Chef Abbie Huckleby

When I became an empty nester in 2014, I decided it was time for a serious lifestyle change. I had spent the last 18 years of my life raising my two daughters and when they left for college, I knew it was finally time to focus on me! I joined a weight loss program and started my journey to a healthy lifestyle, eventually becoming solely plant-based.

The weight loss program taught me proper portion control, how to combat cravings and healthier ways of cooking my favorite foods. Over a two-year period, I lost 67 pounds and loved the new me! I knew that I didn’t want to be like so many people with yo-yo dieting, so I started doing some research on ways to continue my newfound lifestyle.

I had heard about Dr. Sebi, but didn’t really start researching him until after he died. I joined Vegan Facebook sites and started following and chatting with Vegetarians, Vegans and Alkaline Vegans. Both my husband and I started giving up meat gradually, starting with beef and finally gave up all meats except for seafood occasionally on birthdays and anniversaries. We started noticing how much better we felt, how much better we slept, how much energy we had and the clarity of thinking and the alert consciousness we had since giving up meat, and not to mention the weight my husband started losing, over 27 pounds!

We also watched a few Netflix documentaries about the meat industry, and if those don’t change your mind about eating meat, I don’t know what will! The food industry is literally killing us right before our plates!! If you are not ready to give up meat, I advise you not to watch the videos, they are sickening!

We decided to go totally plant-based right after Hurricane Harvey. While I was cleaning up after the flood, I cleaned my fridge and pantry of all items that were not plant-based and started over from scratch restocking my kitchen. That was the beginning of our plant based life style. I don’t like to use the word Vegan, Vegetarian of Alkaline Vegan because I don’t totally follow their regime, we choose to to use the word plant-based.

Now I love cooking and it’s a passion of mine, so turning our favorite foods into plant-based meals was a challenge that I relished and if I must say so myself, I’m quite good at it because people are seeking me out to try it!