Wow, liberated4christ, what an amazing post!!! Congratuations on all of
your healthy changes.
I wanted to talk some more about one thing you wrote regarding eating at other people's houses or eating with friends you've known for years. One thing I find hard is when served sit-down-style at someone's house. I try to load up my plate with veggies and not take anything I don't want to eat. Sometimes it's awkward. None of our good friends have even realized that I've been vegetarian for 25 years and vegan for almost 2 years. (Maybe I'm too much in the background ?!??
) Anyway, I always offer to bring a fruit platter or a big salad to anyone's house. I also can make a vegan-unsweetened chocolate cake that is really yummy (has cashews and dates and pineapple, ... all natural foods) to bring to someone's house. When we're going somewhere for dessert, I often bring a separated dish of lots of raw nuts and say that I remembered the person likes pistachios or whatever it is ...
Just thinking about what you wrote ...
in Christ,
tessiemae