Veganist_ Lose Weight, Get Healthy, Change the World - Kathy Freston [87]
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Compassion is a muscle that grows with use.
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Being a veganist is as much about caring for yourself as it is caring for others, as much about concern for humanity as it is about concern for the earth and its creatures. In the end, a vegan diet lets us sow seeds of peace on many levels. This is what is so inspiring about the veganist challenge. The ultimate promise of a plant-based diet is that it will utterly transform our personal health even as it heals the world around us.
We are a generation that senses something big on the horizon. We have been longing for meaning, hungering for a sense of empowerment, for the ability to be the game changers we know this world needs. And here, right in front of us—on our plates, actually—is the means to make that splendid leap. And when we make that leap within ourselves, overcoming all the little obstacles and attachments, we take the world right along with us. We become the very hope we were looking for.
AFTERWORD:
Making the Shift
MAKING A FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE TO YOUR DIET CAN BE OVER-whelming. And that’s why I so often recommend leaning in to a new way of eating and not trying to make too many changes at once. As you might have read in my other books, I’ve been working on improving myself for quite some time. It’s been a long process of pushing myself past my comfort zones and into healthier ways of living, and nothing has come overnight for me. There have been times when I “got” something readily, like an epiphany that felt right in my gut, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the ensuing changes happened easily. There has always been a process of becoming conscious of where I need to change, and then getting there. Think of a bad relationship: You know it’s not right for you anymore. You know it’s damaging your self-esteem, or at the very least, is not in alignment with your soul’s truth. You know there must be a better way of living, but you just don’t know how to get out of what you’ve grown so accustomed to. And the thing is, if you don’t make a move, years can be lost and you lose precious opportunities to really thrive physically, emotionally, and spiritually. You may never know how great your life could have been, how much you could have really shone and made your mark.
It’s the same with eating. We see a better way, but it’s just a matter of getting there. As I outlined in Quantum Wellness, there are four simple steps that are quite powerful. By taking these steps, you set the process—any process of growth and self improvement—in motion.
1. Listen and learn. Keep eating what you are eating, all the while educating yourself on the effects of that food. Don’t go to sleep; stay awake and alert. Read books about the nutritional benefits of a plant-based diet; watch videos online of animals being slaughtered. It will clarify things for you, and you will have loads of information to answer what people will inevitably question you about (“Don’t you need to eat meat to get protein?” “Don’t you think animals are meant to be food?”). Informing yourself will create enthusiasm and kick-start the process of change.
2. Set an intention. You may not know exactly how to get there, but you can lean in the direction of how you want to be. Say to yourself, “I want to be a person who lives consciously and eats healthfully. I want to look in the mirror and like what I see. I want to feel full of energy and apply that energy to a meaningful life.” After I’d read a few books on how animal protein was bad for me and watched some behind-the-scenes video of animals being raised in terrible conditions,