I wore my purple one for a fun run with Scott Jurek and spotted my friend Molly wearing her’s. Don’t miss a great chance to grab one for yourself. Vegan Cuts is offering a great deal with No Meat Athlete: select t-shirts are $15 and free shipping. Sales don’t last forever so be sure to jump on this one!
A body in motion tends to stay in motion. If you’re reading this, you’ve already taken that step. Keep going.
For those who love nuts, but are weary of them, here’s your excuse to grab a small handful. They get a bad wrap for their fat content.
According to Kathy, this mid-morning snack is meant to help crowd out snacking on chips and candy. Even if you don’t go for those, nuts and seeds can be a beneficial addition to your diet. (Except those with advanced heart disease.) You can read more in The Lean.
Keep in mind, these are meant to be raw, unsalted nuts and seeds. Put down the honey roasted.
Remember to grab your badge from Kathy’s site.
A body in motion tends to stay in motion. If you’re reading this, you’ve already taken that step. Keep going.
Today, Kathy’s asking you to pick your poison…and just say no to your personal version of crack.
To help facilitate this, root around you cupboards, fridge, and pantry. Kathy wants you to toss or give away all your junk food. Ugh, I’m sorry. I couldn’t do it. What’s lying around my kitchen is certainly not my issue. Um, except maybe nut butters.
I’m not a chip girl. It takes me too long to commute to regularly buy ice cream and when I do, it’s either a pint of Sorbet or from Lula’s…both of which I savor a spoonful and pop the rest back in the freezer. No, I’ll likely have to toss most of what I have because the code date will expire before I get to it.
That being said, if you regularly sit in front of the T.V. at night, downing a sleeve of Oreos or a sack of chippies, you might consider downsizing. Take a full inventory, earmark these items for parties, and smack your hand when you try to grab more at the store. The goal is eventually to have none.
I’m focusing mainly on my poison. This wasn’t easy for me to think of. I knew it wasn’t chips. It had to be cupcakes? Or maybe cakes in general? What about cookies? Brownies? Chocolate? Mine is all of them…and none of them. My poison is novelty. I like to try new desserts; I rarely get the same thing multiple times.
If your poison is like mine, my plan is to go halve-sies or jump ship. Back in the day, the Friendly’s slogan was something like ‘Save room for the ice cream’ and this has been totally engrained in me. In fact, when I was vegetarian and went out to dinner with my family, there was usually nothing that peeked my interest…except for dessert. Since, at that time, I focused on calories, it made sense. My caloric intake was consistent. My weight never changed, so no worries…right?
Kathy talks about how feeding your body good food helps you feel good. Brendan Brazier talks about it too in his books. I really like the way Brazier presents calories like currency. Watch the video below to re-enforce The Lean.
Remember to grab your badge from Kathy’s site.
A body in motion tends to stay in motion. If you’re reading this, you’ve already taken that step. Keep going.
Aw, yeah. This is an easy one for me. I love me my apples. I love the crunching sound when you bite into one. I’m a bit of a Goldilocks when it comes to apples though. The skin of red apples have a funny taste to me. Green are too sweet. Yellow and are my favorite, as well as Pink Ladies and Honeycrisp.
Kathy wants you to eat an apple because they have fiber. As well, you can’t power through one. You have to take your time and chew, which is why she says no applesauce and no apple juice. Just pick up a whole apple and take a bite. She also details other benefits of eating apples.
A vegan activist made a joke that if people would just eat an apple or a pear every once in a while, they wouldn’t need to buy fiber pills. If apples don’t sit well with your stomach, that’s another option. You could try having a pear.
Remember to grab your badge from Kathy’s site.
A body in motion tends to stay in motion. If you’re reading this, you’ve already taken that step. Keep going.
Kathy wants you to ditch the idea that the less you eat, the better. Breakfast jump starts your metabolism. It’s what you eat for breakfast that matters. Forgo the muffins, donuts, pancakes, and sugary cereals. They’re not fuel. They’re no different than cake. As Jim Gaffigan puts it, “A muffin is a bald cupcake.”
At one point, before I went vegan, I ate CRUMBS cupcakes for breakfast almost every day when I first started working in NYC. I justified that it was nearly the same calories as a muffin or a couple of donuts. I never gained weight because I monitored my overall calorie intake but that’s not healthy.
Kathy suggests:
There are also two recipes in the Appendix of The Lean. I gave the Breakfast Quinoa a try back in March and actually really took to it. Towards the end of the recipe, there is a simplified version. I’m even lazier than that.
I take one cup uncooked quinoa (washed) and heat with two cups water. Boil water high; turn on low and add uncooked quinoa. Once the water has been all sopped up, I split the cooked quinoa between to seal-able containers and pop one in the fridge. (Breakfast for two days.) Then I just squeeze on a tablespoon or two of agave nectar and toss in a handful of washed blueberries, close the container, and shake.
My second favorite breakfast is a banana with nut butter and unsweetened coconut flakes.
Read more in The Lean about the benefits of eating a filling and healthy breakfast.
Remember to grab your badge from Kathy’s site.
Kathy Freston wants you to kick start your lean by offering this great prize pack!
Visit my article Kathy Freston encourages baby steps on Examiner.com and comment for your chance to win.
Remember: Profits from my Examiner writings go to benefit animal activism. If you like what you’re reading, please share.
The first step is always the hardest. If you’re reading this, you’ve already taken that step.
Kathy just wants you to drink eight 8 ounce glasses of water today. That’s only 64 ounces. She doesn’t even say no coffee, juice, soda, or alcohol. Nothing is off limits. You just need to have 64 ounces of water first.
In The Lean, she gives great tips for how to accomplish this, including front loading, and how staying hydrated helps your metabolism.
Some people might curl their nose. I did when I was younger. I worked on getting over the water hump in my teens; being able to drink water, in general. Yes, I know that sounds weird, but addicted to soda didn’t give me a real fondness for bland, old H2O.
If you’re not a fan of the taste of water, or lack of, you can add lemon. Rich Roll, an ultra-marathoner, has written that he likes to add lemon to his morning to water to alkalize his body. So that’s an option.
For me, I drink just a little at home, then make a point of chugging through my 20 oz reusable water bottle 3 times throughout the work day, refilling it a fourth time before I leave for the night.
My biggest pitfall comes on the weekend, when I’m at home or on the go. Essentially, when the monotony of the work week is disrupted.
I’m fortunate that my company has a water cooler. For those whose do not, it might be a bit more challenging. Water fountains are always good. Also, a filter on your kitchen facet is a great idea. Fill up a few reusable bottles and put them in the freezer over night. Toss them in the car in the morning, to have throughout the day.
I encourage using reusable bottles. Ditch the aluminum cans and plastic bottles.
Remember to grab your badge from Kathy’s site.
For fans of Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, the wait is drawing to a close. The 30-Day Vegan Challenge launches in two weeks.
I got the chance to meet Colleen at The Seed: A Vegan Experience, held in NYC last month. Colleen is an incredibly engaging speaker. I bought a copy of her Vegan’s Daily Companion and have since grown addicted to her podcast episodes.
Whether you’re veg-curious, vegetarian, or already vegan Colleen is a wealth of knowledge in transitioning to healthy, plant-based eating and being confident in choosing compassion for animals.
Early Bird Registration is only $20!
It’s Cow Appreciation Day! OK, only so at Chick-fil-A where if you dress up like a cow, you can get a free meal.
There’s a degree of irony that Friday the 13th, with all its associations to bad luck and horror, be the day chosen for this marketing event.
Chickens are one of the worst abused animals and switching to the consumption of their meat is a lateral move for human health and a downward move for compassion.
Want to really show appreciation for cows? Kick the meat addiction. Refrain from eating them and their farm friends.
The 2012 Vegetarian World Summit is a free, online event featuring notable speakers.
You can listen to yesterday’s preview call with Dr. Neal Barnard through 4 pm PDT today!
The schedule of speakers are broken out by topic over the five days.
Wednesday, July 11 – Nutrition & Wellness
Thursday, July 12 – Social Justice
Friday, July 13 – Thriving as Vegans
Saturday, July 14 – Living & Sharing the Vegan Life
Sunday, July 15 – Spirituality & Health
Register for free on the main page and you will receive an email with the link to the calendar. If you miss a talk, it is available for replay for 24 hours after the session ends.
August 22, 2012
alifevegetarian
