Back in January I got a message from a woman named JL Fields, saying she had just moved to Colorado from New York and found our website. She mentioned she had a vegan food and lifestyle blog and was the co-author of a book coming out this summer. She asked me if I’d be interested in meeting and perhaps cook a vegan meal together. Well to be honest, at first I was like, “New York? Author? YES!” (All things I dreamed about doing when I was younger!) Then my husband mentioned we should check her out first (we do get some “odd” requests sometimes) and make sure she was legitimate….especially if I was inviting her into our home. Well, she was. In fact, she was recently the guest on Teresa Farney’s KVOR Table Talk and I do know Teresa does her research.
Vegan cooking? Well, that, I could take or leave. I love our pets and wildlife but I also like my burgers and steaks. And I admit, I had some pre-conceived notion as to what JL was going to be like (I ASSUMED she would be a bit “out there”, because isn’t that part of being vegan?)
When JL showed up at my house to film a cooking video with me, and show us how to cook a quick, easy and inexpensive meal, I couldn’t have been more surprised. She was totally normal! And within a minute of meeting her, I felt like I had known her for a long time. My friend and fashion contributor Ashley was at the house too, filming a St. Patrick’s meal with me, as was Trig, who among the many things he does for our site, films and edits….Anyway, we all hit it off and picked her brain for an hour while we cooked.
We are always open to promoting other women (because why not?), especially when it pertains to health, beauty, or household tips on a budget. Tomorrow we’ll feature our cooking video (Mediterranean Beans With Greens & Grains) but I wanted to share a bit about JL and tell you about her cooking classes and the other opportunities she offers for a healthy and vegan lifestyle.
JL grew up in the Midwest and moved to Chicago after graduate school, where she met and married her husband. In 2001 they moved to New York. JL worked in the nonprofit and education sectors all her life and ran an international charity to end violence against women and girls. With that, she traveled the world-from Australia to Afghanistan to Pakistan to Bosnia, France, Iceland, Guatemala, Egypt and more. While in Kenya, she became a vegetarian….after meeting a cute goat, then seeing it killed and cooked.
In her late 30’s, leading a sedentary, vegetarian, and pack a day smoking lifestyle, she decided to make some changes. You know, I think that’s one of the reasons I liked JL immediately. Here was someone who, regardless of what she wanted or needed to change, she made the decision to do it and followed through with her plan. In her late 30’s. JL stopped smoking, lost some weight and took up running. A month after turning 40, she ran her first marathon! At this point she has run over 17 half-marathons and competed in over 10 triathlons. And then at age 45, she went vegan.
About that time, JL started thinking about what her retirement might look like. Nonprofit employees aren’t making a ton of money and she figured if she kept doing that, she’d still be working into her 70’s. She told me she daydreamed about what type of work she wanted to do in her “older age” and saw herself writing and teaching and envisioned taking on a small number of nonprofit clients as a consultant. And she imagined herself helping others live a vegan lifestyle.
So instead of waiting until she was in her 70’s, she decided to go after her dream sooner rather than later. She became a certified vegan lifestyle coach and has now co-authored a book with Ginny Messina (“Vegan For Her: The Women’s Guide To Being Healthy & Fit On A Plant Based Diet“, available this summer). WOW. Talk about making some life-changing decisions and doing it!
When JL first showed up at the house, Ashley and I were just finishing up a beef and cabbage with stout stir-fry and I have to admit, I was a bit “worried” that JL would start lecturing us as to how bad beef was for us. You know, I try not to be judgemental, but that’s exactly what I was being…assuming she would be weird and trying to convert us all! Instead she said, “That smells delicious.” When we meet new women from our Goodwill makeovers, I’m always hoping we hit it off. Shopping with a stranger and telling her what does and doesn’t look good on her can make me a bit anxious. Inviting a stranger into your house and having her cook in your kitchen definitely made me wonder, would it all work out? But like I said earlier, it was as if we had known each other for years. She was funny, intelligent, sincere and passionate about what she’s doing…but not in your face pushy. I admire women like that and can see why she’s so successful with her cooking classes.
After we finished the video, JL hung around for about thirty minutes and answered all our vegan questions and as we all hugged good-bye, I knew I wanted to see her again! That’s how warm, friendly and easy to talk to she is. Being vegan might not be your cup of tea but if you’re interested, you should check out JL’s Facebook page.
JL teaches classes here in Colorado Springs and they sell out quickly (and she has great prices.) We’ll be announcing a chance to win a spot in one of her classes in the next couple of months….we’ll keep you posted.
Did you know, just going meatless once a week can reduces the risk of chronic preventable conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. It can also help reduce your carbon footprint and save precious resources like fresh water and fossil fuel. If you’re interested in exploring how easy (and delicious) going meatless once a week can be, check out http://www.meatlessmonday.com/why-meatless/.
JL Fields is a vegan lifestyle coach and educator – certified by the Main Street Vegan Academy – at Go Vegan with JL! She is co-author of the forthcoming Vegan for Her: The Women’s Guide to Being Healthy and Fit on a Plant-Based Diet (Da Capo Press, July 2013) with Virginia Messina. A devoted culinary student, JL has studied at the Natural Gourmet Institute and Organic Avenue, and completed the Intensive Study Program at The Christina Pirello School of Natural Cooking and Integrative Health Studies. In addition to personal vegan lifestyle coaching, JL provides vegan education classes and cooking demonstration classes in Colorado Springs.
JL speaks on plant-based food and vegan activism, fitness and body image, making big changes post-40, blogging, and nonprofit management; clients include The Seed: A Vegan Experience and the Business Institute at Long Island University-CW Post. She has been interviewed for radio shows and podcasts including Main Street Vegan on Unity.FM, Our Hen House, and Erin Red Radio. JL shares plant-based education, recipes and cooking techniques, as well as animal rights information and resources, on the popular blog JL goes Vegan and launched the first vegan weekly online column “I Eat Plants” for the Life and Style section of The Journal News (Westchester, NY). She is the editor of the community blog Stop Chasing Skinny. JL lives in Colorado Springs with her husband, a triathlon coach, and their two cats.
JL is the owner and lead consultant for JL Fields Consulting. She serves on the board of directors of Our Hen House. Follow JL on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Google+.
JL, Ashley and me
We all learned a lot today, had fun, and I found out that vegans can be quite “normal”! I’m glad Ashley was able to hang around and watch and visit while we filmed (and help drink champagne.)
JL….thanks for such a great cooking experience!