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

The goal is progress, not perfection!

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 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.

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.

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.

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