Are you vegan or thinking of becoming one? If you’re concerned about not getting enough protein to maintain your fit lifestyle, think again. You can be sustainably minded and incredibly fit at the same time.
“There’s never been a better time to be vegan,” says Farm Sanctuary President and Co-Founder Gene Baur, author of the bestselling book Living the Farm Sacutary Life: The Ultimate Guide to Eating Mindfully, Living Longer and Feeling Better Every Day. Veganism is gaining momentum as more and more professional athletes turn to a plant-based diet as a way to enhance performance, proving it’s possible to be extremely active on a plant-based diet. Legendary boxer Mike Tyson, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, TV icon Ellen Degeneres are just a few of the many celebrities popularizing the movement and taking a stand for animals.
And for the first time ever on Saturday, October 24th 2015, New York’s renowned Plaza Hotel will turn 100 percent vegan for Farm Sanctuary’s Gala honoring Jon and Tracey Stewart, Jesse Eisenberg, Emily Deschanel and other attendees of Farm Sanctuary’s star-studded Gala. But it’s not just an A-list calling. “Increasingly people are becoming curious about veganism,” Gene says and this curiosity leads to change that, “is good for the animals, it’s good for the planet, and good for ourselves.”
Arugula and beet juice are considered performance-enhancing vegetables and can actually aid in oxygenating the blood to help you go that extra mile, and coconut water is a great way to hydrate and it’s high in electrolytes. “When it comes to protein I eat a variety of foods,” says Baur, who for the past 30 years has fueled his marathons and triathlons with a plant-based diet. Foods rich in protein like quinoa, legumes, soymilk and tempeh are expanding the options for meat-substitutions. Veggie burgers, meatless meatballs, almond-milk, and pea-proteins are among the alternatives readily available in the supermarket that make it easier than ever to transition to a plant-based diet.
“When I learned it was possible to live well without eating animals, I thought, why wouldn’t I do that?” adds Gene Baur, but it’s not just about food. “It’s very empowering to recognize that we can make a difference every day by the way we spend our dollars.” Ultimately the money you spend endorses a particular company, practice, and industry making the opportunity to vote with your dollars a direct source of advocacy to help combat animal cruelty.
See next page for 6 simple things you can do to help the planet’s animals.
A compassionate lifestyle with mindfulness for animal welfare extends beyond the scope of what you put in your body. What you put on your body is just as important—fashion compassion—as some would call it. Fortunately sportswear’s evolving hi-tech synthetic fibers and plant-based clothing make it possibly to gear up for success without contributing animal cruelty.
“Daily choices really add up,” Gene says, and anything you can do that honors animal welfare helps the cause.
Here are 6 easy things you can do to help the planet’s animals:
2. Dress yourself with clothes and shoes made from synthetic or plant fibers rather than animal hide.
3. Look for “animal cruelty free” label to avoid buying products that test on animals.
4. While transitioning to a more plant-based diet, buy your meat from local farmers markets rather than supporting large factory farms. Mass-produced meat may be less expensive, but there are external costs to your health, to animal welfare, and to the environment.
5. Sign up for Farm Life Sanctuary’s “Adopt a Farm Animal Program” and help fund the happy life of a factory farm rescue animal from wherever you live.
6. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, tofurkey is abuzz in Hollywood and Ariana Grande, Jared Leto, Ellie Goulding, Ellen Page, and Carrie Underwood among other celebrities are skipping the turkey this year for a meatless holiday meal. You can do the same and even adopt a turkey through Farm Sanctuary Life.
