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Welcome to Plant Positive!

Thank you for hitting play – I really do appreciate it and I’m going to do my very best to make this show a fun and actionable experience.

As you heard in the intro, I’m Kate Galli. I’m a vegan health coach based in Sydney Australia and I’m creating this podcast for my vegan friends and the plant based curious who might be craving a little more good news! Think of this as a reliable weekly fix of YOU time! A chance to connect with the wins, the progress and everything we have to feel grateful for. We’ll chat training tips, self care, good news stories, recipes wins plus plenty of eating and exercising inspiration and motivation.

Plant Positive is also for you if you know there are benefits to eating more plants however it all seems a little overwhelming, hard or restrictive. My intention is to share with you how simple, sustainable and of course DELICIOUS a #plantstrong lifestyle can be.

If I’m honest, I’m also creating this show for ME! I figure it’s going to compel me to focus on the positives in our world… and for better or worse what you focus on expands.

To give you a quick idea of who you’re hanging out with right now I’ll paint a personal picture of how your focus works to your favour or to your detriment. I was a moody and debilitatingly shy teenager. I’d get caught in these cycles of how sad and bad things were (they weren’t – the worst of it was likely when I’d have a pimple or 8 – if only I knew to eliminate dairy back then!) point being I didn’t really know how to drag myself out of sad and bad. In fact and I wonder if you can relate… when I felt down I’d seek out my most UN-upbeat friend and we’d listen to The Cures saddest album on repeat.

In short, back then: I’d wallow. 

As much as I never advocate blocking your emotions I will also always advocate choosing to focus on the good or what could be good if you chose to see it that way.

Back to this notion that: For better or worse what you focus on expands.

Each moment 3 million bits of info hits our 5 senses and to cope we filter them down to 134 bits and then a further 7 chunks of info. That’s about as science’y as today will get!

What we filter in and filter out is based on our unique experiences, values and beliefs… or more so how we choose to interpret our unique experiences, values and beliefs. The power of your values and beliefs and aligning them with the attainment of a goal (be it your personal health goal or maybe a greater vision like say: a happy, healthy vegan world!) is something I’ll certainly dig in with in future shows.

However for now, doesn’t it make sense to focus only on what you want more of?

Which brings me to a couple of recent AMAZING good news stories. 

=> First from Plant Based News: Almost half (43 percent) of Americans have made an effort to eat less meat throughout the coronavirus pandemic, according to new research. The poll also asked why people had made the diet swaps now. 37 percent said they wanted to use this time to make a positive change.

That fills me with so much joy! People do care. They care about their health, the environment and perhaps hopefully even the animals. They just need support, encouragement and exposure to abundant delicious plant based food!

The new research ties in with polling released in the U.K by The Vegan Society in April. It showed that more than 13 million Brits had cut down on meat consumption during the pandemic.

Whether someone is eating less meat because they’ve made the connection between how we treat animals and infectious zoonotic diseases like Covid-19. Or whether their supple of meat has been interrupted and perhaps they are turning to a more cost effective protein source like legumes. Or whether they have more time and incentive to focus on healthy whole plant foods… either way the outcome is a win! I feel confident consumers all around the world are currently getting to experience just how delicious and cost effective a plant positive approach to eating can be.

Quick side note: With good news stories or anything that might prompt further research I’ll always link to my show notes / sources.

=> This from VegNews: Budweiser Gives Ad Spot To Black Owned Vegan Business During national Football Game.

Beer brand Bud Light used its national advertising space to promote The Vegan Hood Chefs during a recent football game between the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers. The San Francisco 49ers also promoted the business prior to the game, tweeting, “We’re not the only ones who are on tonight. Order one of their delicious vegan dishes to enjoy during tonight’s game.”

Best friends Ronnishia Johnson and Rheema Calloway operate The Vegan Hood Chefs as a local pop-up serving dishes such as jackfruit enchiladas, and fried avocado tacos with the mission of “healing the hood” through plant-based food. “It wasn’t until we started to look at food from a social justice lens that we learned that the food choices and health issues of our community were directly linked to the lack of access and education,” Johnson told VegNews. “As we started to change our diets we saw the impact on our family and communities. We learned that most fast-food companies target particularly low-income Black and Brown people. Our goal was to create a food business that would also target Black and Brown people with healthier alternatives and language that was uplifting and reflective of our culture to thrive.”

This example makes me so very hopeful AND it also makes me want to chat vegan deliciousness!

For my plant based curious friends or perhaps for you if you’ve been living the lifestyle for a number of years and know you could be doing it healthier – prioritising whole foods and keeping all the amazing vegan junk food for special occasions – I have 10 Tips To Make Adopting A Vegan Lifestyle Easy (which is available as a beautiful free PDF below) and today we’ll dig in with tip one.

free PDF

One: Rather Than One Main Event, focus on building your meals around fibrous veg, plant based protein and good fat.

Further to this, your plant based protein will come from multiple sources in one meal (not just one hunk of animal protein).

Action step: Start with the meals you already eat that just need a small tweak to become vegan. 

• Maybe oats with berries, nut butter and cows milk swaps to almond, soy, coconut or oat milk?
• A green smoothie with whey based protein powder swaps to plant based protein powder or simply swap that whey powder for a couple of Medjool dates and a tablespoon or 2 of hemp seeds if you want to keep it completely whole foods.
• A salad with chicken swaps to a salad with a bean and beetroot burger. I’m a lazy cook and buy my bean burgers from the supermarket.
• A curry, stir fry or pasta with beef swaps to tofu, lentils or edamame.

My fav meals on mass curry recipe is delicious, easy and cheap. If I use frozen cauliflower, canned lentils and store bought green curry paste I can whip up 4 meals worth in 20 minutes! I’ll include the full recipe – credit to my dear mum Annie Galli – in the show notes.

There’s abundant plant protein in this cauli-lentil curry however to emphasise “your plant based protein will come from multiple sources in one meal” aside from those lentils I also serve it over edamame noodles (have you tried them?) and sprinkle over some toasted pumpkin seeds.

[RECIPE] Green curry with cauliflower and lentils.

• 1 cup dried green lentils
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 3 tablespoons green curry paste (I use “Valcom”)
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1⁄2 teaspoon garam masala
• 4 cups / 500 grams of cauliflower florets (frozen is fine)
• 1 zucchini
• 540 mil coconut milk
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1 inch fresh ginger, grated
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• Juice of 1⁄2 a lime

In a saucepan, combine lentils, stock and 2 tabs. of green curry paste. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes until all of the liquid is absorbed, and the lentils are tender.

Meanwhile, cut cauli into florets, slice zucchini, and mince ginger and garlic. Heat a large skillet with olive oil, and when hot, add cauli, along with ginger and garlic, a pinch of salt, and the turmeric and garam masala seasoning. Toss and cook about 4 minutes, until the cauli is well coated in the seasoning. Add the zucchini along with the cooked lentils and remaining tabs. of curry paste. Toss and cook about a minute.

Stir in the coconut milk, combine all ingredients, let the liquid bubble up and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Stir in the lime juice and remove from heat.

Serve over rice or even better edamame noodles topped with chopped coriander and coconut yoghurt, and sprinkling of chopped roasted almonds or pepitas.

Let’s chat exercise and specifically, What To Do When You Lose Your Exercising Mojo!

I may be a personal trainer and health coach however am absolutely NOT a natural exerciser. If I can get to the point where exercise is fun, a non-negotiable, a tool to keep me calm and sane (!) and YES, even a reward then I know you can too. 

So whether you’ve never loved exercise or perhaps if you’re battling a patch of less love right now today I have 3 key considerations to help fuel your exercising mojo first:

One: Aim for an 80 : 20, LOVE : JUST DO IT (!) ratio with your exercise.

That is, 80% of the exercising action you take should be something you Love… or could love.

And 20% of the exercising action you take is the other less fun Just Do It because it works stuff.

Two: Schedule your tough Just Do It exercising stuff for your high discipline times and make it non-negotiable.

In reality it’s usually not too incredibly hateful. Isn’t it true that the worse part of something UN-fun is often the anticipation and procrastination before you take that first step?

Three: Consider that LOVE is subjective and you can LOVE something because of the results rather than the process.

I imagine you could LOVE the way you feel after exercising for all of these reasons:

1. You’ve just created another reference point for success. Proof to YOU that your health goal is important to you. Evidence that you’re backing yourself and building the habit.
2. You’re that much more likely to give your body great fuel on the days that you exercise. It just seems to happen that way.

You’re escaping the vicious cycle of NO-exercise => eat-crap-fuel => NO-exercise => eat-crap-fuel,

AND winning the victorious cycle of exercise => eat-great-fuel => exercise => eat-great-fuel.

3. You’re calmer, more effective, more efficient, more positive and you sleep better. These are some super high value benefits that are easy to take for granted until you realise that bit by bit you’ve let your exercise slip and slightly anxious, less effective, less efficient, moody-sleep-craving-YOU has started to take charge and it’s not so pretty!

Next week I’ll follow this segment up with 7 Solutions When You Just Feel Like Quitting. However for now, I mentioned I (now!) see exercise as a bit of a reward, it’s also a form of self care.

There’s so much goodness we could cover in this first show however I respect your time, I want to keep it shortish and also when I asked my vegan friends what they wanted in a new show Self Care got upvoted.

So I’m going to prioritise self care tips and today I have 3 that relate to exercise:

1. Get to the gym bright and early. Gosh, I recommend getting to ANY exercise at stupid o’clock as it’s likely your most high discipline time however especially if we’re talking the gym or even a popular walk you’re likely used to fighting your way through crowds. Early mornings in the gym are a lot quieter or at the very least, it’s when the focused people train… and early morning walks are certainly quieter and calmer.
2. Take extra time for stretching. Note to self here! It’s one of those things you always feel better for and yet it can be so very easy to skip. Rather than tedious and time consuming perhaps you (I!) could rather focus on stretching as a chance to nurture, support and respect our body rather than constantly always pushing and demanding of our body.
3. Put together a feel good playlist. This is applicable to exercise as a form of temptation bundling– where you pair a habit you enjoy doing (listening to that fab playlist) with a habit you recognise is beneficial though not quite as fun yet! Or even as a stand alone act of self care and precious YOU time.

Here’s a bonus act of self care that I’m working on and it’s also a great chance for me to sneak in a little recommendation. From James Clears weekly email (3-2-1 Thursday) where he is “Working to deliver the most wisdom per word of any newsletter on the web.”

4. Feel compliments as deeply as you feel insults.

James is author of the million-copy bestseller, Atomic Habits and excitingly I interviewed him on E592 of my interview podcast Healthification: James Clear and Atomic Habits, Why True Behaviour Change Is Really Identity Change.

As we round out this “Let’s Get Plant Positive!“ first episode my goal is to make each show actionable.

So for this weeks time of the actionable: At the end of each day focus on (and write down) 3 things you were AWESOME at so far as your health – either physical, mental or indeed spiritual. This is about what resonates with YOU. It doesn’t matter how minor, the point is you’re building up your reference points for success and what you focus on expands!

That’s it for today in Plant Positive. I’d love, love, love to hear from you if you have any feedback. Is there anything you’d like more or less of? I’m here to support you and I’m super open to any constructive criticism as to how I can get better at doing that. You can reach me via kate@strongbodygreenplanet.com or @strongbodygreenplanet across the socials.

If you found even a little seed of value in this episode then please share the love with a friend or family member that needs to hear it. It’s quick to share and it’ll mean a lot to your loved one and so much to me.

I used to be a positive person. On a down day I could: Choose My Mood! Then I became #vegan. I became an #activist. AND I become all too aware of all too much. If you’re ready for some #goodnews then come get Plant Positive with me! #podcast Share on X

Finally, please stay tuned for a quick snippet from a super inspiring episode of the Healthification podcast – that’s my interview style show where I have conversations with amazing athletes, activists, authors and generally passionate and compassionate individuals! Today my chat with: Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams who reversed his diabetes with a whole food plant based diet.

Plant Positive was proudly bought to you by: BiOptimizers, a nutritional supplement company with the mission to help humans shift from a sick unhealthy condition into a peak biologically optimized state. You’ll get a 10% discount for all BiOptimizers products by using the “Healthification10” code.

My personal fav is their Magnesium Breakthrough to help reduce your stress levels, feel relaxed and at peace PLUS sleep faster and deeper. Who doesn’t need more peace and great sleep right now?

Check out: www.strongbodygreenplanet/deals to find all the sponsors of this show listed on one page. Again, that’s www.strongbodygreenplanet/deals.

With love and compassion plant friends.

If you liked “Let’s Get Plant Positive!“ you’ll also like Creating A Positive Addiction To A Plant Based Lifestyle (6 core needs)

If you liked “Let’s Get Plant Positive!“ you’ll also like E547: The Ultimate Vegan Food Pyramid For Getting and Staying Lean.

If you liked “Let’s Get Plant Positive!“ you’ll also like E578: No Fuss Vegan / The Advice I’m Giving My Mum!