Plants are for Rabbits

It was the spring of 2019 and I thought I was really in for it.

I'd seen an Instagram account of a lady who's fridge was organized by colors of vegetables. I swooned over her pictures day and night. All those colors made me hungry. And she would make the most legendary salads with all the colors of the rainbow.

She called herself a Nutratarian and talked about a plant-based lifestyle. I didn't know what those things were, but I loved her salad pictures. So I thought, "I must recreate these for myself." Off to Costco I went to buy clear food storage containers. Then got to work collecting every color of the rainbow in the produce section of the grocery store. Lunch after lunch, week after week, I had the most amazing combinations of veggies. I was hooked!

It just so happened a family member had the book she referenced in her posts. Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. In it, he talked about eating a plant based diet, nearly vegan, and all of the health benefits that come with it. Notably loosing weight until you were at your body's set healthy weight.

To be honest, I'd been carrying around extra weight since my first pregnancy, and nothing seemed to be working. I was hiding behind my clothes, and avoiding mirrors. Don't even get me started on pictures. And come to find out, I was pregnant again. I wanted to have those cute maternity photos, with a cute bump. Not my four chins and bulging arms. This plant-based diet seemed like the ticket. I could eat as much veggies as I wanted. In fact, it's hard to eat all of the veggies in a day because of the bulk. Dr. Fuhrman and my Instagram gal both recommended one pound of raw veggies a day and one pound of cooked. That's a lot of food! Especially if you factor in the volume of one pound of spinach!

All of this helped me decide my next career move. I wanted to explore nutrition, and set out to find a program that was just right for me. And after some internet sleuthing, I found just the one! But it was $500 and we didn't have $500. But I really wanted this program. I asked Ryan if I could use our Christmas money, from our parents, to purchase this course. I was really into eating good food, and this course promised to teach me what I needed to know.

He agreed. So I jumped in with all of our extra money. And away I went!

But then I realized I was hungry. Like seriously. I was hungry! And I didn't want to eat another dang salad for the rest of my life. You see, I mistakenly thought that a plant-based diet meant that all you ate was salads. And I was done eating nothing but salads. I wanted some food that made me feel full. I wanted food that kept me full for hours. I wanted off the salad train. But I had spent our whole Christmas gift on this course. How was I going to tell Ryan that I was a bad bet. I was wrong about this course. That the course I chose to spend all our money on, wasn't actually what I wanted. I felt this way about my Bachelors Degree. Had I really gone and done it again? Sugar!.....I procrastinated. I hemmed. I hawed. I kept going through the course.

And the greatest thing happened! I learned the truth about grains, about starchy vegetables, about how to eat real, whole foods that not only make you feel full, but they keep you full all day! Food that I could chew! Bread and potatoes no longer off the table! Now I knew how to choose healthy versions of these.

I made these new recipes for my "Salads are Rabbit food" husband, and he actually liked them! He admitted he was worried that he wouldn't be satisified on veggies alone, and these meals filled him up. And better yet, how he felt after a few weeks of eating these new recipes.

And best of all, my relief. Oh the relief! That I hadn't gone so horribly wrong. That I hadn't wasted our entire gift that year. That I had actually opened a new door for us and our kiddos.

Best yet, I get to share these amazingly yummy, husband and kid approved recipes with you! You get to share in the healthy weight loss. The less aches and pains. The vibrant skin. Knowing you're doing your best to not only prevent disease, but have the energy, motivation, zest to truly Eat to Live!

xoxo

Megan