My vegan journey began for ethical reasons. I could no longer eat sentient beings (such as pigs, cows and chickens) who were really not too different from my dogs and cats.

My “why” for going vegan was and is clear and once I got into the groove, eating plant-based became easy and enjoyable.

Then I learned how to cook plant-based and realized how easy that was and I wanted to let everyone know. If I can be vegan and learn how to cook, so can anyone. It’s really not hard at all.

(I know some people really don’t like cooking, but I’ve also coached people who think they don’t cook when in fact they prepare many more meals and dishes than they realize.)

But before I started shouting my newfound discovery of cooking and eating vegan from the rooftops I wondered: What if being vegan isn’t even healthy?  Would I be doing humans a disservice by proselytizing veganism to spare non-human animals? I was eating vegan food, some of it healthy fruits and vegetables but some of it very processed.

I know a number of people who are vegan for the animals (the same as I started out) which is admirable. And there’s a chance that the vegan food they eat is still healthier than the animal products they eschew. But can it be a win-win for everyone? We don’t eat the animals (good for the animals and the earth) and also good for us? (Not just better than the awful alternatives, but actually good?)

Diane and friend at Rancho Compasión

I sought out some education on the topic and studied plant-based nutrition through the eCornell program and learned that indeed, with a few tweaks to the recipes I was already cooking, I could be eating and living a healthy plant-based lifestyle.

I was eating well. Yet, I had a nagging gut issue for decades. Long before I went vegan. In 2023 and early 2024 it became more acute, and I was missing out on trips and other fun stuff in life.

Last July, I searched on the Physician Committee for Responsible Medicine’s website for a local plant-based Registered Dietitian who specializes in gut health and found one in Los Angeles named Jocelyn.

Within two weeks of working with my new dietitian, Jocelyn, and following her protocol, I was feeling better. And because I was already vegan and eating a healthy plant-based diet, the modifications she had me make weren’t drastic. But making them changed everything for me. And now that my gut is feeling better, my whole body feels better.

What health professionals say about the importance of the gut microbiome is true. I’m experiencing it for myself. (My bloodwork at a routine physical, which has traditionally been very good, was excellent this time.)

Jocelyn was super excited to know that I teach plant-based cooking and help coach people new to plant-based eating or veganism. (It made her job pretty easy.) We created a three-session course called: Food as Medicine: Cook and Learn Series. I teach the cooking and she teaches about the health benefits.

The course begins January 22nd and will meet once in January, once in February and once in March. While I’m cooking, Jocelyn will be speaking about the health benefits of a plant-based diet. Additionally, each month, she will delve deeper into the benefits of a plant-based diet on lifestyle diseases such as Diabetes, Heart Disease and Cancer. You can learn more here.

Our meeting is a perfect example of an ethical vegan finding a healthy plant-based lifestyle (me) meets healthy plant-based practitioner who is now also vegan (Jocelyn). We started down a plant-based path for different reasons and ended up at the same place.

Swinging back to my original question- can an ethical vegan can be healthy too?  Absolutely. It might take a few tweaks to a vegan diet but the answer is yes.

It is gratifying to know that I can follow my ethics AND be healthy… healthier in fact than I’ve been in years.

And now I feel comfortable shouting it from the rooftops.

Saying goodbye is the hardest. We adopted Gonzo in 2009 when my kids were 7 and 9 years old. He was 6 months old, and I didn’t want a puppy. 

We had gone to the rescue group to look at a different dog who was adopted minutes before we arrived. None of the other dogs at the shelter seemed suitable for a family with small children. 

The woman was pretty determined to get one specific dog adopted and opened the door to the puppy room and let him out. Simultaneously, my children and husband squealed: A PUPPY.

Puppy Gonzo

Gonzo & T-Bone snuggling

Needless to say, we all fell in love. Despite not wanting a smaller dog and not wanting a puppy, I fell hard. 

And T-bone showed Gonzo the ropes and how to be (for the most part) a well-behaved dog. 

We had a few issues along the way; he didn’t like people coming through our front door and oopsie, might have bitten a few people. But we figured it out and overall, he was a wonderful dog. 

He not only slept on our bed, but he slept under the covers snuggled into all my nooks and crannies. When we were awake, he was often found under a blanket on the sofa with whichever family member was there. 

After T-bone passed, we adopted Ninja who was the same age and the two of them ran and ran and ran together. They were two peas in a pod, and we never felt bad going out and leaving them because they had each other.

Gonzo & Ninja snuggling

Best Buddies

After Ninja passed, Gonzo made it clear, at the age of 13, that he was ready to be a solo dog. So, for the past two and a half years, Gonzo has had our full attention. Our relationship changed too. Ninja was my Velcro dog until his passing and then Gonzo became my Velcro dog. 

Gonzo was one of the toughest little dogs I knew. In 2020 he was attacked by two big dogs who escaped from their yard, and it was bad. Then in 2022 he got into a fight with a dog we were fostering and that was bad too. More recently, due to heart disease, I kept thinking the end had to be near, but he had no intention of going anywhere. Such a fighter. Until it just got too hard on his little body. 

15 years just isn’t long enough. I miss him so much. I can’t believe he isn’t here snuggling with me anymore. 

Gonzo- you are forever in my heart.