Have You Ever Seen a Healthy Vegan? #6

I'm so excited! (It doesn't take much. LOL!) I've been wanting to feature Martha and her beautiful family on my blog for over a year. This is the perfect vehicle. Today you all get not one, but four, georgeous healthy vegans. Read their stories and be inspired!

Martha Theus

Martha has been a vegetarian since 1985. She was raised in Detroit, Michigan, and introduced to a vegetarian way of life when she moved to Los Angeles and met her (now) husband, Londale Theus, who has been a vegetarian since 1982.

Together, they raised their children, Kamaal and Londale Jr. as vegetarians since birth. Kamaal has graduated college and Londale Jr. is in his senior year. They are active, athletic, healthy young adults who have never eaten meat, poultry, fish or eggs. Martha was fully vegetarian throughout both pregnancies and her children were both of normal size and weight.

As a young wife and mother, Martha's goal was to create healthy and delicious food that does not involve pain and suffering for animals, yet tasted good and had a southern flair which reflects her roots. Over twenty plus years of trial and error, she, along with the help of her daughter Kamaal, have achieved this and share their approach in their cookbook “Throwin’ Down” Vegetarian Style! which is a collection of their favorite quick, easy, high protein vegetarian soul food and ethnic recipes. You can find more information about the Theus Family and how they live and eat at www.21stCenturyVegetarians.com.

Martha and Kamaal have “cracked the code” and taken the mystery and confusion out of vegetarian living by providing tips and recipes that are not only healthy but also very hearty and tasty and reminiscent of the foods we all grew up with. Their family is committed to a vegetarian lifestyle as a spiritual choice. They feel this lifestyle is a great blessing, evidenced by the fact that they enjoy good health and do not have any of the diet related diseases that many African Americans suffer from. They don’t believe that you have to choose between eating “good” and eating “right.” You can do both!

Londale Theus (Sr.)

Londale is a native of Los Angeles and grew up on the mean streets of South Central L.A. As a youth, he excelled in basketball and eventually earned an athletic scholarship to Santa Clara University where he played with former NBA star Kurt Rambis. Upon graduation, Londale was drafted by the NBA but suffered a career-ending knee injury right before training camp. He then pursued a career in law enforcement which spanned over 20 years, and included serving on the Santa Monica S.W.A.T. team, teaching defensive tactics to law enforcement officer across the country, and serving as the Director of Force Training for Krav Maga Worldwide, an Israeli self-defense system.

Early in his law enforcement career, he was introduced to a spiritual philosophy that changed his life profoundly. The foundation of this philosophy involved a vegetarian diet, to support the precept of living with compassion for all creatures.

In 1985, he met and married Martha Theus, who embraced the vegetarian diet and the spiritual philosophy behind it. Over the years, Londale has been able to keep fit and healthy throughout his grueling law enforcement and self-defense training regime due to Martha’s convenient, healthy, and delicious vegetarian cooking.

Londale is now an actor and currently lives in Los Angeles with Martha and their two children, Londale Jr. and Kamaal. Visit his website, www.LondaleTheus.com for more information.

Londale Theus, Jr.

Londale Theus, Jr. (23) was born and raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles and has also been a vegetarian since birth. He was an outstanding athlete and excelled at the sport of basketball. He attended high school in Blue Ridge, Virginia where he graduated valedictorian of his class. After high school, he attended New Mexico State University where he played basketball for his cousin, former NBA player and coach Reggie Theus.

During his time at New Mexico, he was one of the best conditioned athletes on the team, and stood 6’6” tall, weighing 200 pounds. His teammates and his coaches were shocked that this level of physicality was possible from a life-long vegetarian. Following his example, his roommates embraced the diet and found that they felt better while eating vegetarian. Since that time, Londale has attended school in Idaho, and now is back in Los Angeles, where he attends California State University Long Beach majoring in theatre. He is also a stand-up comedian and has performed in various clubs throughout Los Angeles, including the famed Comedy Store. Like Londale, Sr. he is pursing a career in acting.

Kamaal Theus

Kamaal (24) was born and raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles, and has been vegetarian since birth. She is an animal lover and has a passion for Japanese animation (anime) and foreign cultures. She is a recent graduate of California State University, Long Beach with a degree in Spanish Translation and Interpretation. She spent her freshman year in Costa Rica where she lived with a family, studied in the local university, and gained fluency in the language. Since that time, she has played college rugby, studied French and Japanese, and has shared her vegetarian lifestyle with friends and co-workers from across the globe. Kamaal is the co-author of “Throwin’ Down Vegetarian Style” and is an integral part of the 21st Century Vegetarians business.

Are they not beautiful? Go head over to http://www.21stcenturyvegetarians.com/ to watch Martha's welcome video and go get her book! I love these folks! Positive, healthy, and inspiring. You can't get better than that!
 
Love,
Althea ◦

Have You Ever Seen a Healthy Vegan? #6