150: Karine Kuchipudi on Going Vegan

Transitioning to a plant based diet for a healthy lifestyle.

Karine was once an extreme carnivore and she happily ate sweetbreads, blood pudding, lots of meats including game, and all kinds of raw meats. parties Food was her life. She had a catering business and organized dinner that would have made a vegan faint. Life was spent in the kitchen, life was good.
Then she embarked on her vegan journey just over year ago to combat significant skin issues. She started by first eating fruits and vegetables in large quantities but she struggled from low energy levels. Then she tried a paleo diet which did not work out, so she started educating herself about plant-based protein.
Education was the key to her success, and two pillars of veganism became important to her: mercy for animals, and protection of the environment. Grains, seeds, and nuts are now the biggest part of her diet while she is striving to achieve a complete plant-based diet.  She loves whole and natural ingredients, and wants to show others how a vegan diet can be fun, easy, and delicious

In This Podcast:  Greg gets to chat with new friend Karine who has a mission to help others cook delicious vegan meals.  Karine shares her experience of going vegan and explains why she was she was motivated to make that change. With her experience running a catering business, it makes sense that cooking would be a passion that continues even with a dramatic lifestyle change. She is committed to helping others by sharing her journey and sharing many tasty and healthy vegan recipes and she explains why this is so important to her.

Listen in and learn about:

• How her acne was the biggest reason she tried diet changes and started educating herself
• How her early research led her to questioning some of what she had known for years
• The pillars of personal health, mercy for animals, and protection of the environment

  

• The difference between vegetarianism and veganism
• How veganism helps in personal health
• Some benefits of plant based diets regarding major health issues
• How some people are not aware of the governmental admission of the red meat connection to the clogging of arteries and high blood pressure
• The rise in popularity in veganism especially in millennials
• Mixed lifestyles in families and how the filling aspect of vegan cooking can satisfy non-vegans
• How to make the transition softly to help make the adjustment not so traumatic

  

• Her website veganblondes.com and some of the site benefits including how her blog of the journey became so popular
• How gardening helped her find more interest in veganism
• Where the recipes come from on the site
• Her Sunday grilling routine with a feast from farmers’ market vegetables
• Frozen aisle options that are vegan
• The difference between vegan and plant based – the cookie example
• How veganism carries into the garden
• Her timeline of veganism conversion – start with research, then buy organic only, start shopping at farmers’ markets, then move to growing your own food

  

• The importance of planting calendars
• What a CSA basket is and some of the things she got in hers recently
• Her trick for helping her kids love vegetables is to help by serving them a plate with a bunch of veggies cooked well, and giving them options of delicious choices
• That veganism is not only healthier but it can be better on the pocketbook too

As well as:                  

• How her first attempt to start vegan was only cutting the meat and dairy from her diet and it was not healthy, but then she turned to education to give her the information she needed to become successful
• How she feels she is on her way to success with her mission to spread vegan recipes, but she appreciates the changes in her kids’ food preferences
• Her motivation is not just a food change, but also a spiritual change as well, and to help others learn to cook veggies, legumes, and grains deliciously
• She recommends changing your pantry to help your success

Karine’s Book recommendations:

For kids:         V is for Vegan by Ruby Roth

That’s why we don’t eat animals by Ruby Roth

Vegetable literacy by Deborah Madison

The O She Glows Cookbok by Angela Liddon

Modern Vegetarian Kitchen by Peter Burley

How to Contact Karine:

Instagram & Twitter: The Vegan Blondes
Facebook: veganblondes
Website with recipes to those shown above and many more: www.veganblondes.wordpress.com