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.

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.

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

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.

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!).

In the middle of it all, pause and look around you. Appreciate what’s beautiful. Take in the love. Nod to what’s good and true. And then move forward one step at a time.

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