Is Vegan Shakeology for Non-Vegans? And Other Thoughts on Food...

I'm getting lots of questions from non vegans inquiring about the Vegan Shakeology flavors: Tropical Strawberry and Chocolate. Personally, I love the flavor of them both, and I'm a meat eater all the way. I highly recommend you trying it, but I'm also open to things that are good for me, without feeling like it boxes me into a title like "vegan" or "flexitarian" or "carnivore". :) These questions have opened up lots of new conversation on what it is to "eat healthy".Its funny - healthy foods have such a black eye with many people who think eating healthily means we give up tastes and the "good things" in order to be healthy. I actually just had that conversation with my own son this morning. He looked in the cupboards this morning and asked what the choices were for breakfast. I listed it off; steel cut or rolled oats, eggs and toast, Shakeology - any flavor, Greek yogurt with granola and maple syrup, or if he was feeling adventurous, he could make his own whole grain pancakes. My 19 year old son shuddered and said "I dont know why you guys dont eat the good stuff". He's not alone in that thinking. I talk to lots of people who hear the words "healthy food" or "vegan" (again, I'm not vegan) and think it must immediately be some weird food or something that tastes like liquid vitamin, or that its only a select group of people who "eat like that"; not your average person. And if you happen to be a person who thinks like that, I encourage you to give yourself permission to explore a new way of thinking about food. REAL food.Healthy food.We live in a time and country unlike any other; where our stores are filled to heights only reached by ladder with foods packaged in brightly colored boxes made to taste good, but where it takes a chemist to help us decipher the ingredients list. These food "products" dont even really resemble real food in most instances - colorful rolls, bright colored gel stuffed pastries, little rainbow drops of goo with our kids' favorite characters on the front, boxes of "add water meals" that expand in the pan as you watch it heat up, and cans filled with chemical liquid that we guzzle in the heat of the summer sun to quench our thirst. These have become our new norm slowly, over a number of years and brilliant marketing strategies, and we somehow bought in that we were feeding our kids (and ourselves!) healthy nutritious foods. ?? I can barely believe I bought into that when I type it up like that, but I did. In fact, I would load up on said goodies at Costco in bulk! And then I started educating myself, sort of unknowingly.You see, I bought my first Beachbody program thinking I was going to try the newest fad that promised results. And then I read the little piece of literature that came with Power90 on how to get the "best results" and I was intrigued. I wanted "best results" and was willing to try eating a new way for 90 days. But those 90 days have now turned into 9 1/2 years of healthy eating. :) Because Beachbody has a marketing plan too, except this one is even more brilliant. Its honesty...in stages. Change - big change freaks people out. Well, it does me anyway. Tell me I "cant" eat something anymore makes my rebellious side say "I cant have that? Um...then I want that right now." That stubborn thinking works great if someone tells me I cant do something positive and I commit to prove I can. When its denying myself food, my thoughts suddenly rebel against my greater desire for myself and rears its ugly head: "dont tell ME I cant have those doughnuts - I will think of nothing else until I've had one - or two - or three! Take that!"Rather than say "Change the way you eat forever!" which would probably scare 98% of the population of Americans, because we change our phones almost as fast as we change our shoes or hairstyles - its a 90 day commitment. You can commit to anything for 90 days. And in those 90 days, while connecting with the accountability of a Coach and the Beachbody community of folks trying this healthy living for 90 days also - something happens in the process. We want more. And we're willing to pay a higher cost (exercising regularly and re-learning how to feed our families) to get it. The cost of our time and sweat. :) Our bodies respond to good, clean food; fruits, vegetables, lean protein, whole grains & healthy fats. We lose weight. We have more energy. We FEEL better. We sleep better. We think more clearly. We feel in charge of our bodies again and our health. Some peoples Dr's take them off their medicines as they drop the excess weight. And the cravings for neon rainbow colored snacks and food products diminishes. For some it goes away altogether. Our bodies respond to REAL FOOD rather than the processed, chemical foods we'd been living on for years. Its like putting clean fuel into your car rather than sewer water. We 'taste' what it feels like to really thrive.Our bodies were MADE to run on the very nutrients found in the natural foods of the earth. Why did we ever start putting anything else in it? Whatever the reason, give yourself 90 days of clean eating and see how you feel. I guarantee you will FEEL differently - better!In Relentless Pursuit of Excellence!TRACI :)JOIN ME HERE! :)