My mile challenge has been put on hold due to a knee injury. I’ve had to take the past few days off, but I’m hoping to start back soon…

Natalie Portman is one of my favorite actresses. Not only is she stunning (no one else comes as close to Audrey Hepburn’s gamine beauty), but she is whip-smart (Harvard-educated, multi-lingual), talented and has an intriguing, quirky resume.

The longtime vegetarian recently wrote a piece about veganism for the Huffington Post, and I encourage everyone read it.

Here’s an excerpt:
“I’ve also been afraid to feel as if I know better than someone else — a historically dangerous stance (I’m often reminded that ‘Hitler was a vegetarian, too, you know’). But this book reminded me that some things are just wrong. Perhaps others disagree with me that animals have personalities, but the highly documented torture of animals is unacceptable, and the human cost Foer describes in his book, of which I was previously unaware, is universally compelling.”

Earlier this week, I promised you a review of Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Diet, which I purchased and devoured last weekend.

Alicia’s veganism is well-documented in Hollywood; a few years ago she was named PETA’s Sexiest Vegetarian. This book explains journey from carnivore to vegetarian to vegan, and why it was the right choice for her (and might be the right choice for everyone). Not only is her plan kinder to farm animals, but she claims that it helps the planet, improves your complexion and can help you drop unwanted pounds. Not a bad deal!

The first few chapters deal with so-called “nasty” foods: meat, dairy and sugar/refined carbs. She discusses, in detail, the horrors of the meat and dairy industry, in terms of what happens to the animals, the planet and our bodies when we consume these products. She also talks about why refined sugar is damaging to our bodies, both internally and externally.

Alicia then discusses “kind foods” and how to integrate them into one’s life. She breaks it down into “flirting” (experimenting with vegan meals a few times a week), “vegan” (eating an all-vegan diet) and “superhero” (which discusses the principles of macrobiotics). These varying plans make the lifestyle very accessible for everyone, depending on your level of commitment.

She mentions a lot of brands and products to try (including a handy chart of her recommended brands for everything from soda to jerky to veggie sausage), and there is an entire portion dedicated to vegan and macrobiotic recipes (the vegan hot chocolate is great!). Alicia also created a website, The Kind Life, to provide support materials for the book and create a community for like-minded individuals.

Overall, this is a very thorough, compelling book, and I definitely recommend it. I’ve already been working towards veganism, and now I’m also interested in exploring macrobiotics, although the distinctly Japanese nature of macrobiotic foods is a little scary for me! I’ll probably have to start with the Clean, Mean Burritos.

Need some motivation to get you started? How about some vegan chocolate peanut butter cups?

When my motivation to run flags, I like to watch this video. It gets me laughing and in the mood to jog.

My monthly mile challenge is going pretty well so far. Here are my times:

Monday, 10/19 – 15:50, .5% incline
Tuesday, 10/20 –  15:23, .5% incline
Wednesday, 10/21 – 14:58, .5% incline
Thursday, 10/22 – 14:16, .5% incline
Friday, 10/23 – 13:54, 0% incline

I took Saturday off because I had an intense headache all day and didn’t want to make it any worse. I’m actually considering taking weekends off for this project, because I discovered that throwing myself headlong into this challenge has made for some SORE legs! I’ve been tired all weekend, so I might just rest today and then go for it tomorrow. On days when I’ve had lots of energy, I’ve put the treadmill on a slight incline to mimic outdoor terrain — we’ll see if I can maintain that. I’m really happy about my progress, but I also worry that I’m improving too quickly and heading for a plateau. We’ll see how it goes…