My Story
Hi, welcome to the new and improved website!
Because it is the first blog post, I asked myself: “What could be a good first post?” I thought perhaps, sharing my story would be it. I feel lucky to be able to share and grateful for you and your interest. It’s a bit of a long post, apologies.
I was born and raised in Puerto Rico. Although I have spent a long time away from the island, it is still my home. Friends and family are there and I visit often. I live in Switzerland with my husband, two kids, and a dog. This is our second time around in Switzerland. Prior to here, we’ve lived in Hong Kong, California, and New York. I’ve also been lucky enough to have traveled from a young age. I’ve very much enjoyed my life around the world. It has opened my eyes to different cultures, people, food…of course, and made me the person I am today.
I’ve always loved food. Puerto Ricans love food. We take pleasure in cooking, eating, and sharing the food we make. It’s part of our hospitable nature. My love for food and travel took me to study Hotel Administration. I had big plans of working abroad for a few years before going back home and revolutionizing the hotel industry. Life had other plans.
I’d like to say that my relationship with food was always healthy, but it wasn’t. I’ve used food for comfort, as a reward, and as an antidote for anxiety and boredom. Growing up, I struggled with body image issues which lead me to unhealthy eating habits including crash diets, drinking only Diet Coke, and, even, binging and purging. I’ve done a lot of work in my adult years to fix my relationship with food and its role in my life.
The catalyst for all of this was being pregnant with my daughter. For the first time, I was not only eating for myself but also for another person. A person that relied entirely on me. It was my responsibility to give her the best start in life. The only way to do that was to eat as healthily as I could and nourish this little person with all the nutrients that she needed to grow big and strong. I can’t say that I did everything perfectly. I’m still human after all, but I acquired a certain level of awareness that I didn’t have before. This carried through her early years and during my pregnancy with my son.
“I started making as much food from scratch as I could because I found that the ready-made food was full of unnecessary stuff.”
I was working with my own food issues and trying to instill in my kids a healthy relationship with food. I introduced them to all the fruits and vegetables that I could, even some that I didn’t particularly liked. Since we ate the same food, my own eating habits were improving. I started making as much food from scratch as I could because I found that the ready-made food was full of unnecessary stuff. As my friend Tamara calls them, “nasties”.
When they were still quite young, I was faced with a challenge. They didn’t like meat. They only ate meat in forms of chicken fingers and Bolognese. I, like most of us, was taught that we need meat, chicken, fish to have a well-rounded diet. So, I went to the bookstore to buy a vegetarian cookbook in order to make sure that my kids had a well-rounded diet with vegetables, grains, and fruit.
I will never forget it. I was with a friend and when I picked up a certain book, she said: “I love her, I follow her on Instagram.” I flipped through the pages, saw many ingredients that we liked and bought the book. It was only when I got home that I realized that it was a vegan book. I was a bit surprised because I had always thought that veganism was a bit extreme but here I was trying and enjoying many of the recipes. One book led to many others. Some vegetarian, some vegan, some about quitting sugar, some for kids, and some just for desserts because, why not?
I’d say that I was doing pretty well. I hadn’t made the leap to being vegetarian or vegan, but I was feeling good and kept a healthy weight. I exercised and felt that I had more stamina and felt healthier in my mid 30s than I did in my 20s. I wanted to make the leap, but something told me that I would be sacrificing my health.
“I’ve always thought of myself as a friend of the earth so, it was such a revelation to learn that the diet that is best for the environment is also best for your health.”
My 39th year was particularly difficult, even with all the healthy changes, I was faced with many health issues. On January 1st of my 40th year, I decided to become a vegetarian. It was going well. I was noticing many good changes. In the summer, I enrolled in an online Plant-Based Nutrition course from eCornell. The course is excellent, I highly recommended. I learned so much about the diet. I learned its effects on the body and the planet. I’ve always thought of myself as a friend of the earth so, it was such a revelation to learn that the diet that is best for the environment is also best for your health. After completing the course in August, I made the leap to plant-based eating. I have not looked back.
It has been transformative. It has connected me to my body, to my community, and the planet more than anything else that I’ve done. I lost weight and kept it off. Unhealthy cravings faded. My skin was clearer, shinier, softer. My stomach issues were gone. My stamina greatly improved. I even ran a 25K race! Something that I never thought I could do. It has also gotten me back to Yoga, which has helped my emotional and spiritual health tremendously.
Seeing how all of these changes had such a wonderful effect on me and my life, I was inspired to try to help people do the same. This idea gave birth to La mesa de Vanessa. It started as a nutrition blog and Instagram page. Two years later, it has become an LLC. My aim is to provide health coaching to individual and groups. I also use my former career knowledge to consult hotels and restaurants in ways to effectively add plant-based selections into their programs.
I want to spread the word of all the wonderful things that plant-based eating can do for people. How it’s delicious, extensive, and not at all boring. How it will make you feel the best you’ve ever felt. I want people to experience the same transformation that I have experienced. I am excited to share my story and my knowledge with my clients. Hopefully, I can be an instrument for them on their path to better health.
Thank you for reading and for taking this journey with me,
Vanessa
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