Resources

Vegan Australia  – Concerned about animals?  Want to make the world a fairer place?  Looking for ways to lessen your environmental footprint?  Want to improve your health?

Vegan Health Practitioners

Clinical Psychologist – Phil van der Klift (Presenter at the 2019 Young at Heart Brisbane Nutrition Symposium with Dr Kim Williams – Cardiologist, USA)  Note: The voice of reason, logic, calm and insight. Present and attentitive. Phil takes care of my mental well-being which has a beneficial domino effect on all other aspects of my life.

Psychic – Julia Smith.  Spiritual Healer & Mentor; Diagnostic Healer; Energy Healing; Psychic Readings.

Well-being in a nutshell

  • Nutrition – if the food grows out of the ground and your body reacts well to it, eat it. Eat plant-based whole-foods as your staple meals (limit oil, sugar and salt; limit processed foods; limit canned foods). Have a junk food meal once a week or on occasion. Choose anti-inflammatory foods.
  • Hydration – aim for 5 x 350ml of filtered water per day
  • Quality sleep – turn all lights off (sleep in a dark room; make sure light will not enter room from windows etc); use a fluoride-free toothpaste for your before bedtime teeth brushing; a few hours before going to sleep, eat a handful of seeds, nuts or granola; go for a long walk before going to sleep; avoid stress, caffeine and/or alcohol; make sure you’ve exposed yourself to the sun during the day or taken a vitamin D supplement; lower the temperature of the bedroom to 20 degrees celcius; turn off all TVs and devices (turn devices onto flight mode); go to sleep around 10-11pm; sleep for 7-8 hours
  • Physical exercise – I do the following exercises most days of the week.

Check out my Youtube channel for other great exercise videos I’ve tried and bookmarked.

Boundaries – stress is a killer. Respect your and others boundaries. No means no. Your life, your terms. Surround yourself as much as practically possible whith things which bring your joy; think and speak about what you want; trust your instincts (if you make a mistake, that’s ok, but it was on your terms, not on somebody else’s); breathe, breathe, breathe.

Flat Days/Weeks/Months – pace yourself; chip away at things; be kind to yourself and let go of any expectations i.e. if you feel like lying in bed all day and watching movies, lie in bed all day and watch movies; it is important to rest; let your loved one’s know that you are taking it easy; ask for help; let your work know you are taking time off or reducing your workload. Know that, in those moments where it feels unbearable, it will pass and you will feel better. Be ok with passing the time while and until you recover. Life’s hard… we need to take more regular time to recuperate and re-energise. Sometimes the body and/or mind will say “fuck it, we’re shutting down for awhile”, so cooperate.

Vegan Vet Brisbane – Dr Kirsty Fridemanis (Cats & Dogs).  Note: Dr Kirsty is vegan. The Vet Clinic has non-vegan staff and animal meat-based pet foods available and on display.

Vegan Vet Brisbane – Susan Gottlieb (Cats).  Note: I have not attended this clinic.

Vegan Auto Mechanic – Judy and Steve, Underwood Auto Repairs, Bosch Service.  Note: super nice, trustworthy, reliable and honest.

HappyCow – an easy-to-use app to find your local Vegan Bakeries, Cafes, Grocers, Restaurants, Caterers and B&B Retreats wherever you are in the World.  Note: this is my go-to app wherever I am in the world.

PCRM 21 Day Meal Plan – developed by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. Note: I did this plan several years ago for several months and I was at my healthiest and most energised.

Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen (for Android)(for Apple) – an easy-to-use app to track the essential plant foods to consume daily for optimum health and well-being. Note: I have this app on my mobile phone and checkin on it daily to make sure I’m getting the essentials into my body.

Dr Sebi – pathologist, herbalist, natural healer recommending an Alkaline Mucus Reducing Non-Hybrid Whole Plant-Based diet.  “Mucus is the cause of every disease” (Dr Sebi).  Dr Sebi Usha Village

v-planet – 100% plant-based nutrition with a complete & balance AAFCO formula; free of animal products, fillers, corn, soy, and wheat; made in Canada

Vegan Pet Food – providing a kibble scientifically proven to provide a complete and balanced diet for dogs and cats of all ages; made in Australia

Yoga with Adriene

Gary Yourofsky

Documentaries:

Forks Over Knives

Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret

A Plastic Ocean

Food Choices

What the Health

Feel Rich

Dominion 2018

Earthlings

Lucent the Documentary

An Inconvenient Truth

An Inconvenient Sequel Truth to Power

GMO OMG

PlantPure Nation

Making the Connection

Factory Farming:

Aussie Farms

Make it Possible

Thousand Eyes

Podcasts:

Food for Thought (Colleen Patrick-Goudreau) – 10 Stages of What Happens When You Stop Eating Meat

Books:

The China Study (T. Colin Campbell, PhD & Thomas M. Campbell II)

Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease (Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr. , M.D.) – Cholesterol Converter

How Not to Die (Dr. Michael Greger)

Eat to Live (Joel Fuhrman, M.D.)

The Blue Zones (Dan Buettner)

Comfortably Unaware (Dr. Richard Oppenlander)

Vegan Diet Challenges:

Vegan Easy –  an Australian 30 Day Challenge; great website full of information, recipes and support

21-Day Vegan Kickstart – Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Neal Barnard, M.D.

30-Day Vegan Challenge – from the film “What the Health”

Veganuary – Try Vegan this January

The Forks Over Knives Plan: A 4-Week Meal-By-Meal Makeover – from the film “Forks Over Knives”

Cookbooks:

Forks Over Knives Family (Alona Pulde, MD, and Matthew Lederman, MD)

Forks Over Knives: The Plant-Based Way to Health

Forks Over Knives The Cookbook

Eat to Live Cookbook (Joel Fuhrman, M.D.) – ideal for weight loss

How Not to Die Cookbook (Michael Gerger, M.D. FACLM)

The China Study Cookbook (Leanne Campbell, PhD)

The China Study Family Cookbook (Leanne Campbell, PhD)

The China Study All-Star Collection (Leanne Campbell, PhD)

The China Study Quick & Easy Cookbook (Del Sroufe)

The PlantPure Nation Cookbook (Kim Campbell)

Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook (Ann Crile Esselstyn & Jane Esselstyn)

Weblinks on Health:

“Appropriately planned vegan diet is healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases” (American Dietetic AssociationAustralian Guidelines)

Greenstuff Nutrition

Human Herbivore

The Vegan RD

Nutrition Studies – Dr T. Colin Campbell

Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease Program – Dr. Esselstyn

Nutrition Facts – Dr. Michael Greger

Eating You Alive

Mastering Diabetes

FreeStyle Libre Sensor – If your Insulin Dependent, you don’t need to prick your fingers to test your BSL anymore

How Not to Die from Diabetes

How Not to Die from Heart Disease

How to Treat High Blood Pressure

Preventing Alzheimer’s

How Not to Die from Cancer

Blue Zones – a discovery into the five places in the world where people live the longest and are the healthiest

Diet for a Small Planet (Frances Moore Lappe)

Facebook Pages & Groups:

Animal Liberation QLD

Vegetarian and Vegan Society of Queensland

Plant Health Man

Bosh!

Animal Activist Collective

Support:

Adaptt (Gary Yourofsky)

Letter to a New Vegan (Catherine Laurence, Animal Liberation QLD)

What We Need to Know to Stay Hopeful and Joyful (Colleen Patrick Goudreau)

Ten Keys to Staying Positive Facing Animal Abuse (Will Tuttle – In Defense of Animals)

Personal Trainer

Make Your Own Vegan Cleaning, Makeup and other Household Products

If you live in Brisbane, here are a list of my vegan go-to’s:

Groceries: The Green Edge (All Vegan), Fundies, Nitty Gritty Organics

Organic Fruits & Vegetables: Northey Street City Farm Organic Market

Restaurants:

Grown (Vegan Dining for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)

You Came Again (Plant-Based Dining for Lunch & Dinner)

Yavanna (Plant-Based Dining for Breakfast on the weekends and Lunch & Dinner all week bar Monday & Tuesday)

Hairdresser: My Hair Haven (Naomi Bedford, Vegan Hairdresser & Salon)

Vet: Toowong Family Vet (Kirsty Fridemanis, Vegan Vet)

Products I use:

Cosmetics:

Inika (Australian Owned, 100% Vegan, Certified Organic, Cruelty-Free)

Eye of Horus (Australian)

Skincare: Sukin (Vegan & Cruelty Free, Carbon Neutral, Recyclable Packaging & Grey Water Safe, Australia Made & Owned)

Skincare & Cosmetics: Evohe (Vegan & Cruelty Free, Ethical & Sustainable Business Practices, Natural & Certified Organic Ingredients, 100% Palm Oil Free, Australian Made & Owned)

Skincare & Essential Oils: Springfields (Vegan, Certified Organic Essential Oils, Australian Made & Owned)

Hair: De Lorenzo (Vegan Hair Products, Australian Made & Owned)

Dog Shampoo & Conditioner: Dermcare Aloveen (Ingredients are Plant-Based; no animal derived components)

Cleaning Products: Make your Own! or the following brands are recommended

SimplyClean (Vegan Friendly, Earth Safe, Australian Made & Owned).

OurEco Clean (Eco-Friendly, Australian Made & Owned, Recyclable Packaging, Biodegradable, No Synthetic Fragrances, Ammonia & Chlorine Free, SLS & Paraben Free, Septic Safe).  I love the Bicarb Cream Cleanser and Multi Purpose Spray and have bought the Ultimate Pack a number of times.