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As I plan todays show I’m on such a high!

Last night I got back from the most AMAZING weekend in Melbourne for The Dominion March for animal rights. A vegan world felt closer this weekend. It felt awesome. The momentum is building. The truth is inescapable. Compassionate humans are waking up to the atrocities our species inflicts on our fellow species. It’s not normal. It’s not necessary. It’s not natural. It’s NOT going to continue.

In this month in review show… 4 ways to escape the

“But Eating Vegan Is Expensive” MYTH!

I’m also covering: Making Momentum Work For You. I’ll chat a little food, a little exercise and I’ll share what’s been rockin this past month and what’s been a tad more struggle street. Above all, my intention is to make this content applicable to YOU and creating and keeping a fit, healthy plant strong body.

Let’s get rolling…

First up, FOOD… and as mentioned, my focus today is on dispelling the “But Eating Vegan Is Expensive” MYTH!

While reminiscing about all the vegan deliciousness I devoured in Melbourne I realized the most expensive meal I consumed ALL weekend was $12.00.

Sure, the weekend was about activism not food or shopping so it wasn’t exactly the opportunity for fine dining however regardless I really do view the expensive excuse as inherently invalid.

Here are a few of my fav ways to guarantee eating Vegan isn’t expensive:

One. Plan your meals and arrive at the supermarket with a shopping list. Even better, get to a farmers market. Better yet get to a farmers market with a friend or few and buy in bulk. It’s the unplanned (off the shopping list) little extras that tend to be expensive. Like my one bad purchase in Melbourne some pre-packed kale crisps from a Health Store.

Two: Make (don’t buy!) non specialty items that are quick, easy and consist of primarily cost effective ingredients. So here I’m referring to your smoothies / juices. A shop near me in Sydney charges $16 for a smoothie! I can make an entire weeks worth of smoothies for around that price when I buy seasonal fruit and veg and my more expensive items like plant based protein powder and spirulina in bulk.

Three: Travel with your own more speciality add ons / protein pimps. A standard vegan menu option is generally going to be a lot cheaper however when you start with the 3 – 4 – 5 dollar add ons it can add up! When I got my (pricey!) $12 meal in Melbourne – a ‘Clean and Green’ salad from Grill’d – I simply asked for a swap of vegan mayo from one of their vegan burgers (instead of the non vegan Green Goddess dressing it came with) AND scattered over my own hemp and pumpkin seeds.

Four: Keep the meals you prepare yourself at home super goal aligned so that when you encounter a extra cost effective yet perhaps not 100% goal aligned meal out you can indulge guilt free. My best eating experience in Melbourne will explain this tip a little better.

Before the Dominion march Saturday afternoon I started noticing other activists scooting off into an alley and returning with what looked to be toasted sandwiches. In fact as I was to joyfully discover they were vegan jaffles (from Union Kiosk) with fillings such as:

• BLACK BEANS, SALSA + GUACAMOLE
• MUSHROOM, CHEESE + SPINACH
• JERK JACKFRUIT + CHILLI PINEAPPLE
• APPLE PIE + CINNAMON SUGAR

At only $7.00 each 2 visits in 2 days was not enough! I’m missing these jaffles! The team at Union Kiosk were FLOODED with hungry vegans and ended up working / prepping till 12am instead of 4pm. My point is that normally I’ll choose a meal based around fibrous veg not bread and vegan cheese however as long as your other meals are on point, making the most of a brilliantly delicious good deal is going to be just fine.

Let’s move onto EXERCISE and this week since momentum is top of mind I’d love to discuss it’s relevance to your exercising actions.

You know how some people find seem to find it easy to stick to a consistent training plan? I’m sure I appear to be one of those people. However after a  busy weekend and a massive amount of walking yet a planned 2 days off weights I really could have skipped my training on Monday.

I was already starting to feel some momentum building with not training. Thankfully I have a “Never start making excuses because where would I stop?” attitude to exercise and my non-negotiable training plan so I got my weights on! Just like that the momentum is back in my favour and I’m looking forward to exercising today.

Here’s how to make momentum work for you:

One: Design a non negotiable training plan with set days and times for your weights, cardio / walking and rest days. Or whatever exercise it is that gets YOU the results you want. The main thing is to avoid any: “Will I or Won’t I?” self negotiation with regards to exercise. You want to make it easier on yourself by eliminating the decision making process.

Two: Choose a mantra that resonates with YOU (again mine is: “Never start making excuses because where would I stop?”) to recite to yourself on those struggle-street days where you’re tempted to deviate from your training plan. Another mantras is: “Each day I exercise gets me closer to achieving my goal and makes it easier to exercise tomorrow.”

Three: Steps one and two will only be effective once you’ve DECIDED that:

A) Sticking to your training plan WILL give you the results you’re seeking.

B) Losing momentum with your exercise WILL guarantee zero results and the lack of self belief that follows giving up on something you say is important to you.

This really is one of those situations where you can just decide. You don’t need to have 100% certainty so far as what the ideal training plan is or how long it’ll take. Deciding is about hope and faith. You can decide and then make adjustments / upgrades as you progress and as you acquire better information. Deciding and committing is about making it easier on yourself to get momentum working to your advantage.

Moving on to what’s been a little struggle-street this month and it’s been an awesome month on many levels. Yet equally I have a daily struggle with on one hand my desire to be even more present and grateful for right now and the joy in every single day and also a building impatience, horror and sense of extreme urgency so far as the need to eliminate animal exploitation NOW. I know this is common with vegans.

Initially I felt leading a vegan lifestyle was enough.

Soon I began to feel a responsibility to be more active. To have a greater impact.

For better or worse I’ve now found the more I do, the more I want / need to do because I’m increasingly aware of EVERYTHING we do to inflict needless suffering on animals and the immense scale we do it on.

I don’t have a solution for this struggle-street. I’m just focusing on one day at a time. The good, the sad and the MOMENTUM of one day at a time.

My recommendation this week is a short (12 minute) film called Norm: “Norm” is a short film about two roommates debating over the morality of rape, in a society where raping women is legal and socially accepted. #itsnotaboutrape

Finally, so far as who’s inspiring me? WOW, sooooo many people!

• The 2.5 – 3,000 people who were part of the biggest animal rights march in Australia last weekend. The people. The passion. The impact. #wewillrisetogether
• The biggest 24 TV Anonymousfor the Voiceless MEGA Cube.
• A powerful direct action in Myer against animal testing. #itsnotbeautyitscruelty
• Learning about effective activism with @joey_carbstrong.

As I said at the top of todays show… A vegan world felt closer this weekend.

It felt awesome. The momentum is building. The truth is inescapable. Compassionate humans are waking up to the atrocities our species inflicts on our fellow species. It’s not normal. It’s not necessary. It’s not natural. It’s NOT going to continue.

I’m so excited for the next 6 months to come. Let’s do this!

#listentoyourheart #noexcuses #govegan

That brings us to the end of todays show.

Is there anything you’d love me to cover in an up coming show? Please let me know. I’d love to hear from you via the show notes or even better via an iTunes review. Those little reviews absolutely 100% make my day.

Thanks so very much for hanging with me today. I appreciate it. Till next week, happy training and remember… Creating a body and life you love is Freedom. (If this ex-carb queen, NON-genetically gifted, naturally uncoordinated VEGAN chick can do it – so can YOU!!!)

If you liked ‘The “But Eating Vegan Is Expensive” MYTH!‘ you’ll also like: Everything Counts

If you’re yet to share the Healthification love – just click here to zip over to iTunes and leave an honest rating and review. It’d help me out big time. With gratitude, Kate.