http://www.colleenpatrickgoudreau.com WEBSITE http://www.colleenpatrickgoudreau.com/books/ BOOKS http://www.compassioninactionconference.com CONFERENCE   Vegan Lifestyle http://learntruehealth.com/vegan-lifestyle The vegan lifestyle is something more people are looking into. There have been so many positive testimonials from those who transitioned into a plant-based diet. People are starting, but some remain hesitant. To educate us more about how to live a vegan lifestyle, I’d invited Lifestyle Author and Activist Colleen Patrick-Goudreau in this episode. Long Journey Colleen Patrick-Goudreau shares that her journey to being vegan happened as a by-product of her passion and interest, as well as experiencing the benefits of a vegan lifestyle. She says it’s been a journey of 25 years starting with growing on the east coast in New Jersey. Colleen Patrick-Goudreau was a typical kid eating the standard American diet. But she also loved animals and was fortunate that her parents supported her compassion. Growing older, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau became more concerned about eating animals. She loved meat, but she didn’t know what was involved until she was 19 or 20 years old and was working in a bookstore. Eyeopener Working in a bookstore was an eyeopener for Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. She learned new things and was interested in health and wellness. One particular book, the Diet for a New America book by John Robbins from the ice cream empire impacted Colleen Patrick-Goudreau the most. “My father owned a franchise, so I had an affiliation. It woke me up to realize what I was consuming. So, I stopped eating land animals. I ate products that I thought weren’t contributing harm. But I continued to eat dairy and eggs,” Colleen Patrick-Goudreau recalls.  Becoming Vegan Colleen Patrick-Goudreau eventually realized there was no difference between meat, dairy, and eggs, so she became vegan. She declared that she didn’t set out to become anything. But she didn’t want to contribute to harm. “And there was the thing called vegan. I didn’t know what it even meant,” said Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. “What I like to say is that I need to become vegan as much as I removed the blocks to the compassion that has been inside me all along.”  She adds, “And as a natural advocate, I wanted something related to animal advocacy, writing, outreach, and education. So I started raising awareness and turned into the career that I built.”  The 30-Day Vegan Challenge Colleen Patrick-Goudreau says that if you are thinking of transitioning to a vegan lifestyle, the 30-Day Vegan Challenge is a good book to start. She says everyone claims they don’t eat a lot of meat, dairy, and eggs. But you don’t know how much you eat until you stop. “So, the idea behind it is to stop long enough to undo those old habits and learn new habits. Build the foundation. This is a fundamental handbook in making the transition,” said Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. “There is a lot to gain when you stop something completely. You are more open to making changes that have an impact which you can continue implementing.” Is The Vegan Lifestyle Healthy? Colleen Patrick-Goudreau says you can eat any way you want within the vegan spectrum. Because vegan means you’re just not eating animal products. She says there are so many variations within this thing called vegan. There’s not one way to do it. And there’s not one way to eat. “Eliminating meat, dairy and eggs is the best thing we can do and eating nutrient-dense foods as we can. The nutrients we need are plant-based. There is not one nutrient we need that is animal-based,” said Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.  She adds, “The only nutrient we need that is not plant-based is vitamin B12. But it’s not animal-based either because it grows on bacteria. So, the idea that we have to go through an animal to get to the nutrient that the animals get because they eat plants is misguided.” Colleen Patrick-Goudreau further explains that therefore, we need to skip the middle