Now it's not a diet...it's my life, and I've never felt better...

It's May 1, wow!!!!.....May day.....May day....now that I just wrote that date, I'm sitting here thinking, hey, maybe that's what my frickin body was screamin at the end of last year...ha ha...."mayday, mayday, we're going down"....It's a call for help...one last drastic, desperate call.....

I was a little overweight, not by a lot, but I had the big ol' 58 year old gut...frequent occurrences of gout, all kinds of other joint pains, and, even though I worked out occasionally, still generally had low energy...very unlike me.....I'm usually a pretty high energy, semi whacky, close to weirdo, energy...always up for trouble....  But at the end of last year, it all came to logger heads....all came to a screeching halt....so something had to give...after looking in the mirror, seriously looking in the mirror, because, what I do sometimes, I "glance" at the mirror, because I don't really want to process what I'm seeing....so after seriously staring at my fat self in the mirror, I decided that was it...it's not going to take care of itself, I ain't wakin up tomorrow with some six pack abs....so....the adventure began....listened to the big "mayday, mayday, mayday..." that my self was callin out.....

So...fast forward 4 months....here we are, May 1st. Down 20 pounds, no gout, no joint pains, incredible energy, and really, really, just feeling so good. I was talking to one of my friends at work today in the lunch line. He knows I went vegan, I said that i do have a little cheese every now and then, and that I've had fish twice in the last 4 months, but no other dairy or meat at all. A guy overhearing our conversation asked me how do I feel??? So I told him truthfully that I've never ever felt better. That I didn't start this change to make myself "feel better", but an attempt to ease gout and arthritic joints...., but now it's turned out to relieve those symptoms and has also made me feel just generally sooooooo much better.....wake up with more energy, walk down the mile long hallways at work with a big spring in my step....get through an hour of ballroom dancing lessons all sweaty but super energized.....oh, yeh, ballroom dancing lessons....that's another topic....salsa, waltz, oh yeh,,,,twirling my gal around the dance floor....but I digress.

So, here's some food to make you feel good!!! Made these a few times in the past few weeks. Vietnamese Spring Rolls....these things are awesome...really easy and fun to make!!! You can basically add whatever you want to these things...think of it as a see through tortilla...tonight I made them with sliced carrots, sliced cabbage for some more crunch, scallions, bean sprouts, cilantro, mint, sliced black seedless grapes, sliced papaya, and crushed peanuts!!! Frickin AWESOME!!! You can dip it into some homemade sauce, but I used a store bought sauce called "Nuoc Cham Dipping Sauce", it's a classic vietnamese style sauce with chilies, carrots, and garlic...it's a beautiful thing people!!!!   OK, go back and read those ingredients......there's a lot of flavor going on there!!!! And all vegan...all good, not bad peeps!!! No animals were hurt in this recipe...ha ha...(except the pack mules that had to carry the chilies in some 3rd world country....), but, hey, that's their job.....

I paired that with some grilled cauliflower and broccoli. (on a grill plate on the stove top...easy),put a bunch of Moroccan spices on that, (olive oil, turmeric, cumin, paprika, chilli flakes, himalayan pink salt), which was awesome....
Walked away from that meal feeling like Muhammad Ali...a champ of champs...felt clean and good!!!

So May day peeps.....if your body is screamin "Mayday".....don't be afraid to change your diet like I did....you'll be happy, and your body will be happy to answer that mayday call with a new, healthy, non GMO, organic, food input....you will love yourself all over again, AND have renewed energy!!!

Happy May folks!!! Eat like you give a fuck........