SHELL HERE

Hello everyone! Many people ask us how and why we became plant based. It’s a long story, so bear with me. From 2014-2017 it felt like everyone around us was dying. My husband and father died two weeks apart from two separate diseases: one being cancer and the other being heart disease. I was devastated and at a complete loss. My entire world was torn apart and I was left standing alone wondering what the heck was going to happen to me. I will never forget the fear that paralyzed me to my core. As I was walking through a major fog, carrying my shattered heart through my new broken world, more people kept dying. Being the logical thinker that I am, I kept asking myself how and why are all these people dying, and was I next?

For the first year after their deaths, my daughter, Jay, would not let me out of her sight. I knew it was because she feared, since everyone was dying, I was going to die too. As a mother I had to find a way to help my child know that although death is a major part of life, I would try to do everything I could to stay alive. So, I started questioning diseases, illnesses, environments and life in general. I questioned how I could keep my promise that I would do everything in my power to not die. It is kind of ironic that when you start asking questions and pondering these things, the universe will have things arrive in front of you.

One day on set in Hollywood we met a family that was “plant-based”. I was thinking, what in the heck is that? Do you just eat lettuce? How are you alive by doing that? Remember, I was questioning EVERYTHING about life. After a week of being with this family, the mom recommended books and documentaries to read and watch. All I can remember is that for the next two weeks I was glued to Netflix, sobbing my eyes out and being horrified as I read the books she recommended. My amazon account went crazy with all my book purchases.  I realize we may never have the answers for our expiration dates and we as humans need to understand that death will affect us all. We live and then we die. But what I was learning in all this new amazing information was that we have the power to choose how we live. Our lifestyle choices become our lifestyle diseases. WHAT? My mind was blown. Not to sound ignorant, I know we have choices, but society and cultural norms fill our brains with convenient lies that we naturally accept as okay. I wanted to change my lifestyle and as a Mom I wanted to keep a promise to my daughter that I would do everything in my power to be as healthy as possible and prevent her from living through another death (at least before my old age that is).

      My parents, my husband, and I all ate the same foods. My father had heart disease and diabetes and died from a massive stroke. My husband died from stage four pancreatic cancer. My husband was the youngest of seven and only four are left; the rest of his siblings died from cancer. My mother died from colon cancer. It felt like maybe my daughter and I should just plan our funerals and wait to die, because we were genetically doomed. But after watching all the documentaries and reading the books I realized that maybe my path didn’t have to follow theirs. Maybe there was HOPE after all.

      I went plant-based overnight, and I told my daughter that I am keeping my promise and will do whatever I can to stay healthy. So far, it is working! At the time I was 40 pounds overweight (I was a professional grief eater!), I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and I was on the verge of diabetes. I was uncomfortable in my own skin and depressed from my deep grief. Here I am five years later, 40 pounds lighter with the blood pressure of a teenager, diabetes-free, with normal cholesterol and although I have griefy days, my depression is gone. Grief never goes away, and I have accepted that. I only wish things could have been different and my husband and parents would have been around to learn about plant-based lifestyle; maybe it would have saved their lives. Then again, my life wouldn’t be in the direction it is now if wasn’t for them. I am keeping my promise to my daughter, (I mean unless a bus or lightning strike get me first lol). I am also changing my life and not forgetting those who left before me, and I’m grateful for the new lease on life even though five years ago my life was shattered. I would have never believed five years ago that in a million years I would be writing this story on how I changed my life and kept my promise to my amazing daughter. Yes, she went plant based too because her genetics were not looking so good for her either! Now here is Jay telling her story as to why she went plant based.

HEY IT’S JAY

      Hey everyone! I was wary of going plant-based at first, but now I wish we’d done it sooner! As my mom said, we were on set when she met this family. I remember eating lunch with them, and that particular set had decent food. I was vegetarian at the time, but I still loved my cheese and eggs. I was a picky eater and I loved my cheese. Everyone would say I was going to turn into a mouse with all the cheese I ate! Anyway, on set I had known my mom was talking to these people about being plant-based, and I saw their lunches. They were eating salads with a bunch of… well, plants! Yuck, I thought as I chowed down on whatever I was eating (that was probably doused in cheese). Still, I tried to keep a somewhat open mind.

One day on the long car ride home, mom handed me her phone and had me watch Forks Over Knives. She had watched it while I was on set and told me that after I watched this, I would never want to eat cheese again. Naturally, I didn’t want to watch it! I loved cheese, so why would I want to watch something that would make me hate it? Nevertheless, I watched it because I love my mom. I also figured it was in my best interest to just watch it anyways. I am SO GLAD I watched the documentary that night! That was the first of many documentaries that started to change my mind in favor of a plant-based lifestyle. Plus, even after we went plant based, I realized that there are vegan cheeses! I know I’m talking a lot about cheese, but that was a big deal to me as we transitioned to a plant-based lifestyle. There are even more options now than there were then. I learned that you actually don’t give up a lot when you go plant based because of all the options that are available now. There’s not much to give up, and everything to gain with a plant-based lifestyle!

      When my mom has her yearly physicals now, I’m not worried that they’re going to find something suspicious (like they did with my dad) that will kill her later on because I know we embrace a healthy lifestyle. As my mom always says, “your lifestyle choices become your lifestyle diseases”, and our lifestyle choices reflect disease-free lives! When we tell people we are plant-based now, a lot of people say something along the lines of, “wow, that must be so hard!” I can’t blame them, because a few years ago I would have said the same thing. Yet, having embraced a plant-based lifestyle for almost five years, I can confirm that it actually is not hard!

The hardest part about being plant-based now is knowing that we could have done this sooner, and it would have saved my dad. What’s hard is now knowing that your lifestyle creates your diseases and knowing that my dad’s lifestyle gave him his cancer. My dad wasn’t eating food, he was eating disease and death. There have been times where I have even been angry at him for eating the things he ate. He didn’t know better and I didn’t even know better back then, so I know it’s pointless to be mad now. But it is frustrating to know that this simple switch to a healthier lifestyle would have saved my dad, my papa, and nana. Now I can’t even look at the same foods that I used to fear giving up without seeing the poison that killed my family. The switch to a healthier lifestyle is so simple. We could have still had burger night, but we could have used vegan cheese and Beyond Meat patties. We could have switched over to a plant-based lifestyle and still done taco Tuesday. The hardest part of being plant-based is simply how easy it is to be plant-based, and how this simplicity could have saved our family. In short: thanks Mom and plant-based cheese, please!

JAY AND SHELL’S TIPS:

• Choose one book to read at a time.
• Choose one documentary to watch.
• Check out social media for plant-based accounts!
• Reach out to us if you need help! We’re always here to help you. We are currently working on coaching packages to help you all, but in the meantime ask us questions through DM on our Instagram @Jayandshellsjourney .

PLANT-BASED RESOURCES WE RECOMMEND STARTING WITH:

Below is a list of resources we used when going plant-based that we highly recommend. We provide links to purchase these items on amazon (simply click on the highlighted text).

Books Explaining Why Plant-Based:

• How Not to Die
• The China Study
• The Engine 2 Diet
• Plant Strong    
• Forks Over Knives
• Forks Over Knives — Plant-Based Way to Health

Cookbooks to Help Transition:

• The Forks Over Knives Plan
• The Forks Over Knives Cookbook
• The How Not to Die Cookbook
• The China Study Cookbook
• The China Study Quick and Easy Cookbook
• The Engine 2 Diet(this book explains the health benefits of being plant-based and has recipes in the back!)
• Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook

Documentaries:

• Cowspiracy
• Forks Over Knives
• What the Health
• Vegucated
• Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead
• Food Inc.
• Hungry for Change
• Plant Pure Nation
• Live and Let Live
• Game Changers

Raw Vegan Recipe Books:

• Modern Raw
• Raw and Simple
• Becoming Raw — The Essential Guide to Raw Vegan Diets
• Easy, Affordable Raw
• The Fully Raw Diet
• Raw Food Romance — Volume 2
• Raw Food Romance — Volume 3

The journey to go plant-based seems daunting, but it’s easier than you’d think! We have been plant-based for nearly five years at the time we’re writing this post, and our only regret is that we didn’t do it sooner. Another bonus to being plant-based is that you can make it work for you. There’s a variety of different plant-based people out there doing their own thing. Some plant-based people just do it for animals and the environment, so some vegans eat Oreos (that’s right – Oreos are vegan!) and vegan pizzas and enjoy all that good vegan food. Other plant-based people are raw vegans or even fruitarians. We have found what works best for us now is living 80% raw vegan and 100% plant based. We are so happy in this lifestyle and how great we feel on it.

      If you ever have any questions or need guidance, reach out! We are always willing to help people switch to this healthy way of life.

Aloha and gratitude,

Jay and Shell

---

Disclaimer: We use affiliate links in this post, and therefore may receive a compensation with your purchase, at no extra cost to you. These are all plant-based resources that we use and love, and hopefully you’ll love them too.