Last week you met Christopher and Kara’s family along with Tony and Emily’s family. Both families began eating a plant-based diet in 2012. We will hear from them again in February but this week we have new families to meet. We will continue to meet new members of The Extended Family throughout this month. In February we will revisit each of them and see how they are navigating the plant-based life.
Without further ado please meet…
I am Erica (28), wife to B, and mama to three kiddos (9,4, and almost 3). We are just outside of Houston, TX. Back in 08, I read a few books that made me want to start the plant-based lifestyle but it all felt overwhelming so I didn’t take the plunge. In March of 2012, my husband and I watched Forks Over Knives. That convinced us both to make the switch. My kiddos transitioned pretty easily and I am a bit bummed that I didn’t switch sooner.
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Hello!!! My husband Nate and I (Kira) have recently transplanted to rural South Dakota from our hometown of Springfield, Missouri. I am a mental health therapist in a long-term psychiatric facility for adolescents and Nate is a barber and photographer. We are in beginning stages of adopting an infant domestically and really love our dogs. We are committed to our church and stay rather busy. Nate has recently lost just over 60 pounds by calorie counting and exercise, I have struggled to find the same motivation and follow through Nate has been able to muster. I struggle with high blood pressure, PCOS, and bad cholesterol, Nate is lactose intolerant and we believe has IBS as well. Nate and I have eaten vegetarian off and on, and primarily for health reasons. After some soul searching, and viewing a number of documentaries it is difficult to deny the facts about eating a plant-based (vegan) diet. Nate feels that if we cannot eat our dog why should we eat a cow or chicken. We want to live a healthy life for our growing family and help others along the way.
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Are you as excited as I am to meet these families? Help them feel welcome and stay tuned because next week I’ll make more introductions.
Tagged: Healthy, kids, Plant Based Diet, The Extended Family, Vegan
Hi! I feel like I understand both of these new families. I too have known the value of plant based eating for years but found it hard to make the transition and I also lack motivation at times. I look forward to hearing from both of them.
This is so fun. I love this!
I was excited to see other South Dakotans giving this a go! My family is BRAND NEW to this and really appreciating all the advice and recipes you have! Im looking forward to getting started with this! i kinda feel a little sick about all of the “other” food that i have recently restocked.. ugggh! This “real” food sounds much better to me though!!.. EXCITED… AND OVERWHELMED!!
I’m excited for you! We ate through a lot of our food because I’m so frugal but I couldn’t handle eating the meat so I made up a weeks worth of meals for a pregnant friend then donated some of the unopenned non-perishables.
It sure is a challenge is a town of 600, we were used to a town larger than Sioux Falls, we kind of like proving to ourselves we can do this!
Kira are you able to find most of the ingredients you need locally or do you shop online a lot? I had trouble finding what I wanted when I visited my mom last summer, she lives in a rurual area. If I lived there I’d get weekly delieveries!
we shop in bulk a lot when we go to town, there’s a few really nice shops in the town we shop in, and lots of local produce.
Very nice! Loving the series.
I’m so excited about it too! There are a lot of really neat families participating. I can’t wait to get to know them better as the year goes on.
Yay for happy, healthy vegans!
[...] week we will peek in on Erica & B and Nate & Kira. Erica & [...]