contents

Foreward ......................................... 03

Secret #1 - Be Yourself ................... 04

Secret #2 - Get Help ....................... 06

Secret #3 - Walk Before You Run ... 08

Secret #4 - Beware of V.D.D ........... 10

Secret #5 - Be Active ...................... 12

Secret #6 - BYO .............................. 14

Secret #7 - Be the Change .............. 16

Final Thoughts ................................. 17

All rights reserved - Jeff Golfman & The Cool Vegetarian @ 2010
foreward
The big disclaimer. The Seven Secrets
to Being a Cool Vegetarian shouldnt
replace medical advice from profes-
sional health-care practitioners. This is
a lifestyle piece, my take on vegetari-
anism, which gives you tips, tricks and
my big secrets on how to go down this
path. I strongly encourage you to get
some smart healthcare people to make
sure that the changes that you make
are within the confines of a health
program that you are working on with
a professional provider of your choice,
natural or traditional.
This e-book is intended to be a short
summary piece, giving you the quick
fix of the seven secrets. More informa-
tion, details, and future programs will be
developed depending on your interest.
Hopefully, a larger format book project
will be under way in the near future.
Plus, this book is meant to get the
juices flowing, its definitely not compre-
hensive. The Cool Vegetarian blog will
fill in the gaps. Consider this an outline
to cool. But, its also just my personal
journey. Every one of yours will be
different. You will need to carve out your
own personal path to cool with the help
of some of the things I have learned.
Whats cool anyways? On my jour-
neys, literal and figurative, of the last
several years, Ive met many very cool
vegetarians, vegans and raw foodist
people. Ive learned from them that cool
comes from being true to yourself and
your values and living a principled life.
It comes from being confident in what
youre doing, the choices youre making
and the way you live your life. Its also
a result of ignoring the pressures and
judgments around you. So many times
I have felt totally uncool because I felt
judged, pushed around, or chastised for
my world views or my beliefs about food
politics, food security and environmen-
tal issues that surround food. You name
it; I have felt beat up for it.
These secrets are meant to help you
find your very own cool. Theyre meant
to pass along the wisdom I got from
others and learned along the way, while
bypassing some of the challenges and
hard knocks.
Once I embraced the secrets I am
about to share, I was able to thrive on
this program of being a vegetarian, veg-
an and now a raw foodist. I feel cool.
Nothing will benefit human health and
increase chances of survival for life
on earth as much as the evolution to a
vegetarian diet. - Albert Einstein
03
Secret # 1
Its very important when you start your
journey as a vegetarian, a vegan or a
raw foodist to keep the essence of who
you are. Dont try to fit a stereotype.
Dont let someone elses vision of how
you should eat, dress or act become
your own. Each and every one of us is
different and we all come to our journey
from different places and for different
reasons: health, environmental, animal,
or for other reasons. Theyre all valid.
I know for myself that I have a genetic
predisposition for this diet and lifestyle.
In fact, my mother told me that when
she was pregnant with me she was
unable to eat any animal products
without throwing up. So she cut the
meat completely out of her diet for the
9 months in order to feel healthy during
her pregnancy.
Its important not to worry about what
others are thinking of your vegetarian
journey. Just be you; be independent
of the good opinions of other people,
as Dr. Wayne Dyer, internationally
renowned author and speaker in the
field of self development, would say.
When you make a drastic lifestyle
change, there is no doubt that other
people are going to criticize it, fear it,
04
or try to change you and your new
ways. They are all going to point to
somebody that they know that was an
unhealthy vegetarian, vegan, or raw
foodist, or some doctor, statistic or
research study that is going to kick you
off your game. Try not to be swayed by
others. You will second guess yourself
about a million times, all by yourself.
Its also important that you know that
you dont need to prove yourself to
anyone, nor convince anybody that
what you are doing is the right way or
the only way for that matter; because
there is no right way and there is no
only way. There is only the path that
you are on today. So just relax, trust
and enjoy the journey.
Dont forget to be patient though
because it takes time to see the ben-
efits. In fact youre going to go through
a whole bunch of phases: acceptance,
denial and one (or more) wicked,
negative detox*. Trust in the program
that youve started for yourself and
allow your body time to accept each
phase. It all works out in the end.
Dont judge those who arent on the was done, my health flourished. Please
same path. Do your best not to preach, see the resource section of my blog for
dont try to recruit, and dont get upset links to a few doctors and authors that
with people if they dont see the can give you more detailed information
wisdom of your newfound awakenings on detoxing.
and revelations. Of course it would be a
lot easier if your friends and family were
on the same journey. But, give them
some time and they may see it, or they
may not. I did that. I wanted everyone
to join me. It just made me an angry
vegan. Now I just accept people for who
they are, as I expect them to do for me.

Now I know that Im inspiring people

through my actions and obvious results
rather than through my words.

Its cool, chic and sexy to be your

natural best. If you eat well and move
your body and live naturally you will be
a natural beauty. Its never too late to
start your program enroute to a healthi-
er happier you! Get the glow: hair, skin,
eyes, body and soul. Be proud of what
you got. Work it.

*Dear Readers: Detoxes can come in

many forms and are different for every
person. I had headaches, sweats,
digestion issues, lethargy, skin
problems and the like. When the detox

05
Secret # 2
When you start on your vegetarian,
vegan or raw food journey, its very
important to get professional help. This
includes nutritionists, who are aware of
and know how to work with vegetarians,
vegans and raw foodists, as well as
doctors that have similar training. What
you cant get from them augment with
books, websites and articles. On the
website The Cool Vegetarian
(www.thecoolvegetarian.com), there
are several resource links to get expert
advice and opinions.
Dont be too proud or too righteous and
try to go without advice and help.
Getting professional help is probably
one of the most important decisions
youll make. Personally, I have a team
of advisors: a nutritionist, an herbalist,
a raw food doctor and a conventional
doctor. I also have several healthy
friends and mentors who inspire and
teach me.
Earlier in my journey I didnt have this
team in place and I didnt do so well.
Now, every single number and test that
the medical team does comes back
perfectly normal. But, back then my
B12, iron, calcium and white blood cell
count could go out of whack. It meant
06
that I needed to make adjustments
to my lifestyle, diet, supplements and
recipes to ensure I was getting the full
balance of nutrition of all the nutrients,
vitamins and minerals that I needed.
When choosing these experts, its
important to find somebody who under-
stands you and what youre after, but
also really understands what its like to
be a vegetarian, vegan or raw foodist.
Get help from those whove been there;
they wont steer you in the wrong
direction.
One great way to get help is to build a
community of people to join you on your
path, your own personal tribe. Having
people around you to share your
journey makes everything so much
easier. I did it alone, way back in 1989
when you couldnt buy veggie burgers,
tofu or soy milk easily. Your community
can include family or friends. If they
arent interested or available join a
support group, start a meet-up group,
go online, check out your local vegetar-
ian restaurant (they are on every street
corner these days), join a Facebook
group, hold vegetarian potlucks or go to
conferences or workshops. Today there
are millions of like-minded vegetarians.
Comfort foods, emotional eating and
cravings are a big issue for most of us.
For me it is the fond memories of the
food from my past and especially my
childhood. For me my cravings are not
for the actual food items but for those
feelings of family and the warmth
associated with that. Getting
professional help from nutritionists,
therapists and the like can assist you
with any emotional issues with food.
My suggestion is to recognize and list
your comfort foods and your food
triggers. Then try to rid yourself of
guilt and food stresses, it makes for a
smoother journey.

Hippocrates - Let food be thy medicine

07
Secret # 3
This is a big one. No going cold turkey.
You can detox too quickly and thats not
pleasant. Plus, it can lead to complica-
tions you hadnt even thought about.
Its very rare that people have long term
success by going this route.
I started this journey mindfully and very
slowly. I first cut out red meat and that
was it, for many years. From there I
eliminated birds and foul, then eggs,
then the dairy and then fish. Fish was
the last. Eventually, I transitioned into
raw food by gradually adding more
fruits and vegetables. That journey took
15 years.
Some people can just jump into it and
go from eating a Standard American
Diet to being organic raw foodist over-
night and thrive on that. However, for
the majority of people, a very gradual
transition is important.
Its also important to know that you
dont have to be 100% anything. It is
very stressful to try to adhere to a
perfect standard. Society as a whole
can really be caught up on labels. For
example, when you go to a vegetarian,
vegan or raw foodist meet-up, conven-
tion or conference, everybody is
08
going to ask you what kind of vegetar-
ian vegan or raw foodist you are. Are
you 100%, 90% or 80%? Everybody
wants to put a label on everybody else.
If somebody eats vegan 99.9% of the
time but they eat a piece of chocolate
thats got some dairy in it every few
months are they still vegan? Have they
lost their membership card into the
vegan nation just because they had
that piece of chocolate? I dont know.
But I think its really important that we
release the pressures of those kinds of
labels.
The tip that makes it easier on
everyone? Use transition foods. While
you are starting out or moving on to
vegetarian, vegan or raw, its a great
help to use foods that mimic your old
diet. For instance, I found a great deal
of help in using transition foods like fake
tuna, fish, hot dogs and veggie burgers.
You will be much more successful
(from an emotional comfort perspective)
replacing your McDonalds with this
step rather than jumping right into
pureed soups, superfoods and green
juices.
Put your foot in the water; dont just
dive in head first with your eyes closed.
In the long term you cant eat transi-
tion foods every single day and expect
to be thriving and succeeding on the
diet. Eventually, youll have to get into
a more natural diet for yourself that
contains a higher percentage of fresh
fruits and vegetables and more simple
whole foods (less processed, canned or
prepackaged foods). But, the transition
foods have helped me and millions of
people along the way.
many different levels. Same goes for
vegetarian, vegan and raw; you dont
eat the party foods each and every day.
At a lot of restaurants, whether they are
vegetarian, vegan or raw, the foods
primarily served can be viewed as
transition and party foods. This makes
the dining out experience easier and
more accessible to everyone and
allows you to bring non-vegetarians
with you so they are not forced too far
out of their comfort zones.

I am also a big believer in party foods,

the ones saved for special occasions.
Party foods are usually high sugar
foods, heavy fats, chocolate desserts
or ice-creams. Party foods are meant
to be enjoyed infrequently, but enjoyed
nonetheless. Youll find yourself better
off emotionally, spiritually and
physically if you allow those party foods
to be ok on special occasions. Have
fun. No guilt. Enjoy.

A good analogy to that is if you were a

meat eater, you wouldnt go to the
highest-end 5 star steak house every
single day, three times a day, seven
days a week. Thats not practical on

09
Secret # 4
Simply put, the secret to health and
vitality is to eat more fresh whole fruits
and veggies and consume less of the
bad stuff. Thats it. Simple!
VDD stands for Vegetable Deficit
Disorder. I feel like our society is
devoid of enough fruits and vegetables,
especially the uncooked variety. Once
you cook your fruits and vegetables,
you lose key nutrients and the
enzymes.
No matter where you are in your
journey, eating more fruits and
vegetables in a whole, unprocessed
fashion will make your health and
wellness skyrocket.
The keys to health and vitality are
really, really basic: eat more fresh fruits shift in thinking and beliefs that
and vegetables, eat less bad processed fullness is not the goal with food but
crap (just because its vegetarian
doesnt mean it isnt processed or crap), outcome. When we change our goal
and stay away from the drugs, GMO,
pesticides, pharmaceuticals, alcohol,
coffee and cigarettes.
As Dr. Fred Bisci, internationally known
lifestyle nutritionist and food scientist
and author of Your Healthy Journey
says, You get healthy from what you
leave out.
10
For me my journey did not start out so
well. As mentioned, the big pitfall is
often the over processed, even if its
vegetarian or vegan. I was having a lot
of grains and breads and gluten and
ended up with Candida. When I was
on a vegan diet, I was having too much
sugar, processed and packaged foods
and I wasnt having enough greens,
fresh fruits and vegetables. When I
became raw, I didnt do it in a healthy,
sustainable way. I was having too much
fat, too many nuts and seeds, and way
too many tropical fruits.
You are going to find, if youre going
vegetarian, vegan or raw that at first its
hard to feel full. This is a mental, not
physical, phenomenon. It requires a
instead satisfaction is the optimal
from being stuffed to being fuelled
things work better for us from an energy
and a health perspective.
Some of the keys on a healthy vegetar-
ian, vegan, or raw food lifestyle is to
be low fat and low glycemic, keep the
processed, soy and genetically modified
to a minimum and have lots of whole
foods. Maximize as much organic and I go for simple foods, consumed in a
local food as you can. Consume low grazing manner all day, and then I fast
glycemic non-tropical fruits, local for 12 hours and never eat before bed.
veggies, and greens which are vitally To get my essential fatty acids I eat one
important. of the following, once each day:
avocado, hemp seeds, flax seeds,
Greens are amazingly nutritious for coconut meat, sunflower seeds, pump-
proteins, phytonutrients, minerals, kin seeds or almonds.
calcium and are important for build-
ing our strength and longevity. It truly Note: You can access my favourite easy
is the elixir of health and life. All of our and delicious life-promoting recipes on
building blocks for health and vitality my Facebook page, in the notes
come from the greens. I like to get my section.
greens in salads, which I eat a lot. Each
and every day I have green juices and
smoothies with fresh kale, spinach and
other greens. I also like to use E3Live
which is an amazing product of Klamath
Blue Green Algae and Spirulina
(promotes immunity, provides the body
with antioxidants and proteins). I also
enjoy wheat grass, chlorella and other
leafy greens.

Now, my typical day involves lots of

whole fruits, smoothies, salads, fresh
squeezed juices, greens. Its low fat,
low sugar with nothing processed and
features as many local and organics as
possible.

11
Secret # 5

In order to thrive on a vegetarian, skiing, rowing, stair climbing, any sort

vegan, raw foodist lifestyle, or any of activity that is going to get your heart
lifestyle for that matter, it is important rate up.
that we move our bodies and move
them a lot in a lot of different ways. In terms of strength training, a couple
of times a week for your legs, your core
There are many ways to be physically and your upper body will do it. Espe-
active. I used to think that doing yoga cially the core. Jessi Stensland, a
and walking was enough. For many professional tri-athlete, taught me that
years, I was the unhealthy vegetarian, we need to keep our pillar strong. The
vegan and then the raw food guy whose pillar is our body, the vessel that we
activity level consisted of walking and are here using in this lifetime on this
daily yoga and that was about it. Once planet. Strengthening the pillar helps us
in a while I did some weights but it with every day tasks like lifting grocery
really wasnt until I started really moving bags, lifting luggage and even changing
that my health truly skyrocketed. a light bulb. It will keep us independent
rather than dependent into old age.
Along with the changes to my physi-
cal appearance, my skin started to Many years ago I had several car
glow, my hair got healthier, my eyes accidents causing three whip lashes
got brighter and my energy levels really and permanent neck damage. I couldnt
started to fly. I added cardio, strength lift groceries, open doors, run, bike or
and core training. But, I also added in ski. It wasnt until I started strengthen-
down time, recovery time, silent time, ing my core and upper body and added
meditation time, and time for reflection. in that movement piece that those
They say its the pauses between the problems faded and I was once again
notes that make the music. It is so true able to start being physically active.
when it comes to our physical health.
Then I came across Tim Van Ordens
The central activity everyone needs running raw project. His videos and
is cardio. We need to get our hearts website changed my life. It inspired me
pumping for more than half an hour to start running again.
about three times a week. It can take
the form of running, swimming, dancing,

12
I really began to thrive and was able to
take the energy from the food. Eating a
raw food diet gives you a lot of energy
and vibration, as its really still alive.
You are not eating dead cooked
animals and you are not eating that
negative energy that comes from the
slaughter house. You are eating some
real, powerful food and that energy has
to go somewhere.
Recall the first law of thermodynamics
stating that energy cannot be created
or destroyed, it can only change form.
So if you take some really high energy,
super vibrational food and put it in your
body, you must use that energy. Thats
where the movement piece comes into
play!
I am happy to report that now Im
running often. Ive entered some races
and done really well, actually winning
a few small regional ones. These wins
are shocking to me sometimes because
I was once someone who couldnt do
anything physical without help. Now Im
able to run several miles. Its just
outstanding that our bodies have the
ability to heal, and with a good
nutritional program and some excellent
emotional, physical and intellectual
balance, and can thrive.
Once you get yourself all revved up,
dont forget the down time. Yoga, sleep
and stretching are vitally important and
are a large part of recovery that keeps
us healthy and active. Yoga focuses on
breathing and provides one with quiet,
introspective time which is super
important for us. You cant just be
going all the time, youve got to give
your muscles and body a break.
And another big one. Dont forget to
incorporate lots of fresh, clean water.
The more whole unprocessed fruits and
vegetables you eat, the less water
required. Water is vital, especially when
you exercise, travel, are stressed or
feeling sick. Lots of water will be your
ticket to health and vitality.
A good friend of mine, a Kenyan elite
marathoner named Francis Muendo,
sent me a message once that said
Champions are the people who go the
extra mile when everyone else is
resting and thats so true. Just keep
yourself motivated and active and you
will be thrilled with the results.
For more information on my exercise
routines please follow my blogs and
check the resource section for several
links to my fitness inspirations and
mentors.
13
Secret # 6
Bring Your Own, thats my motto. I
find that its a lot easier when I realize I
should just take care of my own. Dont
expect people to change because you
have changed your lifestyle. And just
because your vibration, energy and
frequency are increasing dont expect
the world around you to follow suit.
I used to think that way. I used to
believe Hey, everybody should recog-
nize what Im doing and they should
partake, alter their lifestyle for me and
make sure that there is food for me
to eat so there are things that I agree
with. As soon as I let that go and
stopped thinking that way, it became
much easier for me and for everyone in
my life.
I empowered myself, took responsibility
for my vegetarian, vegan, then raw
journey and began bringing my own.
When going to a dinner party at your
parents, family, co-worker or friends
place, you have a couple of choices:
the first is to hope they can make the
food that you want, which usually isnt
going to happen, and the other option
is for you to bring your own food.
14
If your host asks if they can do anything
before you get there, then send ahead
a simple easy recipe saying this is what
you would really like to eat and make
it really doable for them. Usually when
I go out to dinner party I keep it really
super minimal: just a salad and some
fruit for dessert, to make it really easy
on the host, an unintimidating for the
other guests.
What happens when you cant BYO?
When you go to a restaurant, some
simple changes to a regular menu will
avoid the BYO need. Be up front and
be willing to pay extra. I will often ask
for a really big salad with four extra
tomatoes and avocado, and if I see
other veggies in other dishes I ask for
those to be added in too. Then, get the
dressing on the side. Usually they will
bring you oil, vinegar, lemon wedges
and stuff like that to dress your own
salad.
I often carry some sea salt and other
seasonings with me like dulse flakes
to add to the top. One friend of mine
brings along nuts, seeds, berries and
spices to add to a basic restaurant
salad. To make it rockn roll! Of course,
if the restaurant has a vegetarian,
vegan or raw option for you on the The other thing Ive found to help the
menu and it works for you then go for it. cravings in-between meals is to have a
few things in a bag or a cooler nearby
I have found that most servers and at all times. They can be simple things
chefs are willing to help you create your like a package of berries, an apple, a
own meal if you approach them with trail mix or prepackaged vegetarian
kindness, lightness and openness. bars. There are hundreds of different
brands of vegetarian power bars and
Traveling can be another story. Often fruit bars that can be taken with you and
when Im driving around for work or eaten on the go to help carry you
doing other travel Ill bring a cooler with between meals.
me containing fruits, vegetables, juices,
seeds and nuts. Sometimes I even pack
Spirulina powder and hemp seeds to
help me get my proteins and my
essential fatty-acids as well as other
nutrients.

You dont need to bring too much.

One or two jars of things that can get
through security in the airport, things
that arent going to have the dogs on
you and cause you to be strip-searched
in the airport are usually the best
options.

Ive gone to places all over the world

where there is no vegetarian food to be
found. If youve got a few extra
ingredients with you, you can augment
things and that really helps a lot.

15
Secret # 7

Mahatma Gandhi - Be the change you dollars each and every day. That
want to see in the world. money and the decisions we make on
how to spend that money affects our
One of the most powerful and effective health, the health of the planet. It
ways of making change on this planet is affects people and animals all over the
by making changes within ourselves. If world: economically, socially, environ-
you are becoming vegetarian, vegan or mentally, from a human and animal
raw then you are making change locally. rights perspective, from a planetary
Youre your own body. Thats powerful. health perspective. From a global
You can think globally, of course, but consciousness perspective, our wallets
acting locally means acting within our create the largest change that we could
own bodies and within our own power to possibly imagine each and everyday.
make change on this planet. The single
biggest footprint impact on the planet, That should never be taken lightly.
more than big oil, is our food choices.

Dr Norman Walker, the inventor of the

juicer in the 1930s, lived to be 109 on a
plant-based, vegan, mostly raw diet. He
taught that the keys to health are colon
health and digestion, plenty of clean
water, frequent exercise, weight
management, elimination of the
unhealthy, and promotion of spiritual
health.

The real key to making lasting change

is to have our mind, spirit, emotions,
work, social, ego and body all in
balance. Unhealthy means out of
balance. Not only is your lifestyle choice
making change, but we each hold a
very powerful tool, we can vote with our

16
final thoughts
I hope that this short e-book has been
helpful. It should be used to give you
food for thought on how to become a
cool, healthy and thriving vegetarian. It
is also meant to help you do well on the
planet, leaving a light footprint, acting
locally within your body but at the same
time creating change for you and those
around you.
To me, cool comes from staying true to
yourself, your values and believing in
the path that you are on. Cool comes
from a confidence and a comfort that
you have with the choices that you
are making in your life. Regardless of
whether you are being accepted by the
others around you, regardless of
whether the people are trying to change
you, move you off your path or shift you
into a different direction.
It is important to recognize that those
dietary choices that we are making
are just that: simple dietary choices.
There are many other choices that are
crucially important to our well being:
emotional, physical and spiritual. For
instance, who we spend time and the
rest of our lives with, who we commune
with, what our value and belief systems
are, what kind of work we do and where
we choose to live.
As Napoleon Hill the great motivator of
the last century said Make your life a
mission, not an intermission. So go act
on your mission.
Hopefully this information has been
helpful. I wish you all success and
please check back on
www.thecoolvegetarian.com website for
more blogs and e-books. This is really
just our beginning.
I would love to hear from you about
your stories, health journey, thoughts
ideas and suggestions for future blogs
and for future e-book topics. Also Ive
set up a Q&A section on the site so you
can ask questions and I will respond.
I also look forward to meeting you one
day very soon.

E-Book Thank yous:

Clare for editing and editorial concepts
Gosia, Nicole, Rae, Roberta & Sagan for the critique and peer review
Kylie for cover image, layout and graphics
Chris for being webmaster
Tad, Alex, Brent, Gosia, Rae & Stu for the inspiration and encouragement
To all the teachers that I have shared paths with
To the readers, subscribers and followers of my blogs and videos as you
are the truly cool and the reason for my efforts
17