A note to the community that originally found me through my plant-based kitchen: I started this account primarily as a cooking page, and recipes will absolutely remain here. I’ve shared my journey with veganism, why I stopped eating animals, fitness, health, stopping alcohol, and so many other parts of my life. Those conversations will continue to evolve alongside me. But going forward, I’m also going to be talking much more openly about women’s health, mental healthcare, women’s safety, women’s rights, abuse, and the things we still don’t talk about enough. I’ve lived through experiences that made me feel compelled to speak about these things. I was in a relationship where I questioned myself constantly. I felt like I had no voice. I felt unseen and unheard. I became so anxious about another person’s moods and outbursts that I began taking medication just to cope with the fear. There were times he punched holes in walls or threw heavy objects at me to create fear. That fear still lives in my body. The medication didn’t make me feel safe. I still walked on eggshells, constantly trying to anticipate what might cause another outburst. I found myself complying, conforming, and abandoning my own wants and boundaries because preventing the next reaction felt more important than what I needed. I eventually felt like I had lost autonomy over my own life. And even after giving so much of myself away, it still wasn’t enough. Because of these experiences, I feel a deep connection to stories of women being oppressed, shamed, controlled, manipulated, abused, silenced, dehumanized, dismissed, or called “crazy.” It has also changed the way I think about animals. I’ve discussed animal rights, and I’m continuing to learn. But the more I learn about suffering, power, exploitation, and the ways we justify mistreatment of beings who cannot advocate for themselves, the more I recognize patterns that extend beyond any one issue. I’m not saying that violence against women and animal abuse are the same thing. They aren’t. I’m saying that my capacity for compassion has expanded, and once you start noticing certain patterns of control, dehumanization, and suffering, they can become very difficult to unsee. I also want to be clear: I do not believe all women are good and all men are bad. I don’t believe every difficult interaction is oppression, and I don’t believe one gender is inherently better than another. People are complicated. Context matters. Accountability matters. Men can be victims, women can cause harm, and every human being deserves dignity, safety, love, and compassion. But I also believe there are conversations we are long overdue for. And I’m no longer interested in only sharing the polished version of healing. “I walked away and found myself again” can be a beautiful ending. But what happened before you walked away? What did you believe while you were still inside it? What did you excuse, normalize, or become afraid to say? What did you have to unlearn afterward? Those are the conversations I want to have. Because I think social media can be a place for hope without pretending the road to hope was pretty. So if you’re here for the recipes, you’re still welcome. If you’re here for plant-based food, health, fitness, and lifestyle content, you’re still welcome. And if you want to have deeper conversations about women, mental health, safety, autonomy, abuse, compassion, animal rights, and the systems that shape the way we treat one another, I hope you’ll stay. I want this to be a place where we can tell the truth without losing our humanity in the process. 💛 #womensupportingwomen #womenshealth #womensempowerment #MentalHealth #recoveringoutloud — @myplantbasedkitchen TikTok