Site Inspiration

About Me
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SITE INSPIRATION

Everyone loves a delicious meal. Unfortunately, the ingredients that are traditionally used to make foods appealing are not good for our health or our waistlines. This is especially true when we eat convenience foods or eat out. Restaurant meals and prepared foods often include large amounts of sugar, fat and salt. In addition, they often omit sufficient amounts of fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains. These foods are nutritious and low calorie, allowing us to eat more while maintaining a healthy weight. They also contain healthful, anti-aging nutrients such as antioxidants, which prevent the cellular damage that free radicals can cause to our bodies.

The health benefits of fresh fruits, vegetables and grains were only part of the reason that I decided to move toward vegetarianism. In addition to these benefits, I learned that vegetarians tend to have a lower Body Mass Index (BMI) and they also have decreased cholesterol levels and increased life expectancy. Because of this, I moved to a seafood only (pescetarian) diet in 1992 that incorporated many vegetarian meals. I found it hard to get a variety of healthy options in restaurants, so I decided to learn to cook so that I could improve my health and my weight. This has been a worthwhile investment and I have actually learned to enjoy cooking. During the summer of 2009, my husband and I decided to take the plunge and cut meat completely out of our diets. Like most people, I thought it would be tough to do, but I have found it to be easier than expected. There are many delicious vegetarian recipes out there that taste so good that we don’t miss the meat!

After many years of working to maintain my weight, I have also learned the importance of keeping a food journal that tracks my nutritional intake. Unfortunately, a large number of cookbooks and recipe sites do not include this information. Because of this, I have spent many hours calculating nutritional information for the meals that I cook. This information has been very helpful to me as I work to maintain my weight. Over the years, I have developed a sizable collection of delicious vegetarian and seafood recipes with nutritional information.

For me, learning how to eat in a healthy way and maintain a good weight has taken many years and I continue to learn new things to this day. I have learned about vegetarianism, pescetarianism, veganism, healthy eating and exercise. This has inspired me to create a site where I can share the information that I have learned and the recipes that I have most enjoyed to help you to achieve your goals. This site focuses on vegetarian recipes, although it also contains a few of my favorite seafood recipes from the time before my husband and I became true vegetarians.

Even if you feel that true vegetarianism isn’t for you, I urge you to incorporate a few healthy vegetarian meals into your diet each week. You will definitely look and feel better if you do! As I find delicious new things to cook, I will be posting them here to share with you.

ABOUT ME

Hi, my name is Elise and I grew up in the Wilmington area of coastal North Carolina. My parents are very health conscious, which is probably much of the reason that I developed an interest in healthy living. After high school, I majored in English at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, which is located in my home town. While I was in college, I developed an interest in vegetarianism, after hearing about several sewage spills caused by the plethora of hog farms in my state. Many of these hog farms are located along the Cape Rear River, which empties into the ocean outside of Wilmington. The pollution of the river raised concerns that area seafood and shellfish would become contaminated, which could cause health issues for the people and wildlife in the area. I was vegetarian for a year, but decided after that time to incorporate seafood back into my diet. Despite some concerns about pollution, there was still an abundance of delicious, fresh seafood available and I found it difficult to give it up completely. Since I lived on the coast, it was possible to get wild caught seafood that had not been raised on factory farms, which helped to influence my decision.

I moved to the Raleigh area in 1994 at the age of 25. Raleigh is just two hours away from my home town, which I love to visit regularly. After studying computer science at NC State, I got my first job as a webmaster for one of the area universities. After that, I worked as a web developer for many years before taking my last job as a technical editor for a computer storage company. I met my husband, Jason, in 2002 and we got married on September 24, 2005. He had considered eliminating meat from his diet before meeting me, so it wasn’t too hard for him to decide to adopt my pescetarian diet when we were dating. I was a pescetarian for 17 years, but I enjoyed many vegetarian meals during that time. We decided to go completely vegetarian shortly after I began creating this site. Creating this blog has allowed me to combine several of my favorite hobbies such as cooking, web design, writing and photography, into one exciting project.

Thanks for visiting deliciouslyhealthyrecipes.com!

DISCLAIMER

The calorie and points information on this site is correct to the best of my knowledge, but I may make a mistake on occasion.

Although I have learned a lot about health and exercise over the years, I am not a medical/health professional. Always consult your physician when beginning a new diet or exercise program to make sure that it is right for you.