Life, Love, & "Families" Are What You Make of Them
When we were first launched (after reading, reading, watching, watching, reading, learning & growing forward) onto this plant-based path, there was a swell of incredulity for balking the culturally comfortable norms and a fair flush of fingers pointed back at me relaying how “bad” it would be for Q to be eating differently from others... this was despite the fact that the diet he now eats is the only one shown to prevent/reverse cardiovascular disease (<—#1 cause of death in America and so rampant on all branches of his family tree that he has a preventative cardiologist <—who confirmed he was robustly healthy and says he recommends **everyone** transition as plant-based as possible), the fact that Plant-Based diets are the only globally sustainable diet (<—ie the only diet that will pushback on the climate change that may ruin Q’s future <— and that of every other kiddo still eating the outdated/harmful Standard American Diet), and the fact that I was showing him you can thrive while still being kind to the other species around you.
I worried less about the “friend” aspect because I knew the above pillars were far more important (<— ie HEALTH and ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY are far more important than popularity), he had a solid group of friends who loved him dearly, and I believed that passionate/verbal kiddo would likely light up the minds of the loved ones who cared to listen.
The last one was a guess, but his light worked as hoped. The love of his life and her family shifted plant-based, his “similar to brothers” (3 of his favorite souls on this earth, and loved as dearly as blood) mother gave up meat and is chugging along down the plant-based path, his beloved Grandmother started stumbling forward just like we had (<—there’s a reason I always say “transition” and “stumble” we need all of us making small steps, not impractical perfect leaps), and as we spent more and more time with one of my best friends (<—and business partner, Crystal <—who shifted Plant-Based along with her 3 children) Q was able to fall in friend-love with her son Ewen and that exemplary young man became Q’s new best friend. The list could go on. We spun a web of light, drew in the souls who wanted to grow along with us, and I heard The Avett Brothers “A Perfect Space” in my head a lot. :-)
You can be the change you want to see in the world. You can grow forward; and if folks repeatedly respond with negativity and hostility to your growth then you can prune that branch right off and grow a better one, because you can also choose your family/pack/tribe (<— we’ve found this to be especially beneficial to both heart and mind). We’ve learned (and are forever teaching) that Life/Love/Families are what you make of them, and squeezing yourself into a painful mold to make other souls comfortable is bad for all.
Continue for: fresh reports urging humanity to shift as plant-based as possible (important for the future of any kin who will be here in your wake <—and every species affected by us); some examples of what this Plant-Based family was eating this week; Ewen & Quillan + hiking with our pack of loved souls; and love-light sent to Grandparents this week.
Live Kindly, Feast Kindly, Grow Forward.
From “We Are The Weather”
Want more on EAT Lancet? Here you go.
Notice that this a stumbling forward approach, they are still allotting you your dairy and your limited meats, despite the health implications.
Q: What is ACLM and what does it do?
A: The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) is the medical professional society for physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, health care executives, medical students, medical residents and others on the health care team devoted to treating, reversing and preventing chronic disease through lifestyle behaviors as a first-treatment option. ACLM fills the existing void in medical education by equipping and empowering its members to practice evidence-based Lifestyle Medicine through live and online CME-accredited events and educational offerings, certification opportunities, clinical practice and reimbursement tools, patient education resources, networking opportunities and advocacy.
Q: Why is this important and why now?
A: Chronic disease is the leading cause of death and disability in the U.S. Rates of chronic disease have never been higher, with cost of chronic conditions eating up 86% of all healthcare dollars spent. Chronic disease is so common that more than half of U.S. adults have at least one condition, accounting for 90% of healthcare spending.
According to the World Health Organization, 80% of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes and 40% of cancer could be prevented, primarily with improvements to diet and lifestyle.
The U.S. spends at least 18% of its GDP ($3.35 trillion) on health expenditures. If costs continue to rise, by 2050 Medicare and Medicaid alone will account for 20% of the GDP. All projections point to continued rises in chronic disease. If we don’t reverse this trend, we are headed for bankruptcy as a country. The solvency of our nation is at state.
Q: What can be done about this?
A: Lifestyle Medicine is an evidence-based approach shown to prevent and treat disease. It treats the underlying cause of disease rather than its symptoms that are too often addressed with ever increasing quantities of pills and procedures. Because it treats cause and not just symptoms, only through Lifestyle Medicine can we alter the course of spiraling health care costs.
Q: Do you believe that people benefit from only vegan or vegetarian lifestyles?
A: The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) official position statement on diet for the treatment and potential reversal of lifestyle-related chronic disease was published September 25, 2018. The statement reads: “For the treatment, reversal and prevention of lifestyle-related chronic disease, the ACLM recommends an eating plan based predominantly on a variety of minimally processed vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds.”
So what are we eating? Here’s a sample of some of what we gobbled up over the week.
Additional side note: when we first transitioned the response often given to Ian was “You poor son-of-a-bitch”, but aside from one terrible rogue soup last the summer, we celebrate food-love like Hobbits over every meal. Q licks his bowls clean, Ian says something akin to “I’m a lucky man”, and I dance to food more than music.
Do you feel like that about everything you eat? And after you eat it, do you feel better and more energetic, or stuffed, groggy, and loaded with endothelium hardening fats?
You don’t have to choose destruction. You can eat deliciously, healthfully, and kindly.
Plant-Based Whole-Food Ceasar Dressing made with cashews, capers, garlic, mustard, lemon, paprika; atop home-made whole-grain bread that had been diced and toasted; pumfu, quick-pickled cabbage, mixed greens, and green onions.
Orca bean tacos with cashew queso, mixed greens, and QPC.
Quinoa and Brown Rice Mac and “Cheese” with hand-made-in-Syracuse PMA plant-based cheese, topped with Almond Parm, seared mushrooms, and balsamic dressed mixed greens.
“Refried” Beans with Spanish rice, mixed greens, and topped with some leftover PMA (plant-based) pepper-jack
Quinoa, Peanut Sauce, Roasted Squash, Quick-Pickled Radish, Quick-Pickled Beets (made the same way as the radishes), Roasted Cabbage, and Furikake.
Breakfast Fruit Crisp (Apple, Cherry, Blueberry, Strawberry), with banana, Oatly’s Oatgurt, and Almond Butter,
Cherry Banana Smoothie made with our Oatmilk.
Helping me make baked birthday donuts for Ewen,
Donuts: whole oatflour, flax meal, tapioca, yeast, dates. Topping: melted dark chocolate and flax.
The version we made later in the week when we had leftover cashew cream.
And, as always, that food doesn’t leave you sitting on a couch napping and/or groaning about how stuffed we feel: it powers us up through the day.
One of the strongest/kindest/most-loved women I know. (Photo Crystal took of us hiking last Sunday.)
A photo I took the first time Ewen met Q. From the start, he has been sweet, engaging, and loving, and he grew into a hard-working/accelerated student who is a shining example to Q on how to be a big-hearted/wise young man who can still have fun.
And now they are old enough to play together and Q can talk Ewen’s ears off.
Hiking with Ewen at Three Falls Woods (Photo By Crystal)
Crystal’s children, me, my cub, and Crystal (Photo by Ian)
Snowball Fights, Snow Wrestling, and Waterfalls.
Saturday’s Rand hike
Us Mamas (that’s Crystal) got to roam around while our children soaked up nature.
Ewen and Q
And we wrapped that hike by supporting “Our Vegan Corner” on their Grand Opening Weekend.
Zero-Waste Living and the Aftermath of Rowdy Hikes
Always working toward learning more. Here seen “How Not To Die” by Dr Michael Greger
This information is well-known once you get into the nutritional rabbit-hole of American absurdity, but lest you doubt him: here’s Harvard saying the same.
Dr Michael Greger was kicked into the medical realm when he saw his grandmother healed via a plant-based diet (ie she went from being told she had months to live and was sequestered to a wheelchair, to changing her diet, and living another 30 years…long enough to see him graduate from Medical School <— he’s now a global leader in nutrition sciences).
Q also has a deep love for his grandmother, he sends her love letters every time her poor heart is giving her hell (this one was a scene from Settlers of Catan and a reflection of him hoping he could play it with her when she’s feeling better), and it’s our shared family history that makes us all the more vocal and passionate about the powers and imperatives of plant-based living.
Counting sheep legs vs realizing he’d just spelled everything correctly on his own. <3
The grandfathers get love too. :-) Here seen: a welcome for my snowbird father.
What’s the most impactful thing you can do as an individual to help your kin, community, millions of species, and planet? Transition as plant-based as possible.🌎♥️
Why? Plant-Based foods are environmentally imperative 🌎. They also promote ideal health💪 (which takes stress off our overburdened health care system), are inexpensive🙌, delicious🤤, & compassionate. 💕
Why imperative, though? 🤔We’re approaching (& have crossed) climate tipping points that will doom our kin & millions of other species. 😱📣Reducing/eliminating animal products is the *most impactful thing an individual can do* to prevent worse. 🌎🔥
Why? Animal Agriculture creates more emissions than the entire transportation sector combined, it’s tied to water waste/loss/pollution (<-- freshwater is our most precious resource💧), land loss/deforestation (<-- exacerbates climate change by reducing our ability to sequester carbon🔥🌎), ocean acidification (<-- FYI 50-85% of earth’s oxygen originates from oceanic plankton🌊) & vast species loss/extinction/suffering💔📣🌎
Plus, consuming animal products is tied to increased risk of cardiovascular disease❤️🩹, diabetes👎, cancer👎, and chronic disease👎; whereas Plant-Based feasting is linked to preventing/reversing some of our most common diseases (<— like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer); plus it promotes ideal health & robust strength (ie Olympians, Weightlifters, Endurance Athletes are thriving via PBWFs too). 🎉🙌♥️
What organizations are promoting plant-based diets for best health and environmental stability? National Institutes of Health, Mayo Clinic, Yale, the United Nations, Harvard School of Health, American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, The American Academy of Pediatrics, National Kidney Foundation, even the Parkinson’s Foundation.
We’re all overwhelmed in one way or another, but for the sake of our kin (and the millions of species we share this planet with) we need to start pivoting forward. As someone who once rarely ate green things & used to eat animal products at every meal, I can assure you that is possible, affordable, enjoyable, & purposeful to pivot Plant-Based. In fact, our whole family is now healthier/stronger than ever. 🙌♥️
Anecdotally, our son had failure-to-thrive, was also plagued with perpetual ear-infections/sinus-infections, and had an omnipresent runny nose. What was he eating? Grass-fed milk, organic/antibiotic-free/grass-fed/local meats, eggs from organic-fed/well-loved chickens from a neighbor, every meal came with vegetables, and we limited junkfood. He was healed via a plant-based diet: he’s launched out of that diagnosis and the last time he had a sinus-infection (or was sick at all) was in 2019 when he had some cheese at a school Christmas party. Before shifting to PBWF’s he was sick every month, and how he’s a robust, vital, thriving kiddo. 🙌🎉♥️
If you think any of the above sounds over-reached/absurd/impossible, please go read the links above. I understand the inclination to hackle-raise (<—because I was once totally there) but the science is clear: any step we make forward is imperative (<—and again “STEPS” is the focus. Don’t leap, just start making steps!). It’s as simple as starting with one meal a week and growing from there.💕
We have the ability (deliciously, healthfully, kindly, inexpensively) to *preserve/protect* the planet we share with millions of species & our kin. How are we going to use that power today?✌️🤟🖖
