March 4, 2025 • 25 mins
Explore a transformative journey into veganism in this captivating episode featuring Kristyn Medeiros. From facing societal pressures to nurturing her children on a plant-based diet, Kristyn radiates passion and determination in helping others discover veganism's holistic advantages. With rich conversations about the challenges of transitioning to a vegan lifestyle, she explains how small steps can lead to substantial changes.
Listeners will gain invaluable insights into nutritional needs on a vegan diet, the realities behind food production, and tips for making sustainable choices. Kristyn's approach involves kindness and education, making it easier to embrace this lifestyle without feeling overwhelmed. She shares her entrepreneurial passion through Vegan Curious, a resource for parents interested in navigating this culinary shift with their children.
Engage with Kristyn's journey and consider your own food choices, as we aim to support each individual's path toward better health and well-being. If you're curious about veganism or want to inspire others on their journeys, share this episode, subscribe, and stay tuned for more insightful discussions!
Catch Kristyn on her podcast "Flyingupstreampodcast"
We look forward to seeing you succeed! - www.KeepOnSharing.com - Code - KOS
www.CoachMikkiandFriends.com
Join my guests on my YouTube Channel
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, I'm Coach Mickey and I'm so glad that you joined
us, and if this is your firsttime joining us, come on in to
make yourself comfortable.
And for those of you that joinus on a regular basis, we are so
glad that you do, and I want tothank all of you for always,
always, always reaching out tomy guests.
They really appreciate it.
They love the connections, theylove hearing from you, even if
(00:21):
you've got some comments,questions or even your own
stories, if they have somethingthat you can collaborate with.
So thank you so much for doingthat, and I'd like to give a
shout out to some of the biggestcountries that listen to me,
and I'm so excited because everytime I log on and see my group
and my tribe and the people thatare listening, it always makes
(00:42):
me smile to see that somebodyfrom Australia has come on, or I
have got someone that's inGermany and I know globally, a
lot of you are all over and Iusually give you a shout out,
but I wanted to just give aspecial shout out to these
listeners.
So thank you so much, and todayis going to be really, really
fun.
I'm excited because I love tocollaborate with other people
(01:04):
that are in the same workplacethat I'm in, and I don't even
call this work because I lovewhat I do, and when you love
what you do, it's really notwork, is it?
So with me today is KristenMedeiros.
She knows firsthand what it'slike to break away from the
expected path.
After climbing the corporateladder and working the global
companies, the federalgovernment of fast-paced tech
(01:26):
startups, she's found herself atCrossroads and she chose to
define success in her own terms.
Isn't that awesome?
Today, kristen co-hosts FlyingUpstream, a podcast that
explores unconventionallifestyles and the people who
dare to challenge social norms.
She also runs a businessdedicated to helping vegan
curious parents introduce you toplant-based lifestyle and to
(01:50):
your families.
So, without further ado, I amgoing to bring in Kristen and
welcome her.
And how are you today?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Wonderful.
Thank you for having me, Mickey.
I'm so excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Well, I'm excited to have you and we had an
opportunity to share stories offair and I love what you had to
offer and I know your story willresonate with so many people
that are on my platform and justyour story could be told
anywhere and it's going toinspire, you know, every, each
and every one of us, so I'm justgoing to jump in with that.
(02:23):
So how did you get started withthe vegan lifestyle, especially
for what your past was andwhere you were working?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yeah Well, I think most of my life I have been on
this journey to try to behealthier, and as I continued on
learning and educating myself,I realized that the word healthy
has a different definition foreverybody.
And so, as I started to learnmore, I came across the
documentary called Forks OverKnives, which I highly recommend
(02:55):
to people, and it focuses onthe health benefits specifically
of the vegan diet.
And Mickey, I remember thatnight I was sitting on the couch
with my husband eating achicken dinner, watching this
documentary, and the more Ilearned, the more I looked down
at my plate and finally I pushedit away.
I said I can't, I can't unknowwhat has just been told to me
(03:19):
about food and how it impactsyour body and disease and your
health, everything your wholelifestyle, stress, anxiety.
That was it.
That was it for me, and fromthat moment forward, I became
vegan.
It has been a challenge, ofcourse, because our society
isn't always vegan friendly.
Some people are understanding,some places are, but not always.
(03:42):
But I still have never waveredin my decision, and even today,
I have two young children andI'm raising both of them vegan
as well, and we are living veryhappy about it.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
That's pretty impressive, I know.
Sometimes, when we haveknowledge and then we learn
about something, to be able toimplement it into our lives
takes a lot of work and that's abig challenge.
I mean going from eating, youknow, because we're so
accustomed to eating meat, andthen switching over to a totally
vegan diet and still gettingthe nutrition and everything
else that you need, and thenbringing your children into it,
(04:16):
because in this society it's sodifficult.
I mean, look how accessiblefood is, especially fast food,
and it's not exactly the mosthealthy menu that we have to
choose from.
So how did you get yourchildren to transition over into
this?
And, first of all, what aretheir ages?
I mean, are they young children?
You don't want to say theirages, but are they younger?
Are they teenagers?
Speaker 2 (04:38):
They're younger, they're three and six, almost
seven, so they've been vegantheir whole lives.
They've never known anythingdifferent.
But my older daughterdefinitely feels some pressure
from her schoolmates.
Everybody has brownies andcupcakes and cakes that are
brought in for school birthdaysand almost all of them are not
(04:58):
vegan.
So we've had to deal with someof that and my philosophy on it
is progress over perfection.
It's way more important to methat my family understands why
we are vegan, what's therationale behind it, way more
than being a strict vegan 100%of the time.
(05:19):
So am I 100% vegan every singleminute of every day?
No, no, I'm not.
I would say it's probably about98%, but that's good enough for
me.
There's definitely times wheremy daughter wants to have
cupcakes at a birthday party andI say, sure, go for it.
Or there's a surprise Somebodyhas brought us a gift of food.
(05:42):
There's always something, butalmost all the time we're vegan,
but there are some.
Sometimes you have to makeconcessions.
I also think it's important,when you're making a big
decision like this for children,that you do leave wiggle room,
and I say this because I neverwant my children to be resentful
(06:02):
of this decision that I've madefor them.
Now, when they're older, theycan choose to eat however they
like, but while they're young,it is my decision and if I never
waver, if I never give them anopportunity, then they will be
resentful, and I never want that.
So I take a lot of time toexplain why we do this.
It's for our health, it's foranimals we believe in kindness
(06:25):
to animals and also for theplanet.
We talk about this prettyfrequently and they understand
that you know as much as theycan at their ages.
So that's the most importantthing to me about all of this.
Now, it is interesting too,because I always get comments
from other parents about justbeing vegan.
(06:48):
Some people are supportive andsay oh, you know, my
sister-in-law is vegan, that'sgreat.
Sometimes they say, where do youget your protein?
Which is the question.
For some reason, everybody asksthat question.
I don't know why people are soconcerned with where I'm getting
my protein, but they are.
So I always kind of get thosequestions and that led me to
(07:10):
create my business Vegan Curiousto Vegan, confident, because I
wanted to help people out there,specifically parents, who are
curious about it but reallyunsure.
There's a lot of hesitationaround it, so I started with a
weekly blog answering a lot ofthese questions and now, unsure,
there's a lot of hesitationaround it.
So I started with a weekly bloganswering a lot of these
questions and now it's builtinto a bigger business.
But it has to do with a lot ofthe questions I would get on the
(07:32):
playground oddly enough,because parents always bring
snacks for kids they want toshare and when I said oh, thank
you, but no, thank you, we don'teat that, I would get questions
and that's sort of what startedmy whole business idea.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
That's great.
Well, my first question is whatis the difference between vegan
and vegetarian?
Because this is something thatI don't even understand.
I mean, I know a little bitabout it and I'm sure this is
the burning question thateverybody has, because I'm sure
there's a big difference betweenthe two.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Yes, so vegetarians will still eat animal products,
but not animal flesh itself.
So vegetarians do not eatchicken or beef or veal, but
they will eat animal productssuch as eggs cheese, yogurt, ice
cream, milk, things like that,things like that.
(08:31):
Vegan does not eat anythingthat comes from animals period,
Only eat plant derived foods.
So we eat fruit, vegetables,nuts, legumes and anything that
you can make from that.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Okay, that makes sense.
All right, cause I didn'treally understand what the
difference was.
And that does make sense withthe animal products.
So, like you, would replacemilk with almond milk and please
stop me if I'm wrong, becauseI'm shooting from the hip here,
because I'm just trying to learnso is that kind of on the right
path when you're talking aboutbeing vegan?
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Exactly, that's exactly right, and that's what I
encourage is starting withsmall swaps.
So in our household, we drinkoat milk, we have ice cream made
from cashew milk or soy milk,we have pizza made with vegan
cheese.
So we are certainly notdepriving ourselves or our
children of all the comfortfoods out there.
(09:22):
It's just made with ingredientsfrom plants rather than
ingredients from animals.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Okay, that makes sense.
Now, what seems to be thebiggest obstacle that people
have to get over when they aremaking that transition,
especially when they havechildren?
What seems to be?
Is it basically like what youshared is that people bring food
, or when you go with family?
I mean, what seems to be thatbiggest obstacle that you
constantly face?
Speaker 2 (09:50):
I think one of the biggest obstacles is fear of
being rejected by society.
Essentially, that could betheir family, it could be their
partner or spouse, it could betheir children, friends,
co-workers.
When I was working in an officeand I would go to lunch with
co-workers, sometimes it was aninconvenience for them.
(10:12):
Oh, kristen's coming.
Well, we can only go to thesetwo restaurants now and that
doesn't feel good.
It doesn't feel good to havecomments like that and nobody
wants to voluntarily put them ina position where you will
instantly be disliked.
To voluntarily put them in aposition where you will
instantly be disliked.
So that is a definitely a toughpiece of the puzzle here, but
(10:33):
it's also easy to overcome thatright.
So just a little bit of workand you can figure out what the
restaurants are that you may goto.
You can call ahead, look attheir menus online.
Many restaurants now have veganalternatives.
You can also ask for foodwithout cheese, without egg on
(10:53):
it, depending what you'regetting, and almost all
restaurants are very happy tocomply with that.
So it's usually not such a bigdeal with a little bit of work.
I think most people just feelso overwhelmed and scared they
don't even know where to start,and they don't even know how to
talk about it with their family,friends and coworkers in a way
(11:13):
that they won't feel completelyshunned about it.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Well, most restaurants do offer vegan,
because I'll even look at a menuand it'll have like a little
highlight that'll say vegan orgluten-free.
You know vegetarian.
So I think there's been a lotmore interest and they've been a
little bit more apt to offerthese things because I think
it's growing and they see thatthere's a need for it, which is
good.
(11:38):
That is kind of frustrating,and not that being vegan is the
same.
It's kind of the same, alongthe same lines of what I'm gonna
share.
I know, for me, you know,dealing with a lot of people who
binge eat or or, you know, havecertain diets, like for me, I'm
gluten free, I cannot do glutenand I don't do milk for lactose
, and it's always ah, you know,can you get anything here?
(12:01):
Is there anything you can order?
And I'm like, yeah, I'll findsomething.
You know it's don't worry aboutme, I'm good and it should.
You're right.
It's like I'm sorry I put youoff and we went to lunch
together, but now it gets to apoint where I don't even say
anything.
I just go through the menu andthen pick, you know, pick what I
want, and but it but it's kindof also the same thing.
(12:22):
It's like you'd want thatsupport.
You'd want the people tosupport you when you've made a
choice, especially a choice thataffects your health.
You know something that youknow is better for you, and it's
your personal choice and that'sthe path that you're taking.
You know, having those aroundyou to support you, you know, is
so important too.
But how do you feel?
(12:43):
How did you feel after youstopped eating?
You know animal-based products.
How did your feel after youstopped eating?
You know animal based products.
How do you, how does your bodyreact to that?
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Oh, it was a game changer.
It was an absolute game changer.
I felt so good, light, strong,grounded I.
I don't get that heavy feelingin my stomach anymore, like you
know, when you eat bigThanksgiving dinner and you're
like oh.
I'm so full I can't eat anymore,right, that feeling.
(13:10):
I don't get that anymore.
I feel very full, I don't feelhungry during the day, but I
don't get that feeling where itfeels like you've got a rock in
your stomach.
I feel energized, I feelfocused, I feel happy to hop out
of bed in the morning, and Inever used to feel that way
before, so it's been a huge gamechanger for me.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Well, the foods that you're choosing.
Also, you know exactly whereit's coming from and what you're
eating and, like you said, ifyou're eating plant-based meals,
then each and every one ofthose plants offer something
that our body needs.
Then each and every one ofthose plants offer something
that our body needs.
You know everything thatsurround us.
(13:54):
If it's not processed orcreated as something else that
they call food, you know it'sreally good for you.
I always think of eat food thathas one ingredient.
Have a spinach, you know.
Have corn, you know.
You have just things that arespecifically one ingredient.
Those are the things your bodyneeds and I'm assuming the
protein that everybody asks youabout you're getting from
legumes because I do know thatthey're very high in protein,
(14:16):
such as spinach is very high iniron and a lot of people don't
know that because we're soaccustomed to supplementing it
because the diets that we havedon't consist of the things we
really, really need, so we haveto supplement it.
So, with how you're eating, doyou find that you need to take
other supplements for your body,such as iron and things like
(14:39):
that?
Are you getting that all inyour foods?
Speaker 2 (14:43):
You know, I have never been one to track exactly
what I eat, so I can'tpersonally say for certain that
I'm getting 100% of my ironevery day.
I do like to take amultivitamin every day just as a
catch all, if you will, becausesome weeks I am awesome at
(15:05):
eating healthy and some weeks,yeah, I'm eating my plant-based
chicken nuggets and plant-basedpizza, you know, and that's just
life, and I don't want to haveto drive myself crazy with those
, those data points, so I justdon't track it.
But I do like to take thesupplement just in case.
I do think, in particular,vitamin C is very important in
(15:29):
our mood and keeping us happyand healthy, so I definitely
take that one as well.
But overall, I would say thatjust don't drive yourself crazy.
Eat foods that are healthy foryou.
We know plants are healthy.
There's no controversy aroundit.
Unless you have an allergy, weknow they're healthy.
There is a lot of controversyaround whether animal products
(15:50):
are healthy.
Some studies say yes, somestudies say no.
Personally, I'd rather go withthe path where I know for sure
it's healthy.
I want to live a long time tosee my grandchildren.
I want to run marathons in my70s.
I want to be that person, andthis is my path to get there 70s
.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
I want to be that person and this is my path to
get there.
And for the little informationthat I have found.
I had read, and I think it waseven on our documentary I had
seen how they thought the linkto breast cancer was actually in
beef, in meat, and how they hadpresented it was that there's
the hormones and steroids andeverything that are put into
these animals prior to themgoing to end up in the grocery
(16:30):
store, being kind that thissteroid and this hormones and
this stuff that they're givenlast up to 90 days.
Well, that meat ends up in thegrocery store within 30 days.
So you've got that 60 month or60 day shelf life that is still
within the meat and they'refinding that link.
(16:51):
Same thing to barbecue you knowwhen it's charred because of the
carcinogenics.
So there's and again, this isjust something that I had seen.
You could probably elaboratemore on this than I can, but
it's just like just knowing thatlittle bit of knowledge.
It's like, oh, you know, if youknow something is not good for
you, you know, such as anythingelse, why consume it, why put it
(17:13):
in your body?
Because you already know you'remaking that choice and maybe,
like you said maybe it's not,you're doing it a hundred
percent, but you're doing it,you know, to get you by Right.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Right, you know, I think one of the sad things
about our modern world is thatit's very hard for people to
understand the journey of foodto table, and this is true not
only for plants but also formeat.
You're going to go to arestaurant for dinner and order
(17:44):
a hamburger, okay.
So first a cow was born.
That cow was taken away fromits mother, it was fed
antibiotics and hormones and oh,by the way, it's already
entering life disease becausethese animals are bred to be
bigger in certain areas of theirbody, so there's more meat per
animal.
So it's already starting lifein a sad way.
(18:05):
It has sad emotions to it.
It's being torn away from itsmother.
Its life is very short.
So if you think about also theemotions that are and that
energy that is also inside thatanimal, you're also ingesting
all of that fear that animal hasto have, knowing that it's
(18:30):
about to be murdered.
All the way down the road towhat happens to that meat, how
it is processed, what is addedto it they add food coloring to
it to make it look red likethere's blood in it all the way
down to the hamburger on yourtable in the restaurant.
It's pretty brutal and mostpeople don't have an
understanding of what thatprocess is.
They're not watching videos ofit, they're not going to farms
(18:51):
or slaughterhouses to have anunderstanding.
Instead, what we see is thesevideos of happy cows grazing,
and let me tell you that is notwhat is happening, and I think
if people had an inkling evenjust a little bit of the reality
of what happens, they wouldmake a different decision.
And I'm not saying this toforce people to become
(19:13):
vegetarian or vegan.
I truly believe that everybodyis on their own journey, their
own path, and will make theirown decisions, but I do think
it's a shame so much is hiddenfrom the general public that we
are not even able to make thebest decision for ourselves.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
My, my ex, worked for a distribution company and one
of the things or I should say hedidn't work for the
distribution company he builtthem.
That's what he did.
We went all over the countrybuilding them and, unfortunately
, one of the ones we had to dowas a pig slaughtering factory.
And I had gone up with him onone of the jobs and I was
mortified what I saw and I waslike, oh my gosh, and you're
(19:53):
right, people don't know, theyjust don't know.
And eating in your choice, andI totally understand that and a
lot of people have differentviews, but I think if we did
understand and know what happens, it would give you an
opportunity to at leastunderstand.
You know, and I think knowledgeis powerful.
So you're absolutely right andand it's yeah, it was enough for
(20:16):
me.
I was like, yeah, I'm good, I'mdone, and and you know, and I
don't want to get, I don't wantto go into and get graphic, but
yeah, and, and you're right, andthen when you see something
like that, you just clicksomething different in your
brain.
But well, first of all I wantto give a shout out to your
podcast, because I heard some ofyour podcasts and you guys are
awesome.
I love it.
(20:36):
I highly recommend, if you guyshave an opportunity, please
stop by and listen to Kristen'spodcast Flying Upstream podcast
and all the information you'regoing to find embedded into this
podcast so you can reach out toher and listen and hear some
more information and her amazingstories and the people that
she's had on.
But I'm going to leave it withyou.
(21:00):
Kristen, is there anything elseyou want to share?
That's something we didn'tcover, or you'd like to have an
opportunity to offer?
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Well, you know, I would say if anybody who's
listening is vegan, curious.
I would suggest starting withsomething small first, something
like swapping from cow's milkto oat milk or almond milk in
your coffee or in your cereal.
Something tiny, something thatyou can have a quick win with,
and then you can slowly build upfrom there.
You don't have to announce itto the world, you don't have to
(21:32):
tell everybody what you're doing.
I truly believe in progressover perfection.
Making tiny steps forward isthe best way to create
sustainable change, and feelfree to reach out to me if
there's anything I can do tohelp.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
I want to elaborate a little bit on the oat milk.
There is so many options withoat milk, and even when you go
get coffee because that's what Ido and actually oat milk is
creamier and tastes better, andso does coconut milk.
Coconut milk is really good, ithas such a great taste to it
and, like you were saying, theice creams, and you can actually
get coconut and almond milkyogurt, and I'll still get that.
(22:10):
I can get that too, and there'sso many ways that you can, you
know, adjust your eating habitsand, in my humble opinion, I
think some of it tastes better.
You know, I like the taste ofit.
I think it is much better.
I've had friends they're like ohyou know, can I have some milk
with this?
I'm like, well, all I have isalmond milk or oat milk, and you
can get the extra creamy andyou're like.
They're like, oh my gosh, thisis really good.
(22:35):
So I'm going to, I'm going tochallenge you that are listening
that next time you go out andget coffee, order it with oat
milk, order it with almond milk,order it with coconut milk.
And I'm telling Kristen oh,absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
It's like a little adventure.
You know, you have no idea thiswhole new world that's waiting
for you.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
That is so true.
Well, I want to thank you somuch for being with us, and I
love what you're doing, and I'dlike to have you back, because
I'm sure I'm going to get a slewof questions that the people
are going to ask, and what Ilove to do is have my guests
come back so they can answerthese questions themselves,
because you're the expert inthis, you know and, and I think,
what you have to offer.
There's so many people outthere that just don't know, and
(23:14):
they don't know where to startand and I highly recommend uh in
that's the case, please, please, please, reach out to Kristen
um and to her Flying Upstreampodcast, uh, and reach out to
her personally.
Also, you can reach out to meon Coach Mickey and Friends, and
I will definitely get yourinformation over to her.
So, thank you so much for beingwith us today.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Thank you, mickey, it was my pleasure.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
All right, you guys I am excited that you were here.
Please, please, please, reachout and support Kristen.
Like I said, my guests lovehearing from you.
It's always fun to get an emailor a text message that says, oh
my gosh, you know, I heard fromsome of your listeners and that
just that makes makes me happythat you guys are so, so
supportive, and I really, really, really do appreciate that.
(24:00):
So until then, remember myfriends, the most courageous
thing you can do is be yourself.
Until next podcast, I'll see ya.
Hey, I'm Coach Mickey and I'm so glad that you joined
us, and if this is your firsttime joining us, come on in to
make yourself comfortable.
And for those of you that joinus on a regular basis, we are so
glad that you do, and I want tothank all of you for always,
always, always reaching out tomy guests.
They really appreciate it.
They love the connections, theylove hearing from you, even if
(00:21):
you've got some comments,questions or even your own
stories, if they have somethingthat you can collaborate with.
So thank you so much for doingthat, and I'd like to give a
shout out to some of the biggestcountries that listen to me,
and I'm so excited because everytime I log on and see my group
and my tribe and the people thatare listening, it always makes
(00:42):
me smile to see that somebodyfrom Australia has come on, or I
have got someone that's inGermany and I know globally, a
lot of you are all over and Iusually give you a shout out,
but I wanted to just give aspecial shout out to these
listeners.
So thank you so much, and todayis going to be really, really
fun.
I'm excited because I love tocollaborate with other people
(01:04):
that are in the same workplacethat I'm in, and I don't even
call this work because I lovewhat I do, and when you love
what you do, it's really notwork, is it?
So with me today is KristenMedeiros.
She knows firsthand what it'slike to break away from the
expected path.
After climbing the corporateladder and working the global
companies, the federalgovernment of fast-paced tech
(01:26):
startups, she's found herself atCrossroads and she chose to
define success in her own terms.
Isn't that awesome?
Today, kristen co-hosts FlyingUpstream, a podcast that
explores unconventionallifestyles and the people who
dare to challenge social norms.
She also runs a businessdedicated to helping vegan
curious parents introduce you toplant-based lifestyle and to
(01:50):
your families.
So, without further ado, I amgoing to bring in Kristen and
welcome her.
And how are you today?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Wonderful.
Thank you for having me, Mickey.
I'm so excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Well, I'm excited to have you and we had an
opportunity to share stories offair and I love what you had to
offer and I know your story willresonate with so many people
that are on my platform and justyour story could be told
anywhere and it's going toinspire, you know, every, each
and every one of us, so I'm justgoing to jump in with that.
(02:23):
So how did you get started withthe vegan lifestyle, especially
for what your past was andwhere you were working?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yeah Well, I think most of my life I have been on
this journey to try to behealthier, and as I continued on
learning and educating myself,I realized that the word healthy
has a different definition foreverybody.
And so, as I started to learnmore, I came across the
documentary called Forks OverKnives, which I highly recommend
(02:55):
to people, and it focuses onthe health benefits specifically
of the vegan diet.
And Mickey, I remember thatnight I was sitting on the couch
with my husband eating achicken dinner, watching this
documentary, and the more Ilearned, the more I looked down
at my plate and finally I pushedit away.
I said I can't, I can't unknowwhat has just been told to me
(03:19):
about food and how it impactsyour body and disease and your
health, everything your wholelifestyle, stress, anxiety.
That was it.
That was it for me, and fromthat moment forward, I became
vegan.
It has been a challenge, ofcourse, because our society
isn't always vegan friendly.
Some people are understanding,some places are, but not always.
(03:42):
But I still have never waveredin my decision, and even today,
I have two young children andI'm raising both of them vegan
as well, and we are living veryhappy about it.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
That's pretty impressive, I know.
Sometimes, when we haveknowledge and then we learn
about something, to be able toimplement it into our lives
takes a lot of work and that's abig challenge.
I mean going from eating, youknow, because we're so
accustomed to eating meat, andthen switching over to a totally
vegan diet and still gettingthe nutrition and everything
else that you need, and thenbringing your children into it,
(04:16):
because in this society it's sodifficult.
I mean, look how accessiblefood is, especially fast food,
and it's not exactly the mosthealthy menu that we have to
choose from.
So how did you get yourchildren to transition over into
this?
And, first of all, what aretheir ages?
I mean, are they young children?
You don't want to say theirages, but are they younger?
Are they teenagers?
Speaker 2 (04:38):
They're younger, they're three and six, almost
seven, so they've been vegantheir whole lives.
They've never known anythingdifferent.
But my older daughterdefinitely feels some pressure
from her schoolmates.
Everybody has brownies andcupcakes and cakes that are
brought in for school birthdaysand almost all of them are not
(04:58):
vegan.
So we've had to deal with someof that and my philosophy on it
is progress over perfection.
It's way more important to methat my family understands why
we are vegan, what's therationale behind it, way more
than being a strict vegan 100%of the time.
(05:19):
So am I 100% vegan every singleminute of every day?
No, no, I'm not.
I would say it's probably about98%, but that's good enough for
me.
There's definitely times wheremy daughter wants to have
cupcakes at a birthday party andI say, sure, go for it.
Or there's a surprise Somebodyhas brought us a gift of food.
(05:42):
There's always something, butalmost all the time we're vegan,
but there are some.
Sometimes you have to makeconcessions.
I also think it's important,when you're making a big
decision like this for children,that you do leave wiggle room,
and I say this because I neverwant my children to be resentful
(06:02):
of this decision that I've madefor them.
Now, when they're older, theycan choose to eat however they
like, but while they're young,it is my decision and if I never
waver, if I never give them anopportunity, then they will be
resentful, and I never want that.
So I take a lot of time toexplain why we do this.
It's for our health, it's foranimals we believe in kindness
(06:25):
to animals and also for theplanet.
We talk about this prettyfrequently and they understand
that you know as much as theycan at their ages.
So that's the most importantthing to me about all of this.
Now, it is interesting too,because I always get comments
from other parents about justbeing vegan.
(06:48):
Some people are supportive andsay oh, you know, my
sister-in-law is vegan, that'sgreat.
Sometimes they say, where do youget your protein?
Which is the question.
For some reason, everybody asksthat question.
I don't know why people are soconcerned with where I'm getting
my protein, but they are.
So I always kind of get thosequestions and that led me to
(07:10):
create my business Vegan Curiousto Vegan, confident, because I
wanted to help people out there,specifically parents, who are
curious about it but reallyunsure.
There's a lot of hesitationaround it, so I started with a
weekly blog answering a lot ofthese questions and now, unsure,
there's a lot of hesitationaround it.
So I started with a weekly bloganswering a lot of these
questions and now it's builtinto a bigger business.
But it has to do with a lot ofthe questions I would get on the
(07:32):
playground oddly enough,because parents always bring
snacks for kids they want toshare and when I said oh, thank
you, but no, thank you, we don'teat that, I would get questions
and that's sort of what startedmy whole business idea.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
That's great.
Well, my first question is whatis the difference between vegan
and vegetarian?
Because this is something thatI don't even understand.
I mean, I know a little bitabout it and I'm sure this is
the burning question thateverybody has, because I'm sure
there's a big difference betweenthe two.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Yes, so vegetarians will still eat animal products,
but not animal flesh itself.
So vegetarians do not eatchicken or beef or veal, but
they will eat animal productssuch as eggs cheese, yogurt, ice
cream, milk, things like that,things like that.
(08:31):
Vegan does not eat anythingthat comes from animals period,
Only eat plant derived foods.
So we eat fruit, vegetables,nuts, legumes and anything that
you can make from that.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Okay, that makes sense.
All right, cause I didn'treally understand what the
difference was.
And that does make sense withthe animal products.
So, like you, would replacemilk with almond milk and please
stop me if I'm wrong, becauseI'm shooting from the hip here,
because I'm just trying to learnso is that kind of on the right
path when you're talking aboutbeing vegan?
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Exactly, that's exactly right, and that's what I
encourage is starting withsmall swaps.
So in our household, we drinkoat milk, we have ice cream made
from cashew milk or soy milk,we have pizza made with vegan
cheese.
So we are certainly notdepriving ourselves or our
children of all the comfortfoods out there.
(09:22):
It's just made with ingredientsfrom plants rather than
ingredients from animals.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Okay, that makes sense.
Now, what seems to be thebiggest obstacle that people
have to get over when they aremaking that transition,
especially when they havechildren?
What seems to be?
Is it basically like what youshared is that people bring food
, or when you go with family?
I mean, what seems to be thatbiggest obstacle that you
constantly face?
Speaker 2 (09:50):
I think one of the biggest obstacles is fear of
being rejected by society.
Essentially, that could betheir family, it could be their
partner or spouse, it could betheir children, friends,
co-workers.
When I was working in an officeand I would go to lunch with
co-workers, sometimes it was aninconvenience for them.
(10:12):
Oh, kristen's coming.
Well, we can only go to thesetwo restaurants now and that
doesn't feel good.
It doesn't feel good to havecomments like that and nobody
wants to voluntarily put them ina position where you will
instantly be disliked.
To voluntarily put them in aposition where you will
instantly be disliked.
So that is a definitely a toughpiece of the puzzle here, but
(10:33):
it's also easy to overcome thatright.
So just a little bit of workand you can figure out what the
restaurants are that you may goto.
You can call ahead, look attheir menus online.
Many restaurants now have veganalternatives.
You can also ask for foodwithout cheese, without egg on
(10:53):
it, depending what you'regetting, and almost all
restaurants are very happy tocomply with that.
So it's usually not such a bigdeal with a little bit of work.
I think most people just feelso overwhelmed and scared they
don't even know where to start,and they don't even know how to
talk about it with their family,friends and coworkers in a way
(11:13):
that they won't feel completelyshunned about it.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Well, most restaurants do offer vegan,
because I'll even look at a menuand it'll have like a little
highlight that'll say vegan orgluten-free.
You know vegetarian.
So I think there's been a lotmore interest and they've been a
little bit more apt to offerthese things because I think
it's growing and they see thatthere's a need for it, which is
good.
(11:38):
That is kind of frustrating,and not that being vegan is the
same.
It's kind of the same, alongthe same lines of what I'm gonna
share.
I know, for me, you know,dealing with a lot of people who
binge eat or or, you know, havecertain diets, like for me, I'm
gluten free, I cannot do glutenand I don't do milk for lactose
, and it's always ah, you know,can you get anything here?
(12:01):
Is there anything you can order?
And I'm like, yeah, I'll findsomething.
You know it's don't worry aboutme, I'm good and it should.
You're right.
It's like I'm sorry I put youoff and we went to lunch
together, but now it gets to apoint where I don't even say
anything.
I just go through the menu andthen pick, you know, pick what I
want, and but it but it's kindof also the same thing.
(12:22):
It's like you'd want thatsupport.
You'd want the people tosupport you when you've made a
choice, especially a choice thataffects your health.
You know something that youknow is better for you, and it's
your personal choice and that'sthe path that you're taking.
You know, having those aroundyou to support you, you know, is
so important too.
But how do you feel?
(12:43):
How did you feel after youstopped eating?
You know animal-based products.
How did your feel after youstopped eating?
You know animal based products.
How do you, how does your bodyreact to that?
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Oh, it was a game changer.
It was an absolute game changer.
I felt so good, light, strong,grounded I.
I don't get that heavy feelingin my stomach anymore, like you
know, when you eat bigThanksgiving dinner and you're
like oh.
I'm so full I can't eat anymore,right, that feeling.
(13:10):
I don't get that anymore.
I feel very full, I don't feelhungry during the day, but I
don't get that feeling where itfeels like you've got a rock in
your stomach.
I feel energized, I feelfocused, I feel happy to hop out
of bed in the morning, and Inever used to feel that way
before, so it's been a huge gamechanger for me.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
Well, the foods that you're choosing.
Also, you know exactly whereit's coming from and what you're
eating and, like you said, ifyou're eating plant-based meals,
then each and every one ofthose plants offer something
that our body needs.
Then each and every one ofthose plants offer something
that our body needs.
You know everything thatsurround us.
(13:54):
If it's not processed orcreated as something else that
they call food, you know it'sreally good for you.
I always think of eat food thathas one ingredient.
Have a spinach, you know.
Have corn, you know.
You have just things that arespecifically one ingredient.
Those are the things your bodyneeds and I'm assuming the
protein that everybody asks youabout you're getting from
legumes because I do know thatthey're very high in protein,
(14:16):
such as spinach is very high iniron and a lot of people don't
know that because we're soaccustomed to supplementing it
because the diets that we havedon't consist of the things we
really, really need, so we haveto supplement it.
So, with how you're eating, doyou find that you need to take
other supplements for your body,such as iron and things like
(14:39):
that?
Are you getting that all inyour foods?
Speaker 2 (14:43):
You know, I have never been one to track exactly
what I eat, so I can'tpersonally say for certain that
I'm getting 100% of my ironevery day.
I do like to take amultivitamin every day just as a
catch all, if you will, becausesome weeks I am awesome at
(15:05):
eating healthy and some weeks,yeah, I'm eating my plant-based
chicken nuggets and plant-basedpizza, you know, and that's just
life, and I don't want to haveto drive myself crazy with those
, those data points, so I justdon't track it.
But I do like to take thesupplement just in case.
I do think, in particular,vitamin C is very important in
(15:29):
our mood and keeping us happyand healthy, so I definitely
take that one as well.
But overall, I would say thatjust don't drive yourself crazy.
Eat foods that are healthy foryou.
We know plants are healthy.
There's no controversy aroundit.
Unless you have an allergy, weknow they're healthy.
There is a lot of controversyaround whether animal products
(15:50):
are healthy.
Some studies say yes, somestudies say no.
Personally, I'd rather go withthe path where I know for sure
it's healthy.
I want to live a long time tosee my grandchildren.
I want to run marathons in my70s.
I want to be that person, andthis is my path to get there 70s
.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
I want to be that person and this is my path to
get there.
And for the little informationthat I have found.
I had read, and I think it waseven on our documentary I had
seen how they thought the linkto breast cancer was actually in
beef, in meat, and how they hadpresented it was that there's
the hormones and steroids andeverything that are put into
these animals prior to themgoing to end up in the grocery
(16:30):
store, being kind that thissteroid and this hormones and
this stuff that they're givenlast up to 90 days.
Well, that meat ends up in thegrocery store within 30 days.
So you've got that 60 month or60 day shelf life that is still
within the meat and they'refinding that link.
(16:51):
Same thing to barbecue you knowwhen it's charred because of the
carcinogenics.
So there's and again, this isjust something that I had seen.
You could probably elaboratemore on this than I can, but
it's just like just knowing thatlittle bit of knowledge.
It's like, oh, you know, if youknow something is not good for
you, you know, such as anythingelse, why consume it, why put it
(17:13):
in your body?
Because you already know you'remaking that choice and maybe,
like you said maybe it's not,you're doing it a hundred
percent, but you're doing it,you know, to get you by Right.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Right, you know, I think one of the sad things
about our modern world is thatit's very hard for people to
understand the journey of foodto table, and this is true not
only for plants but also formeat.
You're going to go to arestaurant for dinner and order
(17:44):
a hamburger, okay.
So first a cow was born.
That cow was taken away fromits mother, it was fed
antibiotics and hormones and oh,by the way, it's already
entering life disease becausethese animals are bred to be
bigger in certain areas of theirbody, so there's more meat per
animal.
So it's already starting lifein a sad way.
(18:05):
It has sad emotions to it.
It's being torn away from itsmother.
Its life is very short.
So if you think about also theemotions that are and that
energy that is also inside thatanimal, you're also ingesting
all of that fear that animal hasto have, knowing that it's
(18:30):
about to be murdered.
All the way down the road towhat happens to that meat, how
it is processed, what is addedto it they add food coloring to
it to make it look red likethere's blood in it all the way
down to the hamburger on yourtable in the restaurant.
It's pretty brutal and mostpeople don't have an
understanding of what thatprocess is.
They're not watching videos ofit, they're not going to farms
(18:51):
or slaughterhouses to have anunderstanding.
Instead, what we see is thesevideos of happy cows grazing,
and let me tell you that is notwhat is happening, and I think
if people had an inkling evenjust a little bit of the reality
of what happens, they wouldmake a different decision.
And I'm not saying this toforce people to become
(19:13):
vegetarian or vegan.
I truly believe that everybodyis on their own journey, their
own path, and will make theirown decisions, but I do think
it's a shame so much is hiddenfrom the general public that we
are not even able to make thebest decision for ourselves.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
My, my ex, worked for a distribution company and one
of the things or I should say hedidn't work for the
distribution company he builtthem.
That's what he did.
We went all over the countrybuilding them and, unfortunately
, one of the ones we had to dowas a pig slaughtering factory.
And I had gone up with him onone of the jobs and I was
mortified what I saw and I waslike, oh my gosh, and you're
(19:53):
right, people don't know, theyjust don't know.
And eating in your choice, andI totally understand that and a
lot of people have differentviews, but I think if we did
understand and know what happens, it would give you an
opportunity to at leastunderstand.
You know, and I think knowledgeis powerful.
So you're absolutely right andand it's yeah, it was enough for
(20:16):
me.
I was like, yeah, I'm good, I'mdone, and and you know, and I
don't want to get, I don't wantto go into and get graphic, but
yeah, and, and you're right, andthen when you see something
like that, you just clicksomething different in your
brain.
But well, first of all I wantto give a shout out to your
podcast, because I heard some ofyour podcasts and you guys are
awesome.
I love it.
(20:36):
I highly recommend, if you guyshave an opportunity, please
stop by and listen to Kristen'spodcast Flying Upstream podcast
and all the information you'regoing to find embedded into this
podcast so you can reach out toher and listen and hear some
more information and her amazingstories and the people that
she's had on.
But I'm going to leave it withyou.
(21:00):
Kristen, is there anything elseyou want to share?
That's something we didn'tcover, or you'd like to have an
opportunity to offer?
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Well, you know, I would say if anybody who's
listening is vegan, curious.
I would suggest starting withsomething small first, something
like swapping from cow's milkto oat milk or almond milk in
your coffee or in your cereal.
Something tiny, something thatyou can have a quick win with,
and then you can slowly build upfrom there.
You don't have to announce itto the world, you don't have to
(21:32):
tell everybody what you're doing.
I truly believe in progressover perfection.
Making tiny steps forward isthe best way to create
sustainable change, and feelfree to reach out to me if
there's anything I can do tohelp.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
I want to elaborate a little bit on the oat milk.
There is so many options withoat milk, and even when you go
get coffee because that's what Ido and actually oat milk is
creamier and tastes better, andso does coconut milk.
Coconut milk is really good, ithas such a great taste to it
and, like you were saying, theice creams, and you can actually
get coconut and almond milkyogurt, and I'll still get that.
(22:10):
I can get that too, and there'sso many ways that you can, you
know, adjust your eating habitsand, in my humble opinion, I
think some of it tastes better.
You know, I like the taste ofit.
I think it is much better.
I've had friends they're like ohyou know, can I have some milk
with this?
I'm like, well, all I have isalmond milk or oat milk, and you
can get the extra creamy andyou're like.
They're like, oh my gosh, thisis really good.
(22:35):
So I'm going to, I'm going tochallenge you that are listening
that next time you go out andget coffee, order it with oat
milk, order it with almond milk,order it with coconut milk.
And I'm telling Kristen oh,absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
It's like a little adventure.
You know, you have no idea thiswhole new world that's waiting
for you.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
That is so true.
Well, I want to thank you somuch for being with us, and I
love what you're doing, and I'dlike to have you back, because
I'm sure I'm going to get a slewof questions that the people
are going to ask, and what Ilove to do is have my guests
come back so they can answerthese questions themselves,
because you're the expert inthis, you know and, and I think,
what you have to offer.
There's so many people outthere that just don't know, and
(23:14):
they don't know where to startand and I highly recommend uh in
that's the case, please, please, please, reach out to Kristen
um and to her Flying Upstreampodcast, uh, and reach out to
her personally.
Also, you can reach out to meon Coach Mickey and Friends, and
I will definitely get yourinformation over to her.
So, thank you so much for beingwith us today.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Thank you, mickey, it was my pleasure.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
All right, you guys I am excited that you were here.
Please, please, please, reachout and support Kristen.
Like I said, my guests lovehearing from you.
It's always fun to get an emailor a text message that says, oh
my gosh, you know, I heard fromsome of your listeners and that
just that makes makes me happythat you guys are so, so
supportive, and I really, really, really do appreciate that.
(24:00):
So until then, remember myfriends, the most courageous
thing you can do is be yourself.
Until next podcast, I'll see ya.
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