Food Choices Page #8

of organizations, that

do philanthropic work

for sick children.

I'm an npst cancer survivor.

Npst is a rare sarcoma,

it's one of the most

aggressive and fast,

infiltrating cancers that

there is on the planet.

I've had over 325 tumors

removed from my body.

I've lived a very, very

rigorous and painful last

three and a half years,

battling for my life,

and I had a decision to make.

I'm either going to

let this take me,

or I'm going to fight.

Like giving up wasn't an option,

I don't know what's

going to happen,

but I'm not going

to die sitting down,

or laying down, I'm going

to keep my hands up,

my head tucked, and

I'm not going to stop

swinging until it's over.

And without a plant-based diet,

I would not be here today.

It kind of kept

my cancer at bay,

and it's allowed me

to thrive in ways

I didn't know was possible.

The insane mindset that

animal protein is the key

to being very healthy,

you know, almost killed me.

I'm not saying plant-based diets

cure, or they're

the end-all, be-all,

but what I am saying

is that if you're

going through some

type of health crisis,

your odds are very,

very much greater

when you embrace a

plant-based lifestyle.

Those are just the facts.

And my life is the living proof.

- In 2006, I attempted suicide,

while I was on 250

milligrams of Zoloft,

for what the doctors

diagnosed as major

depressive disorder.

And I was told I'd

be most likely on it

for the rest of my life.

A week after that i

went into a personal

development course,

and changed my beliefs.

From there, I started

to look at what I was

putting into my body.

And I started to

look at nutrition,

and nutritional healing,

and what I could do.

And it led me to going within,

and back to nature.

I stripped away all

of the processed food,

I went back to just

eating raw fruits

and vegetables, and juicing,

and green smoothies,

and I started to have

a sense of a natural,

natural happy high started

to come into my body,

and I was feeling better

than I'd felt in many years.

The symptoms of depression

started to drop away,

the heavy, sluggish,

tired feelings

that I couldn't cope,

the chronic fatigue,

the aches, you know,

everything started to shift.

And I started to

feel my cells were

transforming on some level.

I'd made the decision

that I didn't want to put

ever again, the fear

of death and suffering

of another life, and eating

animals into my body.

And that translated to

a shift for me, I cured

my own depression.

And I've never looked back.

- Eating tasty

food is one of the biggest

pleasures in life.

So many people might

argue that even though

eating an unhealthy diet

is not good for them,

they don't want to jeopardize

the fun aspect of it.

And therefore, they continue

eating unhealthy things.

But one thing that

i came to discover

is that when you

transition into a healthier

eating lifestyle, you do

not have to compromise

on taste.

Yes, you will go through

a transition period,

but once your taste buds,

and your body's chemistry

begins to change, you

will start to crave

and really enjoy these foods.

It is important to

find food you like,

and once you realize

that almost every dish

can be made plant-based,

you will see that

it is not that hard at all.

- There's such a stigma

with the word vegan,

I guess that people

just get automatically

turned off and just assume

that it's going to suck.

But it's like it doesn't.

If anything, to me, and

i mean, that was another

big thing, why I do it,

because it's better.

To me, I think food's

just way better this way.

I would say just try it.

You know, you'll

surprise yourself.

- When you're

becoming vegetarian,

and you've given up

the meat and the dairy

and the eggs, the only

thing you know for food,

you think you're going

to starve to death.

You have to understand that

marinara sauce, and

pasta, and lasagna,

and bean burritos, and oatmeal,

and hash-brown potatoes,

and so on, things you

love, that's where you get

your calories and your

protein and your vitamins

and your minerals.

- There are so many

beautiful, wonderful

amazing, delicious

plant-based foods out there.

In fact, when I started

to do this a whole world

opened up to me, and

when you begin to eat

these nutrient dense

foods that are actually

fuelling you, that are

actually nourishing you,

with all of these

amazing vital nutrients

and micronutrients,

you start to feel good,

your cravings change, and

your taste buds change.

You know, that cheeseburger,

that you couldn't

get out of your mind, suddenly,

you're not thinking

about that anymore,

and you're actually

craving that Kale smoothie.

And that's something

that happened to me

that I would have never

thought would have happened.

- People think that vegan

food just tastes like crap.

And that's not true.

I think that people

think that being vegan

might potentially be strange,

that people are weird, that

you have to be a hippie,

or you have to embrace

wearing hemp clothes,

or something.

- You want to have a burger,

you can have a burger.

You want to have

spaghetti and meatballs,

you can have spaghetti

and wheatballs.

You want to have fries,

you want to have chocolate

mousse, you want to

have pumpkin pie,

you want to have stuffing,

you want to have,

you know, even hotdogs.

- And so when you're looking at

the idea of taking the leap,

into this way of

eating and living,

don't look at what

you're going to be

not eating, embrace

and be excited

about the adventure

of all these new foods

you're going to be

bringing into your life.

- Eating

healthy will not do you

much good if you

can't afford it.

Or if it leaves a big

hole in your pocket.

So my next question

was is it possible

to eat healthy on

a tight budget?

- A common misconception

is that a whole

foods plant-based diet

is very expensive.

I routinely post pictures

of my grocery receipt,

and I take my whole

bounty that I bought

at the produce market, and

put it out on the table

so people can see, how

much I end up with,

and they're shocked.

Whole grains that

we buy in bulk,

are very inexpensive.

You're going to cut your

grocery bills in half,

from a typical

standard American diet,

in the beginning, it might

seem like a lot of effort,

but in the long run, you're

saving all this money

for all the new clothes

you're going to have to buy

for the new slim

you that is produced

from eating this whole

foods plant-based diet.

- It's easy to go into

those markets and say,

"there's no way

that I can do this."

But the truth of

the matter is that

it doesn't have to be expensive,

it doesn't have to

be inconvenient,

it doesn't have to be

difficult, it doesn't have

to be time consuming.

And my experience is

that it has actually

simplified my life,

and it's been cheaper

than eating the

other way around.

- At this

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