I think we can all pretty much agree that we want to feel good. Some of us feel good by eating healthy foods, wearing fabulous clothes, helping animals or by doing good deeds. When you endeavor on a path that makes you feel good, you are able to put more goodness out into the world and receive that goodness in return. This concept is at the heart of Victoria Moran’s newest book, The Good Karma Diet: Eat Gently, Feel Amazing, Age in Slow Motion.
In case you’re not familiar with Victoria Moran’s work, she is the author of twelve books, including Main Street Vegan, the best-selling Creating a Charmed Life, and the plant-based weight-loss classic The Love Powered Diet: Eating for Freedom, Health, & Joy. She is also a certified holistic health counselor, founder and director of Main Street Vegan Academy (which aims to train vegan lifestyle coaches and educators) and is the host of the popular Main Street Vegan podcast. Suffice it to say she is an expert at spreading the word about healthy and balanced living through plant-based nutrition.
The Good Karma Diet is actually not a diet book at all. I look at it as more of a guide book for anyone who is seeking out a more peaceful and liberating life starting with their food choices (specifically by adopting a whole-foods, plant-based diet). The ultimate goal of The Good Karma Diet is to set readers on a path towards “the Good Karma Life, a process of moving from doing fine to doing splendidly, from not so healthy and not so happy to vibrant health.”
To that end, this book has tons of resourceful information such as:
- what foods to eat to help you feel healthy and vibrant
- how to make incremental changes at a pace and in a way that feels natural for you
- how to listen to your body and nourish yourself beyond the food you eat
- understanding the plight of animals in animal agriculture
- understanding how our food choices affect the planet
- how to shop for clothing and beauty needs in a “good karma” way
- a 21-day clean-living program
Sprinkled throughout the book are GKT’s—good karma tips—that offer practical suggestions to help you along your journey. Each chapter also offers a “Good Karma Story” from various men and women who regale how making the shift to a vegan diet upped the wow factor in their own lives.
Even though the The Good Karma Diet is not a cookbook there is a section of easy and nutritious recipes (juices, smoothies, breakfasts, soups, salads & dressings, spreads, main dishes, and desserts—my favorite!) created by Toronto recipe creator, culinary photographer, and raw food chef, Doris Fin.
Finally, there is a section entitled “Books for Your Bedside and for Your Kitchen” that offers suggested books and cookbooks that are sure to help your flourish throughout your “good karma life.”
As I read this book, I found myself thinking a little more contemplatively about my food choices and day-to-day activities: How will this meal make me feel? Have I done something today to improve my well-being? Reading The Good Karma Diet helped guide me to take the time—long overdue time—to really check-in with myself on a regular basis. And as you know in this busy digital age, we rarely take enough time to be still as we are constantly bombarded with stimulus.
I absolutely loved The Good Karma Diet book and I encourage you (or someone you know) to check it out if you are looking for a resource to help you eat and live in a way that is healthful and positive. In the very words of Victoria Moran, “I invite you to consider the possibility that nothing will more readily bring about a state of peace with your body and your food than making sure no one else’s body is your food.”
The Good Karma Diet is available May 19, 2015. Preorder the book before May 19th to get an exclusive teleclass with Victoria and you will be entered entered in the Good Karma Contest in which the charity of your choice will be in the running for one of three $100 contributions. Visit Victoria’s website for more information. We have a copy of The Good Karma Diet for one lucky Chic Vegan reader. Follow the instructions after the recipe to enter.
Chia Seed Pudding
Ingredients:
- 1 cup unsweetened nut milk (homemade Brazil or almond milk, or unsweetened commercial vegan milk)
- 3 tablespoons chia seeds (whole or ground)
- 4 to 5 drops stevia or 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1/8 teaspoon vanilla bean powder or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Optional:
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, or hempseeds
- 1 tablespoon chopped nuts
- 1/3 cup berries (blueberries, raspberries, or chopped strawberries all work well)
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Loving Preparation:
- Stir the chia seeds, milk and sweetener in a jar. Cover with a tight-fitting lid, and leave for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, shake the jar really well. Leave for another 5 minutes, then shake really well again.
- Leave at room temperature for at least 20 minutes or, for best digestion, keep in the fridge overnight and serve for breakfast. You can also prepare this in the morning and leave in your fridge for a midday or evening snack.
- Before opening, shake vigorously one more time. Then pour into a bowl and add any or all of the optional ingredients.
Serves 2
Excerpted from THE GOOD KARMA DIET: Eat Gently, Feel Amazing, Age in Slow Motion by Victoria Moran, with the permission of Tarcher/Penguin, a division of Penguin Random House. Copyright © 2015.
Photo and recipe by Doris Fin, CCHP, AADP.
We have a copy of The Good Karma Diet for one lucky Chic Vegan reader! Follow the instructions below to enter. U.S. and Canadian residents only, please. Contest ends at midnight on May 13, 2015. Good luck!
I think it means the same as you reap what you sow. If you sow generously you reap generously. I have seen this be true over and over. When I am kind others are kind to me. When I give I get.
To me, good karma means living in a manner so as not to cause harm to others. Positive actions/energy put out come back to you.
To me good karma means doing no intentional harm to others.
I think it means attitude is everything- if you have a positive outlook, your world will be colored with happiness and joy! Thanks for the giveaway.
Good Karma means to me that you treat the world the way you want it to treat you. The more good karma you put out there, the more will come back to you. Living a negative life brings negative back to you.
Good Karma, to me, means being the best person you can be. Whether you believe it is God, the Universe, Mother Nature, if you give Love/Blessings, You shall be Loved/Blessed in return.
i think good karma is sending and receiving openness and tolerance to all.
🙂 what you send out will eventually catch up to you …. to receive good, you must send good ….behave badly … bad will come back to you someday multiplied
I believe what you put out into the world will return to you in one way or another. Having good karma is a direct result of living a life full of compassion and love to all beings.
Iiving a kind life.
Good karma is living your life in such a good way that it is no surprise that life gives you good health, happiness and friends.
Good karma, for me, means leading my life in a kind, patient, compassionate and loving manner, even on days I feel like life is kicking my butt and I find myself being loving to those that take advantage of my kindness. My hope is that those who are negative will see some hope in my ability to be positive despite immense physical and emotional pain. Even if they do not I can be one person who treated them kindly, so perhaps one day they can learn to do the same for themselves and others. In this way good karma can create a strong community of individuals working towards the common good.
Being a good person and putting positivity into the world.