Cellist Wendy Law goes on a “pegan” adventure and tells us what it’s all about
Wendy Law aka “Diva Makeup Queen” is a woman of many talents. She’s a renowned cellist, talented makeup artist as well as a bubbly YouTube star. Wendy is the type of person who tends to explore and succeed at many things, but like many of us, she’s still figuring out which eating lifestyle fits for her. Over the years, she’s tried many diets and now she’s trying what she calls a “pegan” diet (Paleo + vegan = pegan!).
In this interview, Wendy talks about what it means to be pegan, why she’s over dieting and why she’s having so much fun exploring plant-based eating.
Why did you decide to join us on this Plant-Based Adventure?
Well, first of all, I love any Celebration Spiritual Center (CSC) activities. It just sounded like a ton of fun to hang out with your friends and talk about food all day long. I enjoy food very much. But recently, something inside me just no longer desired meat. I can’t even explain it. I also understand the spiritual principles of you are what you think. Therefore you are what you eat too. I know that animals suffer and experience fear when they die for us to eat. Do I want to put all this fear in my body? Do I want to be part of their suffering? There are other options out there. So I want to explore.
I wanted to just give myself 30 days to really try and see what it’s like to be a plant-based eater and see weather it’s a realistic lifestyle choice for me. It’s only 30 days. It’s a fun challenge for me to try out.
I learned recently that you’ve tried many different diets before exploring this type of eating. What things have you tried?
Yes I used to be a little heavier. I was on Weight Watchers on and off. I also used to count calories with different phone apps. I was actually a vegetarian for a few years until I found out that I had Lyme disease. I thought it was my diet that caused pains in my body. But it actually had nothing to do with my vegetarian diet. Thank goodness, I was able to get treatment quickly and have since healed from it.
But I stopped being a vegetarian since that time. The most recent diet I tried was the paleo diet. I had a rash that just wouldn’t go away. I saw many doctors and no one could tell me the cause of my rash. The paleo diet made my rash go away. I also lost weight quickly and maintained it for years. It’s easy to do, and healthier than most diets. You eat whole foods only including vegetables, lean organic meats, fruits, nuts, healthy oil and eliminate processed foods, sugar, grains, dairy and legumes. But there’s flexibility in the diet where you can have your splurge once in awhile. It worked for me and my rash never returned.
Why did you move on from dieting?
Well who wants to count points or calories? Plus at some point it wasn’t about losing weight. It was about making healthy food choices so that my body feels good. And my changing diets were mostly due to health reasons more than weight loss reason.
How do you feel about the word “dieting”
It’s feels like the opposite of freedom. I want to feel free and happy when I eat.
And now you are combining the paleo diet with vegan principles and you call it “Peganism” haha! How is that going for you? Is it challenging?
Well I have to be honest. It has indeed been an adventure. I have to make some modifications on the paleo diet. I allow myself to eat some healthy carbs now like oatmeal and quinoa. I also eat a little bit of soy and legumes. I still stay away from sugar, anything gluten, processed foods — basically most things that are in boxes and packages with a bunch of ingredients that you can’t read. And now I have hummus too! I want to focus as much as possible cooking with fresh veggies.
I also tried to have raw vegan meals as well as some cooked pegan foods too to get the most nutritious values out of foods. Here’s a partial list of things I buy at the grocery: apples, grapefruits, spinach, kale, sweet potatoes, brussels, eggplant, avocado cauliflower rice (paleo-vegan version of rice), spiralized Zucchini (instead of noodles) etc. You can make many different exciting dishes from these fresh veggies.
How do you feel so far during this journey? Are you having fun?
I am indeed having a lot of fun. I am loving the support I am getting from the community, and I love deepening my friendships with my spiritual family through talking about healthy nutritious foods. I love finding new ways to look at food and discovering new recipes. I love looking on Instagram or even on our own Facebook group to get inspirations. Everyone posts beautiful pictures of their meals and recipes, not to mention getting together to try out some vegan restaurants in the city. It’s really really fun to do this together with my friends.
As with any new adventures, there are moments of challenges too. My body is still getting used to a new way of eating. But I’m staying committed to give myself this time to get to know this new way of eating, the lifestyle and the fun of it!
