How I transitioned from “normal” eating to plant-based.

When I began this “healthier me” journey, I was a mom of only 4.  I attended a wonderfully quaint little Southern Baptist Church in Kona and it was normal to have food after service.  After a while, many of us noticed, as our fellowship grew, so did our waistlines.  So… some ladies began researching healthy ways to lose weight.  I assume that’s what happened anyway.  All I know for sure is that our pastor’s wife and some other ladies came back with Dr. Ann Louise Gittleman’s’ Fat Flush Plan (FFP) and I wanted to try it with them. 

Over the years, I dabbled with some things trendy weight loss ideas that really didn’t work for me.  One actually made me sick because it used milk but I had two friends who were losing and happier than ever. I was feeling like a failure so I kinda abandoned eating healthy and decided to just focus on exercise.  I attended a dance workout class 3x a week, a “booty camp” and a stretch class.  I was working out like 6 days a week, my joints, bones, and pride ached and perhaps I was losing weight but I DID NOT feel healthier, just stronger.  I kept it up, added physical therapy for the pain I was increasingly in and tried again to limit the unhealthy food choices.

By the grace of God, we relocated to Maui.  On Maui island, EVERYBODY seems to be healthy.  It was a little intimidating at first.  There are many food establishments that offer plant-based or organic foods.  The beaches are filled with amazing bodies and there is almost always at least one person doing yoga.  This island makes me want to be healthy.  It was on Maui that I was introduced to Purium Health Products and my first 10-day transformation.  Back then it was David Sandoval’s 10-day Celebrity Transformation because Dave Sandoval had worked with celebrities to transform their bodies quickly but in good health.

Honestly, I was NOT impressed by my results.  I was happy OTHER people saw change but I wanted more.  So I decided to just stick with it and see how much more I could lose if I lived the “Purium Lifestyle.”

Result of my first transformation

Now three years later.  I am beyond thankful I made that decision.  Not because I am a brand promoter but because at the heart of the Purium company are two people who believe the industry of food has moved us (the world) away from our natural unmodified fully nutritious diets resulting in many of today’s common dis-eases.  Their goal:  return to our roots.  How: education and pure premium quality food.  That’s how I found my health.  Purium educated me about food and the industry in ways I hadn’t ever heard of so I kept digging.  I followed their sources, that, of course, led me to local level health enthusiasts who showed me how to be active in the protest against corporate Frankenfoods.

While all of this education is happening in the forms of books and documentaries, special talks that were given locally and personal testimonies from people who changed their lifestyle; I discovered I was maintaining a healthier weight that I  had in years, but it had also plateaued.  I was over 200lbs and I noticed my body reacting very much like some of the research I was discovering. Like any reasonable idea, I decided to check in with my doctor. Much to my dismay, the results of the tests they administered said nothing of my distress being food related so I was only given prescriptions for the symptoms.

My journey led me to a class at the local university where I learned a little bit more about fasting and took on my first.  I spent 6 days drinking water only and I loved it so much that I went full steam ahead when I felt led by the Lord to do a 40-day water fast.  I say water loosely because there were a  couple days where I drank Kombucha for gut health.  I quickly ended that (can’t wait to tell this story) and then went back to water only. Alkaline water to be exact, but don’t ask me the levels.

After the water fast, my body was extremely sensitive to food and if I ate a slice of pizza I swole up, got itchy and had lots of mucus issues… gross right… It’s the same with a slice of bread or spaghetti noodles… except the bread and noodles don’t give me mucus… ANYWAY… the point is that my body was sensitive and I was paying attention.  So back to the doctor, I go to share all my good news.  While he is pleased with the benefits of the fast to my body, he does agree something is going on and we begin a sweet dance of seeing different specialists for the symptoms to decipher which is actually the culprit.  I don’t mind because I want to know what is going on.

It is not easy to learn, do and stay encouraged, but the internet has really been my happy place when it comes to this lifestyle.  I have always contended that I eat plant-based more because of the food industry rather than the animals, but the more I spend in the tribe of vegans and advocates for vegans, the more the animals become an ethical matter to me. I am finding that thought process helps me in moments of weakness when I just want to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich but my vegan GF bread is molded even though I put it straight into the freezer when I bought it. I often will pray for encouragement in my daily life and that will include my food choices and praying always makes me feel better when I am sincerely looking just to spend time with the Lord.  Working out and drinking water have also been very helpful. Like I said earlier, I have done an extended fast and I experienced all kinds of crazy feelings but as long as I prayed and drank my water, I was able to be on track.  I feel like those are essential for success during a fast and any kind of living.  I am not alone either. Many online health enthusiasts share their different methods of working toward their health goals and water and positive energy are part of the plan.

📗 About D Goosby of JDs Organic Productions

🌺My Story... The Journey Continues🌺

D Goosby of JD's Organic Productions is a wife and a mom to 8 beautiful kids including 2 sets of twins. At one point, she weighed close to 300 lbs and then lost half of it just to put most of it back on. D eventually got tired of the yo-yo. She learned some hidden truths about our food system and decided to get educated and make lasting changes. D studied to become a certified personal trainer, nutrition coach, and peristeam practitioner because she realized that she was not alone in wanting to make healthy lifestyle changes but lacking the knowledge to make anything permanent.

That is what D does today, she helps busy moms like herself, get back to where they feel good again, they look the way they want to look and they get to be a healthy role model for their families and friends.