Sage Garden's Teaching Kitchen

Hi friends, I'm so excited to be able to reach more of you by creating this Page. Here is where I will post upcoming workshops and events and keep you posted on my own personal health and weight challenges. On August 22nd I began a Whole Food Plant Based Lifestyle at 64 years old. I weighed 200 pounds,I'd had gall bladder surgery the year before, high cholesterol and I was pre diabetic, I was clearly facing cholesterol meds and meds for diabetes. Have you ever asked a Dr. how long you'd be on these meds once you start them? Guess what the answer is.
I had watched the documentary "Forks Over Knives" a couple of years before and lost about 15 pounds, but I still poured half and half in my coffee every morning and still free flowed olive oil when I cooked. We took a couple of vacations, holidays rolled around, and before I knew it I'd gained my weight back and was eating the SAD diet again, Standard American Diet. The thing that was the craziest was that I knew how much better I felt eating a Whole Foods diet but I just couldn't make the switch back. Every Monday morning I promised I'd start again then didn't. However, my gut told me that this was my key to wellness not just weight loss.
On August 22, 2014 my friend Margaret invited me to lunch with a macrobiotic chef in Kerrville, Anthony Coden. I had no expectations. Anthony prepared a delicious lunch with brown rice, steamed greens, beans, and a salad. It was the most satisfying lunch I'd had in a very long time. Something about meeting Anthony and his wife Glenda who were totally embracing this way of eating inspired me and I knew I could do it too. And I went home that day and told my husband and my mother that I would be changing the way I ate and they would be on their own to prepare their own meals. I don't expect everyone to do this, but for me I really felt it was a matter of life and death. I was in a spiral I had to come out of.
Weight dropped off pretty quickly and I felt amazing. At my 6 month ck up in February I'd dropped 30 pounds, cholesterol was down 50 points and I was no longer pre diabetic. Today, April 1st, 2015 and that's no joke smile emoticon I'm edging on 40 pounds. I got certified in Whole Food Plant Based Nutrition through eCornell University's online program hosted and taught by Colin Campbell, Phd.. My food coach and food mentor Anthony Coden is also certified through this school as well as The Kushi Macrobiotic School in Eastern Massachusetts.
I began my Teaching Kitchen to make this life style change easier for others than it was for me. Culture is important but sometimes we have to change the paradigm. It may seem drastic to eliminate animal foods and oil, but insulin is drastic, kidney dialysis, limb loss, strokes and open heart surgery are drastic as well. Here in our little town of Bandera we have a Healthy Cooking Meetup once a month where we meet at local restaurants and discuss ways to make better food choices. We have Whole Food Plant Based Pot Lucks and share recipes. I teach free cooking classes at The Arthur Nagel Clinic where we will be starting a free support group.
Let's face it Americans are not eating enough Fruits, Vegetables and Whole Grains. So just keep piling those foods on your plate and before you know it you're eating and feeling 100% better. So just take it a step at a time and keep an open mind. The times they are a changin'. See you in the Garden!