I’m back with more! I got up at 4:30 this morning to catch up on work and life (and you) before heading back into the city for another exciting day at the Main Street Vegan Academy!
Before I share one thing that I learned in the Academy yesterday, I did want to follow-up on yesterday’s post in which I share the idea that 90% vegan is better than not being vegan at all. Not one of the instructors suggested that we sit down with clients with some type of 50, 80 or 90% vegan “plan”. Rather, they encouraged us to be gentle and kind to people who are on the journey. When a client says “ugh, it turns out that veggie burger at the restaurant had egg in it, I guess I’m not vegan now” Our response is “Sure you are. These things happen!” Or, when a client says “I can’t be vegan because I want Mom’s turkey at Thanksgiving” we suggest that it’s not a reason to avoid trying a vegan diet and lifestyle and that if they have that turkey, on that one day, it doesn’t erase all the good they have done – and maybe next year they will bring a Tofurky to the family dinner! This is a journey and we want to encourage them wherever they are on it. If you have more thoughts on this, please share!
Yesterday we spent all morning with Victoria Moran and it was wonderful. We talked about approaching our clients holistically and providing them the best information when it comes to eating and living a healthy vegan lifestyle. She provided us the tools to respond to the age-old question “What do vegans eat?” by sharing Dr. Tel-Oren‘s response to the query with which so many of us are familiar. Loosely paraphrased:
- Eat a great big salad everyday, with a vinaigrette or nut-based dressing.
- In addition, have a serving of dark leafy greens – raw or cooked.
- Add a cabbage-family vegetable (kale, cabbage, cauliflower, bok choy, brussells sprouts) to a meal.
- Have a nice fruit salad, using whatever is in season. Perhaps you add a cashew cream.
- Eat a piece of fruit later, too.
- Enjoy a cooked ancient grain such as amaranth, farro, quino, kamut. Or eat a sprouted grain bread or brown rice.
- Include a serving of a legume (peas, lentils, beans)
- Have a small portion of nuts or seeds
- Then, after you’ve made sure to eat everything above, have whatever you want!
Proof that a vegan diet is diverse, delicious, nutritious and so varied that you don’t need anything else!
In the afternoon we learned about raw diets. To get ourselves in the mood, we had a raw lunch at Quintessence. Victoria and Chef Dan addressed our group
about raw food basics.
Then we ate.
Mexican Platter: A tostada- golden flax and corn tortilla- filled with “refried beans”, “cheese”, tomato and lettuce with a dollop of “sour crème”, guacamole and Guajillo chili sauce.
After lunch we checked out two raw stores on the lower East side (Live Live & Organic and High Vibe) , a sustainable “general” store that donates proceeds to an animal shelter, an Indian spice market (heaven!), and then attended a workshop on raw food meal plans and got a brief introduction to the concept of detoxing. We did pop into Lula’s Sweet Apothecary for a sweet treat somewhere in between.
Rosewater and Pistachio Ice Cream Cone.
It was another educational and delicious day at the Main Street Vegan Academy!
Check out my previous posts on this fabulous training experience:
- Recovering from the weekend and gearing up for a vegan academy
- Main Street Vegan Academy begins!
- Day 1: Main Street Vegan Academy
- Day 2: Main Street Vegan Academy (Nutrition, Shopping + Vegan Junk Food)
18 thoughts on “Day 3: Main Street Vegan Academy (What vegans eat and what this vegan ate)”
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Sounds like you are having a ball JL! It’s interesting how similar (well, not just similar, but pretty identical) their food “plan” is to Dr. Fuhrman’s Eat to Live. It’s goes way beyond a Vegan food plan. That’s a Nutritarian food plan. I was wondering if they mentioned Dr. Fuhrman in any of their lessons?
Yep, they certainly refer to him. But what I love about this training is that it does not “prescribe” a way to eat. We are introduced to a variety of ways to eat vegan so that we can be a good resource to our clients. Some suggest food-combining, others do not. Some say no oil, others say yes to oil. That’s why I love this training! It’s not dogmatic.
Well, that list above sure seemed like a prescription to me . . . a prescription for great health!
One list, from one doctor that I shared on this blog. I didn’t share every list, from every academy nutritionist or instructor with an opinion of vegan diets 🙂
I think you took my initial comment as something very negative. I was pretty excited when I saw their prescription, as you know I am a big believer that Vegan is more than just the absence of animals and goes into a wholistic view of humans, animal, our planet, our economy. Sorry if you took offense. I was really excited that they were sharing my view.
No, not at all, Wendy! Your comment made me realize that it may look like the academy was promoting one type of diet. Your comment was immensely helpful, as usual, to clarify for all readers. I’m glad I happened to pick the one suggested plan that you like! 🙂
got it now!
Thanks JL and Healthy Girl for clarifying this. I definitely would not want anyone to think that you have to have a salad and ancient grains every day on a vegan diet! (I like both but I don’t eat them every day.) I would however “prescribe” more legumes than that. 🙂
You know it, Ginny! I have loads of legumes, daily! 🙂
I love this post! I’m on a journey to veganism and while I try to not see it as failing when I eat meat or something, I know part of me does. This is a nice reminder that I am on a journey and it’s ok!
Exactly, Daisy! Many of us tend to strive for perfect. We have to be kind to ourselves on the path to there! 🙂
Very interesting post, looks like you’re having a wonderful time. Wow on getting up at 4:30 AM! Great information here on encouraging veganism, I agree that a high percent of vegan is better than not being vegan at all and that things happen when we’re trying to be 100% vegan that we can’t let get to us, just learn from and move on.
Yep. Learning from it is key – as is moving one!
Love your site. Thank you for the inspiration!
Thank you!
I really encourage people to not have the all or nothing approach when transitioning their diet. I think it can be overwhelming for some people and finding the balance that works for the person is a step in the right direction. I’ve seen that people typically keep taking those steps and eliminating more and more animal products from their diet that way – at their own pace.
It’s a great reminder that each journey is individual!