Hi there, I’m Maria! I’m so pleased you found my website! I hope you feel at home here!
THE BLOG!
I published my first blog post December 6, 2014 after going through a health and weight loss transformation. I have currently lost 125 pounds on a Whole Food Plant Based Diet. I don’t like the word “diet”. Diet is such a temporary word. Sticking to a diet long term is not easy for me. My plant based journey has been a lifestyle change, not a diet. The majority of my weight loss is due to the fact that I have been following a Protective Diet since August 2013.
April 2012 / November 2015
My husband took the photo on the left in April 2012. Needless to say, I was not very happy with him. At that time in my life I did not want any picture taken of me. Looking back, I am grateful he took this picture and kept it. The picture on the right was taken November 2015.
A LITTLE ABOUT ME!
I have been married to my best friend for 20 years. The above photo was taken when we were first dating. I currently work full-time and commute approximately two hours round trip per day. Of course, it all depends on the traffic and weather.:) Some of my interests include ceramics, gardening, bicycling and camping. Since going plant based, cooking and running have been added to this list.
WEBSITE GOAL!
My passion is to inspire you on your whole food plant based journey, while encouraging you with strategies to incorporate into daily, weekly and monthly routines. I will share ideas, tips and tools through my blog posts, and exclusive newsletter subscriber content. I would love to enlighten, encourage and empower you along your journey. My ultimate goal is to inspire you to take action!
WHY EatLiveBNspired!
As my husband and I brainstormed on a blog name, everything we came up with had already been taken or was very similar to other sites. The name had to encompass what I wanted to convey with my website. As I searched and pondered a name, I knew I wanted it to be available across all the social media (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram). Length was also an issue. The original site name was going to be EatLiveBeInspired. Well this name was too long, so I decided to condense the name. I have been very happy with that decision. Eat. Live. Be Inspired became EatLiveBNspired
WHEN DID IT ALL START?
I remember standing in the store reading the ingredients on a can. As I stared at the label, a thought came to mind, “what is all this stuff?”. “Is this really good for me? I could barely pronounce half of the ingredients. I longed for a time that these chemicals were not a part of my food. I had no idea how to accomplish this or where to even start. I grew up eating a Standard American Diet (Portuguese style that is!).
Then one night in 2012, my life would change forever. Little did I know back then what kind of impact a documentary called Forks over Knives would have on my life. As a result of watching this documentary on Netflix my outlook on food changed forever. To read about my journey, check out My Plant Based Journey and My Photo Journal.
As the weight came off, my activity level naturally increased. In August 2014, a year after I started a Protective Diet, I ran my first 5K. I was never a runner growing up, but I have found enjoyment in this new activity.
5K Run
The same summer, I looked into updating my life insurance. I was hoping to reduce my monthly rate. I was pleasantly surprised that my health had improved significantly. I was able to upgrade my plan to the “Preferred Elite” category. My agent told me very few people ever move into this category. Below are my numbers over the last few years. I would love for others to transition into the “Preferred Elite” category. Will you join me?
This is not a diet. “Diet” has negative connotations. Any change has to take place because of a “want” to change. Lifestyle change such as I have gone through and you are about to will change you forever.
FOOD BLOGGER/CHEF!
Neither one. Not even close. I am definitely not a chef nor do I claim to be. My husband loves to tell a story that happened before we were married when I burned a bag of instant rice. I know! How does someone do that? All I had to do was boil a bag of rice in water. In my defense, I was on the phone with him when this happened. So technically, I blame him.
When we were first married, I didn’t like to cook. I was not a wonderful or even a good cook. My husband did the cooking. I would look around the kitchen and think, there is nothing to eat! He would put things together and in the end it would taste great. I was also impatient. If I was hungry, I just wanted something fast and easy.
I can mess up a recipe with the instructions right in front of me. I don’t know how I do it but it still happens to this day, even if I have made the same recipe multiple times. I have to say that over the last four years my cooking has improved. My husband agrees!
I have created a few of my own recipes but not many. You can find them under My Recipes. That’s okay, there are many wonderful plant based chefs out there. I don’t need to join them, just enjoy their recipes.
I will be blogging about so much more than the food I eat. Technically, I don’t consider myself a food blogger, … or should I?
WHERE TO GO FROM HERE!
It all depends on you! Are you ready to start your journey? I am excited about the possibilities and opportunities that lay before you. I am grateful you came across my blog. I hope you will come back often and join me as we embark on this new phase of own lives together! Let’s connect through social media Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest or Twitter.
Learn more about my weight loss journey, go to My Plant Based Journey and My Photo Journal
Here are some areas to check out:
Where to go from here?
Start Here Page
Simple Living
Sign up for Free Protective Diet Recipes
My Story has been featured:
Protective Diet Testimonial 1/2012
Protective Diet Testimonial 2012 & 2015
Discover the Word of Wisdom
Meridian Magazine
Discovering the Word of Wisdom a short film
Health4life,
Free Plant Based Progress Tracker
Sign up to receive your FREE Plant Based Progress Tracker printables and exclusive subscriber content!
A vegetarian/vegan, myself for almost 20 years now 🙂
That’s wonderful. I have only been following a Whole Food Plant Based Diet for three years so far. I really have enjoyed the last two. I have grown and can see myself doing this for the rest of my life.
That’s nice. I wish you all the inspiration to continue with your resolve 🙂
Maria Avery, Hi i read your doc. and and found it interesting. I weigh in the past 345lbs know 224lbs i lost the weight walking a labrador. In april of this year i had a triple bypass and im also having trouble with circulation in my legs, i had a stent put in the right leg on oct.27th and noe on the 19th im having the left leg done. So when i recuperate i would like very much to try the whole food plant base diet it sounds like something i would like to put under my wings. Need to lose some weight. To bring my diabetis and colesterol in check. So plz email me and let me know how i can get started. Happy thanksgiving to you and yours. Sincerely glicery gonzalez.
Hi Glicery,
Sorry to hear about all you have gone through. Congratulations on losing 121lb! That great.
There have been many that have reversed diabetes and lowered their cholesterol. I would suggest getting started with PD-ed. This month you will get the best deal. You can watch the archived lesson and learn a lot while you are recovering from surgery.
http://protectivediet.com/pd-ed?affiliate=7
Hello Maria!
I started by reading up on nutrition in order to be more of a healthy eater. I ate like most people, sugar loaded items, greasy meat for supper and very little veggies. As I was researching nutrition I came across a book called “Eat. Nourish. Glow” and it opened a can of worms. Do I need milk or meat for optimum living? I then read “Eat. Sleep. Move” which had very similar information. I followed this book with “How not to die” this one had me convinced that a plant based diet was the way to go. It gave me the science behind why this lifestyle is the best. I am so happy that you have lost so much weight and look so amazing. It’s true that once the weight is gone you get extra energy. I wish you the best and I look forward to reading more of your blog. Bless you!
Terry,
Thank you for those kind words. “How not to die” is a powerful book. I bought it after first listening to it on audible. Had to have the information at my figure tips.
Having a foundation with the science behind eating a whole food plant based diet is so important. I’m glad you’ve taken that important step.
I haven’t heard about the other two book you mentioned. I will check those out.
I wish you all the best. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your journey.
Maria, I have been looking at a plant-based diet on and off for about 5 years. I tried to go vegetarian last year and then wanted to move into being a full vegan and did it for about a month and then got thrown off the wagon. I wanted to do it for my health and to get back to my slim size that I once was years ago. Well, I’ve gained even more weight and I’m really struggling with my health and now the doctor thinks I could have cervical cancer and I have to go in for more testing Monday and I realized I have got to do something about my health. I realized I’ve got to get back into researching and getting my shopping list together and really make it go of this lifestyle. I’ve been struggling with feeling that I’m worth it to even start this process. I used to be so skinny and had so much more confidence and over the years in becoming a single mother and being a busy teacher I have turned to fast food. My weight started to rise and my health started to decline. I recently started researching plant based diets again and one of my fellow teachers is a plant-based diet eater and really has encouraged me to start it up again and she is good friends with Jane Birch. Tonight I started looking up the Protective Diet because I’ve seen just about every documentary out there on food and I thought this might be a place to start even though I know her monthly subscription is expensive. Well, I came across your blog add website. And then I saw the Word of Wisdom documentary on your page and couldn’t believe it! I’m assuming you are Latter Day Saint and I was so excited and felt like God was telling me once again that I need to do this lifestyle! I too am a Latter-Day Saint and really need to be following a plant-based diet so that I can share it with other people in and out of the church. I wanted to do the protective diet but it’s kind of expensive and so I’m so appreciative of your website. Thank you so much for sharing your story and all this wonderful information! I hope that I can be a success story on your website and look forward to hearing from you :0)
Natalie,
Thank you so much for sharing your story with me. You are worth it and you can do it. Take it one day at a time. Start with the free recipe from Protective Diet. That’s all we had when I first started. That’s a great place to start.
I look forward to hearing you progress. Yes I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. I hope all goes well with your appointment.
Hi Maria,
I just read your blog, at least most of it. I have been reading many testimonies and youtube videos on PB eating. I attended a Kaiser once a week meeting almost a year ago to encourage me but I barely did it. My doctors told me to lose weight or he’ll have to put me on BP medication. He later did. It’s very small though. I have literally gotten tired of eating meat. It’s more than just weight now, although I would love to come down to a solid 200lbs. I am around 225-230 and I’m 6ft.1in. I can’t fit into my old jeans and newer jeans are getting tight. My cholesterol levels are getting higher and I have had it. Thank you so much for posting and writing your story. I am truly inspired by you and your long-term marriage. I am just starting on my journey. I love salads so I’m starting there and working my way to other dishes. I can’t eat nuts or legumes and I’m not much of a bean eater either. But I want to be optimistic. I believe their are other dishes that will be great once I try them. But anyway, I just want to say thanks and I’m excited to get back to a healthier place physically, emotionally and mentally. I catch you later.
Thank you for your comments. I’m so glad you are giving it a try. There are so many different types of food you should be able to find things that work for you.
Enjoy the journey and enjoy the food. It make it easier if you like the food.
Look forward to hearing about your progress.