My Journey to a Plant-Based Lifestyle

Choosing to consume a plant-based diet is one of the best decisions I’ve made in pursuit of a green, genuine and compassionate mind, body and spirit balance. It took time and energy to get there, but also sweetly coincided with meeting my partner in life.  

I was in Arizona when life became incredibly meaningful. I found Matt, my soul mate and best friend, was introduced to Bikram yoga and a harmonious yogi community and began to flourish in my career and make aspirations come to fruition.

Only a few months before there were uncertainties. I had become quite content with being single and wondered whether ‘“soul mates”’ truly existed for everyone, though I still happily celebrated with close friends in their own loving unions.

My cynicism was poignant as I expressed comfort in being in my own space to family, just before being introduced to the person who continues to bring me daily meaning and glow. Low and behold, the moment I ceased the search for my true love, it simply happened and was meant to be. We were drawn to one another, particularly through our passion for wellness and healthy, active and eclectic lifestyles.

Given that we were both athletes throughout our lives, as Matt played professional hockey and I was a competitive swimmer and dancer, we were constantly driven to find the most efficient means to maintain endurance, rejuvenate and recover through nutrition.

While I’ve always been eager to discover the most optimal nutrition and have attempted multiple well-known and popular trends, including the South Beach Diet, Atkins, gluten-free and vegetarianism, I became disappointed with the inability to strike a good balance and so continued on pursuing genuine health and quality of life.

Admittedly, my eating patterns perhaps bordered on the edge of unhealthy means of weight loss which felt inconsistent with my desire to practice what I preach in my clinical psychology practice. I was determined to find a consistent plan that helped me maintain energy levels, feel nourished after meals, experience a sense of making positive choices versus a sense of guilt when overeating to appease cravings, obtain adequate rest/sleep, react less to particular meals and prevent the multiple diseases I’m genetically predisposed to, including diabetes, high blood pressure, gout and shingles.

My introduction to plant-based nutrition serendipitously presented a window of opportunity in the midst of making tremendous career changes. Matt was offered a position at USA Hockey here in the states after I accepted an overseas assignment in England. Many people who cared deeply for us were understandably skeptical of our plan to be apart, yet we were confident our paths would remain parallel. We both thrive on resisting “sweating the small stuff” and are truly at peace with one another. Being apart for about a year was certainly filled with moments of great sorrow, but at the same time we became closer than we ever imagined. We eventually became engaged as Matt surprised me with a romantic proposal during one of our travels in Europe, specifically Prague, Czech Republic.

My journey toward a plant-based lifestyle coincided with my love story as I began searching for the balance between health and happiness. Matt and I were both naturally drawn toward a creative exploration in fitness and well-being. Together we attempted several nutritional strategies to boost our active lifestyles, including gluten-free, high-protein based philosophies. We found ourselves discouraged as there didn’t appear to be noticeable changes while we engaged in what seemed like endless exercise.

All efforts changed dramatically for me when Matt introduced me to the book “The China Study” by Dr. T. Colin Campbell. He heard about it while watching an interview with Tony Gonzalez, a famous National Football League player.  I read the book with such ease and passion that my desire to lead a plant-based/vegan lifestyle literally changed overnight. I recalled experimenting with vegetarianism during college and remember uttering the now stereotypical phrases about going vegan, including, “I love cheese, milk and chocolate too much to give them up.”

I was equally surprised to learn that many athletes, including National Hockey League players Georges Laraque and Mike Zigomanis and Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Mac Danzig, are passionate about their plant-based lifestyle. That helped normalize the lifestyle for me.

At the same time, while my mindset made a tremendous shift, I gradually “leaned” (a concept I became enamored of while reading Kathy Freston’s The Veganist and Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Diet) into change and moving toward progress while resisting perfection, another concept I learned in my research and ongoing yogi lifestyle.

It took at least a year to truly understand reading labels, ingredients, nutritional benefits, shopping properly, researching and cooking new recipes. When I was vegetarian there didn’t seem to be nearly the plethora of choices, but I found replacements for all my childhood and adult favorites, like faux chicken parmesan, shrimp with Asian pasta and beef tenderloin fajitas.

Along the way, my deeply ingrained beliefs were challenged. Contrary to the myth that protein is solely obtained from meat and dairy products, as greatly advertised to the public, I learned it is found in leafy greens, hemp seeds and grains, to name a few. My belief also changed about my lactose intolerance and the usual way of treating the symptoms with supplements rather than getting to the root cause. And I stopped believing that plant-based recipes lacked diversity.

As I continue to live a plant-based diet, family and friends are often quite curious and have inquiries similar to my initial ones. It shocks others when they learn I was a true meat and potatoes kind of gal, and raised with traditional Irish corned beef and cabbage along with similar meals. But an often dismissed fact is how your taste buds change drastically over the course of time and making healthier food choices. The effects were particularly profound when I removed refined sugar products from my diet and replaced them with more natural products.

I’ve just recently begun to lean into a raw plant-based diet. It seemed extreme at first, though after I attended a presentation by Branden Brazier, the author of Thrive and developer of Vega products, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of choices, benefits and resources available.

Breaking from traditions can certainly be a challenge at times, as Matt and I both grew up with talented chefs. Our moms made decadently rich recipes that we remain quite fond of in the midst of making new substitutions. Understandably our parents were raised during the generation of the ADA food pyramid, which I’m learning has been funded by dairy corporations. Quite contrary to popular belief is the knowledge that typical sources of protein, like meat and dairy, can actually contribute to life threatening diseases, mortality and our national epidemic of obesity.

It is essential we look closely at our food sources and the impact our carbon footprint has on the environment. In the midst of the generational gap, generally speaking, everyone around us is supportive while trying to understand the complexities of our nutritional awareness. While I’m diligent and refrain from a “vegangelican” approach when chatting about my journey, I’m often struck how inquisitive people are when they learn I’m vegan. I’m always happy to chat in an open and receptive forum to normalize the learning curve that I, too, experienced.

Dining out becomes a similar experience in communicating my nutritional needs. I am pleasantly surprised by most chefs and restaurants that are quite willing to be flexible and provide alternative options. I lean toward saying I have a dairy allergy, as it appears that more attention is given to chefs, versus simply saying, “I’m vegan, meaning I don’t eat any meat or fish products including dairy.” A number of restaurants have specialty menus that are dairy-free and gluten-free for the occasion when I choose to eat a purely raw, plant-based diet.

Perhaps my ability to speak with ease about the topic comes from growing up in Utah and being in the field of psychology. It became normal for me to dispel generalizations while sharing alternative views. My experience as a psychologist also helped me find clear direction with regard to self care and nutrition so I can fully practice what I teach.

Ashley Bittle is venturesome, compassionate and driven. Her ability to express empathy toward others led her to a profession as a licensed psychologist. Ironically she was inspired when teaching dance, lifeguarding, coaching a swim team, teaching swim lessons and working as a nanny during college. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology at Westminster College, master’s degree in clinical social work at the University of Utah and doctoral degree in clinical psychology at Argosy University. She now works with active duty soldiers and families as a team chief of an embedded team at Evans Army Community Hospital in Colorado Springs.