Supersized? or Veganized? Podcast #2 with Alexandra Jamieson

Enjoy another guest post by the vegan hubby and guest-blogger-at-large, Steven Todd Smith!

In the first two years of college, I had my routine: stay up late, write a paper, grab some McDonalds at 2 am.  It was yummy, it was convenient, and it sure became a habit.  Summer 2004 comes rolling around and so does a film that would open my eyes to my convenient, tasty habit and start the first phase of my journey toward detoxification: Super Size Me.  After watching this film, I made the decision to swear off fast food from my diet - a decision that, after watching the disgusting gluttony and detrimental consequences of the fast food lifestyle, was incredibly easy to make.

Fast forward to Fall 2007, I give up eating four-legged land animals (or in the world of omnivory, "red meat"), a personal decision for my health.  Fast forward to Summer 2009, after seeing Food, Inc., another great documentary about the food industry, I take a month long veg pledge, cutting out all animals from my diet.  Fast forward to September 1st, 2009, I take my first official steps into Veganhood, eliminating the remaining animal products from my diet, and begin my rest-of-lifelong journey toward living as healthfully, compassionately, and responsibly as I can (credit to Skinny Bastard for the final decision - plenty of informative, life-changing material out there, both on the page and the screen, as you can see).

Alexandra's rockin' book
Why take you back for this life drive-thru of my diet?  Well, in that fateful movie that cut out the oil-drenched, heavily-salted fries; the fat-saturated (with saturated fat?) quarter pounders; and the greasy nuggets of chicken (were they really that appetizing?) from my life, I was introduced to Alexandra Jamieson, then girlfriend to and nutrition consultant for (and credited as Healthy Chef Alex) filmmaker Morgan Spurlock during his 30-day plunge into the depths of fast food.  She guided him from severe sickness after the month-long McDonalds binge back to vitality, health, and fit-ness (huh, whattya know, the state of being fit!).  Alexandra successfully detoxified someone who had consumed 30 lbs of sugar and 12 lbs of fat from all of the burgers, fries, nuggets, and soda (90 consecutive meals from McDonalds!), truly showing the powerful effects of a whole foods, vegan diet and the necessity of detoxifying your body of the poisons you ingest from certain foods.  Light bulb moment: she planted the seed for my healthy living!  (Thanks Alexandra!)  

Alexandra's other rockin' book
Fast forward to Fall 2010, I'm in NYC at GustOrganics (a restaurant receiving its own post soon!) for World Go Vegan Week (see World Go Vegan Week post) with Matt Rice, of Mercy For Animals, and Alexandra Jamieson, the aforementioned vegan nutrition consultant/chef (that saved her now-husband's life), author of three books, and creator of two amazing websites/health programs.  Besides being incredibly fun and personable, Alexandra is a mean chef (meaning, you know, a nice chef who makes really delicious food).  After our first accidentally erased interview, Alexandra was so accommodating and allowed me to meet her after her Park Slope Co-Op shift in Brooklyn for our second take.  With her positive outlook and inspiring attitude, there's a lot we can learn from Alex' experiences and knowledge.  Where and when can we start? 

Well, final fast forward to now, where you get to enjoy this wonderful October 2010 podcast interview with superstar Alexandra Jamieson!  Through her husband's journey and her nutrition advice, I was able to take my first step to avoid being supersized.  Do you wanna avoid being supersized?  Get Veganized!



Alexandra is a professional trained chef, having studied at New York City’s Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts.  In addition, Alex is a certified health and nutrition counselor. She studied with ground-breaking pioneers in the field of nutrition at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, which is accredited by Columbia University’s Teacher’s College and by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners.  Check out her websites www.nutritionforempoweredwomen.com and www.weekinaweekend.com and pick up any or all of her three books: Living Vegan for Dummies, The Great American Detox Diet, and Vegan Cooking for Dummies!

Also, keep an eye out for World Go Vegan Week 2011!  

Comments

dirtyduck said…
great to read all your changes and how they came about.
CurlyLocks said…
Lindsay, As I was reading the blog, I was thinking that the story was about Steve's experiences in his journey to veganism. Then, I listened to the podcast and heard his voice interviewing Alexandra Jamieson... and I knew I was correct.
Lindsay Wolf said…
You were totally right Ruth, and thanks for giving me that heads up - totally forgot to credit Steve. Updated!
Ray Medina said…
Hi Lindsay - I just read your blog post and looking at your blog for the first time... I noticed this post is called Podcast #2... Are you listen in iTunes yet? I would love to subscribe to the podcast...
Anthony said…
Great story and great podcast! Thanks for sharing.
How COOL that you guest blog!! Now THAT'S a supportive husband! No wonder your wife is a "happy" vegan.....you guest blog and since your'e vegan, all of your parts are working :)