Kathy Freston quotes:

I missed a tuna-fish sandwich with mayo on toasted wheat bread more than anything. Six months after I went vegan, I snuck into a deli and took one home. And, of course, it wasn't nearly as good as I fantasized. It tasted, well, fishy.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. When you feed yourself what your body needs when it needs it, that's love. So give your bod some TLC and sit down and enjoy a good, substantial breakfast.

I grew up in Doraville, Georgia and I ate barbecued ribs and chicken fried steak, and all kinds of cheesy grits, you know, and I never even thought twice about it.

We all thought of chicken as lean, protein-rich food that's good for weight watching, but the truth is chicken might actually be making us fatter!

I think that food ties us to our community and our traditions, and it's the thing that makes us feel good and connected.

You don't need to stick to tough rules or overnight changes; you need not rely on hardcore discipline that makes you hate your life. You need only focus on progress, not perfection. Lean in to the process of losing weight, and it will happen easily.

Hunger and self-control do not go hand in hand.

When you gradually add in nutrient-dense, fiber-rich foods, you simply stop feeling cravings. You run out of space in your belly for the old junk. Instead of craving, you feel full, fulfilled, and content.

Whole foods like grains and beans release their sugar very, very slowly because of the fiber in them, and they don't give you a sugar rush. They feed your cells as needed, and as a result, you have loads of stable energy that powers you through the day.

Personally, I enjoy a bowl of brown rice for breakfast most of the time.

So if you serve a whole chicken to your family like grandma did, you may be serving them 10 times as much fat than the days of yesteryear. That's a whole lotta fat, and big trouble for the waistline.

My favorite meal is I'll make like a three-bean soup and I freeze half of it. But I'm also a big fan of meat alternatives, so I can still have my chicken and mashed potatoes and green beans, but I just have the chicken from a plant-based thing.

I was weaned on chicken-fried steak and hominy grits with goopy gravy all over. I loved meat and wore fur.

So if you're rooting around for something to eat, grab an apple while you're looking, and usually by the time you're finished eating it, your hunger will have been sidelined; it's crowding out at its best!

An abundance of peer-reviewed science is showing that a whole foods, plant-based diet prevents most heart attacks, strokes, and even many kinds of cancer. It gets you to your ideal weight easily and sustainably, reverses Type 2 diabetes, and even fixes erectile dysfunction (because it greatly improves circulation!).

And check this out: If every American had one meat-free day per week, it would be the same as taking eight million cars off American roads in a year.

We've all seen chicken portrayed as the low-fat, heart-healthy alternative to red meat for years, but it no longer adds up. You might want to lean away from eating birds and lean toward more plant-based options of protein like black beans, lentils, tofu, chickpeas and whole grains.

What you want is to rev up your metabolism so that you are burning fat and calories, not preserving fat and calories.

Here's the secret to weight loss: It's all about crowding out, not cutting out.

You can do something as simple as drinking two cups of water before a meal to fill your belly a bit so that you don't overeat, or change up your cheese from dairy to nondairy.

Every little thing you do adds up, and before you know it, you've created your life. And how you create your life ripples out and affects everyone and everything that crosses your path, known or unknown to you.

Little by little we discover that we don't need to eat animal products at all, because there are so many healthier alternatives that taste great. The trick is going easy with yourself so that you can find your way comfortably. Then you'll stick with it.

Most diets would have you cutting things out from your diet; they are about denial and discipline.

Animal agriculture takes up an incredible 70% of all agricultural land, and a whopping 30% of the land surface of the planet. As a result, farmed animals are probably the biggest cause of slashing and burning the world's forests.

Though I'm vegan and advocate that others eat a plant-based diet, I know that many people aren't quite ready to take that step in whole.

The reason fiber helps us control our weight is that it fills the belly yet yields few calories since fiber is, for the most part, not something that we can digest.

...you need not do and be everything.

Be patient and gentle with yourself as you continue to learn new ways of eating and living. There is no need for hard-and-fast rules or white-knuckle determination. Keep leaning forward into the positive changes you are making, and then apply that same gentleness to your family and community. There is no need to promote your ideals, but rather attract interest by being informed and interesting, healthy and robust-looking, and most of all, kind. After all, if we want to create change in the world, we have to embody the quality and character we'd like to see more of!

For many of us, it's too difficult to jump in to vegan full on because it's just so different than the way we grew up eating. But if we take small steps - like replacing cow's milk with almond or soy milk, or using veggie sausage instead of sausage made from animals - we can keep enjoying the things we grew up loving, just better versions of them.

Nourished people, people who love and care for themselves, are also more efficient and nicer to be around. When you give yourself permission to relax, people will feel more relaxed around you; your environment will become more harmonious. Balance - between work and pleasure, giving and receiving, seriousness and levity - creates a happy healthy life.

The business of raising animals for food (with its continuous heavy waste stream of methane and nitrous oxide - leading global warming gases) is responsible for about 18% of global warming. Some scientists actually say the number is closer to 50%.

The goal is progress, not perfection!

Vegetarian is the New Prius

You get tons of phytonutrients and antioxidants from plant-based foods, very little saturated fat, and you avoid cholesterol entirely!

You know how most people think that eggs are great sources of protein? Well, you only get about six grams from an egg, and about half of that is in the yolk and the other half is in the white. If instead you opt for a cup of lentils, you get a whopping eighteen grams of protein, plus all that fiber that makes you feel full and cleans out your body!

You know you are addicted to a food if despite knowing it is bad for you and despite wanting to change, you still keep eating it. Addiction means that a craving has more control over your behavior than you do.

If you want to feel more comfortable and happy, work on making the people around you more comfortable and happy.