Karina Inkster - Vegan Vitality Your Complete Guide to an Active, Healthy, Plant-Based Lifestyle

Copyright 2014 by Karina Inkster

Photos copyright 2014 by John C. Watson except as follows:

Photos by Thinkstock appear on pages 182, 201, 221, 224, 237, and 240

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Helios Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

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Cover photos by John C. Watson

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data.

Inkster, Karina.

Vegan vitality : your complete guide to an active, healthy, plant-based lifestyle / Karina Inkster.

pages cm

ISBN 978-1-62914-364-4 (hardback)

1. Vegan cooking. 2. Cooking (Natural foods) 3. Vegan cooking--Recipes. I. Title.

TX837.I564 2014

641.5'636--dc23

2014006292

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63220-173-7

Printed in China

contents

Acknowledgments

Many people have been instrumental in creating this book during the two-and-a-half years I took to write it, and to them Im very grateful. My sincere thanks to John Watson of Image Maker Photographic Studio for his exquisite photography, artistic sense, and extremely hard work over the course of four demanding, full-day food photo shoots in my tiny apartment. His work and artistic vision brought my recipes to life and are vital to the success of this book. I couldnt have asked for a better photographer and collaborator. Im also very thankful for my mom, Angelika Hacketts, incredible and energetic assistance during our photo shoots, including an emergency avocado-purchasing and kitchen knife-sharpening mission. I thank her and my dad, Robert Hackett, for being so supportive of this project, lending an ear, and giving advice.

I would like to acknowledge the contributions of the sixteen vegan athletes interviewed for this book: Robert Cheeke, Ashley Boss, Jeff Golfman, Manny Escalante, Matthew Woodman, Megan Storms, Michelle Risley, Mike Mahler, David OMeara, Austin Barbisch, Andrea Berman, Victor Rivera, Dru Brozovich, Sally Andersen, Christy Morgan, and Samantha Shorkey. I appreciate their insight into active, plant-based living and am grateful for their informative and candid responses. An additional thank you to Robert Cheeke for providing the foreword to this book.

My thanks to Susan Levin of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and my sister Melanie Hackett for their excellent contributions to the nutrition section of this book. Their expertise deepened the scope of information I could present to readers.

Id like to acknowledge the recipe contributors who provided inspired, delicious, and healthy creations: Joyce Hackett, Jeff Golfman, Philip Breakenridge, Melanie Hackett, Taras Chouinard, and especially Holly Burton for her many and varied contributions.

I gratefully acknowledge the work of my literary agent, Jill Marsal, and the great people at Skyhorse Publishing, for believing in this project and bringing it to fruition.

A select group of fantastic people have been rooting for me since Day 1 of this project: my amazing clients whom I look forward to seeing each day and who were always asking how my work on the book was going; my business coach, Isabelle Mercier, who kept me focused, inspired, and sane; my fitness coach colleagues at the studio who cheered me along; and my wonderful husband Murray for enduring my long writing days (and resulting brain fog) as well as being the official taste tester for the recipes, including his excellent cooking while testing them.

Foreword

The plant-based diet is coming of age at a time when a real cultural shift in food and lifestyle is taking place in North America before our eyes.

All around us we can see the impact from the growing number of people adopting a plant-based diet. From the increase in plant-based foods offered in grocery stores from coast to coast, to the number of athletes, celebrities, doctors, family, friends, and neighbors who call themselves vegans, the world is changing in ways that benefit all of us.

Regardless of how a plant-based diet piqued your interest and compelled you to pick up this book, the planet and the animals thank you. In the social medialaden world we live in today, ideas are being spread and minds are being opened to new thoughts and worldviews at a faster rate than ever before. Each one of us has the power to influence a community, population, or society from the comfort of our smart phones, regardless of where we are, simply by sharing information.

We are witnessing a greater degree of health problems than ever before, environmental concerns are at an all-time high, and there is a palpable desire to change for the better. We are on the verge of something historic, a cultural shift during our lifetimes that we will be able to talk to future generations about, saying, I remember when...

In Vegan Vitality , Karinas comprehensive approach to bridging the gaps between health, fitness, and great food creates a blueprint to follow to ensure success in health and in life. A plant-based diet not only supports the health of the individual but the health of the planet and all those with whom we share this precious place.

With tangible steps to get you on the right track in your quest to pursue a deeply meaningful change in health and fitness, combined with shopping and food preparation tips and one hundred innovative plant-based recipes, Vegan Vitality is your new go-to resource for holistic wellness.

As a vegan athlete since 1995, I have two decades of experience in numerous sports backgrounds, including becoming a champion runner and champion bodybuilder. I am confident that my vegan athlete colleagues featured in this book will inspire you to elevate your own training to new heights. If you have been away from exercise for a while, perhaps you will be inspired to start anew, and you will have the guidance from those who have been down that road to direct you on your own path to success.

From eating right to fuel an active lifestyle, to the exercise benefits you can expect to experience, to healthy meal plans and recipes, this book covers it all. As a personal training specialist with a masters degree in Gerontologyspecializing in health and agingKarina will steer you in the right direction to optimal health. Karina has been following a plant-based diet and vegan lifestyle since she was a teenager. She walks her talk proudly and teaches you how to do the same.

Whatever it is that moves you, follow your passion and make it happen. Wishing you all the very best in health and fitness.

Robert Cheeke, bestselling author of Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness: The Complete Guide to Building Your Body on a Plant-Based Diet ; founder & president of VeganBodybuilding.com

Chapter 1: Introduction

The culture of food in North America is changingand fast. Taking our continent by storm is a rapidly growing movement about food. Plant food, that is. More than 8 million North Americans choose to exclude meat from their diets, and an additional 25 million rarely eat meat. Many of these individuals consume no animal products whatsoever. Why do these vegans and vegetarians choose to forgo the steak, yogurt, or ice cream? Most commonly, they cite increasing and maintaining personal health. Add to this the steadily growing population of health and fitness enthusiasts who adopt plant-based diets to meet their performance goals, plus those looking to vegan diets for weight loss, and weve got a full-blown diet and lifestyle movement quickly expanding across the globe.