A Star Is Born: Vegetarian Meets Low Carb

I grew up in a vegetarian family. As a child, I had more grains, vegetables, and soy products than most people will eat in a lifetime. When I was about 16 years old, I had had enough--I wanted to eat meat! At first, it was strange cooking with real meat. After all, I had never touched meat before, so I was a little repulsed by it at the beginning. But over time, I learned how to cook meat and found that I really loved cooking. But, I never really felt quite right about eating meat. Since my formative years were spent living a healthy vegetarian lifestyle, the new meat-eating me felt sluggish and unhealthy. Sluggish or not, I continued to eat meat into my adult years. I knew I needed to make a change in my diet, but I wasn't sure exactly how to go about it. How could I have ever guessed that my daughter would be that catalyst for a change that I'd needed since I was a teen myself? One of the unique joys of motherhood has been nurturing a mutual relationship with my children: I inspire them, and they inspire me. As they grow into their own personalities and pursuits, I am constantly amazed--and sometimes caught entirely off guard--by their independence and self-declarations. For example, a short while ago, my eldest daughter stood up at the dinner table, after stirring her food around on her plate for a while, and announced that she wanted to be a vegetarian. I was surprised at her announcement. I was not surprised at all, however, when--without any arguments--the rest of the kids and I decided that we would all "go vegetarian" together as a family. I'd been considering it for quite some time, but wanted the kids to decide for themselves. The impact of that decision was bigger and better than I could have ever imagined. I quickly realized that, not only was I reducing injury to the health of our planetary body and our animal friends, I was also starting to see an amazing difference in my own body. Within weeks, my digestion improved; I had more energy; and, the insomnia I had suffered from for so many years was suddenly gone! But, with all this positive affirmation, I was quite surprised to find that I wasn't experiencing the kind of weight loss I had anticipated when I returned to my vegetarian ways. Frankly, I was disappointed because--health aside--I wanted to lose weight. I began my search for the perfect, veggie-friendly weight loss solution. As have so many others, I read extensively on the most popular low carb diets on the marketplace today, including the Atkins Nutritional Approach