Coach Mikki and Friends

The Vegan Journey: Embracing Change- Kristyn Mederios - S5E4

• Coach Mikki

Share episode

Explore a transformative journey into veganism in this captivating episode featuring Kristyn Medeiros. From facing societal pressures to nurturing her children on a plant-based diet, Kristyn radiates passion and determination in helping others discover veganism's holistic advantages. With rich conversations about the challenges of transitioning to a vegan lifestyle, she explains how small steps can lead to substantial changes.

Listeners will gain invaluable insights into nutritional needs on a vegan diet, the realities behind food production, and tips for making sustainable choices. Kristyn's approach involves kindness and education, making it easier to embrace this lifestyle without feeling overwhelmed. She shares her entrepreneurial passion through Vegan Curious, a resource for parents interested in navigating this culinary shift with their children.

Engage with Kristyn's journey and consider your own food choices, as we aim to support each individual's path toward better health and well-being. If you're curious about veganism or want to inspire others on their journeys, share this episode, subscribe, and stay tuned for more insightful discussions!

Connect with Kristyn

Catch Kristyn on her podcast "Flyingupstreampodcast" 

We look forward to seeing you succeed! - www.KeepOnSharing.com - Code - KOS

Support the show


www.CoachMikkiandFriends.com
Join my guests on my YouTube Channel

Speaker 1:

Hey, I'm Coach Mickey and I'm so glad that you joined us, and if this is your first time joining us, come on in to make yourself comfortable. And for those of you that join us on a regular basis, we are so glad that you do, and I want to thank all of you for always, always, always reaching out to my guests. They really appreciate it. They love the connections, they love hearing from you, even if you've got some comments, questions or even your own stories, if they have something that you can collaborate with. So thank you so much for doing that, and I'd like to give a shout out to some of the biggest countries that listen to me, and I'm so excited because every time I log on and see my group and my tribe and the people that are listening, it always makes me smile to see that somebody from Australia has come on, or I have got someone that's in Germany and I know globally, a lot of you are all over and I usually give you a shout out, but I wanted to just give a special shout out to these listeners. So thank you so much, and today is going to be really, really fun. I'm excited because I love to collaborate with other people that are in the same workplace that I'm in, and I don't even call this work because I love what I do, and when you love what you do, it's really not work, is it?

Speaker 1:

So with me today is Kristen Medeiros. She knows firsthand what it's like to break away from the expected path. After climbing the corporate ladder and working the global companies, the federal government of fast-paced tech startups, she's found herself at Crossroads and she chose to define success in her own terms. Isn't that awesome? Today, kristen co-hosts Flying Upstream, a podcast that explores unconventional lifestyles and the people who dare to challenge social norms. She also runs a business dedicated to helping vegan curious parents introduce you to plant-based lifestyle and to your families. So, without further ado, I am going to bring in Kristen and welcome her. And how are you today?

Speaker 2:

Wonderful. Thank you for having me, Mickey. I'm so excited to be here.

Speaker 1:

Well, I'm excited to have you and we had an opportunity to share stories off air and I love what you had to offer and I know your story will resonate with so many people that are on my platform and just your story could be told anywhere and it's going to inspire, you know, every, each and every one of us, so I'm just going to jump in with that. So how did you get started with the vegan lifestyle, especially for what your past was and where you were working?

Speaker 2:

Yeah Well, I think most of my life I have been on this journey to try to be healthier, and as I continued on learning and educating myself, I realized that the word healthy has a different definition for everybody.

Speaker 2:

And so, as I started to learn more, I came across the documentary called Forks Over Knives, which I highly recommend to people, and it focuses on the health benefits specifically of the vegan diet. And Mickey, I remember that night I was sitting on the couch with my husband eating a chicken dinner, watching this documentary, and the more I learned, the more I looked down at my plate and finally I pushed it away. I said I can't, I can't unknow what has just been told to me about food and how it impacts your body and disease and your health, everything your whole lifestyle, stress, anxiety. That was it. That was it for me, and from that moment forward, I became vegan. It has been a challenge, of course, because our society isn't always vegan friendly. Some people are understanding, some places are, but not always. But I still have never wavered in my decision, and even today, I have two young children and I'm raising both of them vegan as well, and we are living very happy about it.

Speaker 1:

That's pretty impressive, I know. Sometimes, when we have knowledge and then we learn about something, to be able to implement it into our lives takes a lot of work and that's a big challenge. I mean going from eating, you know, because we're so accustomed to eating meat, and then switching over to a totally vegan diet and still getting the nutrition and everything else that you need, and then bringing your children into it, because in this society it's so difficult. I mean, look how accessible food is, especially fast food, and it's not exactly the most healthy menu that we have to choose from. So how did you get your children to transition over into this? And, first of all, what are their ages? I mean, are they young children? You don't want to say their ages, but are they younger? Are they teenagers?

Speaker 2:

They're younger, they're three and six, almost seven, so they've been vegan their whole lives. They've never known anything different. But my older daughter definitely feels some pressure from her schoolmates. Everybody has brownies and cupcakes and cakes that are brought in for school birthdays and almost all of them are not vegan. So we've had to deal with some of that and my philosophy on it is progress over perfection.

Speaker 2:

It's way more important to me that my family understands why we are vegan, what's the rationale behind it, way more than being a strict vegan 100% of the time. So am I 100% vegan every single minute of every day? No, no, I'm not. I would say it's probably about 98%, but that's good enough for me. There's definitely times where my daughter wants to have cupcakes at a birthday party and I say, sure, go for it. Or there's a surprise Somebody has brought us a gift of food. There's always something, but almost all the time we're vegan, but there are some.

Speaker 2:

Sometimes you have to make concessions. I also think it's important, when you're making a big decision like this for children, that you do leave wiggle room, and I say this because I never want my children to be resentful of this decision that I've made for them. Now, when they're older, they can choose to eat however they like, but while they're young, it is my decision and if I never waver, if I never give them an opportunity, then they will be resentful, and I never want that. So I take a lot of time to explain why we do this. It's for our health, it's for animals we believe in kindness to animals and also for the planet. We talk about this pretty frequently and they understand that you know as much as they can at their ages. So that's the most important thing to me about all of this. Now, it is interesting too, because I always get comments from other parents about just being vegan. Some people are supportive and say oh, you know, my sister-in-law is vegan, that's great.

Speaker 2:

Sometimes they say, where do you get your protein? Which is the question. For some reason, everybody asks that question. I don't know why people are so concerned with where I'm getting my protein, but they are. So I always kind of get those questions and that led me to create my business Vegan Curious to Vegan, confident, because I wanted to help people out there, specifically parents, who are curious about it but really unsure. There's a lot of hesitation around it, so I started with a weekly blog answering a lot of these questions and now, unsure, there's a lot of hesitation around it. So I started with a weekly blog answering a lot of these questions and now it's built into a bigger business. But it has to do with a lot of the questions I would get on the playground oddly enough, because parents always bring snacks for kids they want to share and when I said oh, thank you, but no, thank you, we don't eat that, I would get questions and that's sort of what started my whole business idea.

Speaker 1:

That's great. Well, my first question is what is the difference between vegan and vegetarian? Because this is something that I don't even understand. I mean, I know a little bit about it and I'm sure this is the burning question that everybody has, because I'm sure there's a big difference between the two.

Speaker 2:

Yes, so vegetarians will still eat animal products, but not animal flesh itself. So vegetarians do not eat chicken or beef or veal, but they will eat animal products such as eggs cheese, yogurt, ice cream, milk, things like that, things like that. Vegan does not eat anything that comes from animals period, Only eat plant derived foods. So we eat fruit, vegetables, nuts, legumes and anything that you can make from that.

Speaker 1:

Okay, that makes sense. All right, cause I didn't really understand what the difference was. And that does make sense with the animal products. So, like you, would replace milk with almond milk and please stop me if I'm wrong, because I'm shooting from the hip here, because I'm just trying to learn so is that kind of on the right path when you're talking about being vegan?

Speaker 2:

Exactly, that's exactly right, and that's what I encourage is starting with small swaps. So in our household, we drink oat milk, we have ice cream made from cashew milk or soy milk, we have pizza made with vegan cheese. So we are certainly not depriving ourselves or our children of all the comfort foods out there. It's just made with ingredients from plants rather than ingredients from animals.

Speaker 1:

Okay, that makes sense. Now, what seems to be the biggest obstacle that people have to get over when they are making that transition, especially when they have children? What seems to be? Is it basically like what you shared is that people bring food, or when you go with family? I mean, what seems to be that biggest obstacle that you constantly face?

Speaker 2:

I think one of the biggest obstacles is fear of being rejected by society. Essentially, that could be their family, it could be their partner or spouse, it could be their children, friends, co-workers. When I was working in an office and I would go to lunch with co-workers, sometimes it was an inconvenience for them. Oh, kristen's coming. Well, we can only go to these two restaurants now and that doesn't feel good. It doesn't feel good to have comments like that and nobody wants to voluntarily put them in a position where you will instantly be disliked. To voluntarily put them in a position where you will instantly be disliked.

Speaker 2:

So that is a definitely a tough piece of the puzzle here, but it's also easy to overcome that right. So just a little bit of work and you can figure out what the restaurants are that you may go to. You can call ahead, look at their menus online. Many restaurants now have vegan alternatives. You can also ask for food without cheese, without egg on it, depending what you're getting, and almost all restaurants are very happy to comply with that. So it's usually not such a big deal with a little bit of work. I think most people just feel so overwhelmed and scared they don't even know where to start, and they don't even know how to talk about it with their family, friends and coworkers in a way that they won't feel completely shunned about it.

Speaker 1:

Well, most restaurants do offer vegan, because I'll even look at a menu and it'll have like a little highlight that'll say vegan or gluten-free. You know vegetarian. So I think there's been a lot more interest and they've been a little bit more apt to offer these things because I think it's growing and they see that there's a need for it, which is good. That is kind of frustrating, and not that being vegan is the same. It's kind of the same, along the same lines of what I'm gonna share.

Speaker 1:

I know, for me, you know, dealing with a lot of people who binge eat or or, you know, have certain diets, like for me, I'm gluten free, I cannot do gluten and I don't do milk for lactose, and it's always ah, you know, can you get anything here? Is there anything you can order? And I'm like, yeah, I'll find something. You know it's don't worry about me, I'm good and it should. You're right. It's like I'm sorry I put you off and we went to lunch together, but now it gets to a point where I don't even say anything. I just go through the menu and then pick, you know, pick what I want, and but it but it's kind of also the same thing.

Speaker 1:

It's like you'd want that support. You'd want the people to support you when you've made a choice, especially a choice that affects your health. You know something that you know is better for you, and it's your personal choice and that's the path that you're taking. You know, having those around you to support you, you know, is so important too. But how do you feel? How did you feel after you stopped eating? You know animal-based products. How did your feel after you stopped eating? You know animal based products. How do you, how does your body react to that?

Speaker 2:

Oh, it was a game changer. It was an absolute game changer. I felt so good, light, strong, grounded I. I don't get that heavy feeling in my stomach anymore, like you know, when you eat big Thanksgiving dinner and you're like oh.

Speaker 2:

I'm so full I can't eat anymore, right, that feeling. I don't get that anymore. I feel very full, I don't feel hungry during the day, but I don't get that feeling where it feels like you've got a rock in your stomach. I feel energized, I feel focused, I feel happy to hop out of bed in the morning, and I never used to feel that way before, so it's been a huge game changer for me.

Speaker 1:

Well, the foods that you're choosing. Also, you know exactly where it's coming from and what you're eating and, like you said, if you're eating plant-based meals, then each and every one of those plants offer something that our body needs. Then each and every one of those plants offer something that our body needs. You know everything that surround us. If it's not processed or created as something else that they call food, you know it's really good for you.

Speaker 1:

I always think of eat food that has one ingredient. Have a spinach, you know. Have corn, you know. You have just things that are specifically one ingredient. Those are the things your body needs and I'm assuming the protein that everybody asks you about you're getting from legumes because I do know that they're very high in protein, such as spinach is very high in iron and a lot of people don't know that because we're so accustomed to supplementing it because the diets that we have don't consist of the things we really, really need, so we have to supplement it. So, with how you're eating, do you find that you need to take other supplements for your body, such as iron and things like that? Are you getting that all in your foods?

Speaker 2:

You know, I have never been one to track exactly what I eat, so I can't personally say for certain that I'm getting 100% of my iron every day. I do like to take a multivitamin every day just as a catch all, if you will, because some weeks I am awesome at eating healthy and some weeks, yeah, I'm eating my plant-based chicken nuggets and plant-based pizza, you know, and that's just life, and I don't want to have to drive myself crazy with those, those data points, so I just don't track it. But I do like to take the supplement just in case. I do think, in particular, vitamin C is very important in our mood and keeping us happy and healthy, so I definitely take that one as well. But overall, I would say that just don't drive yourself crazy.

Speaker 2:

Eat foods that are healthy for you. We know plants are healthy. There's no controversy around it. Unless you have an allergy, we know they're healthy. There is a lot of controversy around whether animal products are healthy. Some studies say yes, some studies say no. Personally, I'd rather go with the path where I know for sure it's healthy. I want to live a long time to see my grandchildren. I want to run marathons in my 70s. I want to be that person, and this is my path to get there 70s.

Speaker 1:

I want to be that person and this is my path to get there. And for the little information that I have found. I had read, and I think it was even on our documentary I had seen how they thought the link to breast cancer was actually in beef, in meat, and how they had presented it was that there's the hormones and steroids and everything that are put into these animals prior to them going to end up in the grocery store, being kind that this steroid and this hormones and this stuff that they're given last up to 90 days. Well, that meat ends up in the grocery store within 30 days. So you've got that 60 month or 60 day shelf life that is still within the meat and they're finding that link.

Speaker 1:

Same thing to barbecue you know when it's charred because of the carcinogenics. So there's and again, this is just something that I had seen. You could probably elaborate more on this than I can, but it's just like just knowing that little bit of knowledge. It's like, oh, you know, if you know something is not good for you, you know, such as anything else, why consume it, why put it in your body? Because you already know you're making that choice and maybe, like you said maybe it's not, you're doing it a hundred percent, but you're doing it, you know, to get you by Right.

Speaker 2:

Right, you know, I think one of the sad things about our modern world is that it's very hard for people to understand the journey of food to table, and this is true not only for plants but also for meat. You're going to go to a restaurant for dinner and order a hamburger, okay. So first a cow was born. That cow was taken away from its mother, it was fed antibiotics and hormones and oh, by the way, it's already entering life disease because these animals are bred to be bigger in certain areas of their body, so there's more meat per animal. So it's already starting life in a sad way. It has sad emotions to it. It's being torn away from its mother. Its life is very short. So if you think about also the emotions that are and that energy that is also inside that animal, you're also ingesting all of that fear that animal has to have, knowing that it's about to be murdered.

Speaker 2:

All the way down the road to what happens to that meat, how it is processed, what is added to it they add food coloring to it to make it look red like there's blood in it all the way down to the hamburger on your table in the restaurant. It's pretty brutal and most people don't have an understanding of what that process is. They're not watching videos of it, they're not going to farms or slaughterhouses to have an understanding. Instead, what we see is these videos of happy cows grazing, and let me tell you that is not what is happening, and I think if people had an inkling even just a little bit of the reality of what happens, they would make a different decision. And I'm not saying this to force people to become vegetarian or vegan. I truly believe that everybody is on their own journey, their own path, and will make their own decisions, but I do think it's a shame so much is hidden from the general public that we are not even able to make the best decision for ourselves.

Speaker 1:

My, my ex, worked for a distribution company and one of the things or I should say he didn't work for the distribution company he built them. That's what he did. We went all over the country building them and, unfortunately, one of the ones we had to do was a pig slaughtering factory. And I had gone up with him on one of the jobs and I was mortified what I saw and I was like, oh my gosh, and you're right, people don't know, they just don't know. And eating in your choice, and I totally understand that and a lot of people have different views, but I think if we did understand and know what happens, it would give you an opportunity to at least understand. You know, and I think knowledge is powerful. So you're absolutely right and and it's yeah, it was enough for me.

Speaker 1:

I was like, yeah, I'm good, I'm done, and and you know, and I don't want to get, I don't want to go into and get graphic, but yeah, and, and you're right, and then when you see something like that, you just click something different in your brain. But well, first of all I want to give a shout out to your podcast, because I heard some of your podcasts and you guys are awesome. I love it. I highly recommend, if you guys have an opportunity, please stop by and listen to Kristen's podcast Flying Upstream podcast and all the information you're going to find embedded into this podcast so you can reach out to her and listen and hear some more information and her amazing stories and the people that she's had on. But I'm going to leave it with you. Kristen, is there anything else you want to share? That's something we didn't cover, or you'd like to have an opportunity to offer?

Speaker 2:

Well, you know, I would say if anybody who's listening is vegan, curious. I would suggest starting with something small first, something like swapping from cow's milk to oat milk or almond milk in your coffee or in your cereal. Something tiny, something that you can have a quick win with, and then you can slowly build up from there. You don't have to announce it to the world, you don't have to tell everybody what you're doing. I truly believe in progress over perfection. Making tiny steps forward is the best way to create sustainable change, and feel free to reach out to me if there's anything I can do to help.

Speaker 1:

I want to elaborate a little bit on the oat milk. There is so many options with oat milk, and even when you go get coffee because that's what I do and actually oat milk is creamier and tastes better, and so does coconut milk. Coconut milk is really good, it has such a great taste to it and, like you were saying, the ice creams, and you can actually get coconut and almond milk yogurt, and I'll still get that. I can get that too, and there's so many ways that you can, you know, adjust your eating habits and, in my humble opinion, I think some of it tastes better. You know, I like the taste of it. I think it is much better.

Speaker 1:

I've had friends they're like oh you know, can I have some milk with this? I'm like, well, all I have is almond milk or oat milk, and you can get the extra creamy and you're like. They're like, oh my gosh, this is really good. So I'm going to, I'm going to challenge you that are listening that next time you go out and get coffee, order it with oat milk, order it with almond milk, order it with coconut milk. And I'm telling Kristen oh, absolutely, absolutely.

Speaker 2:

It's like a little adventure. You know, you have no idea this whole new world that's waiting for you.

Speaker 1:

That is so true. Well, I want to thank you so much for being with us, and I love what you're doing, and I'd like to have you back, because I'm sure I'm going to get a slew of questions that the people are going to ask, and what I love to do is have my guests come back so they can answer these questions themselves, because you're the expert in this, you know and, and I think, what you have to offer. There's so many people out there that just don't know, and they don't know where to start and and I highly recommend uh in that's the case, please, please, please, reach out to Kristen um and to her Flying Upstream podcast, uh, and reach out to her personally. Also, you can reach out to me on Coach Mickey and Friends, and I will definitely get your information over to her. So, thank you so much for being with us today.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, mickey, it was my pleasure.

Speaker 1:

All right, you guys I am excited that you were here. Please, please, please, reach out and support Kristen. Like I said, my guests love hearing from you. It's always fun to get an email or a text message that says, oh my gosh, you know, I heard from some of your listeners and that just that makes makes me happy that you guys are so, so supportive, and I really, really, really do appreciate that. So until then, remember my friends, the most courageous thing you can do is be yourself. Until next podcast, I'll see ya.