The number one reason people tell me they could never be vegan is because they could never give up cheese. I get it! It took me months to give up milk and eggs, but literally years to give up cheese.

I’m not an expert on the science, but I do know there are ingredients in cheese that act as opiates, which are highly addictive. So basically, it’s not our fault we can’t kick the cheese habit! BUT! If you have a strong enough reason to give it up, going “cold turkey” is the only way to kick the addiction.

Here are the 2 reasons I wanted to give up cheese:

Health:

Cheese is highly inflammatory. As an endurance athlete, I create so much inflammation in my body already, I don’t need the added joint and muscle inflammation. To compete at a high level, I need to recovery quickly from each workout, and inflammation delays that recovery.

Animals:

I used to think dairy wasn’t cruel treatment of animals because I just figured “cows needed to be milked”. The more I learned about the dairy industry, the more I was repelled about the practices of most dairy farms, and didn’t want to contribute to the abuse of animals anymore.

Once you have decided you want to give up cheese, you are on your way. Unfortunately, it’s not easy! Fortunately it is easier for you NOW than it was for me 10 years ago!

WHY? Because non-dairy cheese subs are 1,000,000 times better than they were even a year ago!!! They are healthier, have much better consistency, and many even taste like cheese!

I have tried pretty much ALL non-dairy cheeses, here are my 3 faves…

Slices:

I am a grilled cheese fanatic! For my grilled cheese I need a cheese that melts well and tastes like “American”, “Cheddar”, or “Provolone”. Follow Your Heart brand slices have all 3. I love the flavors, consistency, and meltability of all their slices. These aren’t in most grocery stores, but are in most health food stores like Whole Foods and Sprouts.

Shreds:

For meals like pizza, lasagna, and enchiladas, I like to use shreds since I’m pretty lazy and don’t even own a shredder. My fave shrerdded “cheese” is So Delicious brand “Mozzarella” and “Cheddar Jack”. These melt easily, taste great, and are stringy and gooey like real cheese! These are newer and harder to find. The So Delicious website has a store locator for you. I found them at Whole Foods.

Blocks:

This was the biggie for me. For years during my quest to give up cheese, I was fine with the slices and shredded options, but couldn’t find a block with the flavor AND consistency that I loved about cheese. So every once in a while I caved and chowed a block of cheese.

Along came Follow Your Heart Blocks and I was FINALLY able to give up cheese 100%. I love the consistency (hardness) and flavor (mozzarella and provolone are my faves). I can cut up pieces to have on crackers or just unwrap and take a bite directly out of the block with 100% satisfaction! You can find these at any health food store and Follow Your Heart has a store locator on their website as well.

I hope these are helpful! It took me years to find cheese alternatives that were good enough to help me give up the real thing, but once I found these, the rest was history! I haven’t eaten cheese in 3 years and don’t miss it AT ALL!!!

To be a part of our Plant Powered Community…
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Enjoy your new “cheese”!!

See you soon!

Being vegan is easy..Haha! I say that now!! But compared to how hard it was when I first started on my journey, it is! The top 3 reasons people who want to become vegan tell me they “can’t” are cheese, traveling, and non-vegan families.

I have been working with a test group of 5 people who want to eat plant-based, but haven’t been able to do it on their own (mostly for the reasons I mentioned). I have been mentoring this group for a month now with great success! This is a 90 day individualized program where I create a custom plan for each person depending on their lifestyle, goals, families, budget, health/fitness goals, time restraints, likes, dislikes, etc.

So far, 1/3 of the way into the program, we have 100% success! I so wish I had this kind of help 10 years ago ☺

Let’s talk about these 3 deterrents…

CHEESE!

Geez! Everybody loves cheese. Trust me, I am one of them!! Cheese was the reason it took me 10 years to become a vegan. Not only do we love cheese, but we are physically and emotionally addicted to it. Check out the new book “The Cheese Trap” by Neal Barnard (#promo) for deets, but I 100% agree with everything he writes and know for a fact, I had both a physical and emotional addiction to cheese.

What made it easier for me was when non-dairy cheeses started coming out that felt and tasted like the real thing. When I started getting excited about the vegan cheeses, they would make me feel the same way as dairy cheese, and it was a game changer for me. I am working on an article reviewing a dozen vegan cheeses so watch for that!!!

Traveling.

I travel a LOT! In fact, I am writing this from Delta Airlines flight 1069 from Seattle to Kona. There is so much turbulence it’s insane so this is keeping my mind off of wanting to cry and puke at the same time!

For the most part I bring my own food (earlier on this flight I ate “reverse nachos” where I wrapped Chipotle flavored corn nuts in a piece of Follow Your Heart American “cheese”), but have found these days airports, truck stops, and most gas stations carry fruit, energy/protein bars, nuts, green juices, etc.

Here are my best vegan travel tips!

Family.

This is also valid AND hard to work with, but not impossible. In the case of having a partner, kids, etc who don’t want to eat plant-based, you have 2 options.

One, you can make yourself a completely different meal than the rest of the family (I did this for years as the only vegetarian kid in a meat-eating family) or two, you can make meals where you can add or not add meat (like chicken salad with or without chicken, taco bar with lots of different choices for toppings, spaghetti with marinara with the meatballs on the side, etc).

These are some of this issues I have been helping my clients through over the past month. I would love to hear what other issues you are struggling with so I can address some of those and help you get to where you want to be in your journey toward a life with more plants!

If you want to join the next round of THE VEG CLUB coaching, I am accepting new clients beginning the first week of next month. Email me at coachsmith@usa.com with subject THE VEG CLUB for an application or text me 970-214-7745 for more info.

You can also join the Veg Club here…

www.JoinTheVegClub.com

For vegan recipes…

www.facebook.com/groups/7DayVeg

For quick and easy vegan meals and snack ideas…

www.Instagram.com/ThrowTogetherVegan
www.YouTube.com/VeganDivaKir
www.Facebook.com/JoinTheVegClub

See you there!

I was asked by a friend for tips on eating vegan while on the road, so I thought I would share my tips in case there is anyone out there working toward or living a vegan lifestyle on the road.

This was one of the biggest challenges for me for years when I was “trying” to be a vegan. I spent 3 years traveling in an RV and before and after that, I typically travel at least once a month, sometimes for 2-3 weeks at a time, so I know it gets tricky.

HOWEVER, I will say that now that I am vegan, it isn’t as hard. I think I was using traveling and being on the road and always tired and anxious as excuses to eat the comfort foods that I wanted that were not vegan. I would stop at a tiny town gas station STARVING (of course) and the only option I found was a bag of nacho cheese Doritos 😉

Before you write me off as being judgy or unempathetic, I want to say it IS harder being vegan on the road, but I challenge you to take a close look at your life, habits, vices, etc before blaming travel on your inability to maintain your dietary goals. Like I said, now that I am fully vegan (not just “trying” to be vegan), it’s been much easier to find options on the road. In fact, in my scenario above, I could have grabbed potato chips, Fritos, or another vegan chip option if I wanted chips and wanted vegan!!

Here are 4 tips eating vegan on the road…

1. Plan ahead. I pack most of my food with me if I can, if not, I check out dining options along the route. The internet makes this option super super easy!! There are also apps for vegan restaurants like Happy Cow. My hubby and I found a cute tiny raw food restaurant in the middle of a small town in Tennessee with that app.
2. Read ingredients. If you are relying on a gas station or truck stop for meals/snacks, there are plenty of options. All you need to do is take a few minutes and read ingredients. Plenty of nuts, seeds, chips, even candy (while may not be the healthiest choice) are vegan.
3. Fast Food. Every single fast food joint these days has vegan options. You may have to get creative with ordering, but you can find something if you find yourself in a hurry at the drive through window. You can also look in advance at the restaurant’s website. Most (and all big food chains) have a nutrition info link these days. At Taco Bell I get a bean burrito, fresco style, add rice. And there are Taco Bell’s and Subway’s pretty much everywhere these days!
4. Have a back-up in case of emergency. Now most people wouldn’t consider not having food in your car an emergency, but if you have read more than one of my articles, we probably have a little in common, so you understand! If I am stuck with no good options and I am hungry and tired from traveling, I will 100% of the time make a poor decision. I found a plant-based protein drink that I love with just water, and I have packets of it and a shaker cup stored in my car. If I am caught without vegan food options and I am already hangry and cranky, I will get a bottle of cold water, mix in my shake, and that will tie me over for a couple hours until I can make a better decision.

I hope these help!

If you have specific questions, I would love to give you answers! You can always email me at coachsmith@usa.com

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See you soon!