Empowered By Our Choices!
It’s not a fad, nor a diet … it’s a lifestyle. The vegan way is growing day by day and is more about what we value than what we want. My conversation with Ella Magers was informative, fun and inviting. If you’re still turning away from the truth about factory farming and the animal agricultural industry, you won’t quit eating meat, but if you are waking up to deeper human values, you will want to either find new alternative sources, or you will stop all together. We’re at the tipping point - maybe today is the day you’ll consider embracing a lifestyle of plant-based, whole food eating, and who knows, you may even become a vegan…….???
Liz: How did your journey start?
Ella: When I was seven years old, I connected the food on my plate to the animal I ate. We were studying Daniel Boone in class and I thought he was really mean to shoot animals and wear a raccoon hat. I came home from school and told my mom how I felt and she said, “We’re really lucky because we get to go to the grocery store to buy our meat.” That was the very last time I ate meat. Both my parents gave me the space to be me and I was also very independent. I was raised in a log cabin and potty-trained in an outhouse just outside of Chapel Hill, North Carolina until I was of school age. It was a hippy commune environment in the early 80’s and we had a garden and mom used to make her own yogurt and things like that.
Liz: What was the evolution of your being a vegetarian?
Ella: I was 15 when I really understood the connection and cruelty in animal agricultural industries and reached out to PETA and Mercy for Animals and other vegan outlets, and at seven I was writing about why we are so hurtful and harmful to animals. Today, it’s really different because the mainstream media is bringing us to the tipping point. People are watching movies and learning about the cruelty in factory farming and the effects of meat in our diets, and a w a r e n e s s i s g r o w i n g . Documentaries are huge and people are getting excited and telling their friends, and change is happening right now. On Netflix check out: “Forks Over Knives,” “Cowspiracy,” “Vegucated,” “Food, Inc.,” “What The Health” Liz: What is the difference between a vegan lifestyle and plant based diet or whole foods?
Ella:
You can be a vegan and eat a whole food, plant based diet as part of
that lifestyle. There are also a lot of vegan junk foods on the market. A
person who is plant based could add in some animal products here and
there and they are not living a vegan lifestyle which would include no
leather, honey, eggs, animal tested makeup and it’s essentially,
ethically driven. Plant based eating is mainly for health.
Liz: There are a lot of celebrities who are raising awareness now. What are you observing?
Ella: Beyonce and her trainer teamed up to create a vegan meal delivery service, one of the big time celebrity moves, and JLo too is moving in that direction by taking steps that are sustainable. Once you know, you cannot not know, and once you open your heart to know, to really know what’s happening in the industry, it’s hard to keep making decisions that have been so out of line with our values. We have dominance over animals and we have to use our smart and advanced awareness to be compassionate, and use technology to be less cruel. We’re at the point where we will have to change the way were treating animals. As supply and demand decreases, the impregnating and killing of cows will change. Have you noticed, large corporations are beginning to label their products vegan? We have so much power to dictate how their money and how technology is used. It’s time to act according to our values and make these changes happen.
Liz: There is a ongoing myth or obstacle to being a vegan because it’s deemed “not easy”. How do you advise our readers to start?
Ella: When you’re used to eating a certain way for 40 years, yes, it can be overwhelming, I understand. It’s not an all or nothing mentality. Start with your values. Ease it into your life by making it fun, like an exploration. Everyone has their spin on it - but the truth is it’s great for yourself, for the animals and for the Earth, and if you get really excited about being vegan, you can go into restaurants and ask the chef to make something special for you. I’ve found over and over they love to be creative. You don’t have to be perfect either. Start somewhere:
1. Discover Your Values
2. Look at What You Can Add to Your Plate
3. Add Whole Foods to your Diet - in their natural state and not processed in any way
4. Explore Your Relationship With Food
5. Become Your Own Coach and Observe Your Mind and Thoughts I discovered when speaking with Ella that many of us haven’t developed reverence for food, and we both agreed that shoveling or inhaling our meals can lead to many disorders especially bloating so … chew, chew, chew. Ella said when you chew your food it’s like making a smoothie in your mouth. That could be sexy!
Ella Magers, founder of Sexy Fit VeganŽ has combined her passion with a successful business model and adds a sprinkling of her heart and soul to her clients. She’s the “Sexy Fit Vegan” who is coaching and empowering people with the tools they need to transition to a healthy vegan lifestyle based on values not willpower. SexyFitVegan.com Hold the heat, add some spice to your life and have a fun filled August!