21-Day Vegan Kick Start Diet

Free is nice and over at The Physicians Committee for Responsible Eating, they're offering a 21-day vegan kick-start diet for those interested in adopting a vegan diet. This is "diet" as in what you eat more than "dieting," so don't be put off by the title, but do note that a big selling point for this program is that people tend to lose weight when adopting a Vegan diet without counting calories. They offer meal plans with linked recipes, grocery lists, etc.

I remember when back in the day friends try to adopt a "vegetarian" diet as Freshmen in college, they often ended up eating mostly french fries and salads. Vegetarianism and most definitely Veganism isn't easy to adopt without some guidance because we do need vital nutrients to survive (see B12), but a program like the KickStart (at the beginning of the year, worked out by medical professionals, etc.) is a great way to try to eat this ethical diet.

I'm not a vegetarian or vegan--I'm trying to be a more ethical eater which will hopefully involve cutting out factory-farmed meat/dairy over the next few years--but I'm not quite there yet. I do like to eat vegetarian and vegan meals regularly. This is for full disclosure.

So dear readers, have any of you tried to become vegan/vegetarian through a program or with the help of a mentor?

Alicia Silverstone: Eating Well Can Help the Planet

Alicia Silverstone has a profile up over at Health.com regarding her Vegan Diet and her upcoming book: The Kind Diet.

Alicia Silverstone has been a long-time Vegan. She presents her diet as primarily an ethical choice and as a matter of fact, she had something very interesting to say regarding diet recommendations as they relate to health:

"I didn't come at it, honestly, from a health point of view. I was 21 when I went vegan. And when anybody told me to be healthy, I thought people were just telling me [to lose weight] because I'm in this business. So I was like, 'Go F yourself!' [Laughs.] Yet when I look at those pictures from back then, I can see the puffiness in my eyes. It's weird to be 32 now and feel and look younger. . . . Right after I first made the switch to a plant-based diet, people were literally telling me, 'What have you done? You’re sparkling.'"

I think that it is rather interesting that talking about "health" in Hollywood, the assumption is: lose weight, get skinnier. This is one of the most honest interviews with a Hollywood star I've seen in a long time. One criticism, the author of the article seems to dwell on "naked gardening" as part of quirky, Vegan behavior. Silverstone is quirky and she owns up to stripping down naked while gardening to jump into the pool, which seems not too crazy to me, but I think that emphasizing this point tries to paint those crazy Vegans as "out there" to calm the minds of the "regular" people reading so that they can dis-associate the more logical, clear minded things Silverstone says regarding her concern for the environment and animal rights.

I leave you with one last, intelligent quote of Silverstone's:

On why she wrote the book: "Once you're informed, then you can be really gentle and kind to yourself, by giving yourself all the gifts life has to offer — like mental clarity and vitality — all while making the planet better."