Hello! My name is Janice and I am your healthy hornet, here to share with you my deep passion for food, baking, cooking and living healthily.

Me and strawberry banana pita pizza!

A few years ago, during my first semester as a college student, I decided to make some healthy changes in my life which not only led me to lose nearly 80 pounds, but also helped me develop an interest in the vegan and vegetarian lifestyles due to lots of research.

Let me start off by letting you know that I have never had an eating disorder nor a personal trainer. I’ve never used diet supplements, diet programs, nor have I ever overworked myself during a workout.

One day, something just clicked and I knew I had to make some life-long changes if I wanted to live the life I always dreamed of. As someone who was always the “fat kid” in school (right now I weigh less than I did in the 5th grade), I never got to experience life like the rest. I ate lots of fast food, sweets, sodas, cupcakes – you name it. I also grew up in a Mexican household, which meant meat and dairy on a daily basis. I was addicted to all of these foods and as hard as it was to ween myself off of them, I fought through it and allowed myself to develop new addictions to many nutritious foods such as a variety of fruit, vegetables, almonds, oatmeal, raisins, beans, peanut butter and much much more.

Vegan tostadas!

Being a student is no excuse to “let yourself go” or to consume crap. I know that because I made the decision my first semester of college to start living healthily and, as a result, I am the healthiest I have ever been in my entire life.

As I began eating healthy I would have never guessed I’d be vegan or be so interested in healthy living just two years later. But I am. In fact, a life without meat or dairy was an absurd and blasphemous idea when I first started eating healthy, and it wasn’t until I was 6 months into healthy eating that I looked into vegetarianism and another 6 months after that until I looked into veganism.

After finally losing the weight I’d been lugging around most of my childhood and the first few years of my adult life, and changing my eating and exercise habits for the better, I am finally able to experience life in a way I never have and it’s especially great as a college student.

I want to encourage others, through my story and good food, to initiate lifestyle changes which will keep them happy and healthy forever. Why wait until you’re out of college, or at the highest weight you’ve ever been? Why tell yourself “I’m thin, I can eat what I want” when, in reality, it is most likely going to catch up with you in your later years and could even result in health problems such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and more.

Help me prove those “freshman 15” statistics wrong by sharing with you how healthy college students can be. As Brillat-Savarin said, “Tell me what you eat and I’ll tell you what you are.” What would you tell him?

Janice Daniels can be reached at [email protected].