Come Meet Vegan Nutritionista

Wanting to meet Vegan Nutritionista? It's me... Cathleen Woods.

I grew up in a typical household and ate a typical American diet, though it was a bit healthier than most because we ate tons of fruits and vegetables.

We drank milk like it was our job. I remember a time when I was at the pediatrician and she asked me if I drank enough milk. I nodded and said that I drank eight glasses a day. Yikes, right? Well, I thought I was doing the right thing, and I was very proud.

My mom, like most then and even now, considered it one of the ultimate health foods, and so we really drank a ton of it. When other kids got soda at dinner, we had a few glasses of milk.

And, whole milk at that. Not until I was 12-years old was I able to convince her that I would be just as healthy drinking skim milk. So, for the first 18 years of my life, I drank copious amounts of milk.

We also ate plenty of cheese, chicken, fish, turkey, and red meat.

Part was that I had a feeling it just wasn't good for our bodies to eat it. Ultimately, I just made a habit of it and didn't really find it that hard to eat the way I did.

And that was that, for years and years I was a lacto-ovo-pescatarian. I ate nothing that walked or anything that had hidden meat in it.

The funny thing is that almost the instant I allowed myself to truly learn about vegetarianism, I decided to go vegan. I didn't stop eating everything overnight, but I just knew I would have to give it all up.

I started by cutting out milk and bought soy milk. To me, that was easy enough because I had cut back dramatically on milk in college. Soy milk has a different flavor, but I got used to it quickly.

My next battle was fish. I truly loved the taste of fish and I truly believed it was healthy for my body. But after reading about the destruction to the ecosystem, that alone made it easier for me. Me eating it felt like a selfish act. Plus, I learned more about how most of the fish we eat in America is not actually very good for us.

I tried for a month or so to find only sustainable fish, but even in high-end restaurants I was appalled at the almost-extinct fish on the menus.

Cheese was the last battle. Now, I had cut back dramatically, but the idea of it being gone forever was very scary to me. I read once that Americans have an addiction to cheese and that it's very hard to break this addiction, and I really believe that to be true. Most of the cheese we eat is complete junk, and for me, that kind was easy to put behind me.

I experimented for awhile with free-range cheese and raw cheese and anything else I believed to be made in a more humane fashion. The problem is, you can't really tell if that's truly the case, and it was actually easier for me to give it up than bother with investigating more into the matter.

Also, I learned that cheese provides very little nutrition. We are raised to think it has all kinds of calcium, but its calcium is hard for our bodies to digest.

At any rate, I wavered for a few months. Looking back on it, I wish I could have been "strong" enough to drop everything over night, because it seems like I wasted valuable time. But, I really believe that everyone has to move at their own pace. Some people take even longer to figure out what works for them.

As I tell my mom, "You have to do what you believe in."

Because so many other cultures eat without meat and cheese, there are incredible international dishes with intense flavors that are vegan. I love to learn their methods and develop my own dishes based on them.

I have found my true passion in helping people to learn about a plant-based diet. I always wanted to do something with a true impact on society. I feel that I can help people not only to become healthier, but to help them reduce their responsibility for the destruction of the environment and the economy, and increase their compassion for other beings.

I am going to school for a Nutritional Consultant degree and am developing ways to help those around me reach their nutritional goals.

Right now I cook for people in Nashville who don't have time to do it themselves. In the process, I try to teach them how to do it for themselves, with recipes, grocery shopping, diet consultations, and by giving information about what they are eating. This is my method of food coaching.

I am always open to new ideas on how to help people, so if you are reading this and can think of a way I can help you, contact me using the form below.

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