the encouragement, team!), but I figure if I can make a relatively small change in my life to help fix things for future generations, why wouldn't I? If everyone cut back on their meat consumption (especially beef and dairy products), we'd be taking huge strides in the ongoing fight against global warming. Personally, the hardest step for me it cutting out dairy products (damn you, delicious cheese!). I'm not vegan, but I do opt for coconut or almond milk and yogurt over dairy, and try to eat more non-cow cheeses when possible. It's not necessarily about elimination, people! Small changes over time can create big results!

As I learned more about eating plant-based, I started learning about the health benefits that come along with kicking meat. Eating a whole food, plant-based diet has been shown to lower cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar, prevent (or REVERSE) heart disease and obesity, lower your risk of cancer and diabetes, and even slow the progression of certain types of cancer. In my personal experience, I feel more alert and energized after cutting out meat. My skin is clearer, my body is leaner, and I feel fuller after meals. I never feel like I'm missing out on anything by eliminating meat from my diet (actually, I've become a much better cook because of it!) A lot of people worry about not getting enough nutrients (specifically protein), but the fact is that most people suffering from protein deficiency aren't getting enough calories overall, meaning they're likely suffering from an overall nutrient deficiency. In fact, many people are eating way more protein than we actually need. As far as other nutrients go, one of my concerns about going veg was my anemia (which, to be fair, has always been pretty mild). In the past, if I ever wanted to donate blood, I would bulk up on red meat and spinach for a few days before going in to get my iron levels up. To my surprise, my hemoglobin has been better than ever! Which has been pretty bomb for my aforementioned energy.

People often get a really bad rap for choosing to be plant-based. Yes, I understand that there are a good handful of people out there who skew the vision and give us all a bad name, but please remember that there are squeaky wheels when it comes to any group of people. Like I said, I'm not here to tell you what you can or cannot eat. However, I'm happy to provide insight and information if you're curious! Here's a link to a presentation I gave on the topic during my yoga teacher training.

Feel free to comment or message me if you're curious to learn more! Happy munching, friends.