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3 Steps to Rocking a Vegan Lifestyle by Victoria Moran

Your spirit is ageless and timeless -- reflect that. Then follow the three recommendations of Dr. Brian Clement of Hippocrates Health Institute:

“First, choose to think positively. Then, act in a way that is consistent with those affirmative thoughts. Finally, fuel yourself and create newly broadened horizons with the bountiful banquet of vegetarian offerings so full of life [they] give you strength, vigor, and unlimited physical and mental vigor.”

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3 Steps to Rocking a Vegan Lifestyle by Victoria Moran

Implement these 3 easy steps into your life and make these small changes to start rocking your healthy and compassionate vegan lifestyle RIGHT NOW.

I didn’t overnight.

It took time, some trial and error, and some three-steps-forward/two-steps-back moves to get to where I am today. What is so wonderful about this way of life, though, is that it’s not about instant perfection and personal purity. It’s about compassion -- to animals, the planet, and yourself. If you go from omnivore to vegan after seeing one video, hurray for you. If your path is a bit slower, hurray for you too!

I want to share with you the 3 steps that will make transitioning to a vegan lifestyle on the dietary level easy, seamless, and user-friendly.

These are:

Step 1: Change your mindset, change your life Step 2: Do a detox…on your kitchen *Bonus: Get savvy about vegan substitutes for items you might miss Step 3: Treat yourself like a rock star

Now let’s dive deeper into each step to help you ROCK a vegan lifestyle.

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3 Steps to Rocking a Vegan Lifestyle by Victoria Moran

Step 1: Change your mindset, change your life

I’ve seen too many people get excited about adopting a vegan lifestyle and go all in, only to abandon it and return to their old ways a few months later. The problem? Misinformation spread by the media and public, and pressure from friends and relatives. Rocking a vegan lifestyle is not for the faint of heart. It takes confidence, and that comes from knowledge. Knowledge is power, after all.

You don’t have to have be an expert in nutrition, , or environmental studies. You don’t have to be able to cook like The Minimalist Baker, run like Rich Roll, or calm an audience of thousands like Dr. Will Tuttle in order to be a rockin’ vegan star. You do need to know enough about the basics to live well, raise your children healthfully and happily, and answer the questions that will come from well-meaning – and maybe some not-so-well-meaning – family members, friends, coworkers, and healthcare providers.

I’m going to list a lot of great books, documentaries and websites that will stand you in good stead, but here are the basics to get you going right now.

Diet:

• You’ll probably need to eat more. Unless you’re eating a lot of processed vegan foods – vegan cheeses, pizza, faux meats, desserts, snacks, etc. (and that’s not a great idea), you’ll need to eat more than you might think of the , , whole , , and nuts and seeds that comprise a healthful, -sourced diet . Other than the nuts and seeds, these foods are low in fat. All plant foods are high in fiber and fruits and vegetables are water-rich. Fiber and water are calorie-free; carbs and proteins have 4 calories per gram; fats have 9. You’ll simply need to eat more food to get full and maintain a normal weight. For most people, this is great news. 4

3 Steps to Rocking a Vegan Lifestyle by Victoria Moran

• Focus primarily on natural foods: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. Use whatever processed and specialty items you need to get you through without feeling deprived. I’ve been vegan for 35 years, and there are processed and packaged foods in my kitchen right now: , almond milk, almond milk yogurt from Kite Hill, sliceable and spreadable cheeses from Treeline, Beyond Chicken® Strips from Beyond Meat (these are for my husband; they’re a bit too much like the real thing for me), rice cakes and rice crackers, canned beans, tomatoes, and pumpkin puree, and some pasta and whole- ramen. Everything else is fresh, frozen, or dried (i.e., dried beans and dried ).

• Don’t get too caught up on “somebody’s diet.” There are myriad ways to transition to a vegan foodstyle – eating the way you always did and substituting plant foods for animal foods; going macrobiotic with a lot of brown rice and cooked vegetables; getting into raw foods and consuming 75% or more of your foods just as the vegetables, fruits, sprouts, nuts and seeds come from nature; or getting into some variation of the “Whole Food Plant-based Diet,” which eliminates extracted oils, and in many iterations does away with salt, sugar, and virtually all processed foods, too. Or you can do some combination. None of this stuff is etched in granite. You may also need to modify your food choices to your own circumstances and take into consideration any allergies or sensitivities you’re dealing with. The plant kingdom is vast: even if you need to avoid gluten or soy or tree nuts or peanuts or something else, there’s tons left to choose from.

• Take vitamin B12 and perhaps a few other well-chosen supplements. B12 is non-negotiable. It’s made by bacteria and not found in plants. Perhaps if we lived in the wild and ate “dirty plants,” we’d be okay, but DON’T RISK THIS: get 100 mcg. (that’s micrograms) daily of vitamin B12, ideally as methylcobalamin or adenocobalamin. You may also be wise in supplementing vitamin D (look for a vegan vitamin D3) and the algae-based Omega3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA. (My personal favorite is a tasteless spray, Complement, created by Matt Frazier, The No Meat Athlete, and Toronto , Pam Fergusson, RD, PhD. The quick link is https://tinyurl.com/vluvscomplement, and putting MAINSTREETVEGAN in the discount code box will get you 10% off. But any vegan B12,, vitamin D3 and DHA/ EPA supplement of your choice also works.) For more information about and about these and other supplements you might wish to consider, check out Vegan for Life, by Virginia Messina, MS, RD, and , RD. 5

3 Steps to Rocking a Vegan Lifestyle by Victoria Moran

• Where do you get your protein? Everywhere! Protein is in every food that grows up out of the ground. If you eat a variety of vegetables (including leafy green vegetables), legumes, and whole grains, you will consume an abundance of protein and all necessary amino acids. Read, or get on Audible, Dr. Garth Davis’s excellent book, Proteinaholic.

Books to back you up:

How Not to Die, , MD Vegan for Life, Virginia Messina, MS, RD, and Jack Norris, RD Becoming Vegan, Brenda Davis, RD, and Vesanto Mellina, MS, RD Proteinaholic, Garth Davis, MD

Meal planning and food prep:

With the exception of baked goods, which take precision in any iteration, vegan cooking is largely foolproof. The first question a lot of people have is “What do I put where the meat used to be?” Generally, you put something heavy, “meaty” in taste or texture, higher in protein and complex carbs than the other dishes in the meal. In the vegan world, these foods include:

• Legumes: adzuki beans, black beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, lentils, lima beans, mung beans, navy beans, pinto beans, split peas, soy beans and soy foods (, , and more). Peanuts are a , too, so peanut fits here.

• Whole grains: gluten free -- brown rice, black rice, red rice, quinoa, oats, millet; and gluten-containing – wheat, spelt, farro, barley. (Wheat is a protein found in some grains. 1% of the population has a condition called celiac, a dangerous kind of allergy to gluten; some other people feel that they simply do better without this protein. That’s your call. You can be vegan and consume gluten, or you can be vegan and gluten-free.)

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3 Steps to Rocking a Vegan Lifestyle by Victoria Moran

• Processed Meat Substitutes: Although not recommended for extensive use over the long term, these substitutes can be a lifesaver when you are transitioning and a welcome addition later, too – I always have a on Thanksgiving. Processed meat substitutes include chicken-less strips (Gardein makes some very authentic ones), Tofurky (made with tofu and ), and Beyond Meat burgers. More and more companies are coming out with new vegan faux meat products everyday (or at least it seems that way).

• Other meat replacements: Tofu ( curd), tempeh (a fermented Indonesian soy patty), seitan (wheat gluten used in hearty plant based dishes and faux meats, for those who are okay with consuming gluten) can do a lot that meat does for a meal. Use these in stir-fries, burritos, and pasta sauce, and call on tofu’s versatility to makes everything from quiche to scrambled “eggs” to chocolate mousse. And when people say they’re looking for protein, they’re often simply looking for something substantial, a stick-to-the-ribs something that is more sustaining than an apple or some celery sticks. Along these lines, mushrooms taste surprisingly meaty. Starchy vegetables – potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash – work well here. And judicious use of high-fat foods – avocado, nuts, seeds– can provide “staying power,” as well.

And think, too, of new ways to see the plate. How about devoting 2/3 of the plate to a large green salad with steamed broccoli tossed in, and brown rice covered with black beans on the other 1/3? (Seconds allowed!) Or what about making a hearty soup or chowder – lentil, mushroom-barley, carrot- ginger – the starring dish, with a big salad and some seared tofu? Or a – a grain, a legume, a , a sauce. Voila! – dinner. Okay, have some dark chocolate, much of it is vegan, (check the label) afterwards to sweetly end the meal.

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3 Steps to Rocking a Vegan Lifestyle by Victoria Moran

Cookbooks I’m Crazy About:

The Main Street Vegan Academy Cookbook, Victoria Moran, JL Fields How to Eat Like a Vegetarian Even If You Never Want to Be One, Patti Breitman and Carol J. Adams Simple Recipes for Joy, Sharon Gannon Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People, Jennifer Cornbleet

Life, Work, Dating, Family and Being a Main Street Vegan:

Any time you change your diet, people around you are affected – and they often think they’re more affected by it than they really are. With going vegan, there’s more of this, because in addition to wanting to eat more healthfully, you want to mitigate suffering, save , and stem climate change. When someone in your world sees you do this, they’re apt to feel judged and think, “I’m a good person. Who does she think she is to get all high and mighty?”

The most important thing is to remember that you weren’t vegan until you were ready, and your mom, husband, or sister, won’t be either. If you’re doing this for the animals, they’re suffering and dying now and everybody ought to stop eating them now. I get it. But this earth is imperfect and people change when the time is right for them. The best way to make that time right is to:

• Love these people anyway • Don’t preach • Live so well your life preaches for you • Feed the people in your world really good food and about every third time you want to say, “And it’s 100% plant-based!” just keep that part to yourself. They’ll figure it out.

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3 Steps to Rocking a Vegan Lifestyle by Victoria Moran

Books for being vegan in your whole life:

Main Street Vegan, Victoria Moran with Adair Moran The Vegan Way, Jackie Day The Skeptical Vegan, Eric C. Lindstrom By Any Greens Necessary, Tracye Lynn McQuirter

Watch and learn – must-see documentaries:

Many of these documentaries are available on Netflix and you can find the others elsewhere online. Watch them all. You want to be aware of every aspect of the how and why of this lifestyle choice.

Forks Over Knives ? Earthlings (this one is graphic, not for kids) the Movie From the Ground Up A Prayer for Compassion Vegan Everyday Stories The Invisible Vegan Food Choices Eating You Alive Dominion (again, graphic, sadly) PlantPure Nation

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3 Steps to Rocking a Vegan Lifestyle by Victoria Moran

Websites and blogs to know so you’ll be in the know:

www.PCRM.org – Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine, Neal Barnard, MD’s wonderful organization, providing a wealth of health and nutrition information, a quarterly print publication, Good Medicine, and a really helpful 21-Day Vegan Kickstart program online.

www.Nutritionstudies.org - Colin Campbell, PhD’s website, recipes, health information, and plant-based nutrition courses. Dr. Campbell was the lead researcher on , a huge epidemiological study that pointed to a plant-based diet as the ideal way for humans to eat.

www.nutritionfacts.org – Michael Greger, MD’s website, terrific science-based health and nutrition facts with daily minute-long videos on every health topic out there.

www.minimalistbaker.com – delicious plant-based recipes with minimal ingredients and a cooking time of 30 minutes or less.

www.ohsheglows.com – a food blog with a collection of fabulous plant- based recipes

www.veganricha.com – a food blog full of vegan recipes with an Indian twist

www.thefullhelping.com – healthy plant-based recipes from vegan nutritionist and author Gena Hamshaw

www.mainstreetvegan.net – my site, featuring a weekly blog, podcast, and info about Main Street Vegan Academy, our exciting week-long training program in NYC to certify vegan lifestyle coaches and educators.

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3 Steps to Rocking a Vegan Lifestyle by Victoria Moran

Step 2: Do a detox… on your kitchen.

Give your fridge and pantry a good going-over. Whatever your motivation for making this change, toss anything that came from an animal. If you also want to give your health a boost, also give the boot to anything with white sugar or high-fructose corn syrup; all the white flour, white rice, processed corn meal products; the packaged, preserved, refined stuff: most chips, candies, pastries, etc., , and if you plan to take the no-oil route, extracted oils. (The writings of , Jr., MD, and John McDougall, MD, explain the rationale behind the oil-free choice.) If you want to eat some richer vegan foods when you’re out or on special occasions, you have that option, but if you generally keep your home, the place where you have some say in the matter, up to your highest standards, your health will benefit.

A healthy vegan kitchen may well have the following on hand, but every kitchen will reflect the preferences of the people who cook and dine there:

Vegetables, fresh and frozen -- especially those super-nutritious leafy greens and other brightly colored veggies. You’ll be having these steamed, sautéed, and in salads, and you may get into juicing greens, other veggies, and a small amount of fruit. If you haven’t seen the nearly classic, and totally charming, juice documentary, Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, you’re in for a treat.

Fruit, fresh, frozen – Berries are the cat’s meow and all fruits are antioxidant superstars. Think melons, persimmons, papaya, pineapple, apriocots, peaches, tangerines, and mangos, as well as apples, oranges, and bananas. 11

3 Steps to Rocking a Vegan Lifestyle by Victoria Moran

Beans, dried or canned -- If you buy these canned, look for BPA-free cans; choose salt-free when available and organic when you can afford it. Canned beans are convenient, but dried beans – from the bulk bins at a natural food store or in bags at any supermarket – are super-cheap. If you have a pressure cooker, they cook quickly, but the traditional soak-and- simmer method works too.

Whole grains – brown rice (and red rice and black rice, if you want to get exotic), millet, amaranth, quinoa, real bread (Ezekiel bread, or Essene or Manna bread, in the freezer at the health food store), whole- wheat, spelt, or gluten-free pasta

Raw nuts and seeds - Brazils give you selenium (22 of them a month provide all the selenium you need), and pumpkin seeds are high in zinc. Also enjoy almonds, filberts, pecans, walnuts (high in Omega3 fatty acids), macadamias, etc. These are concentrated foods, so don’t go crazy with them – ditto for avocado.

Dried fruits – nature’s candy - Medjool dates, dried apricots, organic raisins. Dates blend up are a wonderful sweetener; you can also buy at the health food store or order online “date sugar” – it’s just dried dates ground up. A little real maple syrup is fine, too. If you want a calorie- free sweetener, go with stevia, erythritol, or monkfruit.

High quality extra virgin olive oil for salad dressings; avocado or macadamia oil for cooking - Keep an eye on extracted oils so you don’t overdo – some plant-based experts such as Caldwell Essestyn, MD, and John McDougall, MD, advise against using any extracted oils. Most experts discourage the use of coconut oil, despite the hype it’s received in recent years. Coconut oil is a very saturated fat and has been shown to increase overall cholesterol and the dangerous LDL cholesterol. (Lucky for vegans, coconut, palm oil – which also destroys orangutan habitat – and, to a lesser degree, cocoa butter, are the only edible fats in the plant kingdom that are highly saturated. This is why many people who go vegan find that their heart disease risk factors decrease, even if that was not their intent.)

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3 Steps to Rocking a Vegan Lifestyle by Victoria Moran

Wonderful spices and -- Cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, cayenne, garlic, saffron, cardamom, thyme, and the rest have strong anti-cancer and other disease-preventive properties. Enjoy curry powders and other blends and use your spices liberally, along with fresh and dried herbs such as cilantro, parsley, basil, mint, etc.

Cool beverages – We talked about fresh juices and these are superb. Pure water is the ultimate beverage, though, and if you squeeze in some fresh lemon or lime, the water is activated and alkalizing. There’s controversy about what kind of water is best; use your intuition. I get Mountain Valley spring water from Arkansas in glass bottles, but even a Britta filter is a great start. Sparkling water is lovely, and with a splash of pomegranate or cranberry juice, it’s a lovely spritzer; and coconut water is lovely hydrator – but about 60 calories a cup, so don’t overdo.

Hot drinks – Herbal teas are soothing and healing: licorice, ginger, nettle, lemon balm -- the array is endless – and, if you’re not ready to fully part ways with caffeine, black tea and green tea are both rich in antioxidants; so is coffee, for that matter, if you choose to indulge. Teechino is a wonderful coffee substitute that you brew in a coffee maker just as you would your morning Joe – it smells divine and makes a dandy cappuccino.

Dairy free milk - Try various brands of soy milk, almond milk, , oat milk, cashew milk, flax milk, and hemp milk, and a soy or coconut creamer if you crave something thick and rich in your coffee. You can also make refreshing homemade nut milks from cashews, blanched almonds, hazelnuts or Brazil nuts. These don’t have the calcium fortification of the commercial brands, but they’re delicious and appropriate for raw-food devotees.

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3 Steps to Rocking a Vegan Lifestyle by Victoria Moran

Invest in the Right Kitchen Tools:

Good Knives – A ’s knife and a paring knife, kept sharp, are essential for salads, crudités, etc.

A decent blender – I got by fine with years with a Cuisinart blender from Bed, Bath & Beyond, but connoisseurs of blending swear by the high- powered Vitamix (that’s what I use now, thanks to Santa a couple of years back) or the Blendtec. Legend has it that these can almost blend rocks.

A food processor – You’ll use it for dips, spreads, desserts, and for chopping veggies.

A great juicer – I like the Breville Juice Fountain. It’s basic, easy to clean, and juices greens quite effectively.

An automatic pressure cooker such as an Instant Pot - Great for batch cooking your grains, beans, and starchy vegetables and making soups, stews, and casseroles. Check out JL Fields’ book, Vegan Pressure Cooking.

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3 Steps to Rocking a Vegan Lifestyle by Victoria Moran

Bonus: Get savvy about vegan substitutes for items you might miss.

These are a few of the many substitutes available for some of the foods you’re familiar with. True, these are not “whole foods” in that you can’t pick them in a garden or orchard, but many are only “once removed” from that garden or orchard. Anytime you eat anything from a package, read the label and use your good sense. I can tell you for sure: today I eat almost entirely whole, unprocessed foods, but if it hadn’t been for some of these transitional items, I’d have never made it this far.

Bacon – Lightlife Smart Bacon and other brands: the ones based on tempeh are the least processed.

Burgers – Dr. Praegar’s veggie burgers, Gardein Burgers, Beyond Meat Burgers, and if you’re dining out and really miss the beef, the Impossible Burger comes so close that longtime vegans pass on this one.

Butter –Nut and all-fruit jams are the great bread spreads, or you can dip crusty bread in good olive oil like the Greeks and Italians do. If you want “vegan butter” (it’s technically margarine), I’d go with Wayfare, which contains no palm oil and is formulated with a proprietary bean base that decreases the amount of coconut oil in the product.

Cheese – My favorites – and I believe among the healthiest – of the vegan cheeses are Treeline, Miyoko’s Kitchen, and Kite Hill. These taste like fine French cheeses. More and more pizza joints are serving up vegan cheeses like (also available at supermarkets for when you want an all-American, melt-able mozzarella or cheddar).

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3 Steps to Rocking a Vegan Lifestyle by Victoria Moran

Chicken – Gardein makes amazingly authentic chicken-less chicken, which comes naked or breaded and ready to bake or fry. Seitan (wheat gluten) can be used to substitute chicken and other meats in stir-fries and other recipes. Beyond Meat’s chicken strips are also authentic, made from pea protein, and gluten-free.

Cow’s Milk – Soy milk (Silk is delicious), almond milk (Silk, Blue Diamond), Rice Milk (Rice Dream), also hemp, coconut, oat, sunflower, and flax milks – almost all of them fortified to contain as much calcium as dairy milk, or even 50% more.

Eggs – Search the internet for “tofu scramble”; it’s a great substitute for your morning scrambled eggs. Also look for Follow Your Heart’s Vegan Egg. For baking, there’s a powder called Egg Replacer (Ener-G makes one; so does Bob’s Red Mill); a powdered product called The Vegg for killer French toast. It’s also really easy to substitute eggs in baked goods with flax seeds, chia seeds, banana, dairy free yogurt, aquafaba (liquid from a can of chickpeas), or mashed starchy veggies such as sweet potato or squash. (See The Main Street Vegan Academy Cookbook, “Vegan Eggs for Baking and Binding.”)

Fois gras – Faux Gras, from www.theregalvegan.com.

Hot dogs and sausages – Tofu pups and other meatless hot dogs – read the label to check fat and sodium content and to be sure there’s no egg white. Tofurky and Field Roast both make killer sausages that won’t kill you or any animals.

Ice cream – So many options! Even Ben and Jerry’s and Haagen Dazs have dairy-free options now. Soy Dream, Coconut Bliss, Rice Dream, and DF Mavens also make excellent dairy free ice cream flavors. Every week there seems to be some new vegan ice cream flavor or brand.

Luncheon meats – Yves makes sliced turkey, baloney, etc.; Tofurky also makes vegan lunch meat alternatives. There are other brands, too; many are low-fat or fat-free. (Note: if you have non-vegan friends or family members, do your best to get them off processed meats – luncheon slices, bacon, etc.; these a known carcinogen and the World Health Organization says that there is no known safe minimum.) 16

3 Steps to Rocking a Vegan Lifestyle by Victoria Moran

“Turkey” for the holidays – Tofurky – www.tofurky.com, or Field Roast – www.fieldroast.com. These roasts are smaller than a turkey – clever, sweet birds who deserve not to die annually in a mass slaughter – and they’re fun to serve with traditional bread or rice stuffing and surrounded by a colorful array of vegetables.

Fish – Contrary to popular belief, fish is not a health food. These animals who live in the water are the primary sources of toxic heavy metals, mercury and arsenic, in our diets; this is especially true of the larger fishes such as tuna and swordfish. Get your Omega-3s from flax, walnuts, soy, hemp, chia, and an algae-based DHA/EPA supplement. For fishy flavor, look to seaweeds such as kelp and dulse (also a great source of trace minerals and iodine). “vegan tuna salad” and find amazing, easy recipes based on everything from chickpeas to tofu to sunflower seeds to jackfruit.And try Gardein’s Golden Fishless Fillets (these take me back to childhood Fridays), Sophie’s Kitchen Sea Salt Vegan Toona (in cans just like the kind you used to eat when you went on a diet), the whole line of ocean-y delights from Good Catch Foods, and for sushi? – Tomato Tuna from Ocean Hugger Foods.

Yogurt – Soy, rice, or almond yogurt at almost any grocery store. Kite Hill is delicious – their plain, unsweetened almond milk yogurt is the closest thing to splendidly sour Greek yogurt I’ve found.

But remember: ultimately this is not about substitutions. It’s about a new way of life in which the bounty of the plant kingdom isn’t “standing in” for anything but is the star of the table in its own right.

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3 Steps to Rocking a Vegan Lifestyle by Victoria Moran

Step 3: Treat yourself like a rock star.

Vegan living will end suffering, save animal lives, and go far toward protecting the climate and environment of our planet. It’s also a healthy choice for you. To reap even more benefits so you’re feeling great and staying around to do good work for a long, long time, check out these feel good/look good tips. You really can work selflessly for others and have a great life, too.

1. See yourself as the star of your life every day of your life.

2. Stand up straight. You’ll look slimmer and feel more in command of any situation.

3. Make your first drink of the day water – hot, warm, or room temperature -- with an ample squeeze of fresh lemon. It ‘s a great detoxifier and will help ensure good elimination.

4. Eat breakfast: it’s one of the habits centenarians have in common.

5. Half the time, do dry skin brushing before your bath or shower (brushes are sold at natural food stores).

6. The other half, precede bathing with abdyanga, self-massage with warm sesame oil. (This is an Ayurvedic technique. Learn more in the book Radical Beauty, by Kimberly Snyder and Deepak Chopra.)

7. If you can, treat yourself to a professional massage every 21 days to keep your immunity up to par. Short on cash? Trade massages with your main squeeze.

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3 Steps to Rocking a Vegan Lifestyle by Victoria Moran

8. Invert yourself with a yoga headstand or shoulder stand or by lying on a slantboard (I like the Age in Reverse® slant from www.ahealthybody.net).

9. Use creative sun protection: a hat, gloves, and barrier (non-chemical) sunblock properly applied.

10. Buy yourself a juicer that’s powerful and easy to clean. Fresh vegetable juice, emphasizing green juices, is an infusion of vitality.

11. Keep a pitcher of water on the counter, a bottle in your bag, and hot water easily accessible.

12. If you wear makeup, get a lesson every year or so—and remember to lighten up just inside your eyes.

13. Breathe. Start each day with five long, deep “belly breaths.”And if you’re afraid or upset during the day, three nice, full breaths will calm you down and set your straight.

14. Do cardio four to six days a week and include weight training of your full body twice a week (or two days upper body, two days lower).

15. Adopt a companion animal: you’ll be saving a life, and people with non-human family member live longer than those in Homo-sapiens-only households. If no one is home during the day, welcome two or more cats into the family; they’ll do fine on their own while you’re gone. If you’re a dog person and have to be gone for many hours, please adopt a sibling for Rover. Dogs are pack animals and being alone is genuinely painful for them. See if you can stretch the budget to accommodate a midday dog-walker, or barter with a neighbor a daily dog walk in return for weekend babysitting.

16. Have role models, people you know or have heard of who have traits you would like to emulate. Focus on the person’s character and inner qualities.

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3 Steps to Rocking a Vegan Lifestyle by Victoria Moran

17. If you feel that you’re a bit stressed, over-tired, chilled, or just not quite right, pay attention. If you stop, go to bed, take a hot bath, or otherwise engage in some “me time,” you’re less likely to get sick. It’s hard to focus on your needs when you have small children or a business that’s as needy as a houseful of small children, but you matter. Care for yourself as well as you can.

18. Just as you detoxed the food in your kitchen, detox the household cleaning products there. Go for nontoxic, cruelty-free brands such as Method, Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day, Bon Ami, Seventh Generation, and Ecover, or check out the book Clean and Green, by Annie Berthold-Bond, and learn to clean just about everything with baking soda, club soda, and white vinegar.

19. And while you’re at it, detox your toiletries and your closet. As you run out, replace make up, shampoos, cleansers, and the like with cruelty-free, brands – Yes to (Carrots, Blueberries, etc.), , e.l.f., etc. Find more at www.LeapingBunny.com. And replace worn shoes, bags, coats, sweaters and other clothing, when the time comes, with vegan alternatives. Online sources include www.GrapeCat.com, www.UnicornGoods.com, and MooShoes.com.

20. Live for something bigger than you are. Explore your spiritual nature. Just going vegan can be a large part of it. The choices you’ll make three times a day are saving lives, mitigating suffering, protecting the climate, freeing up food for hungry people, and making you part of a growing groundswell for good. This is, truly, a grand adventure.

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3 Steps to Rocking a Vegan Lifestyle by Victoria Moran

Victoria Moran, www.mainstreetvegan.net 212. 289-1808 [email protected]

Facebook: Main Street Vegan Twitter: @Victoria_Moran and @MainStreetVegan Instagram: @mainstreetvegan Author Page: https://tinyurl.com/vmamazon

Listen to the MAIN STREET VEGAN podcast at http://www.unity.fm/program/mainstreet vegan Or simply Google Main Street Vegan podcast

If you’d like one-on-one vegan lifestyle coaching with Victoria or a Main Street Vegan®-certified coach in your area, go to https://www.tinyurl.com/msvegancoaches

And if you’d like to take your to the next level, you might be ready for a magical week in NYC in which you’ll be certified as a Vegan Lifestyle Coach & Educator (VLCE) http://www.mainstreetvegan.net/academy