By Dilyana Hunley
“When I started the “Kickstart Your Health” program, I was looking for some new cooking ideas and easy-to-make recipes, as I am not someone who likes to spend much time in the kitchen. This program overcame my expectations, because it is so much more than a cooking class. I was happy to learn about the advantages and the variety plant-based eating offers. Kamila made us all curious to experiment with new ingredients and sparked our creativity to take on the adventure of a healthier life style – one that my husband, who is a convinced meat-eater, was happy to adopt and try with me.
Although I am thinking of myself as a very healthy person, I was surprised to discover that I unnoticeably lost 2 kg within a week, due to the new meals I introduced into my diet. My relationship to cooking and food has changed in a way that I plan and enjoy my meals more conciously and try to nurture my body with love and the nutritions I believe it deserves. I loved Kamila’s inviting approach to this plant-based experience and now, I feel more confident to make consious decisions about my health and the health of my family.
Kamila is a not only a wonderful cook and a competent teacher, but also someone who kindly addresses all individual questions and doubts and puts her whole heart into what she does. I am highly recommending this program to all my friends and family and looking forward to fruther culinary retreats with Chef Kamila.”
By Arabell Watzlawik
“Me eating vegan? No way! I love cheese and a good steak and the foamed milk (of course produced by a cow) in my coffee.
When a friend of mine asked if I want to join a cooking course about healthy eating – I was in, but didn‘t check any of the links she provided to me. So, you can imagine the state of shock I was in, when I found out in the first lesson that the whole course would be about vegan cooking. But this quickly changed into curiosity and interest. Chef Kamila explains how food is behaving in our body, what nutritions and fibers different food contains, which of them our body needs in which quantity.
She shows alternatives to the standard way of cooking that are both: fast and easy to prepare and delicious. And she does all of this in an inspiring, charming and never dogmatic way.
I’m still not vegan. I still enjoy a good steak and cheese and milk now and than. But I included many of Chef Kamila’s recipes in our diet and started to experiment, which is a big enrichment. And what surprised me the most: I can feel the difference in my body, my children like the food as we grown ups do and almond milk in my oats are a very delicious start into the new day.”
By Anja Grahl
“Taking part in the Kickstart Your Health course really had an impact on my food lifestyle. But let’s start at the beginning – what actually caught my attention while reading the course description was the “learn about a healthy lifestyle” argument. Given the circumstances that someone in my family was suffering cancer and becoming aware of that nutrition was one main fact having a high impact I decided I should dive deeper into that topic, for myself but also for my whole family. Setting a good example for my beautiful girls and especially educate them about a healthy lifestyle too.
Since the beginning it was absolutely not my purpose to become vegan but to take as much inspiration and knowledge as possible from the course. During the 3 weeks challenge I actually figured out that living vegan was much easier than I had expected. I thought the biggest challenge would be to abstain from cookies and chocolate but actually there is no need as you can buy vegan chocolate and cookies and you even have a certain choice.
The recipes demonstrated during the weekly course would give me the main inspiration what I could cook the next days, but also would in general open up my mind in which directions to think when preparing meals. Further when I would for example feel like carrots and coconut cream, I would search in google for “carrot coconut cream vegan recipe”, get ideas from different recipes and finally mix together what would end up most delicious from my point of view. If you need inspiration yourself just have a look onto my blog posts about the vegan challenge https://deutschemamasinbudapest.wordpress.com/category/21-days-vegan-challenge/
In the beginning my girls and I tested a lot of different plant-based milks until we had found our favourite one. So, cow milk is definitely one product we have significantly reduced. We now really love almond milk and I like oat milk in my coffee. Also, we eat much less meat, ham, salami etc. but much more veggies & fruits. We also reduced our butter consumption, substituting by cashew, peanut or almond spread. Unfortunately, we are not yet there where I would love to be when it comes to alternatives for rice, pasta, potato – so bulgur, quinoa, beans, chickpeas are not yet really appealing for my family, but will keep on working on it. Maybe just the convincing recipes are missing.
During the challenge I have not really lost kilos but during and after I realized that whenever I eat with this “vegan” tendency my body feeling is just much better. I feel lighter and more body conscious, also if the scale will not show any difference. But I really enjoy that feeling and it actually encourages me to stick to this much healthier lifestyle that I have gained thanks to the Kickstart Your Health course with Chef Kamila! Thank you for being such an inspiring chef!”
By Ágnes Ördög
The Kickstart Your Health Program and 21-Day challenge with fasting was a brand new experience for me. It was new because I have never done a health programme or diet in a group before. I have heard from this programme on Kamila’s vegan dinner which was a Christmas present for the family from my younger sister. As in the last few month I had a lot of problems with my itchy skin and I was always tired I wanted to change something in my life and Kamila’s programme seemed to be interesting for me.
I really enjoyed the 21-Day challenge programme as she was a fantastic coach during the whole period and we had an amazing group where all the members were very strong personalities and were extremely motivating and helped each other during the entire programme and we have become good friends as well.
Kamila’s personality is very inspiring, authentic and through her professional presentations we managed to understand the benefits of vegan eating. She was also open and curious about our problems and on the meetings she asked a lot and listened to our stories, discussed our successes and our challenges as well. She was an excellent instructor as she always kept her promise and send us everything we needed. She and other members of the group gave a lot of ideas for me what to do or what to change in my life or in my diet.
My husband also joined me during the programme and joined me even for the fasting, which was a very special experience for both of us. Suprisingly the fasting was not difficult at all, we were not starving, just our stomach were empty but we were very effective in our everyday life and our mind were really clean. Our skin renewed and we see that food is not the most important thing in life. My husband has a lot of stress around the work and he had a stomach ache more times a week and he feels also much better, more relaxed and he will give up drinking coffee on a regurarly basis because it makes him more upset. As far as the fasting concerns I have to confess, that I had some deep points during the 5 days fasting, especially when I cooked the dinners for my children and once we went to a restaurant with my father and my sister’s family and we could not eat. But we were strong enough to finish the programme and the invisible support from Kamila and the group helped me a lot. It was no question that everybody can do it. The best would be to be on your own and relax during these days.
Previously I was only on a gluten and dairy free diet, but vegan eating taught me that I could eat healthy, colourful, plant based meals at the same time keeping my gluten and dairy free eating, which I need because of my tyroid disease. I managed to know a lot of new products which I could implement in my everyday meals. My two children were also happy with my new creative dishes which brought new line into our eating habits. Seeing our vegan programme my father has also started to reform his dishes as he has diabetes.
I think it is just a beginning of a long journey towards health because I still have a lot to learn but at least I am better than before, I have more energy and I know, at least I beleive that I am on a good way to gain back my health. I will definitely continue vegan lifestyle and even if it is not totally vegan I will keep the focus on vegan and organic foods. I think every person is different, we have differnt problems, differnt intestinal floras and digestion, but if you are open enough after a time you will feel what is good for you and what is not. I would highly recommend Kamila for those who have some problem with health or just feel the need for change in lifestyle. I do beleive we will stay in contact with Kamila and we will change our experiences in the future as well.
By Ildiko Vass
I started the 21 –Day challenge with fasting because I really wanted to make some big changes in my life and I thought that the time is now or never. One of my goals was to loos weight. I have already participated in Kamila’s previous workshops as well and I knew that I can trust in her 100%, she has the right knowledge, patience, she motives us and also really kind.
When we enter to Kamila’s flat, we feel ourselves in a calm place, full of positive energy, being there it is like a meditation.
During the 21-Day challenge, she gave us really detailed explanations, we could ask question. We learnt so much, like reading label with a knowledge, about recipes, where to go to eat in the city and also the best places to buy the ingredients.
I have some huge differences in my life if we compare my habits from before and after the program, like I eat healthier, I prepare food in advance, with much better care and also I like doing it, doesn’t feel like a duty to do, another important thing is that I’m not skipping meals, pay more attention on myself. Along with the program I started doing yoga and I think the two changes in life go really well together, I feel much more relaxed, have more energy, more positive and appreciate the preparation of the food more. I also lost 5kg for which I am really happy.
The vegan part wasn’t as challenging as I thought it’d to be, Kamila explained us everything, we had time to make a shopping list, discover different recipes, new tastes.
I missed the taste of coffee but I could replace it with other things.
Myself, I was the most afraid of the detox part but we had to follow Kamila’s instructions so even that it was a 5-day detox, it wasn’t as hard as I thought and some of the juices I still like to drink.
All in all, I’m really happy that I was a part of this challenge, this fantastic experience with the wonderful Kamila and the others.
I feel much better in myself, I took up cooking just for fun in my everyday life after the challenge, love to experiment with different ingredients, making my own recipes and it felt amazing preparing delicious meals for my family who also loved trying out new recipes so it was welcomed.
By Martina Hostar
The program helped me a lot to realize how good I can feel and how much more energy I can have. It’s even more interesting to see the difference now that I am back to eating old way and I feel drained and tired from just existing. I find it challenging to eat healthy way around people who don’t eat healthy: easier for me to eat their ways even though it’s effective me negatively. Eating healthy showed me how much more energy I can have, what a clear mind means, good sleep and great skin as well . My focus was incredible.
As an instructor you have great way to explain complicated things easily . You lead by example and that made me trust you and the process.
It was actually good to be eating old way now , to fully understand how food affects so many aspects of life . There fore I m back on track with new eating habits.
By Liliána Kovács
The program was fun as I get to know new recipes and could experiment with new ingredients and kitchen techniques, opened my eyes for a lot of new possibilities. I was already eating cca. 80% plant based meals, but as I started the program, I left out dairy 100% and that changed the way I felt in my skin for a lot better. The only challenge I thought would be is going out with friends and socializing in a place other than my home, but it was totally manageable, and I realised that things don’t have to revolve around food, and it was good that I had more time for other things than food. Especiall when it got to the 5 days of juice fast, which seemed a bigger thing when I was before it, then when I actually was doing it. After that my skin was brighter, cleared out well and I was energetic, I couldn’t wait to go for a long walk or be out in the fresh air riding my bike. I really enjoy the benefit of drinking well and being more aware of my body’s needs. My family was/is a great help all the time, we incorporated more vegan meals in the menu, my mom was helping me with the shopping and everyone was supportive, and interested in what am I doing. I would recommend Kamila as an instructor, because she is really kind and authentic, devoted to this lifestyle and she showed us many tricks, really encouraged us, and the fact that she can run and train for a half marathon on a vegan diet reassured me that I don’t have to miss out on anything just because my diet is plant based.
Being vegan is not some mythical and crazy idea, I see it as taking care of your body and being aware of what you eating, and this consciousness feels good.
By Agata Bator
Your classes are supported by broad science research and you are implementing it in your own life (not Just talking form the books). When doing the program i trusted that i am in good hands and could fully follow your guidelines, without worrying about its effects on my health and general wellbeing. Because you took over this responsibility, it was so easy and enjoyable to just focus on having fun trying new recipies, getting to know my organism, the reaction to the new diet, i dont think i would ever try it without such strong and reliable leadership.