Woman of Inspiration Day 19: Marilyn Diamond

Ok, I admit it, I am a bit of a food snob. Organic, Grass-fed, free-range, or fresh meaning grown in my backyard are all priorities in my diet. I am busy and frugal so I work hard to plan ahead for our family to keep the nutrient density high. Looking back to when it all started, I have to give credit to Marilyn Diamond for the book "Fit for Life". One of the 25 best selling books of all time in 1986, she inspired me early on to be creative with vegetables and not sacrific flavor.

Over the years, I have become a cookbook junkie picking up 3 every 3 weeks at the library. I have to say, today, I don't know if this book would have made it to the checkout as there were no pictures and the vegetarian premise is no longer my ideal. However, there were basic principals about food combining and patterns of eating that still exist in my routine. Most importantly, this book gave me the inspiration at age 10 to fill the plate with tasty veggies and add the meat for protein rather then letting it dictate the meal.

I thought it would be fun to see what she is up to today as I pay her tribute and I was jaw dropped at how much younger she looks now at almost 70 then I remember her looking on the back of the book in the 80's. Was this really the same woman? Well, yes it is! I read on to find that she too had further evolved her understanding of nutrition and not until she was in her 60s brought a meat source of protein to her diet. She looked terrific and after a little bit of reading it was clear that years of a vegetarian diet had put her into a protein deficiency that she has reversed in the last decade.

What excited me about highlighting her as a Woman of Inspiration was that in this evolution she is determined to continue sharing her insights with the world to continue inspiring people to live well. Her newest book is Young for Life and I will be adding it to my reading list as I am curious to hear how her understandings have changed. She looks amazing and I am inspired by her humble leadership, passionate to keep learning through life.