Nelly reflections on being Vegan

I'm BACK and my latest experiment was with the vegan diet. Integrative nutrition, the school that has changed my life and taught me so much, constantly discusses the health benefits versus non-benefits of the Vegan diet. Being very curious, I set out on a journey to figure things out for myself once and for all. Even though I had every intention of becoming vegan I had no clue how I was actually going to do this and not starve to death. While contemplating my plan of attack, I came across a movie called 'Vegucated' in which three random meat-eating/loving  New Yorkers were challenged to go vegan for six weeks. I even went to a free screening of the movie in Whole Foods Tribecca, met the participants of the challenge and was fortunate enough to hear them explain how much easier it is to go Vegan than it seemed. At that point I was inspired and was ready to give this vegan thing a real shot .

I became vegan on February 2 and even though I set out to be vegan for only six weeks I actually stayed vegan for six weeks after that. That's right folks I was vegan for thee whole months! Why may you ask did I decide to stick with it for that long? Simply put I just felt too good to go back to my old eating habits. My skin was clearer, softer and shinier than it has ever been. I felt more energized even though I was sleeping less (I just didn't need to sleep as much). Physically, I lost three pounds, I was able to run faster and longer and I was more flexible in my yoga practice.  I was in a steady over all good mood and my issues with PMS all but disappeared!! Additionally, things were great with the hubby enough said :) Basically, living on fruits vegetable, nuts, seeds, sprouts and some soy products made me feel vibrant, healthy, and alive! Coincidentally, I had a doctors appointment six weeks into my experiment in which blood was drawn and I asked the doctor to test my Iron level and over all minerals etc. Guess what? it came back completely normal. In fact my healthy fat otherwise called High Density Lipoproteins (HDL) came back extremely high. This means that my chances of developing heart disease was close to nil. Coming from a family that has been plagued by obesity, diabetes,  heart disease and premature death, finding this out meant more to me than words can describe. Despite what people think you can be vegan and get all the vitamins and minerals that you need to stay healthy.

So why do you ask did I not remain Vegan? For a few reasons. First, my husband, who even though ate a mostly vegan diet while I was on the challenge, was not vegan and had no desire to become vegan. My relationship with my husband (the most important person in my world) and the closeness we share when it comes to eating and sharing the same foods, for me, superseded sticking  to a diet that set us apart. So unless the hubby decides  to go full force, I am sticking to a mostly vegan diet with the sprinkling of local cheeses, cage free eggs and the occasional wild fish. So far a mostly vegan diet is definitely still working for me. Another reason I decided not to stay completely vegan was because I found it to be a very extreme lifestyle. After keeping kosher for most of my life, which I always thought was strict and annoying enough, I found being vegan to be even stricter. I believe that everything in life should be in moderation and staying vegan no matter how you look at it  is subscribing to an extreme way of living because after all eating is everything. I prefer to keep my options open and if I feel a need (or a craving te he he) to eat something none vegan I am free to just go for it.

In the end, I give a lot of credit to people who are and remain vegan they are really doing good for themselves (their body and mind), for our fellow animals, and the planet with which we all live on. They are truly choosing a diet of love and compassion, because after all my vegan challenge proved that we do not have to kill animals in order to survive. So why then should they have to die in order for us to live? We are all creatures of the earth and gods creations. So I thank them because if we were all able to become vegan the world would surely be a better and more compassionate place.

If you or someone you know would like to know more about becoming vegan feel free to get in touch with me, it is definitely easier than you think and you will reap health rewards greater than you have ever imagined.

Love Always,
Nelly

Creating True Prosperity: Reflections on a truly great book and the New Year.

Hello again and Happy New Year! Looking back on this past year, it has definitely been a year of self growth for me. I have been trying to figure out what I truly want to achieve in this new year of 2012 and my mind immediately thinks back to a book I have just read called 'Creating True Prosperity' by Shakti Gawain. My good friend and fellow classmate recommended that I read this book and boy am I grateful. At first I thought to myself, why do I need to read this book about how to make money, all I need to do to succeed is focus on Health Coaching, follow the program's instructions, study hard and the money will come. After reading this book, I have learned that there is so much more to making money and becoming successful than what I previously thought. Our ideas about money and achieving true prosperity has everything to do with the idea of the 'disowned self.' What is this 'disowned self?' Well this can be explained by first discussing what the 'primary self' is. The 'primary self' is the self that we show the world and the most dominant qualities of our personality. For example, my dominant qualities and the parts of my personality that is easiest for me to express is my generosity, ability to give, vulnerability, my ability to care for others, spontaneity, friendliness, outgoing-ness and sensitivity.

Gawain, then goes on to explain the idea of the 'disowned self' or the parts of ourselves that we have suppressed, basically the opposite qualities of the 'primary self.' Her theory is that because of damaging experiences we had in our early life we learned that acting in a certain manner or expressing certain feelings were 'wrong' or 'bad' and will only cause harm. So we were conditioned to deny these parts of ourselves thinking that we are protecting ourselves from harm when ultimately what this causes is more imbalance, frustration and pain. For me, my 'disowned self' would be my ability to receive (love, help ect..) my sense of power, self-confidence and the ability to care for myself

So what does all this have to do with Prosperity?  Well, no one can put it better than she does, "The more we learn to accept and express all aspects of who we are, the more freedom, satisfaction and wholeness we experience, and the more prosperous we feel. Since our lives mirror our consciousness, the more balanced and integrated we are internally, the better our external world will work. Our relationship with money and our overall experience of prosperity reflect how well we have developed and balanced the many energies that are within us."

What a profound idea!! Gawain goes on to explain that every experience we have and all the people in our lives are meant to redirect our focus to what is imbalanced and what we have to work on. I think this idea explains why I have been feeling so stressed and unsettled. Lately, I feel like life is constantly pushing me in the direction of reclaiming my power and confidence. More and more I end up in situations that are requiring me to speak up and state my case. This idea has also forced me to think about everybody in my life, why I attracted them into my life and what I can learn from them.

Since, my husband Michael and I have recently celebrated our six year wedding anniversary, I will use him as an example here. When I think about Michael and all his qualities it makes a lot of sense why I chose him and he chose me. We are a great example of how opposites attract. He is a person that is always on time, responsible and has the strongest work ethic of anyone I know. He gives himself whole-heatedly to anyone in need with a smile on his face that extends from one ear to the other and is not ashamed to say what he thinks in a very straight forward manner. When he wants something he goes for it like an animal stalking it's prey, like his life depends on it, his focus unfaltering. He is self-aware and he accepts his imperfections, claiming that "they make him who he is and he likes himself." What an amazing man and how lucky I am to have attracted him into my life. With him in my life I don't have to look very far to figure out what my imbalances are. All of his strengths mentioned above, remind me of what I need to work on in myself and motivate me to be stronger and more confident than I ever thought I could be.

I encourage you to think about these ideas of the primary and disowned selves and to reflect on this past year. What can you learn from each and every person in your life and the experiences you have cultivated including the not so excellent ones? What do you want to achieve in 2012 and what changes will you make to get there? I am going to leave you with the idea that life is constantly  nudging us in the direction of greater balance and with that said I hope you have a wonderful 2012 full of self-awareness, growth and above all a year of true prosperity.

Blessings and Peace to you all.