This contest is now closed and the TWO lucky readers are… Debby D. who went vegan as part of a complete life overhaul (I’m so impressed!) and Michelle D. who says her vegan life has saved her!
The first email I received from the producers of May I Be Frank really struck a chord with me. It referenced a man with hepatitis C and a weight problem, and how a change in his diet saved his life. My father had hepatitis C and a weight problem and I knew I wanted to share this documentary with him. Unfortunately I didn’t have time, but I feel like it can hopefully still help other people, and to that end I’m excited to announce that we have TWO copies of the documentary to give away!
Here’s a little more background on the film:
From the website:
Ex-addict Frank Ferrante is a 54-year-old Sicilian-American from Brooklyn with hepatitis C and some bad habits. He also wants to fall in love one more time before he dies. MAY I BE FRANK documents Frank’s transformation as he stumbles into the aptly-named vegan Cafe Gratitude, and, over 42 days, begins a life-changing journey during which he is coached physically, emotionally and spiritually by three twenty-something staff members on the path to enlightenment. Challenged by years of addiction, fatigue and family dysfunction, Frank’s quest for a healthier lifestyle is both tense and touching. Through Frank’s metamorphosis, we witness the powerful effects of change upon one person’s life, and the potential we all have to find the most important love of all – love of ourselves.
Although Frank does adopt a vegan diet as part of his new lifestyle, food really isn’t the focus of this film. It’s much more about his personal and emotional growth. And, honestly, his BMs. Frank is hilariously honest and open about everything he goes through (especially his BMs, ha ha), and the parts where he interacts with his ex-wife and daughter were especially moving for me.
Read more at MayIBeFrank.com
The Giveaway:
Two lucky readers will each receive a copy of May I Be Frank on DVD.
The contest is open until Midnight (Mountain time), Sunday 5/12. The winner will be chosen randomly and announced the following day. To Enter: All you gotta do is leave a comment below telling us what changes eating vegan or vegetarian has made in *your* life.
Contest is limited to US only.
Good luck!!
*Cinema Libre Studio provided me with free product to review, but the opinions are 100% mine!
Follow
Comments on this entry are closed.
Oh fun! I haven’t heard of this documentary. Sounds really interesting! Yes, I wanna play. Ok…I am a life-long vegetarian, raised by animal rights activists, but became vegan 8 years ago after seeing “Peaceable Kingdom.” Overnight I ditched the dairy and eggs. I turned around and convinced my parents (still vegetarains at the time) to go vegan too. Now they are on the warpath and host vegan potlucks out of their home.It’s amazing an amazing learning journey and different for everyone isn’t it?
Hi,I’ve been a vegetarian for 30 years,but not always a healthy one.I ate a lot of junk food over the years.Eight months ago I became a Vegan and feel soooo much better! I no longer crave junk food,something that I always did!My recent blood tests reveal my cholesterol numbers went down 23 points!Due to no dairy or animal products in this body! Yay!
I would love to read the book and pass it around to my not so healthy eating sisters. Thanks!
I believe being vegetarian (“this” close to vegan now- working on it)has helped influence family members and some friends, which to me is the greatest gift of all. Once you come to “this side” it is so hard to see why others choose to be blind. I am respectful of choices others make but hope to continue to be an example and hope others will continue to be influenced in their eating choices by the things I say and do.
I love documentaries about people who have changed their lives through eating healthier.
I believe food is medicine and a “good organic” plant based diet provides our bodies all the nutrients it needs.
I am finally at age 54 (May ! ) living the life I have always dreamed of! There has been a yearning in my heart to find a “calm space” that was always just out of my reach. 3 years ago….I just let go! I divorced, gave away all of my belongings, spent a year alone, attended a 200 hour yoga teacher training, changed my eating to “vegan”, fell in love again, attended another yoga 200 hour training in Nicaragua, watched my son graduate college,…..and opened my heart wide for all to see the beautiful soul that lied within.
I am forever changed….I am a yoga teacher….I am vegan….I am free!
I feel better, I think I’m physically stronger and faster than I was when I was an omnivore. I feel more conscious of what I’m eating, where it comes from, and the impact I have on the world. I feel more open and loving towards all creatures, not just our “companion animals”.
I’ve been a vegetarian for years and am currently an aspiring vegan. Since becoming a vegetarian, I’ve found a level of energy that I didn’t know existed! With the drastic reduction in dairy, I’ve eliminated nearly all GI distress and I sleep much better at night (literally AND figuratively!).
Being vegan has changed my life for the better in so many ways. I finally eat clean, whole foods that are good for me and good for the earth. I take care of my body in many ways that I never even considered previously. I am conscious about what I put in my body and why I am doing so. Being vegan has changed how I eat, how I think, how I live, and how I act.
I have struggled with compulsive eating & food addiction my whole life. Being vegan has allowed me to really be conscious about what I put in my mouth. It has helped me shed pounds and make a contribution to the planet that I feel really good about. It has helped me to stay connected to nature, spirit, the divine.
Great giveaway! I’ve been vegan for almost four years now and going vegan brought so much compassion into my life. I thought I was feminist before going vegan, and that I loved animals before, and was against oppression before, but I see things so differently now and I feel like being vegan taught me what compassion really is. Plus I feel healthier than I ever did before!
I’ve been vegan a little over one year. I’ve managed to lose nearly 40 of the 100+ pounds that I need to lose. I no longer am considered pre-hypertensive (my doc warned if my BP went any higher I’d be on meds). I have less arthritis pain and my IBS is mostly under control as well.
I think the most exciting change is that I am beginning to feel like a healthy person instead of feeling like a sick person!
I have been a vegetarian for 35 years altho the journey started when I was in 2nd grade (a bazillion years ago). I grew up part time on my grandma’s farm and sadly saw a lot of things I wish I hadn’t. When I tried to stop eating meat at age 7, I was hauled off to a shrink who said I was jealous of my baby brother and was acting out. No one listened then (my mo still thinks I am gonna die from no meat) and one wonders why eating disorders come about when kids are forced to eat what is making them sick or so sad. Finally I grew up and left at 17 and shortly after the birth of my last child at 23, I started to eliminate the things I could not longer ethically eat and move on. Some days are a struggle because many meals are eaten out and sometimes that means salad only. I always carry a jar of peanut butter with me! Hubby is a omni but agrees to me only preparing non eyeballed meals. If he wants a burger, he knows where the BK is!
I recently celebrated 10 years since my transformation to a vegan lifestyle and diet. Mostly, it’s how great I feel about my health, the lack of harm to other living things and sharing with friends, family and strangers as to what it means to be vegan. It involves creativity, cooking, love, connections and enjoyment with those closest to me or someone curious as to how I live a vegan lifestyle in small town Montana. Thanks!
Becoming (recently) vegan has caused me to become more compassionate and mindful, not just in my eating, but all areas of my life. I feel healthier not just physically, but emotionally as well. I also feel like I’ve found the person I always knew I was inside, so I’m living more authentically to my true self.
May I Be Frank is seriously one of the greatest and most poignant movies I have ever seen. It completely changed alot of things about my lifestyle and I believe it will do that for anyone who watches it. To me, my transformation to a vegan way of living seemed like something I was meant to do. Changing my eating habits lead to a change in my mental, physical and spiritual self. It enhanced many of my relationship and brought me a new circle of friends and a close community of fellow vegans; and also showed me that there were alot of toxic people in my life that I slowly detached from. Going vegan has been the best decision I have ever made 🙂
I hadn’t heard of it either, but looks awesome.
Eating healthy vegan food is such a positive in my life because I know I’m nourishing my body when I eat instead of dumping crap into it.
Gosh, well going vegan has put my ulcerative colitis in complete remission, it has helped my son with his ADHD symptoms and my daughter’s asthma has completely disappeared. Rock on vegan!
A must watch DVD – I heard about this a while ago and am looking forward to watching it. Going plant-based transformed my entire life, not just the food that goes onto my plate. It has had only positive effects not only on my physical being, but on my outlook towards life. Going vegan was the best thing that I’ve ever done, no doubt about it.
Since becoming vegan, I feel I have way more energy, sleep better, lost weight, and just overall feel better!
This sounds interesting. I am amazed time and time again how a plant-based diet can actually REVERSE disease! That is not something that really even computes in most of Western medicine, it is mostly geared towards treating symptoms with medication, but, wow, we can heal ourselves with food!
Sorry, got on my soapbox for a minute, the biggest change in my own life from eating vegan is having a sound conscious. For years, I made excuses or ignored the little voice telling me it was wrong for an animal to have to hurt so I could stuff my face. Now, I feel better that my ethics line up with my food choices.
I’ve been wanting to watch this movie ever since it came out- I’d sure love to win the DVD! I watch more documentaries than anything else, and anything vegan-related obviously catches my attention.
Oh goodness, sorry for the double comment but I realize I didn’t even answer the question. Going vegan has completely changed the way I eat; I used to hate vegetables, for starters! I never cooked or baked before going vegan, so I have that decision to thank for my entire career and passion for food in general.
I wasn’t always the best person I could be. I’ve spent a lot of time and energy trying to tip the scales. To tick off enough marks in the good column to be able to forgive myself. My search to find ways to do better for the world lead me to veganism. It was the best way to make the biggest immediate positive impact. For the people, for the planet, for the animals. Maybe one day I can tip the scales far enough that I can forgive myself. If I keep fighting the good fight. If I can save just one more, if I can just be better and do better and live a better more compassionate life and lead others to do the same by my example. I may never get to where I feel deserving of my own forgiveness but I know I am doing the best I can right here right now with what I have to make positive change that will have a long reaching impact. I’m one person and alone I’ll never change the world but shame on the person who chooses to do nothing because they can’t do everything.
My vegan life has saved me. Yes it has made my body healthier but that is a side effect for me. Through real, honest compassionate living is leading my heart and my mind in the a direction where I can begin to heal and hopefully a place where I can eventually forgive.
Wow, what a great question! It’s hard to pin down all of the ways that being vegan has changed my life. It really touches every facet! I’d say the best part is feeling more interconnected to the world around me. It’s like that Kafka quote, “Now I can look at you in peace; I don’t eat you any more.” Being vegan brings such a sense of joy to my everyday actions. Simply having dinner is an act of compassion.
Becoming a vegan was a step I moved toward all my life. It would niggle at me, how could I eat a chicken when I love my cat or my best friend’s dog? They were both animals, why should I eat one and not the other? Removing animals products from my life was very easy, I’m at peace, feel better emotionally and physically. Plant-power!