Hey there Ms. Superfit,

Wifey and I are backing off meat. Not declaring vegan or vegetarian yet but just backing off. I was wondering if you had any tips to help stay on track.? Holla back when you gitaminit!

*transferred from Facebook*

HEY Tanjareen that you for your letter very inspiring and informative. i myself just started a vegetarian diet and slowly given up dairy products. but it has been a amazing 1st year. and challenging, im 49yrs old and have lost 30 lbs (really) i feel great never felt like this in all my adult life. so its never to late to start and thanks for the help

Hey Tanj, Thanks for the christmas card and always thinking about me around the holidays. I have to apologize for not being as diligent. Anywho, I kept thinking to myself Tanj needs to do a vegetarian blog and wahlah! here it is. Great, more people, especially of color need to have this information. I, just like you, changed my eating habits, shortly, after moving to L.A. in 2004. I was always around vegetarians. My mentors and theater circle where I got my start acting in N.Y., were mostly vegetarian. They would always tease me about eating meat. I just passed it off that they were crazy fanatics. I never thought I would stop eating meat. Although I was never raised eating pork and had cut back to almost totally not eating red meat all together with the exception of jamaican oxtails. So, after I moved to L.A. and started to become more aware that a lot of people's ailments were do to diet, especially people of color I wanted to change my eating habits. I had acne growing up and into adulthood and the only thing that would help was antibiotics. I knew the problem could only be solved internally. None of the topical stuff was doing much for me. I refused to be on medications for a lifetime, because that is another problem side effects. I wanted to get to the root of the problem which no one ever addressed. I too stop eating all meat. I finally found a creamy and tasty enough ice cream substitute. I was not vegan however. Although I did cut mostly everything dead out of my diet. I cheated every now and again and had cheese. Fast forward. I had heard soy can make the body think that it is estrogen ( that's why it is good for menopausal woman) and may not be good for pregnant woman especially male babies. I heard it could cause all kinds of complications such as deformities and even miscarriage. So, I went back to eating meat when I found out I was pregnant in 2008. I am still eating chicken and fish and ironically a lot of my friends who were once vegetarians are now eating meat. My question is this. I still make many healthy choices in regards to food. I eat quinoa, brown rice, brown rice and quinoa pasta, loads of kale and greens and fruits and veggies. I use agave instead of sugar. Amino acids instead of salt (it has soy in it) more herbs instead of powered seasonings. veggie cheese(without casein) almond, rice, hemp and coconut milk. Coconut yogurt, rice and whole grain breads, coconut and tapioca flour, red potatoes, egg replacer, tofu for eggs, etc. What are some other healthy choices or alternatives to soy and tofu meats?? Oh and I need your recipe for vegetarian mac and cheese. The other thing is people have to watch the juices they drink. Juicing is a better option. I have become so obsessed at times with it that I want to make my own everything from scratch to avoid preservatives and toxins in store bought products. Can you also talk about the weight people can gain from eating all that tofu and soy? A lot of my vegetarian friends were gaining weight. Vegetarian does not meat you are completely eating healthy, although it is a much better option. I know I rambled on so please forgive me. I am excited to talk about this topic and wanted to get all my thoughts out. Anxiously waiting for your feed back.

Hey sweetly I enjoyed reading your post. I would like to know, Where can I purchase all the vegan food you mentioned?