My story
Welcome to my Three Little Chickpeas blog, I am so glad you`re here. I am a proud spouse, as well as the mom of an amazing little boy and two awesome dogs. I grew up in Georgia eating the standard American diet, full of steak, potatoes, and very few vegetables. I was always active as a kid so the weight stayed off until college. Then I started to eat out all the time and I stopped exercising so much, so the pounds really started to pack on. They continued to pack on after I was married and all throughout my pregnancy.
I was obese at this point, and because of my son, I had the drive to be a healthier version of myself. I lost weight the old way by drastically cutting calories and exercising like crazy to get the pounds off. It worked too. I lost 59 pounds, but I still never learned how to have a healthy relationship with food. So almost all of the pounds crept back. Then I discovered the food documentary Forks Over Knives, which changed the way I see food. It started my drive to learn more about the whole food plant-based diet through many books and documentaries. Although I was very skeptical at first, I was shocked after watching Forks Over Knives.
This was a big change I was about to make for my family so I loaded up on information. One thing that you'll learn about me is when I'm passionate about something, I seek out information to ensure that I'm making the right call. The resource page is a partial list of sources that I have used to further my understanding of eating a whole food plant-based way.
My family tree (like many) is riddled with cancer and heart disease. I just assumed one of those would make its way to me one day. After learning more about the research that Dr. Campbell and Dr. Esselstyn (both doctors are an inspiration) have devoted so much time towards, my family and I can now greatly reduce our risks of some of the top diseases (heart disease and cancer). If you want to learn more about how our lifestyle choices impact our lives then check out the suggested reading section on the resources page.
Since going plant-based I have lost the original 59 pounds (for a second time) and then some without counting calories. I lowered my blood pressure, I have more energy to play with my son, I have improved my relationship with food, and I haven`t had a sinus infection since I stopped eating dairy (woohoo!).
This is my journey to improve my family's health. We're not perfect (we still like to bake sugary sweets), but at least they're vegan. 🙂
The purpose of this blog is to grow the plant-based community and provide simple, family-friendly, plant-based meals. We can thrive together and do a little better every day. Eating real food doesn’t have to be expensive or hard.
I hope you stick around and try some of my recipes!
And always remember that it's progress, not perfection!