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As someone who has been eating a plant-based/ vegan lifestyle for almost 2 years, I sometimes forget what it was like when I was first starting out. The first “vegan” books that I read, Skinny Bitch and The Kind Diet, were books that I had initially picked up in the hopes of learning a new way to lose weight. I remember thinking “hmm, it would be great to lose weight, but I don’t know if I could actually do this”. In all honesty, I think I that at the time I found them to be extremest and hard to follow (although now I love them and recommend them all the time).
Like all the other diets that I tried, it lasted a little while, but eventually I went back to calorie counting, low-fat eating, and counting points. Overtime my diet evolved as I read and learned more about factory farming, healthy eating and weight loss, and the environment. Eventually, when I was ready, I read books like The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell, The Engine 2 Diet by Rip Esselstyn, 30 Day Vegan Challenge by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau and Veganist by Kathy Freston which helped me learn the “why” behind eating a plant-based diet as well as how to make this lifestyle.
I think that when you read a book on plant-based eating or veganism it is important to think about who the target audience is and also to have the self-awareness to know where you are in your journey. I was recently lucky enough to be sent a new copy of The Lean: A Revolutionary (and simple!) 30 Day Plan for Healthy, Lasting Weight Loss by Kathy Freston to review for this blog.
My first thought upon reading it was, “I wish I had this book when I first started out!!” This is a great book by the beautiful and talented Kathy Freston, geared towards helping people make little changes, one per day for an entire month. The goal is to “lean” into the lifestyle, and add positive changes and food additions, until you have “crowded out” the old unhealthy ones.
While at this point in my journey I already do most of the things recommended in the book, I have had to learn it from all different sources and put it together on my own, little by little. This book helps the reader get lots of helpful information all at once, simplifies it into a month’s worth of changes, and gives just enough explanation in each chapter so that it makes sense to an average reader. I also really like Kathy’s writing style which is friendly, kind and intelligent, but not overly intimidating. This book would make an amazing gift for someone you love (Alison that means you!). Not to mention that we all want to look like Kathy!!
