Veganist: Lose Weight, Get Healthy, Change the World [Hardcover]

Kathy Freston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2011

Kathy Freston wasn't born a vegan. The bestselling author and renowned wellness expert actually grew up on chicken-fried steak and cheesy grits, and loved nothing more than BBQ ribs and vanilla milkshakes. Not until her thirties did she embrace the lifestyle of a veganist--someone who eats a plant-based diet not just for their own personal well-being, but for the whole web of benefits it brings to our ecosystem and beyond. Kathy's shift toward this new life was gradual--she leaned into it--but the impact was profound. Now Kathy shows us how to lean into the veganist life. Effortless weight loss, reversal of disease, environmental responsibility, spiritual awakening--these are just a few of the ten profound changes that can be achieved through a gentle switch in food choices.

Filled with compelling facts, stories of people who have improved their weight and health conditions as a result of making the switch, and Q&As with the leading medical researchers, Veganist concludes with a step-by-step practical guide to becoming a veganist…easily and gradually. It is an accessible, optimistic, and illuminating book that will change the way you eat forever. No less delicious, still hearty and satisfying--just better for you and for all.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this cheery manifesto, healthy-living guru Freston (Quantum Wellness) promises readers who gives up meat, dairy, and eggs that they will effortlessly lose weight, avoid cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer's, save money, help the poor, reduce their carbon footprint and animal suffering, and evolve spiritually. Freston, coining the word "veganist," puts a soft edge on the vegan lifestyle: "It's not about hard lines or purity or perfection but about intention and holding ideas loosely and taking steps in the direction of the kind of person you want to be." She supports her claims with interviews from medical authorities like Dean Ornish and Neal Barnard, numerous stories from people who converted and changed their lives, and a few tales from animal rights activists who went undercover in the factory farm. The book provides "tips for making the switch," FAQs answered by Dr. Barnard, and sample menus, but no recipes, so readers used to meat and potatoes may be stymied by how to prepare "flax seed and whole-grain pizza with classic margherita topping." Even so, for the novice, this book offers a gentle, guilt-free path to a meatless (or even, as Feston says, "vegan-ish") life.
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Review

VegNews
“One of the 10 best vegan books of 2011”

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Weinstein Books; Second Printing edition (February 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1602861331
• ISBN-13: 978-1602861336
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (120 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,285 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kathy Freston is the New York Times bestselling author of Quantum Wellness and The One. She has produced a popular series of guided-meditation CDs on relationships, healing the body, creating prosperity, losing weight, and destressing. Her work has been featured in Vanity Fair, Harper's Bazaar, Self, W, and Fitness, among other publications, and she has appeared on Oprah, The View, Good Morning America, and The Martha Stewart Show. She and her husband divide their time between New York and Los Angeles.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

183 of 193 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative and Convincing January 29, 2011

By Foodie Designer

Format:Hardcover

Veganist: Lose Weight, Get Healthy, Change the World, by Kathy Freston, is a guide describing how eating a vegan diet can help you lose weight and be healthier, be kind to animals, and to the environment. It is also a book about how eating plant-based foods can make your own life more spiritual.

Each chapter details a benefit of eating vegan and has expert commentary and real life success stores. For instance, the first few chapters deal with the health benefits of eating vegan and how people with diseases--heart disease, diabetes, cancer--were able to reverse or eliminate them with the change in their diets.

Freston writes about how eating vegan is better for the planet because there is less of a carbon imprint when your diet is plant-based than when you eating meat and dairy.

How most animals raised for meat are treated is also discussed. So is the condition of most chickens raised for their eggs. This is a tough chapter to read about...

There is a Q&A in the book.

Freston also includes sample menus of what she typically might eat in a three week period. They are varied and interesting....which is her point, since many people assume a vegan diet is very limited and boring.

There is a helpful list of staples and where to buy them, beginning with the big box grocery store and includes Trader Joe's (For those of you unfamiliar with this chain, TJ's is both inexpensive and has an awesome selection of organic and natural products.) She also includes health food stores. A very good list for anyone not familiar with vegan diets and where to buy ingredients.

For those of you familiar with her other books, Freston does not lecture, but kindly encourages the vegan lifestyle...she talks about "leaning into" it--in other words, slowly work towards becoming a vegan. That even a few meals a week is a good start. (The leaning into thing started to get on my nerves, but whatever.)

If you need proof that a vegan diet is a great choice to make--or just adding more plant-based foods into your diet--this is the book for you.

If you want recipes, you will need to look elsewhere, however. One book I like is called 1000 VEGAN RECIPES. Check out Freston's other books--like Quantum Wellness--out. Finally, if you are looking to get rid of all the toxins in your life--not just your diet--(and make your home a beautiful sanctuary) read: HARMONIOUS ENVIRONMENT: BEAUTIFY, DETOXIFY & ENERGIZE YOUR LIFE, YOUR HOME & YOUR PLANET.

Highly recommend.

126 of 136 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm definitely going to recommend to all my patients February 1, 2011

By Michael Greger

Format:Hardcover

As a physician trying to focus on preventive medicine, I'm always on the look out for simple, practical, positive, motivational materials to recommend to my patients to keep them and their families as healthy as possible. What I like about this book is that it covers all the new research that shows one cannot only slow down and stop the progression of some of our top killers like heart disease and diabetes, but actually reverse chronic disease. That's the revolutionary new concept in clinical nutrition and the author covers all the movers and shakers in the field. It's an exciting time to be practicing lifestyle medicine and this is captured in this book. Normally I just tell patients to go to the library and get whichever books I'm recommending, but this one's so good I'll think I'll get a few cases and just give them away!

73 of 83 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great book by Ms Freston February 1, 2011

By C. Holbein

Format:Hardcover

Since I've started following Kathy's advice, I've lost unwanted body fat while actually improving in strength and endurance at the gym. The Veganist might be her best book yet. I went vegan because I am opposed to the well-documented cruelty of the meat, egg and dairy industries, but i love the health benefits i've experienced. Thanks Kathy!