Sunday, August 31, 2008

No words needed

With Labor Day weekend here and my courses at FST beginning this week, summer is now over. Unfortunately, my summer plan to teach about vegan nutrition via this blog never materialized. The primary reason: MY COMPUTER, which had major issues early June and finally crashed on my birthday. By the time I purchased a new lap-top and was back to full on-line functioning, it was mid-August. With school around the corner, I decided to enjoy the rest of the summer, which I did.

During the summer, I took many steps forward in my journey as a "raw (or rawer) vegan". I have new restaurants and stores, which I will review. And I have numerous experiences, which I plan to share as I get back into the discipline of reading, writing, and blogging (unless of course, a full-time course load and part-time work get the best of me!).

Though I was not able to use this blog to articulate the nutritional value of a vegan and especially a raw vegan diet, my vegan life was able to make a positive difference this summer. Many of the vegetarian resources say that the greatest impact you can have in changing someone's diet and ultimately improving their health comes through your example and lifestyle. By doing what you do, and eating as you eat, people are watching and learning. I discovered the reality of this over the summer.

At camp these past months, I've been basing many more meals around the main kitchen. With the freshest produce in the walk-in fridge, it has been a lot of "grab and go." As my diet shifted and I began to decline certain meals, one of the cooks asked me point blank one day early this summer = "You're eating raw, aren't you?"

I had barely admitted to myself that I was a raw vegan, but caught red-handed, I fumbled for an answer and tentatively replied, "Yeah, I guess I'm eating rawer."

From the beginning, she has been observing my changing food choices. We've talked casually about diet, and she's overheard conversations I've had with her husband about health and fitness. And just last week she shared with me that she's taking a step forward with her health and giving up red meat. I'm so proud of her! Though hamburgers are still her weakness, it's a start and we all start somewhere. With the changes she has made, she's been feeling more energetic, less bogged down, and has even begun to lose weight!

At the neighborhood food pantry where I volunteer, I've had numerous opportunities to share about my diet. As we sort food, take food, and read food labels, we simply end up talking about food each Sunday. The food pantry workers are probably the first to learn about my latest decisions surrounding food choices, especially this summer as I've taken the "road less cooked."

A few weeks back, our food distribution coordinator shared with me that she has decided to eat raw during the daytime. It's been going very well and she is now enjoying it. Though she still cooks breakfast and dinner for her husband and family, she has shared that there are days she simply doesn't feel like eating what she's prepared so she will sit there with raw snap peas, her new favorite snack food.

She shared again today how Sunday after church lunches at a restaurant are now making her sick, and how, after the empenadas she had today, she thinks she's finally getting the message = Don't eat it! Her taste buds are changing, her body is detoxing, and through it, she has now lost 13 pounds in about 3 weeks. Her skin has cleared up and her allergies have not been as bad, and if anything, are disappearing. The wonders of going raw!

Her new favorite TV show is now on BBC America, "You are what you eat!" I've not seen it, but it sounds like my kind of show. She shared about one episode where they used 200 pounds of beef to form a human body, and then poured fat on it. The fat immediately coagulated when it touched the cold dead cow. Disgusting. She said, "The image would make any meat eater turn."

While I cannot take ALL the credit for her decision to eat raw during the day times, I do believe that my eating habits did have an influence.

As St. Francis is believed to have said (though I've not yet found it in my readings): "Preach the gospel. And if necessary, use words." Though I wasn't able to "teach" about vegan nutrition this summer, I am thankful that my example did encourage others to choose healthier and more environmentally friendly options in diet and lifestyle. And that is what this blog is really all about.