The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet (24 page)

• Umeboshi plums (great for nausea and an overly acid stomach)
  
• Sea salt
  
• Ramen-type noodles that can cook in a cup
  
• Real miso (best choice) or instant miso
  
• Plain, instant oatmeal (although some maple-sweetened ones are fine, too)
  
• Thermos travel mug
  
• Kukicha tea bags for Cure-All Tea (page
  290
  )
  
• Homemade Crispy Peanut Butter Treats (page
  184
  )
  
• Brown rice syrup candies
  

If you can, visit some of my favorite vegetarian restaurants. In New York, I love Candle 79, Hangawi, Teany (Moby’s restaurant), and Vegetarian Dim Sum House. For Superheroes, check out Souen. For great baked goods, I go to Babycakes.

In L.A., I like Elf, Shima, Real Food Daily, and M Cafe. Superheroes should go to Inaka. For more information on great restaurants, check out my Web site
thekindlife.com
.

My refusing to eat flesh occasioned an inconveniency, and I was frequently chided for my singularity, but, with this lighter repast, I made the greater progress, for greater clearness of head and quicker comprehension.

—Ben Franklin

ENTERTAINING

I love throwing parties. I take great pride in creating plant-based menus so delicious that all my friends leave the party surprised and delighted. There is absolutely no deprivation in this way of life, and your parties will prove it. I’ve included some fancy menus here to show you what’s possible when partying with plant-based foods.

Some of our friends have Sunday brunch parties. Guests pay a small amount, like $5, and they are served a crazy yummy brunch. Between the good food, good vibes, and nice people, it’s a deeply nourishing experience. Try it yourself!

Set a time once a week for friends to gather with great new vegan dishes. Either you can trust the fates to pull together a balanced spread, or e-mail ideas about what dishes are needed. It’s a great opportunity for everyone to try a whole new set of recipes and eat a great meal. It also saves cooking time and gets you out of your kitchen. Ask everyone to bring copies of their recipes to share.

There’s no reason to compromise your way of eating to entertain. I can’t tell you how many times my friends say, “If I could eat like this all the time, I would be veggie!” And I just smile and feel great because I know that—somewhere in their body and mind—it’s registering that the plant-based food can both be delicious and make them feel good. I consider that a huge win.

Thanksgiving Menu chez Silverstone ‘07

Root vegetable cassoulet with pumpkin soufflé crust

Seitan piccata with white wine and caper sauce

Cornbread, shiitake, and leek stuffing with miso gravy

Green beans with chestnuts and topped with crispy shallots

Classic garnet yams with homemade marshmallows

Classic fluffy and creamy mashed potatoes (made with soy sour cream and vegetable stock)

Butter lettuce salad with spicy pecans, grilled pears, and persimmon dressing

Pumpkin pie with soy ice cream

Pecan pie with Cool Whip!

Crispy Peanut Butter Treats

Be the Health Fairy

When someone invites you over for dinner or for a party, call ahead and have a slightly uncomfortable conversation like this: “Thank you so much for inviting me. . . . I’m really excited to come. . . . I’m trying not to eat any meat or dairy, so I’d like to bring a dish to the party—is there something that would complement your menu?” This takes pressure off the hostess. Hosts want their guests to be happy—that’s the whole point of entertaining—so, often a phone call opens the door to her serving more plant-based dishes. At the very least, you’ll get your needs met without embarrassing the hostess. Or yourself. When you express your needs with a kind and open attitude, you tend to get the same attitude in return.

My 30th Birthday Party Menu

Ginger-pomegranate saketini

Citrus herb-marinated seitan skewers

Sesame roasted yam salad with citrus dressing

Thai spicy eggplant, squash, and coconut curry with basil and chili jam

Pappardelle nests with wild mushroom, artichokes, and truffle oil

Crème brûlée with spoons of ginger, coconut, and passion fruit

Chocolate pudding mousse with berries, mint, and cacao nibs

Cashew-pecan sandies

Vegan Cupcake Party

We recently threw a cupcake party, inspired by the book
Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World
. Everyone brought a batch of homemade vegan cupcakes and we supplied the champagne . . . and more cupcakes!!!!

Barbecue

There’s nothing like a barbecue in the summer. Toss some veggie burgers and tofu dogs on the grill along with some Gardein “chicken” breasts and skewered vegetables. Round it all out with coleslaw, potato salad, corn on the cob, chips with Guacamole (page
207
), and my Artichoke Dip (page
205
). Wash it down with sangria and beer, and don’t forget the vegan ice cream sandwiches!

12

Getting Fit, Inside and Out

Even if the only time you leave the couch is to walk back and forth from the refrigerator, after 4 weeks on the Kind Diet, you will see significant changes in the way you look and feel. But let’s face it, an entirely sedentary lifestyle isn’t going to get you to your most vibrant, energetic, and healthy self. Here are my favorite ways to keep my body, skin, and brain fit and toned.

EXERCISE

On the Kind Diet, even exercise is kind. If you’ve thought of exercise as punishment you must inflict on yourself in order to lose weight, those days are over. If you already love your workouts, that love will deepen. Either way, it’s time to start enjoying your beautiful life in your beautiful new body.

What would happen if you really listened to your body and let it go through the rhythms
it
wanted to go through? When you just exercise mechanically—raising your heart rate to a prescribed number, working out your legs because that’s the regimen for Wednesday—you can lose touch with your inner self. What if you just said, “You know what? I’m tired right now! Maybe I’ll actually
rest
for 5 minutes—or take a walk outside.” Little decisions like those can change your whole perspective, and in those 5 minutes—resting or walking—you can get quiet inside and ask your heart, “What do I really need?” If you’re too busy looking at the cardio monitor on the Stairmaster, it will be impossible to hear the answer to that question because you’re just not in touch with your body. As you continue to eat whole grains and vegetables, your body will begin to tell you what it wants and needs. Your energy will lighten up, and you may not need to work as hard or sweat as much to feel the benefits of exercise.

So do what you love. I find yoga, dance classes, and walks make me feel most relaxed and energized. I want to love my
whole
life, and that includes exercise.

Here are some of the benefits of the simplest forms of exercise:

Walking:
Unbelievably good for you. Great for the heart, the lymph system, and your overall outlook on life. Take a walk every day if you can. My husband and I try to walk with the dogs every night after dinner in the summer. It’s also a great way to catch up with my girlfriends (I hate talking on the phone). Looking at nature is so much better than going to the gym, and it’s free—right outside your door! It’s great if I can walk for half an hour, but every day is different. Doing it regularly is more important than how long you spend walking. Here’s a tip: Whenever you see grass, take off your shoes and walk on it. That connection with the grass brings out your goddess and helps you connect with nature!

Yoga:
Yoga is a beautiful battlefield. I breathe through the sticky stuff of my mind, the resistance in my body . . . without force or judgment . . . all on a safe little rectangle. I engage in a soft, loving battle with my stiffness and laziness in an attempt to get down to the good stuff of life. By practicing yoga, I get stronger and stronger, little by little, and I bring that strength into my life. And the best thing about yoga? You don’t have to be good at it. I go to beginners’ classes because there’s no pressure to be anywhere but where I am.

Playing with friends:
Sometimes we get together with friends and play soccer. On the pitch, we have a 5-year-old, an 8-year-old, a handful of 30-somethings, and a guy pushing 60. Together we go completely insane, running around, kicking the ball, missing the ball, and laughing our heads off. And at the same time, it’s a serious match that gives all of us a kickass workout. So find a friend and shoot some hoops, embarrass yourselves at a public tennis court, or fling a Frisbee. No gym membership required!

Vegetarian Athletes

If you’re really into working out and think that being vegan or vegetarian will compromise your strength, endurance, or athletic performance, use one of these veggie (or vegan) athletes as a role model:

• Bill Walton, John Salley, Salim Stoudamire (NBA basketball players)
  
• Scott Jurek (ultramarathoner)
  
• Carl Lewis (nine-time Olympic gold medalist)
  
• Bruce Lee (martial artist)
  
• Edwin Moses (world champion and Olympic gold medalist in track and field)
  
• Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King, and Chris Evert (tennis icons)
  
• Mac Danzig (winner of the Ultimate Fighter, 6)
  

And many, many more . . .

HOT BODY SCRUB

This technique is cheap and easy, refreshes the whole body, and makes your skin gorgeous because:

• It increases circulation.
  
• It helps the fat trapped under your skin to loosen up and dissolve.
  
• It opens the pores to release toxins.
  
• It helps to circulate lymph fluid.
  

If you’re an overachiever, do the body scrub morning and night. Me, I try my best to do it every morning. I encourage you to do it for a month and see the amazing results.

Fill the sink about halfway with hot, hot water, but not hot enough to scald you. Throw in a washcloth. Remove it from the water, wring it out, and starting at your face, scrub yourself silly, continually dunking and wringing out the washcloth as it cools off. Dunk the washcloth and scrub your face, your chest, your pits, your arms, your hands, redunking whenever the washcloth cools off. Avoid scrubbing your breasts and privates, but do make sure to cover the entire groin area
except
your privates to stimulate the lymph nodes there. If you’re not feeling like Miss America (yet), be sure to tell yourself nice things while you scrub; admire how cute your feet are and how lovely your curves are. For the guys, notice your manly and irresistible physique; this body scrub should be a loving experience. Whenever the water in the sink gets cool, add more hot. The whole thing should take about 5 to 8 minutes.

INNER EXERCISE

Journaling:
Writing calms my mind. When I’m stressed out about something, thoughts and worries can just swirl around in my head on an endless loop. When I take the time to journal, the thoughts come out onto the page so I can really look at them and coach myself through them, asking myself, “Why are you doing that?” “What do you really want?” When I’m writing, the answers have the time and space to present themselves. We all have great stores of natural wisdom, and journaling helps to tap into them.

Meditation:
If you struggle with stress or anxiety (and who doesn’t?), a meditation practice can be life-changing. It doesn’t have to be an elaborate ritual; just set a timer for 10 or 15 (or even 5) minutes and observe your breath (even if it means noticing you’re not breathing much). Or focus on the sensations of your body, beginning at your toes and moving up your legs, torso, and so on, bit by bit. Your mind will wander, but the practice is to bring it back, again and again, gently. Eventually and with practice, the mind begins to slow down and become focused. You will then carry that peace and focus through the rest of your day. If you find meditation helpful and satisfying, try to go for 30 minutes. It’s hard at first, but you will find a depth and relaxation inside that’s just amazing.