The KInd Life Community Forum

Hi Debbie! Glad to have you and your husband join us! Very exciting. I couldn't resist responding since you live in L.A. I am a physician in L.A. who advocates a plant-based diet! As a hobby I also keep a blog on Plant based diets as a resource for people who are interested. It is largely from a medical perspective of course, because well, that is what I know. I'm here to learn from other people about the benefits from an animal welfare and environmental perspective. That being said my reasoning for adopting a vegan diet for myself was all due to the data on health and wellness benefits. The fact that there were additional benefits on top of that were a wonderful bonus!

If you have a few moments you and your husband may be interested in taking a look at my blog, particularly a section on our "mini-experiment" that will be starting in two weeks on Jan 15th. It is an experiment in which people who are currently consuming either a SAD diet (std American diet), a flexitarian diet or a vegetarian diet convert to a vegan diet for 60 days. (I only require 60 days for the experiment but I have done this before with patients and they almost always stay with it) I measure various health parameters prior to the onset of the experiment, at the 30d mark and at end. The participants will be blogging about there experience the entire 60 days sharing the experience with my readers. I hope to have bios, etc up by the end of next week! (Actually, I hope to have a lot more done site wide by then, but I digress) I thought it may be interesting since you will be on a similar path. Best Wishes, Jenn (www.theplantrx.com)

You're so cute! The dr in me wants to know the last time you've had a complete physical then, missy????? Where are you in SoCal btw?

I created a blog about things I have learned if anyone is new on their journey and is interested in checking it out. (Or if anyone wants to set me straight on anything I have written about.) It was just going to be for me to journal my thoughts at first, but then I saw that maybe parts of it could educate others.

I plan on adding more posts about my experiences with different cruelty-free products. That has been a very important part of my journey, too.

On the sidebar of the blog I explain my story of how I decided to become vegan.

(I do use a little bit of foul language in it, so fair warning to sensitive types)

http://debbielovesanimals.blogspot.com/

Hi Debbie:

Like you, I am a "newbie" too. I read a book called Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer a year ago, and have not and will not ever eat meat again.I'm 45, and wish I had made this transition years ago.I live on a small island in the Bay of Fundy off the coast of Maine (it is actually part of New Brunswick, Canada). Most people who live here have horrible diets, very meat based with a side of greasy fries or something equally artery clogging and washed down with Pepsi. I think I'm considered a bit of a freak around here because I love healthy food. We have only a couple or restaurants (certainly not vegan) and one grocery store, so I get alot of my healthier stuff on the mainland when I go off island. My husband, like me, loves animals, but still wants to eat meat a few times per week so we often do not eat the same food. Fishing and aquaculture are the main industries on our island, and I admit I do still eat fish, which is usually local and caught sustainably. I do stay away from farmed fish though as I don't believe it's healthy to eat. I work as a records clerk at our hospital, and see people every day who do not look after their own health and expect the doctor to write a prescription for some drug that will make them feel better and allow them to keep on eating poorly and sitting in front of the TV. Well, enough of my preaching! That's just a little bit about me and my life

Hi Debbie! I agree; better late than never. I work with mostly women at the hospital. Some are around my age, some older and a few younger. Although I've been pretty slim for years, many have noticed I've lost weight while most of them are gaining. When they ask my "secret", it opens the door for me to say I no longer eat meat, then I till them about the book, Eating Animals, and some of the horrors of factory farming, and how meat is unhealthy for humans. I try not to be preachy or condescending or pushy, but hopefully at least some of them may think the next time they put dead flesh in their mouths! If I ever have the opportunity to start a business on our little island, I've very often considered opening a health & specialty foods store, along with ecologically friendly gifts. I just need the dough to get me started! I'll keep buying those lotto tickets, and just maybe...