“What if I told you that, by eating a varied, plant-based diet, you will strengthen your immune system, beautify your skin, increase your energy, and reduce your risk (significantly) of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, allergies, asthma and almost every other disease? What if I said that I feel myself getting younger, more powerful, and more beautiful as I age simply because of what I eat?” – Alicia Silverstone (The Kind Diet)
Each month at Everyday Young we aim to profile an inspirational woman who we think is doing a pretty good job at loving herself and taking care of herself! We are all unique and different and we all need to figure out what works for us in terms of diet, exercise and mindset. By showing you what other different women are doing we hope that it inspires you with some new ideas of interesting things that you can incorporate into your life and wellness routine!
This month we are profiling Alicia Silverstone! You may remember her from her Clueless days but what has she been up to since then? Well, she is still acting but has since also gotten married and had a gorgeous boy called Bear. Alicia is also a well-known advocate for the vegan lifestyle and for animal rights. She has written two books on the subject ‘The Kind Diet’ and ‘The Kind Mama’ which centre around living a kind lifestyle – one that is kind to yourself, kind to the animals and kind to the planet. She also has a wonderful online community called ‘The Kind Life’ where she shares her vegan lifestyle tips and ideas! Let’s do a breakdown of Alicia’s diet, exercise and mindset and see if we can get any ideas!
DIET:
As you all know Alicia is a strict vegan (although she has said that she occasionally indulges in the odd bite of cheese!) and she has been living this way for almost twenty years! So she must know a thing or two about it! Alicia first started out as a raw vegan and then quickly switched to macrobiotic principles after feeling that her body didn’t feel right eating raw food while it was snowing outside! In her book ‘The Kind Diet’ Alicia outlines three different eating plans – ‘flirting’ for anyone transitioning to a plant-based lifestyle which can include fish as it is the easiest meat for us to digest. ‘Vegan’ is the next plan for anyone who wants to take it up a notch and become fully plant based. The ‘Superhero’ plan is what Alicia mostly sticks to and it has a focus on local, organic, whole, and unprocessed foods. Alicia eats tonnes of soups – miso is her favourite! She also aims to fill up her meal plate with roughly 1/4 grains, 1/4 beans/legumes and 1/2 vegetables! Alicia mostly eats whole grains, beans, and a few times a week she will load up on fermented soy products like tofu, tempeh and seitan but chooses not to eat them daily. She also tries to avoid soy milk (high in plant based oestrogen’s) and nightshade veggies (high in alkaloids) while at home but doesn’t worry about it too much when she is out. Veggies are a vegan staple and Alicia’s favourites are kabocha squash, leeks, leafy greens, daikon, and burdock. Alicia is also a big believer in dessert! She has several yummy recipes in her book that favour using whole grains and natural sweeteners (her chocolate peanut butter cups look amazing!)
“The Kind Diet will give you tonnes of energy, mental clarity, gorgeous skin, and a zest for life you don’t want to miss” – Alicia Silverstone (The Kind Diet)
EXERCISE:
Alicia takes an intuitive approach to exercise and rather than adhering to any strict schedule or routines she chooses to listen to her body and decide on the appropriate activity in the moment – even if it is rest! Alicia loves to go for walks and she will often walk for around thirty minutes most evenings in summer. She also loves to head to dance and yoga classes and loves to play around and join friends for sports and laughter at a local park. She believes that once you start eating the kind way any exercise will no longer be a struggle and you will learn to love exercising and love your body!
“As you continue to eat whole grains and veggies, your body will begin to tell you what it wants and needs. Your energy will lighten up, and you may not need to work as hard or sweat as much to feel the benefits of exercise”. – Alicia Silverstone (The Kind Diet)
MINDSET:
Everyday Alicia prioritises self-care by doing a ‘hot body scrub’. She claims that it helps to open up pores and release toxins, increase circulation and also helps with circulating lymph fluid. She fills her sink with hot water and then puts a washcloth in and then wrings it out. She starts from her face down scrubbing her entire body (you could also try this with a micro fibre wash cloth).
Alicia also regularly journals. She believes that this helps her to calm her mind and learn more about herself. Getting everything out on the page also lessons any mental stress! Alicia also aims to do 10-15 minutes of daily meditation as she believes that training your mind can really help you to be more mindful and aware as you go about your day and also helps to increase focus and reduce anxiety. Ultimately, however, she believes that eating a plant based diet is the key to becoming more mentally clear and compassionate for all other life.
“You will begin to feel more deeply. Compassion will flow from your core toward all other living beings. This is the most amazing gift of eating a plant-based diet – feeling the sacred connectedness of all living things”. – Alicia Silverstone (The Kind Diet)
Links:
Check out her books!
