Hi everyone! I hope you’re all coping with all the craziness that’s currently happening. It’s all very overwhelming and a lot to take in at times. The isolation is starting to get to most of us and we truly miss that connection with others.

I’m still going to work and commuting as usual because I’m an essential worker. I’m just trying to use all the preventative measures possible but it’s still a scary time. I’m grateful to have a job during this difficult time however. These are hard times but we will get through them. Together collaboratively we can get through anything.

I’ve learned that we took things for granted before. We now have to line up outside grocery stores to buy basic items instead of just walking in sometimes multiple times a week. We have to plan when we have to go and try figuring out where the shortest wait will be. We now have to deal with limits on items as well so that there is enough to go around. At the end of all this we will all be master meal planners however! See there is always something positive to reflect on.

My go to for groceries has been the Business Center Costco. We like to shop there nornally because we need super large quantities of food items. I have five kids and we like to stock up on most used items. I’m very grateful for stores like this. It’s a bit of a drive but it’s well worth it for us. Buying in large quantities like this also provides me with the opportunity to share our food. I off load lots of grocery items at my parents house so that they have plenty during this ordeal.

Please remember to connect with others and see if they need assistance. For many older individuals it’s very risky to go out grocery shopping. They should stay at home and try finding alternative options for getting essentials. If we all lend a hand it would make a huge difference for them.

I also love how we can also the advantage of grocery delivery or pick up services. Many grocery stores have this convenient and safe method of shopping which is fantastic. Yes the waits are long and you’re not going to get groceries right away but it’s worth waiting. I’ve been planning a week or two ahead so I know what we will run out of.

I made a staple covid 19 food items video on my YouTube channel because people were curious about what types of things I stocked up on. So I walked you through what my family of 7 needs during this time.

Let me know what you found was the easiest way to shop. How did you stock up on essentials? Drop me a comment below and let me know how things are in your neck of the woods currently.

I would be so grateful if you could Subscribe to my YouTube channel. Thank you for the support and love.

Stay Healthy my friends.

I completed my 1st ever Mary’s Mini diet this month! I loved it and it truly wasn’t that hard to follow at all.

Are you wondering what the Mary’s Mini is? It’s a simple diet created by Mary Mcdougall. If you’re not familiar with Mary, she’s Dr. Mcdougall’s wife and she’s brilliant. The Mcdougall’s promote a Starch based diet. If you’re interested in more information about their views a good book to read is The Starch Solution.

As far as the Mary’s Mini goes it’s a diet used by many in order to regain control over their eating patterns, shed some weight quickly, and reset their taste buds. The idea behind the simple diet is that you pick one starch and only eat that one starch for 10 days along with a variety of non starchy vegetables. You would eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It gets boring but the diet works. You will only eat when you truly are hungry and the endless snacking will stop. Things that you once craved will no longer interest you. I found I became very conscious of my body’s cues and fueled it accordingly. I ate until I was full and only ate when I was truly hungry.

While on the mini we are allowed to have light condiments on our food which makes our meals so much easier. She allows things like ketchup, mustard, soy sauce, vinegar and hot sauce. We have to use them sparingly but they are allowed on this diet which I thought was very helpful.

So what isn’t allowed on this diet? You can’t mix starches while on this 10 day diet. You can’t have any oil at all! Remember to check all the ingredients on your condiments because oil is in a lot of them! We are not allowed to consume any fruit for 10 days as well on this diet. Food is meant to be on the boring side and it would be very easy to overeat fruit if it were allowed. It would taste like true candy and it would get hard to control those portions accordingly. It’s only 10 days so I don’t think it’s the end of the world. Another thing to watch out for in condiments is refined sugar. That’s also hidden in way too many store bought sauces and dressings.

I tried out the potato mini because I found that I was eating when I wasn’t even hungry. I became a snacker and wanted to regain some control over my eating patterns. I also couldn’t believe how fast my taste buds reset. By day 3, I couldn’t drink my beloved dark roast coffee anymore. I started drinking a weak coffee or a coffee alternative called Dandy Blend. I also lost 7 lbs in 10 days which was shocking since I was eating a ton of food! Overall I had great energy, felt I enjoyed all my meals, became more mindful of my eating habits, and the bloating in my tummy disappeared. I felt great! So good in fact that I want to try completing a rice mini next!

Whole Starchy foods like potatoes do indeed have all the micro and macro nutrients that we need in order to stay healthy. Dr. Mcdougall assures us that this is a perfectly healthy diet to try and we shouldn’t be worried. He talks about this in the webinar which I will attach in this post for your reference.

I’ll also add my 1st Mary’s Mini video where I explain what this simple temporary diet is and how to complete it properly. If you haven’t already Subscribed to my YouTube channel please consider doing so. I appreciate your support and hope you find the information helpful. I will include handy charts to help you along the way if you choose to try out the Mary’s Mini. I created a simple non starchy veggie list as well as a list of approved starches.

A couple weeks back I had a scare and yes that lovely sweet stuff was involved. Sugar!!!! This is the downside of a healthy lifestyle as it can sometimes make you obsessed about being perfect at all times.

I ordered breakfast on my mobile app at work and totally forgot to add a note on it requesting that they not add brown sugar to my oatmeal.

I definitely wasn’t in that jolly “a spoonful of sugar” zone like the lovely Julie Andrews was in the movie Mary Poppins. I found I started panicking as I was super worried about ingesting that much sugar! Why isn’t there an option to remove toppings on the app I thought? Ugh! I didn’t remember the last time I consumed brown sugar.

I use things like date paste to sweeten things because I try and eat whole foods as much as possible. I strive to cut out as much processed foods as possible in my diet.

I just went with it and forced myself to stop obsessing about it. My past with an eating disorder crept out and I nipped that in the bud real fast. I will not let food control my life ever again.

I ate that oatmeal and guess what? I didn’t die or feel sick after eating it. You see I’ve preprogrammed myself to think that refined sugar of any kind will make me sick. To my shock that actually didn’t happen! I might break out but that’s pretty much it.

I still eat my homemade oatmeal without any sugar added on a normal basis at home. I think berries sweeten it perfectly. If I have to order my oatmeal however from my local coffee shop then I will do so without guilt. Now and again it’s ok to enjoy some sugar and we shouldn’t obsess about it! It’s called living in the moment and sometimes you just have to roll with it.

I had to remind myself that I don’t over indulge in sugar filled goodies daily so over all my health wouldn’t be affected. I’m a far cry from the 22 teaspoons of sugar consumed by the average person these days. That’s the equivalent of 355 calories!!! Wow! Yeah no thanks. I like to eat real food and consume calories that actually fill me up and nourish my body.

Here is the infamous oatmeal that caused me to sweat and panick below. It’s funny how an innocent serving of oatmeal can cause a person so much unnecessary stress and worry. Look’s tasty doesn’t it? Why was I obsessing about it?

I like to think I’ve come a long way since my dark days with an eating disorder. When situations like this kreep up though it reminds me that it’s so easy to fall into old behaviors. I have to snap out of it and regain control over the situation.

Life is always an adventure and you never know what will trigger scary feelings and situations within ourselves. I’ve learned that it’s best to feel the emotions and be kind to yourself in those situations. Then its time to get really real with ourselves. We must remind ourselves that we are in total control of the situation and our lives. We have more power and strength then we ever give ourselves credit for!

I always strive to be as healthy as possible but I will allow myself some wiggle room. I will allow myself to enjoy life to the fullest and sometimes indulge in unhealthy food. I’m always trying to strive toward balance. Balance is key. I will always have those off days. The days where yes the thought of sugar will send me into a sweaty panick and that’s ok. I’ll get over it. I always do. Again Balance is key right? Good days & bad days are normal parts of this human experience.

I think we need to focus on how far we’ve come on our health and wellness journeys. Living in a state of gratitude for the amazing body we have been given is vital in my opinion. Giving ourselves grace for the moments of unhealthy treats is vital. Love life and try not sweating the small stuff. We truly are blessed to be healthy, strong and vibrant.

Here is an Affirmation that might help you if you find yourself in a similar state one day. These health and fitness goals sometime send us into a frenzy and we forget that its really not that serious.

Health, Joy & Positive Vibes,

Debbie

~VeganMommyDee~

Check out my YouTube channel for more Health & Wellness inspiration.

You can find my channel at VeganMommyDee’s Life. I appreciate if you pop by and would love it if you Subscribed to my channel.

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Much Love

I just wanted to take a moment and wish all my fellow Canadian’s a very Happy Thanksgiving!

This is a great opportunity to reflect on all our blessings. It’s a time to be thankful for the abundance we truly have in this country. We remember all those in our circle of family and friends who truly make a difference in our lives on a day like today.

I’m truly thankful for my loved ones and for my wonderful social media tribe! Thank you for reading my blog, my wellness FB page and following my health journey on IG and YouTube. You’re all amazing and I’m sending you immense love.

Enjoy your family get together filled with tasty treats and hearty food. Don’t skimp out on the dessert either because today is a day to embrace an abundance of food made with love. This year my Thanksgiving meal was tasty and I was still able to keep it healthy.

Roasted sweet potato with everything bagel seasoning, salad, steamed veggies and garlicy Black Beans with Brown,Wild rice and Lentils. I also made a nut free vegan cheese sauce to top all this healthy goodness.

I feel like we never have to sacrifice taste when cooking our meals. Healthy foods can taste fantastic and and most importantly give us energy. Yes energy! Most typical Thanksgiving dinners make people feel sluggish and people end up feeling like they need a nap after dinner. I’m not down for that at all, even on a holiday. My belief is that you can still have an epice meal and keep it healthy.

When it comes to dessert I never say no either! It’s my “cheat day” so bring on the tasty treat! I do try and find a healthy dessert version of course bit if I’m not making it then sometimes that task is difficult. I just strive for balance in life though. My meal was healthy so I don’t obsess about dessert. You just have to live life and enjoy these moments with loved ones. We sometimes need to remind ourselves that on a special occasion we just have to let go because it’s not the day to be counting calories.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving and focus on making memories! It’s a wonderful time of year filled with love.

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We took a family vacation to Orlando Florida!!! Yep all seven of us got to experience the Florida scene. It was amazing! Definitely a trip we won’t forget. Yes it was quite expensive but well worth it!This was our first experience at Disney World and Universal Studios as well.

We all loved Magic Kingdom at Disney World! It was an amazing experience and my three year old son was super happy to get to see “Mickey’s House”! That’s all he kept saying. He just wanted to go to Florida to see Mickey’s house.

So can vegans eat at Disney World or Universal? I found out that the Pineapple Dol Whip float was in fact vegan which made me extremely happy! Dole Whip is a frozen soft serve dessert that’s absolutely out of this world! My three year old is super picky and we brought his snacks along with us for the day. Even though he’s super picky he loved the Pineapple Dole Whip float! It’s well worth the money and I highly recommend you trying it if you get the chance. I feel like it might be the highlight of the vacation for the kids. Yep it was that good! I’ll insert a picture below of this beauty. We already started eating at this point however. It was too good to wait for a picture according to my son. He’s also giving it a thumbs up in the picture funny enough!

Pineapple Dole Whip

Another Vegan treat we were able to consume was the famous Mickey Mouse Pretzel! Yep it’s vegan! My kids and I loved them. It’s a little too salty but that may be because we aren’t used to eating a lot of salt in our diet. Those saved us and kept us happy until we left the park for dinner.

Mickey Mouse Pretzel at Disney World

They do have vegan dinner options at Disney World & Universal Studios but I like eating my own home cooked food whenever possible. I did however have a Beyond Burger which is a Plant-based burger at Universal Studios. It came with Follow Your Heart cheese & Vegenaise and fries. I’m not really into plain white Hamburger buns so I just passed on the bun. I ate my burger with lettuce & tomato instead. I was also thrilled that they had a few vegan drink options at the Harry Potter exhibit too. I enjoyed Pumpkin Juice there. It was probably one of the best drinks I’ve ever had! It’s also probably loaded with tons of sugar but hey I was in vacation mode.

I’m so happy to see that almost every restaurant had some sort of vegan option. Wow things are definitely changing! Changing in a positive direction thankfully!

As far as eating out goes in Orlando we had many options. We even found a vegan hotdog cart! How amazing is that? Vegan street food? Yes and they were delicious! We also really enjoyed some comfort food at Dixie Dharma. They had amazing choices on the menu which had a Southern flare to them. I basically wanted to eat everything on the menu. I ended up getting the special of the day which was a burger and a choice of sides. I picked garlic mac & cheese and my hubby had cheesy homies. We also had a super tasty salad on the side. It even had pickeled watermelon rind in it. How creative is that?

Overall I cooked mostly from home and luckily we had a variety of grocery store options near us. We rented a house on a resort because we needed the space and I also wanted the ability to cook from home. I loaded us up on sweet potatoes, yellow potatoes, veggie burgers, oatmeal, healthy bread, veggies and fruit. We enjoyed some epic meals that also kept us on track with our over all health and wellness. It’s ok to enjoy a treat or cheat meal but I like to stay on track for the most part.

Let me know what your favorite vegan restaurants are in Orlando in the comments below. I’d love to know more about the variety of options across Florida. We do plan on going again in the future. Next time a different part of Florida perhaps.

Please dont forget to connect with me across social media.

I appreciate you taking time out of your day to read my blog post. Please stop by my YouTube channel as well and subscribe so you don’t miss out on future videos. Stay tuned because I’ll be posting a video of our Florida adventure!

Have a wonderful week!

Peace, Joy, Love and Positive Vibes,

~ Debbie

Hi everyone! I’ve tried a lot of new products lately and a lot I’d them have been great! I’ve gotten a lot of them from my vegans cuts box that gets delivered to my house. I also have those products that just never fail me and I buy over and over again that I love. I feel like when you know something works well you should share that information to others. I get excited about finding new products that truly work, are made of natural ingredients, aren’t too costly and of course are vegan.

I often get asked about what products I use and I thought that once a month I should create a video on my channel with my favourites of the month. In May I had a lot of favourites and had to really decide what I wanted to share! Too many good ones!

What new products have you tried lately? What do you love about them? I’d love to know, so drop me a comment below or on my YouTube channel.

As a mom I’m always on the hunt for great natural based products that my children can use as well. Most of my children have sensitive skin, so I’m always open to learning about what works for others.

I hope you enjoy my video. I’ll link it below.

Have a wonderful week!

Health, love and high vibes,

~ Debbie

Hi everyone! I hope your all having wonderful weekend!

I just Subscribed to Vegan Cuts a couple months ago. For those of you that isn’t know it’s a monthly subscription that gets delivered to your home. I decided on the Beauty Box which has a combination of cosmetics, hair care and skin care items in it. They also have cosmetics only boxes and snack boxes as well. They seen to have a box that will make everyone happy.

The best part is it’s all VEGAN! I love that I now get to try out some new products that I can’t get where I live. I dont have to do endless research on these products because Vegan Cuts has done that for me too. Yippee!

My first box was mainly cosmetics which I really liked. They gave me neutral tones that would work for pretty much anyone.

I made a video on my YouTube channel with my 2nd box. This box was Spring Skin Care theme. It was loaded with practical items which I really enjoyed. I think my favourite item was the natural face cleanser that also works as shaving cream! I love products like that!

Let me know if you Subscribe to Vegan Cuts and what box you get. Give me some feedback in the comments below or let me know on my YouTube channel. I’d love to know which boxes are the best in your opinion!

Here is the link to my video below. If you haven’t Subscribed to my channel please do so now and help me spread my health and wellness message!

Have a great weekend!

Hugs,

~ Debbie

Hi everyone! If your celebrating Easter then Happy Easter weekend as well!

My newest video on my YouTube channel is a Target Haul. As a Canadian I really miss having Target here! I always seemed to find good deals and I loved how it was one stop shopping. I could meet all our needs shopping in only one store.

I now have to cross the border to shop there and boy do I love my shopping trips there! I cross the border every so often to do some shopping at various stores. I’m looking for products that I can’t find here and want to try out. I’m not crossing the border looking for deals because let’s face it there aren’t that many.

My favorite part about visiting Target is that cute dollar store ish area where you can find random stuff in. Birthday party stuff, decorative items, craft supplies, etc.

The kids and I also love checking out the cute t-shirts they always have. From Gilmore Girls, Stranger Things to cute Avocado shirts. Such awesome finds!

What do you like best at Target? Let me know in the comments below.

Please check out the link to my new video and Subscribe to my channel if you haven’t already. I appreciate your support!

Have a wonderful weekend.

Love, Health & Positive Vibes,

~ VeganMommyDee