My Story

Why This Site Exists

It’s been said that people are composed of mind, body and spirit. This place is largely about your spirit.

As I transitioned through seasons of discovering how to sustain a whole plant food diet and it’s benefits, I found a ton of scientific research, recipes, fitness tools and social groups. What I didn’t find was a way to feed my spirit – or soul – to help transform my inner person. And so, I began taking notes and digging in to discover the Spirit of the Journey. This site is a gift back for others on their journey. It provides a daily spiritual devotion as you take steps to improve your health through plant based eating.

Medical and nutritional information is readily available. You’ll find it sprinkled throughout each day. Here you can find what to eat and why eating it can revolutionize your physical health. There are socials groups to talk about the recipes, challenges and success.

My Personal Journey

Fit, thin and physically active was my norm until Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). Life was full tilt with busy days as a wife, mother of two small children 18 months apart and a high tech career (LinkedIn) in full stride. In the late 1990’s I began having debilitating pain in both feet. It spread systemically. Thus began a frustrating journey of deterioration, weight gain and after two years of medical tests doctors sorted the diagnosis: Rheumatoid Arthritis.

In many ways, who I was before RA died because everything changed: life’s routine, my clothing size, fit friends who I could no longer keep pace with and how I saw myself.

A 20 year journey of to find relief ensued.

It’s a relentless pursuit to not be defined or limited by a diagnosis. Cycling through periods of laser focused will-power to push through pain followed by months of hopeless resolve to just survive. I often felt sick from traditional RA medications but soldiered on. I pushed through at work without using sick days or lower performance. My inflammation was so severe I found my way into being part of cutting edge trials for a RA medication all the while worrying about side effects.

It was 10 years before the light bulb went on that nutrition mattered. It was another 10 years of experimentation as the “diet” landscape is littered with nutritional half truths and misinformation. During my journey I’ve asked myself the spiritual questions like “Why me?” “Why the suffering?” and “Why God?”.

In 2017 I transitioned to a fully vegan diet but ate too much processed foods. Eating a non-animal diet addressed the pre-diabetes in my blood work and some of the RA but it didn’t address the weight. In 2019 I began to research alternatives to remove inflammation from my body when I learned that inflammation “lives” in fat cells. This lead to the discovery of Eat To Live and The Starch Solution in May 2019. I found plenty of help in terms of what to eat and how to eat. There are self help books and TedTalks on managing mental change and habits. All useful tools.

Cooked plant foods were a significant improvement for my RA and other symptoms. But it did not quiet RA completely. This lead me in mid 2020 to once again dive into the science and begin to experiment with a ‘high raw’ diet. This means 80%+ of what I’m eating during a healing phases is raw.

More Than Food

But I hungered for spiritual insights to help me manage the journey in a way that connected me deeper with the living God. God who is present in the day in and day out of food and life choices.

This devotional is a blossoming collection of reflections born from the pain and pursuit to understand and support my own transformation. I hope you find it written in a way that encourages you on your journey — the triumphs, temptations and celebrations — through the valley and winding road of change.

With heart-felt warmth and cheering you on. I’ve met my original weight goal. I thought it was a fantasy at the start. I know now from looking in the mirror I have more to loose. I don’t know what the number on the scale will eventually be, but I trust that by continuing to live with food focused on plants. My body will find it’s way. Without hunger. Without cravings. Without unreasonable amounts of exercise. I’m tracking my progress and endeavoring to remain curious to figure out what specifically works well for my body and what doesn’t serve me.

I hope you join me and that plant based believer encourages your journey.
May this be a place where the deep blessing of God’s love for you meet.

Have a friend or loved one that is fed up with loosing the fitness battle? Invite them here.

To your health: mind, body and spirit.
With blessings & hope,

#PlantBasedBeliever @GoPlantBasedBeliever