I'm no longer vegan

Hello, it's Alexandra. Hope you're having an awesome day. So today's video is I am no longer vegan. And I haven't been vegan for a while, but I've been integrating and exploring and experimenting this huge paradigm shift from going to vegan to not vegan. I was very, very committed to the vegan lifestyle. And there I was pretty much vegan. That was my guiding principle for about eight years. There was a period in there where I had some eggs and raw goat's cheese and salmon that wasn't very long. I just experimented with that. And then also while I was pregnant, I had a couple eggs maybe every week. I probably had three to maybe six eggs every week during my pregnancy. And other than that, it was pretty, pretty vegan. Pretty. This is the way to go. And I focused mostly on the raw vegan lifestyle. I felt like that was. That was right for me. I even competed in a fitness show, you know, as a raw vegan, and was super, super into it. And I did great and it was awesome. And I've learned so much. I have been, literally. I played college volleyball in college. So when I was 18, I started getting really, really interested in nutrition. And mostly because I was having digestive issues and skin issues and all of that's not surprising with all the research that I've done. Now, knowing that I was born cesarean, my gut probably didn't heal properly, which happens with babies that are born cesarean. I had high fevers when I was like one. I had seizures. I had a seizure because my fever was so high. I was in the hospital and. And then every year I pretty much had strep throat or something that I was on antibiotic for. And yeah, it's just not surprising that I've had the issues that I had. But it just feels really powerful to know my lineage and to know my health history and to know what I'm working with so that I can heal and optimize to the best of my ability. And like I said, I thought veganism was it for me. And I love the idea of veganism. I think it's amazing. And I thought I was just. That was the path that I was going to just be on. And what opened me up to changing and to shifting was I gotta give props to John Kerry fist bump. He was really into. It Starts with Food. And I have their book here, the whole 30. So they do a 30 day challenge. And it's a paleo challenge, essentially. Paleo. And they wrote a book called It Starts with Food. So it starts with food is where it all started for me. And I read that two weeks before my son was born. And I read it, and they started talking about grains. I didn't have a lot of grains, but I still had grains. And they talked about corn and soy and just different things that, you know, you have on the vegan diet. I didn't have lots of it because, like I said, I leaned towards the raw vegan, but it still piqued my curiosity, and I just wondered. So after reading It Starts with Food, I thought, wow, I guess I need to experiment. I just felt inspired to experiment and wanting to, as my son was, you know, almost here. I thought about who I wanted to be for him. And who I want to be is somebody that's willing to be open and. And willing to explore and willing to experiment and willing to be wrong and just being willing to learn. So I took out all grains. I did the whole 30. And I noticed a difference. My skin got better, my digestive system got better, digestion got better. And it just felt intuitively like I might have been missing something, not having animal products and from. From my body telling me that because my mind was still telling me that I wanted to be vegan. And I can make this work. And I just need to do more cleanses. And because I was really into the cleanses, I went to the Optimal Health Institute Institute and We Care Spa in California and Hippocrates in Florida for three weeks. Like, I was like the detox queen doing it all, yet I wasn't feeling like I was getting anywhere, and my skin kept breaking and things like that. So I totally felt better when I did. It starts with food. So then I started to explore, and I'm gonna share some of the books that have been helpful for me, and I continue to learn and expand and study. But so we had the whole 30, and then I really like. You know, he's a biohacker and he's intense, but I love intense. The Bulletproof Diet by Dave Asprey. He's. I really, really like him. And, yeah, I've learned a lot and continue to learn a lot from him. And then since I had digestive issues and gut issues, there was. I don't have the book here, but Clean Diet by our friend Dr. Younger has been awesome. He's been amazing and just helping me. And he's the one who recently helped me with the stool test to realize that I still got some yeast happening and also some lovely critters in there called parasites, which is interesting. So I'm doing a whole protocol for that right now. We're getting ready to start this week. So then Gut Health was clean Gut and the Clean Program and then GAPS diet. This is really interesting. And she says that she just doesn't think vegetarians can ever be fully optimal. And she just goes in. She's healed autism and ADD and ADHD and dyslexia and depression and schizophrenia and just really fascinating. And I like this. And what else? The Paleo approach, autoimmune. So if you have an autoimmune issue, she is amazing. She's such an incredible researcher and I just. I really like her and I just trust her. And she had an autoimmune disease and she's just. She's awesome. So the Paleo approach and then another autoimmune. Few other. The Autoimmune solution by Amy Myers, which I haven't read all of it, but I like her and I've learned a lot from her. The Wahls protocol, she had Ms. And she beat progressive Ms. Using Paleo principles and functional medicine. She's a hero. I'm so inspired by her. And then David Perlmutter and with the Grain Brain and Brain Maker. And what else? Sarah Gottfried, the Hormone Cure. She's a friend and also has been helpful for me, too. Just different perspective and her books and just her wisdom. And I've interviewed her a few times and I feel like she gives a great holistic approach. And. Yes. So those are some of the resources. I know this video is long, but I just wanted to share those with you, just. Just to maybe give you some new resources and just to see what. To let you know what inspired me. And I feel like I'm still experimenting. I don't have all the answers. I still love vegan food. I still eat a huge salad every day and things like that. But I do have animal products, and I've pretty much experimented with all animal products. And I used to start my day with the juice, and now I start my day with, like, some collagen protein and coconut milk and some ghee maybe, which was Dave Asprey inspired. And I still do green smoothies. I love my green smoothies. But I have salmon and I have chicken and I have fish, and occasionally I even have pork and steak and some of those that I was like, oh, my gosh, those are like the worst foods you could eat. And like I said, I don't have all the answers, but I know that I'm on the right path and I keep getting my blood work done. And just learning more and more about how to optimize my hormones and how to have optimal health and optimal body for me. Like, whatever somebody else is doing, I've learned that that's great for them and I need to keep exploring to see what works for me. So that is my I am no longer vegan story. And I know it can be such a heated topic, which is probably one of the reasons why I didn't want to do this video, but I do. I just, I don't want to be boxed in. And I don't think that it's healthy for us to just be so dogmatic with our nutrition. I think it's great to keep learning, keep studying and see what works for you. And you know, if something's not working for you but you believe that it's the right thing for you, just try it and see if you notice anything different. You can always go back. Like if I see, if I, you know, have an insight and I feel, you know what, I do actually think I'm gonna give veganism around again or give it a go again and I can try it again and I can see. I just feel way more expansive and way more open and just less rigid. I still have strong rigidity in the sense that I don't eat any grains anymore and I don't do any sugar and very little fruit. I'm not like on a low carb diet, but I just have found that energy and digestion and all that stuff feels better when I'm lower on the carbohydrate and especially dealing with some yeast and parasites. That is the protocol to be really low on that stuff, just to get those critters out and get normal bacteria and normal, you know, the microbiome all healed and thriving. So is there anything else I want to share? I think that's it. I know this is a long video, so hopefully it was helpful for you if you are just wondering about your nutrition. And I started to blog over@alexanderjjohnson.com I'm blogging what I'm eating every day and I'll be doing recipes and just sharing my daily journal, which when I first started blogging nine or ten years ago, that's what I did. So it's fun to kind of get back into that and just, you know, get back into the fun and journaling and sharing my life online a little bit more. So that is where I'm at. Alexandraj johnson.com I'll put a link here and you can come and find me there and tell me your nutrition story. I want to hear what's worked for you, what hasn't worked. I'm always open to learning and I'm always open to hearing new things. If you have new ideas, because I know we all got new ideas and books that you've loved and things like that, be share them in the comments and let us know because I know that'll be helpful for me and it'll be helpful for other people who are exploring what is the best diet for them at this phase in their life, knowing that it could change at any point. Alright, my dear ones, I thank you for watching and I appreciate you and sending you lots of love.