Natala Constantine

Last night I got to go the premier of the documentary “Got the Facts on Milk“. The film is fantastic and everyone needs to watch it, and send it to everyone they know. (seriously).

I get lost in my own Vegan amnesia a lot sometimes. I try to remember why I ever thought for ethical or for health reasons that using animals was EVER okay. A lot of propaganda? Addiction? Ignorance? It seems so cut and dry, so simplistic. If we were talking about an animal we all thought was a pet (like a dog) we’d be outraged.

Can you imagine if there was a news story about a farmer collecting dogs, killing the males, selling the males for their flesh, and then raping the females over and over and over again so they can produce large amounts of dairy, in order to feed another species?

We’d all be outraged, we’d be storming the gates of the farm, we’d be marching in Washington.

Things are covered up in our country, in ways that I think I am just beginning to understand. Because the truth is millions of dogs are abused, tortured and killed every year, because some sick people found out that some dogs don’t fight as much (Beagles) so they test cigarettes on them in ways that I can’t even get into, because it is too disturbing to write about. They test makeup and cleaning products on them, they test drugs on them to see the side effects of medications. But we do nothing, we do not storm the gates, we do not know, we stay silent.

If a neighbor was torturing and killing baby piglets in their backyard, anyone would be outraged, horrified and terrified. But because it is done behind closed doors, because people pay someone else to do it, and to package it up, it is all okay. People would call the police about their neighbor, but they will willingly go to a store, and buy piglet flesh because they did not have to see it or kill the pig themselves.

If someone was taking away the oxygen supply of kittens, causing them to gasp for air and suffocate so that they could sell kittens for people to eat, we’d call it horrific and barbaric. But that is what is done to millions of sea animals every single year, and people don’t think twice about it.

Our society totally gets the movie “101 dalmatians” how sick that a woman would torture, abuse beautiful dogs for her own fashion! Even kids understand that, right? But yet people will wear the flesh of cows, and the fur of another animal that was brutally tortured, and not think twice about it, all for the sake of fashion. Meanwhile, showing their kids a disney movie on why it is so bad to be so evil.

Last night I got to meet the author of the book “Why we love Dogs, eat pigs and wear cows”   It is a book I highly recommend that you read.

Sometimes I wish I could go back and talk to my former self, (about a lot of things). But for now, what I want to encourage you to do more than anything, is to get angry. Stop living in the bubble that society has created, it’s not a good bubble, and we can’t make change unless we pop the bubble. I don’t know what the answer is, but I do know it all has to start somewhere, and I’m hoping that more people can start with simply getting angry, and saying “no more” don’t let it happen on your watch, and just start.

If you are Vegan, vegetarian, or omnivore, you need to be at the next Engine 2 Immersion. First off, I’ll be there (in Austin) and that’s enough for you to sign up, you get a hug from me! Aside from that you get amazing education from the most amazing people in the field, and you learn how not to kill yourself too quickly or suffer for a billion years before you die.

I really want to encourage Vegans to go, a lot of vegans make the mistake of thinking vegan=healthy and skinny maker, when it does not mean that at all. If you’ve decided to be Vegan (AWESOME) but it’s time to learn how to be healthy and avoid the pitfalls a lot of people fall into.

So come on out, join all the fun.

There has been this odd thing going around, an odd form of judging, that I don’t really get. I’ve seen it on a few forums/facebook pages/twitter accounts. People upset at other people about the reason they are vegan, or the reason they don’t eat/use animal products.

Frankly, I just don’t care why someone decided to stop killing animals, if they did it for health, the earth, religion, whatever the reason, it is a reason that helps a lot of innocent animals out, every single day.

I didn’t start my path to veganism for reasons that had anything to do with saving animals, in fact, if you ask my friends/family – I was very outspoken that I was NOT doing this for ethical reasons. I was afraid of the word vegan, I didn’t really know what to expect from the word, and I had no clue about how animals were treated, and I didn’t really care at the time.

I stopped eating animals because it turns out they were killing me, not because I thought for a second about not killing animals. I’ll get into the health side of things in a moment, but what I really want you to know is that my path to becoming a very passionate vegan, very concerned about animal rights – started because I was selfish, wanted to save my own life. It’s a funny thing, when you stop eating animals, all of a sudden you start to realize that you have caused no animals to be killed or tortured.

Strange, isn’t it? It’s hard to think about animal rights when you are eating the flesh of another creature. It’s a hell of a lot easier when you have already stopped eating animals, when you have made one logical conclusion about using animals, it is a lot easier to make other completely reasonable, logical conclusions.

It turns out, that if you stop eating animals for health reasons, you are going to mostly stumble across a lot of cookbooks, authors, blogs, twitter people, facebook pages of vegan authors, most who are very passionate vegans. One of the first vegan cookbooks I was given was a Dreena Burton cookbook, and wouldn’t you know, Dreena sometimes talks about animal rights, and not doing harm to animals. I would get cookbooks by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and find myself on the PPK reading about the ways animals are treated, I would start listening to Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, because I really loved her recipes, and low and behold there she was talking about animals as well. It all lead me to pick up books those cookbook authors or their fans had mentioned, lead me to watching videos about animal rights, and it eventually lead me to veganism.

Not everyone is going to be this magic vegan over night. They are not all going to see one big nasty PETA sign held and think “OMG I NEED TO BE VEGAN RIGHT THIS SECOND FOR ALL THE RIGHT REASONS!”

What are the right reasons? I mean, if you are really concerned about animals do you care what the reason is for someone to stop eating them to begin with? What if they take 10 years of not eating animals to become vegan as well? Are we going to get on peoples cases because we (because we are SO much better!) are vegan for the “right reasons”?

Please. So here is the thing you might not know about me, I grew up in Church, I was a very conservative Christian for a very long time – not just conservative, think cult, think kool-aid drinking cult member. And there are times in which I’ll read threads, posts, and I think – did I magically stumble back into the super righteous right wing conservative movement? Because, the Church did the same thing to people. It wasn’t enough to be “in” you had to be in for the right reasons, had to follow the right doctrine, you had to follow these magical guidelines of people that were a lot more holy, a lot more righteous, a lot better than you were. And if you were less than perfect, if you did things for the wrong reasons, well you were not good enough.

It’s part of the reason I am now atheist. That’s for another story, another blog.

Unless you have been vegan since you were birthed from your mothers vagina, you really have no place to tell people they are wrong for the way they became vegan, or that they don’t yet understand all there is to know about being vegan.

I call this vegan amnesia. It’s when vegans all of sudden forget the years and years and years of sucking the teets of cows and eating the flesh of animals. They forget the times that they didn’t know that whey was an animal product or that there was fish bladders in wine. So they yell and scream at other people and new people to veganism (or just people who are not eating animals). HOW can you not know that cows are raped? And chickens are raped and that babies are killed? AND how can you eat HONEY? OMG! YOU EAT BEE VOMIT YOU SICK HUMAN BEING! I MEAN COME ON! Unless you stumbled in on some magical vegan world when you first became vegan, you didn’t know any of this stuff either.

I mean, maybe there are some people who just got it all right from day 1. You were born into this world a vegan, you never slipped, you never got something wrong, you always knew every single way to be the perfect vegan. In fact, you can’t even read this post, because you are that good of a vegan, you know that in order for your computer to be made other creatures had to suffer. You live in a hemp tent, and you are withering away, and it’s totally cool, I applaud you. But most of us, are not there. Most of us are on a great big journey.

Going through A LOT of changes in my life, I can tell you that who you are today is not who you will be in the future. This is not to say you won’t be vegan, this is to say the things that you think are 100% right at this very moment, will more than likely change. You will learn things, you will grow, you are intelligent, it is bound to happen to you.

If this was like 10 years ago I would have totally had a Jesus tattoo somewhere on me had I not been scared of needles. A JESUS TATOO. I would have also made fun of vegans relentlessly, argued with them, and I would have voted for Bush. Seriously. This is like confession.

The point is, who you are today is not who you will be in five or ten years, hell it isn’t even who you will be in 6 months. And chances are all of the other people in your life, on your twitter feed, or who are facebook friends with you won’t be either. Some will slowly move toward veganism, some will not. And they might not get it all perfect the first go around, they might slip up, they might not know that some soy cheese has casein in it.

Instead of suffering from vegan amnesia, be kind, and be thankful for WHATEVER reason someone is deciding to give up the animal products, even if it is slower than you would want them to go. If someone wants to give up eating animals because their god/goddess/alien in the sky told them to, just go with it. If someone gives up animals because they almost died of a heart attack and learned that eating animals caused that heart attack? Be happy. Be happy that less animals have to die and suffer because that person (like myself) was selfish.

Who cares why they stop eating baby cows? They STOPPED EATING BABY COWS. We’re really going to judge a person for the reasons they stopped? Really? It’s like being mad that your sports team won the big game because your favorite player did not hit the home run at the end.

While we are kind of talking about health. Let’s really just get this out there. GOING VEGAN WILL NOT MAKE YOU SKINNY. The word vegan does not mean “skinny maker”. It means you don’t do mean shit to animals.

Why do people lose weight when they ‘go vegan’? You will be so pissed. It’s because they are eating less calories. Turns out that when people go vegan, they stop eating as much, it’s funny the way that works, you all of sudden realize there is a lot less food available to you when you go vegan. I mean, yeah, it’s easy to not eat animals, but if you go from eating double cheesburgers from McDonalds every day to not eating them, you will lose weight, I don’t care who you are.

Now, what about all the health claims. I really don’t get why there are some vegans who argue against the health claims of giving up animals, I mean really, what could they possibly be wanting to prove? Do we get more vegan points if we are mad at people who want to be healthy?

Giving up animals will do a lot of good for your body. But it doesn’t stop there. All of those books/movies like China Study, Engine 2, Eat to Live, Forks Over Knives, Eating, McDougal, you know all of the books/movies you tell your friends and family to watch because you are hoping they will be selfish like me? They are NOT telling people to go on a vegan diet. They are telling people to do the following:

1. Give up animal products. (YAY!)
2. Give up oil. – WHAT?! OMG?! OIL?! Yes that means dayia and vegan ranch and vegan mayo and fried vegan food.
3. Give up highly processed junk like sugar. Yes that means vegan donuts and vegan candy bars and coconut bliss ice-cream. NOT THAT I HAVE HAD PROBLEMS WITH THAT.

That is what is going to lead people to being healthy. And if you have a serious health issue, and you don’t want to suffer for years and years and years (like I decided not to) you might want to jump into the deep end, because that is the answer, go ahead, fight it, whatever, it’s not going to help you, you will eventually learn what everyone else is learning. Eating a low fat plant-based diet is the key to reversing a lot of nasty stuff. You can fight me on it, you can be all upset about it, but it’s not going to do you any good. I’m not saying that to be a bitch, just that it’s the truth, and if you have a disease like t2 diabetes or heart disease, what else do you have to lose? Those diseases are nasty, you don’t want them.

And I don’t want you thinking that I’m all in the eat like this get skinny. I’m still fat. I’m going to be fat for a long time, I lose weight at a pace so slow that I am the worst person in the world to advocate getting skinny eating this way. I can gain weight eating vegetables. Seriously.

Why? I was apparently a warrior or something. Lucky me! This great psychologist, Doug Lisle who you need to look up and read his book, and then you need to thank me, because he is all kinds of awesome. Anyway, Doug talks about how the people (like me) who are big in our society were the people way back when to survive better than anyone else. TAKE THAT SKINNY PEOPLE! I was the one who survived through famine and long boat rides to new fancy countries. You do not posses some magic because you are thin. In fact, I poses the magic, because if all the food runs out, guess who is going to be around longer than you? And if we have to catch a boat to another country really quick, guess who is going to get to be the survivor? ME, FAT VEGAN WARRIOR PRINCESS.

I went YEARS thinking there was something wrong with me. Why couldn’t I lose weight, why could other people seemingly eat junk and I was the one who ended up over 400 pounds? Well it turns out that if you only eat like one more oreo a day than a thin person you will gain 5 pounds a year. Which means that in 10 years you will be 50 pounds overweight, not because you binged every day on donuts and mcdonalds but because you ate ONE MORE COOKIE. And why do you eat one more cookie? Because our fat warrior tribal selves tell us that if we have a little more fat on our bodies we are going to out last the other people in the tribe when the famine comes or when the boat ride happens.

So stop beating yourself up for being fat. You were some big tribal goddess/warrior at some point, so be happy about that.

Now the issue though is that we have all of this food abundance. Which makes it really hard, actually almost impossible. Where your skinny friends can eat a bite of a vegan candy bar and put it down, us fat warrior princesses can not, and that is why life sucks sometimes.

And the thing is, if I knew that there was not ONE bad thing that would happen because of my weight, I would just be a sexy plus sized tribal warrior goddess and be done with it. Unfortunately, being overweight is just not a healthy thing. Some will be mad I said that. But that is how t2 diabetes happens, A LOT of heart disease and some other issues as well. Mostly I know about t2 diabetes. Fat makes it hard for insulin to get to cells, the more fat you have, the less insulin can get to cells, which makes you insulin resistant, and that leads to diabetes, and that leads to blindness and amputation, and nasty depression and a lot more bad stuff that you don’t want. Trust me, I’ve been there. I almost took my life because having t2 diabetes SUCKS. The way to fix it? Get rid of body weight and stop clogging up those cells with the worst offenders: animals, oils, processed junk.

It sucks, really because who doesn’t like the occasional junk food? and sure you have a choice, you can do whatever you want. I would just hope you’d pick the option with less suffering in the long run. Get to a weight that won’t cause something like t2 diabetes, and be happy. No, you don’t have to be super skinny, be healthy. And don’t let super skinny people convince you that they know something you don’t because they are super skinny. They were the weak links in the tribe, why are you listening to them?

There are some people – like the Esselstyn  (Engine 2/Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease) family who have figured this all out – they do not have good genes, but if you have seen the Esselstyn family they are all HOT, yes, even Dr. Esselstyn, he’s hot, don’t deny it. And they have a lot of bad genes in their family – obesity, heart disease all of it. They did have to fight against some nasty genes, and if you know them or know the way they eat, they are crazy careful. They have been eating a no junk vegan diet for decades now, and they work out and that is why they are not shopping at Lane Bryant or Big and Tall . But it takes a lot of work, and it’s hard, and I’m not even going to tell you that it’s easy at all , because it is not.

It has taken me FOREVER to lose the weight I have so far. I’m down almost 200 pounds now, and it is hell. What I didn’t tell you was that a few months ago I had some health issues come up – it’s a long story, but I ended up gaining about 30 pounds back, what seemed like over night – all from vegan food, because vegan food has calories, a lot of people do not know that, I thought I’d let you know. And because of that, and some other stuff I got depressed – like really depressed. And I am mad that I got so depressed, because this whole thing is a journey. I don’t need to lose weight at some “biggest loser” style pace to become healthier, and there will be set backs. And you know what? It’s going to be SLOW. Because remember, I’m a tribal warrior, so I need time, or something.

I went and lost the weight I had gained, and then some. But it was NOT easy. I eat the cleanest diet of anyone I know, and you know what? It’s still hard, and it’s still SLOW. Losing weight is kind of like watching paint dry.

But in the end, who cares? Who cares how fast or slow I lose weight? The only thing I care about is not having type 2 diabetes, not losing a leg (like I almost did) and not suffering. But you should not care about that part of my journey. If you learn something from me – learn this:

• I don’t care why you are vegan, I’m glad you are.
• If you are fat, it’s because you were some awesome warrior tribe person and you kicked skinny peoples ASS.
• Lose weight, not because you are NOT gorgeous and sexy the way you are, but because I don’t want you to go through the crap that I went through. Get to a healthy, ideal weight and be happy.
• It is NOT easy to make changes like this, in fact it’s almost impossible. I’m not going to pretend that every day is  a walk in the vegan park, somedays suck.
• Somedays are awesome though, you should definitely know that.
• There is hope, a lot of it – not just for you and yourself but for the world. I want you to know that if someone like myself can make some really HUGE changes that you can as well, so can your friends and family.
• Focus on the people who love you for who you are and seriously, don’t worry about the rest – those are the people that would have tried to throw you off the boat, so why are you going to worry about them?
• Make your life simpler, enjoy the things you want to enjoy.
• Judging people because they are not at the point that you are at exactly, is just not cool. A good friend recently told me that “people who are behind us are back-sliders people ahead of us are fanatics”. Be happy where YOU are at, and work on your life. And help the people who want to be helped, be loving and caring, and if you can’t? Stick to yourself, and worry about your life first.
• Mostly, enjoy the ride, because no matter what you believe, we only get this part of our journey one time, so make it count, love and live your life. Don’t do things that will make your life harder, do things so that you can have really awesome experiences.
• And lastly, don’t listen to me, because chances are I’m wrong about a lot, and in a few years I’ll be a different person in lots of ways, and that is totally fine with me.

It has been a very busy and productive few months. I haven’t really been away, if you follow me on Facebook and twitter, you have been keeping up with me.

I have started a new project called “Simplified Food” which is going to be all about food and our simplified life and travel. You can check it out here: http://simplfiedfood.com or @simplifiedfood on twitter and on Facebook: Simplified Food.

I also took a job with Engine 2 Diet! I am very excited about it, it is a great team to be working for.

I’ll catch you up more later, but for now I wanted to check in and say hello and let you know what I’ve been up to!

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up – I’ll be offline for a little while. All good stuff, I promise. So for now – go Vegan and be plant-strong!

If you have any questions about Veganism or eating plant-based please check out the FAQ sections and the resources page!

I really love giving stuff away, but I absolutely hate having just ONE person win a giveaway. Ask my husband, I drive him nuts, even in random giveaways I get really anxious. This time I had 10 people helping me out, and I read your entries about a billion times, but alas there can only be one (grand prize) winner.

Tomorrow as a bonus I’ll be picking a random winner from the comments for another kale bag! And coming up you can expect giveaway’s for some awesome cookbooks and books!

So the winner… It was a 9 year old girl, Liliana! And I think it would be super cute for a 9 year old to be carrying this pink kale bag all around, talking about how awesome it is to eat kale and eat veggies!

The winning poem: 

A veggie that’s wonderfully green,
It gives you a healthy-ish sheen.
Eat it in lunches,
Measured in bunches,
The veggie that keeps you so lean!

(by Liliana)

The past few weeks have been really crazy for me. We drove almost 40 hours, I gave a few talks, I drove up to Sacramento to speak at “Earth Save” (which I will tell you more about later on), we were living in and out of our car, slept in 4 beds including an air mattress for several days, and I learned how to drive around San Francisco all by myself, which I was super proud of.

In all of this, I completely (almost) forgot that it was my 2 year anniversary of blogging! (blogiversary?) I don’t know, but I like to celebrate, and this is as good a reason as any. The past 2 years have been incredible, and I have loved meeting so many awesome people.

I’ll write something more heart felt later on, when I have caught up on sleep, but for now, how about a big giveaway?!

This is going to be pretty fantastic, so I’m going to run the giveaway through next week! There will be celebrity judges and great prizes! What are the prizes you ask?

This awesome bag from Herbivore Clothing in Portland:

A few “Only kale can save us now” stickers and some other herbivore buttons and stickers.

A copy of the cookbook “Unprocessed” signed by Chef AJ

Some tasty vegan treats.

A copy of “Engine 2 Diet”

A copy of “Veganist”

And some surprise items!

So how do you enter this awesome giveaway? You have to write a poem. A poem about kale. I don’t care how long it is, what kind of poem you write, you can make a video of your poem or do a dance of your poem, anything you want really, as long as it is all about kale.

You can leave your poem in the comments or a link to a video in the comments. I will pick a winner (with help from celebrity judges) next Wednesday (the 20th) you must submit your poem by Tuesday the 19th!!

So, get to it! Write a poem about kale or record a video about your ode to kale and leave it in the comment section, and I will pick a winner (with the help of some other awesome people) next week!