Hey there, I am so glad you are here!
My name is Tia, and I started Healthy Vegan Mama in 2019 to share the simple, healthy meals that I crafted - meals that were instrumental in facilitating my transition to plant-based eating effortlessly!
I spent over a decade trying to eat a healthy diet. Still, I would overcomplicate things to the point of quitting and sabotaging my efforts. So as you can imagine, when I figured out how to make this an easy part of my life, I wanted to shout it to the rooftops! Little did I know so many others struggled with this overcomplicating issue and needed help. Soon, this community grew fast to hundreds of thousands of amazing people (and counting). I could not be more excited to welcome you on this journey.
I'm so grateful you are here and encourage you to explore further. Here are some of my most popular resources:
Plant Based Like A Pro - A 28 Day Meal Plan and Beginner’s Online Course
10 Minutes or Less - Over 100 Easy, delicious, and filling meals in minutes
My Story
Growing up in New Orleans was a sensory overload – with all those mouthwatering dishes, fried seafood galore, and pastries that could make you weak in the knees, it was hard not to indulge. But let's be real, I didn't know the first thing about being healthy. When I started packing on a few extra pounds in my preteen years, I did what any desperate girl would do – I dove headfirst into the wild world of fad diets.
Throughout my teens and early twenties, I battled with food and wondered why staying in shape felt like trying to tame a wild horse. Little did I know, it wasn't me – it was the food. I bounced from one diet to the next, hoping for a miracle, but all I got was a lesson in food abuse and hating my own body.
Then life threw me some serious curveballs. As I settled into married life and motherhood, my body decided to rebel. My once luscious locks thinned out, my curls lost their bounce, and health problems started piling up like dirty laundry. From stage 1 melanoma to gallbladder attacks, high blood sugar, pre-diabetes, sky-high cholesterol – you name it, I had it. Meds were on the horizon, and those pesky extra pounds made a triumphant comeback, leaving me feeling like a tired, cranky mess.
Enough was enough. It was time to get my act together, not just for me, but for my family too.
“I battled with food and wondered why staying in shape felt like trying to tame a wild horse. Little did I know, it wasn’t me – it was the food.”
I was convinced there had to be a better way to live – a way to stay healthy naturally and thrive without relying on medications. It all started a few years back when I stumbled upon a documentary called Forks Over Knives that left a lasting impression on me. It felt like it was nudging me, saying, "Hey, there's something here worth exploring." So, I dove into the world of health and nutrition, devouring every book I could get my hands on. From Dr. T. Colin Campbell's The China Study to Dr. Joel Fuhrman's Eat to Live, I soaked up all the knowledge like a sponge. And you know what? It became crystal clear – the secret to a vibrant, long life lies in embracing a whole-foods, plant-based lifestyle.
Eager to get started, I jumped in with both feet, only to find myself drowning in overwhelm. Between being a wife, a busy mom of two, and running my own business, trying to figure out what to eat felt like an impossible task. Hours spent searching for recipes, planning meals, cooking, and then dealing with the aftermath of a kitchen full of dirty dishes left me feeling defeated. So, I fell off the wagon and slipped back into my old habits of unhealthy eating.
I went back and forth between healthy eating and unhealthy indulgences until one day, my health took a nosedive, landing me in the hospital. The doctors warned me that if I didn't take action, I'd be facing even more serious issues. It was decision time, and it wasn't a small one. Did I opt for surgery to have my gallbladder removed and continue down the same path, or did I finally stop making excuses and commit to a healthier lifestyle? Well, as you might guess, I chose the latter, and boy, am I glad I did.
I knew I needed to make a lasting change in my eating habits, but more importantly, I needed it to be simple and sustainable for the long haul.
Determined to stay the course, I dove headfirst into cooking healthy, whole-plant meals, all while sticking to the simplicity that resonated with me. Fancy recipes? Not my style. Instead, I relied on the basics – no measuring cups or elaborate instructions needed. Just a starch, some veggies, and a sauce thrown together, and voilà! Oh, and fruit? It became a welcomed part of my routine, whenever I felt like eating it.
Following this straightforward "blueprint" quickly became second nature, and soon enough, I was whipping up meals in mere minutes. And let me tell you, the results were nothing short of remarkable. My health took a turn for the better, those pesky conditions that had been holding me back began to reverse, and I bid farewell to a whopping 50 pounds of body fat. But it didn't stop there. My mind cleared, my sleep improved, my anxiety dwindled, and my once-turbulent relationship with food began to ease.
A newfound harmony with my body blossomed, and it was as if a veil had been lifted from my eyes, revealing a world brimming with possibility. It dawned on me, now more than ever, that I had a duty to share my journey, offering a beacon of hope to those who, like me, had endured years of struggle.
And that's how Healthy Vegan Mama was born.
I jumped into the social media scene, eager to share the wisdom I'd gained, and to my surprise, my story and straightforward meal ideas quickly caught fire on both Instagram and YouTube. Before I knew it, hundreds of thousands of people were joining me on this journey. It became crystal clear that there was a hunger for easy, uncomplicated meals in the realm of healthy living.
So, in 2020, I took the plunge and released my first ebook, Simple Vegan Mama, designed as a 28-day roadmap to help others seamlessly transition to a vegan, whole-food, plant-based diet and stick with it. The response was overwhelming, and it allowed me to turn Healthy Vegan Mama into a full-time gig (though, let's be real, my family still takes the cake as my top priority).
I kept the momentum going, and in 2021, I rolled out not one, but two more ebooks: The Healthy Vegan Mama Weight Loss Cheat Sheet and Saucy Vegan Mama. And just when you thought I couldn't pack any more goodness into one year, I dropped my first cookbook, 10 Minutes or Less, which became an instant sensation. Packed with over 50 super-easy, satisfying, and mouthwatering whole-food, plant-based recipes that can be whipped up in a flash! Oh, and a fun tidbit – since embracing the whole-food, plant-based lifestyle, my gallbladder has been living its best life, with no problems in sight!
So, here’s to ditching the complicated and embracing a simple healthy life! Come follow along and I’ll be here with you every step of the way!
XOXO,
Tia (Healthy Vegan Mama)
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