Hi all! My name is Debi. I'm 54 and live in the Netherlands (but was born and raised in Detroit!) with my husband, two daughters (17 and 13), a cat, two bunnies and a very naughty dog.

In Feb, 2012, I decided I didn't like being 200 pounds, so I went low carb and lost 70-something pounds. Since then, I've gained back a little bit, but I'm at a good weight and have stayed pretty stable for the past 5 years (currently hovering around 133, which suits me...).

Along with the low carb, I started working out, which is where I found and fell in love with Pilates. After going to classes for a few years, my instructor talked me into getting certified myself. I now teach 4 Pilates classes a week. My new "love" is yoga, and I'm working toward certification as a yoga instructor, too. I also teach yoga and a legs/stomach/butt fitness class.

In the meantime, my husband, oldest daughter and I decided to go vegetarian. My youngest thinks we're crazy and won't go near a vegetable. As a result, I've been trying to balance all the various "diets" (husband still eats fish, but hates quinoa; oldest daughter hates beans and loves quinoa; youngest daughter wants pasta and meat for every meal; I'm still watching my carbs and avoid pasta and breads...). As you can imagine, every dinner and most lunches turn into a total nightmare!

I'm looking for some ideas that will make a least a couple people on the list happy... ;-)

Nice to meet all of you!

Hi, I'm Sarah, Southern AZ. My husband and I are gravitating back to a vegetarian lifestyle. I did Vegetarian for almost a year and a half a few years back and it was the greatest I felt in my life. I remember not ever feeling sluggish after eating (with the exception of imbibing a pint of ice cream) l, slept better, felt more energetic through my day, my weight was on a downward trend and my skin looked radiant. Then, life happened. I had a baby girl, my mother passed away, my husband's alcoholism managed him a DUI and I couldn't keep it all together.
Fast forward to today...my baby girl is now a toddler, my husband went to rehab and has been sober for a little over a year, I've sought help to grieve over my mother and in so doing found I had a dificiency is creating my own L-methyfolate (with aides in seratonin production). Hubby and I are ready to get back into a vegetarian lifestyle.
For the past month Ive been slowly eliminating the freezer meat and meat based pantry items (canned beef chili, vienna sausages, spam - i know horrible food choices) and have been uping my meal planning game, buddha bowls, home made foods and packing lunches. I think I'm getting my foundation back. We do still eat fish and shrimp about once a week and when visiting family will eat meat as we don't expect to be catered to.
I still feel the need for support in this change. Sometimes I get frustrated because my daughter doesn't want to eat healthy, she's a toddler, and I get it. But her meals tend to be mac and cheese, hot dogs, chicken nuggets and quesadillas! Anything with cheese is her happy place. We have had success with vegan cheese sandwiches, vegan mac and cheese and vegan corn dogs. But I still hate that its all processed. And I tend to dislike a lot of the vegetarian/vegan processed food in the store. Perhaps my mind thinks about how much the vegan chicken doesn't resemble chicken at all. I'd prefer just not eat something posing as something it's not.
Anyway, here I am. Thanks for having this blog on MFP.
Sarah