How to Improve Your Vegan Lifestyle

Last time, I talked about why lifestyle matters the most. Now, I'm going to share with you how you can improve your vegan lifestyle. The reason why lifestyle matters so much is because it is the key to changing your life.

Your lifestyle is made up of everything that you do. That includes your habits, your decisions, your choices, and the actions that you take. All of that matters and adds up to become your lifestyle. You have the power to determine if your lifestyle is going to be something that you love.

Everyone wants to live a quality lifestyle, and that means different things to different people. Veganism is a lifestyle, and it is a way that you choose to live doing the least amount of harm to beings as you possibly can.

There are different parts to a vegan lifestyle. One of the biggest parts is vegan eating. I'm going to start with that part first. Deciding what eating best is for you. It's up to you, and only you can determine that for yourself. It all starts with eating properly balanced meals and snacks.

It's important to eat protein, carbs, fat, and color (fruits and vegetables). As long as you put those together in your meals and your snacks, you are doing great.

If you have any goals regarding your eating, that can vary based on how much protein to have, what macros to eat, how many calories, and all of that. I'm not going to go into that because that really depends on your individual goals.

Once you are making properly balanced meals and snacks, you can make them delicious and you can love them. You can find recipes that you love and want to try and go back to. Know exactly what tastes you love and what your preferences are and make sure you include those in there, too.

To not get bored, you eat a variety. You try different things. It may be a new way to eat something, a new combination of something, a new recipe to try, a new store to buy something from — online or in person.

There's many ways to keep it fun and not boring and delicious, too. You can come up with your own combinations, recipes, and have a list of your go-to staple foods that you rely on using the most often. These can make up a foundation of your vegan eating that you use a lot in different meals and snacks.

It's important to know that you can fit everything in. Whole plant foods, vegan processed foods, and vegan treats, like ice cream, cookies, and chips. You can eat everything that you love to eat and enjoy. That's balance and flexibility in your vegan eating.

Those are the basics of making sure that your vegan eating is healthy, balanced, delicious, and sustainable for you. You can make it easy. So, make it easy for yourself.

Movement is another one. This is all about the way that you choose to physically move. That can be training and doing workouts for specific goals that you have regarding your fitness. You can do that. Not all of them are going to be easy, but you are going to enjoy them once you realize that you're making progress.

You could also find ways to move your body that you actually really do like. This doesn't have to help you with your goals, but it can. You can still include movement that you love — no matter what. It's some kind of activity, even if it's a sport. You can focus on the intense parts of it and the less intense parts of it. They all really add up to helping with your physical health.

Whether you want to be more mobile, flexible, strong, or improve your endurance, you can do that through movement. There's many different types. You get to choose what that is for you. It not only helps with your physical health, but it helps with your mental health as well.

It's always good to try different things, so that you are making sure that you can do things when you're older that you're still doing now. This goes for preventing any injuries if you can as well. If you continue to take care of your body now, you can still have a high quality of life later on.

Another aspect of this lifestyle would be what you put on your body. This depends a lot on your skin type and hair type. Once you know those, this will help you a lot. Some people are very sensitive to things, and they can't use certain things because they have different types of allergies or sensitive skin. Once you know that for you, you can really start to narrow down what kinds of things you want to use on your body.

Do you want to go chemical-free or is it okay if it does have not the purest ingredients? You can find a mid-range if that's what you want. The majority of things that I use on my body just happen to be very pure, and I've been using them for many years. Most of them are smaller companies that I love.

Sometimes, I do use stuff that's not the purest, but my favorite products that I put on my body are very pure to the point where you could eat them, even though they obviously would not taste good.

It's really just about finding what ingredients you want to use on your body, and also helping you to use something that will get the result that you would want. Do you want a moisturizer that's light, absorbs into your skin, and lasts?

Do you want something that smells like coconut? Do want something vanilla, floral, or fruity? That's up to you. There's so many different options. Do you want things that are infused with essential oils or do you prefer something that is not as natural?

What do you brush your teeth with? What do you put on your face? What do you put in your hair? All of these things really do matter because it all adds up over time. Once you find what you love and works for you, then your skin, hair, nails, and teeth can be the best.

You really just end up loving what you use while also branching out to try different products, too. I have found exactly what I love to use, but I like to branch out sometimes into different scents. I haven't found the perfect shea butter lotion based moisturizer yet, but I have found the perfect body oil.

There's lot of things I've learned over the years about it all. I now have a lot of things down that work best for me, but I still try out different things. Something that I'm doing different now that I was not doing before is combining two moisturizers together every day. Before, I was just using a lotion, a body butter, or body cream shea butter based type of moisturizer or I was just using a body oil.

I've learned from watching many videos of people finding the best combination and what could apply to other people, too, in general, is to combine both of them together. I use the shea butter based moisturizer first, and then I use the body oil. I found that this way moisturizers me better.

The body oil is like a sealant. It makes everything absorb in the way it needs to, and it definitely lasts longer this way. You don't have to use as much oil when you do it this way. This has really made a big difference.

Something else I've done differently, is instead of using a traditional loofah, I've started using an African net sponge. It lasts for 1-2 years, and it dries on his own. It is definitely more effective and cleaner than the traditional loofah or a washcloth. There's different things that I'm trying, like using witch hazel and glycolic acid. It's great to try other things to see what work best for you.

I've been dry brushing and exfoliating for years. I do those two things every other day. I use a crystal nail file on my nails instead of the other kinds that I used back then that are damaging to nails.

I just use shampoo conditioner, and then I have apple cider vinegar with the mother mixed with water as a hair rinse. That's what I do for my hair, and I let it dry by itself. I use an all wooden brush, and I only brush my hair when it's dry. I have my favorite shampoo and conditioner that I love and use the most. At times, I try different ones. I have other options to use along with my favorites.

What I use to brush my teeth with that I've been using for so many years is no longer being made. I will use something else once I'm out of what I have. You have to find the backup options or some other options that you love. After all, there may be times when something you use will be out of stock or something that you use isn't made anymore.

It's always good to have more than one option. It just really makes a difference when you figure out what works best for you based on what your skin and hair types are and how you want your hair to be, and how you want your nails to be. Dry brushing and exfoliating are game changers as well as moisturizing. So, make sure you do all of those.

Pay attention to the ingredients making sure that it's vegan and cruelty-free. Making sure that it does not support Israel is just as important to me, too. The brand and company has to align with my morals and ethics for me to use it.

So much of it is experimenting and seeing what you like. That can be fun. It doesn't have to be disheartening. It doesn't have to be discouraging. Just experiment and try different products on yourself, so that you can see how amazing your hair really can be, how amazing your skin really can be, how amazing your teeth and your oral health really can be, your nails, and everything else.

Your nails and your hair are an extension of your skin. It really does matter what you use on your body, whether you're a minimalist or not. There's something out there for you if you just try and if you just look. You could even make your own.

It's about just figuring out all these kinds of little details and things about what combination of products work best on your body for how you want to feel + how you want to live.

I believe that sleep and hydration are the most important of these aspects. So, I'm putting these two together. For optimal sleep, you want your environment to be prepared perfectly for your best sleep. This most likely consists of a cool temperature (like the 60s).

Make sure that your bedding, mattress, and pillows or whatever you sleep on are all supportive for your body. If you want to have some kind of noise to sleep that can help you, there's white noise, brown noise, pink noise, nature sounds, like waterfalls, rain, ocean waves, birds, etc. All of those can be found on YouTube or create a playlist of your own on a music streaming platform.

There is frequency based music for sleep. You can find playlists as well for sleep on different music streaming platforms. You can even use an actual fan. Wind down an hour at least before you go to sleep to get your body and mind ready for sleep.

You don't want your mind to be stimulated, and it's not time to be looking at screens. It really just depends on you getting your mind calm, getting your mind clear, and just preparing to actually rest.

Hydration is the other top priority. It's very overlooked. A lot of people don't even think about it. Many people don't think to drink water or they definitely are dehydrated. I literally view hydration as a part of skincare. Being properly hydrated does so much good for the skin.

lt's important to have water with you at all times like I say have a book with you at all times. It really depends on the person when determining how much water to drink, but I say at least half of a gallon every day. I like to drink a gallon a day, but sometimes I drink a little less than that. Pace yourself.

It really does makes a positive difference in your overall health and lifestyle when you drink enough water. You'll be able to tell the difference in your skin, how you feel, and your energy.

I feel like another part that a lot of people don't do enough, including myself, is to feel and connect with nature. This helps with your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Get some sunlight. Feel the ground. I personally love to do this more in the night, and I always prefer the night to the day. I don't like the way the sun feels, but I love the moon so much.

Look at the stars. Look at the beautiful nature. Nature is always inspiring. Hug some trees, talk to the trees, talk to the plants, talk to the moon. All of nature is living with us. We have to respect this planet, and we have to show gratitude.

While you keep connecting with nature, you have better, clearer thoughts. When you're connecting with nature, you have a lot of realizations, epiphanies, and ideas that come to surface. Get a sense of nature. Give yourself a chance to feel nature as much as you can.

Here's another one: Your environment. How is your home? I hate plastic, and I hate clutter. I don't like to have so much stuff that collects dust either. I don't like to have many things. I like space. I don't need to live in any enormous mansion or anything like that. I just want to have space. The less things, the better for me.

When your space is free of clutter, that helps you so much with your mental health and everything else in your environment. Is it somewhere that you want to go back to? Is it something that you want to live in? Is it something you love? Do you truly make it your space? Does it fit your aesthetic?

Make it you, and be sure that it supports your health and the way that you want to feel. Make it be somewhere that you actually want to be and live in. The organization, cleanliness, and the clutter-free of it all helps so much.

You can add in your own decor, your own touch through your preferences in your style, and your design to make your home truly for you. It's good to give yourself that space. Give yourself space.

When it comes to cleaning, that is another part of all of this. You want something that cleans well without being super toxic. It can be fun to make your own, and add in different essential oils to make it smell the way you want it to smell, for example.

There's so many properties in nature that are very effective in cleaning, also. You can definitely come up with your own combination. You could also use glass bottles to put your cleaning solutions in instead of plastic. That's always an option.

Challenging yourself is a crucial part in all of this. You don't want to be stagnant. You don't want to feel like you're not growing. We should always growing and evolving. We're always changing. So, if you do things that you actually want to do that will benefit you, then challenge yourself. Learn something new.

It doesn't have to be just learning either. It could be something like traveling outside somewhere that you've never been before and exploring. It's very important to continue to exercise your mind and use your imagination. Continue to grow and evolve.

What are you curious about? What do you want to know more about? What's more exciting to you? Lean into those things.

Doing something that you love every single day needs to included in all of this, too. It's something that you really just can't wait to do and always look forward to. Those are the things that you love to do. So, those are the things that you want to continue in your life.

You want to do that something, whether it's one thing or more, every day. It makes you feel like you matter, even though you already do. It makes you feel like you have a purpose. So many people are always searching for that, and that's not something you search for. It's something that you discover.

Stress is a major one. If you manage your stress or eliminate it altogether if you can, you will be so much better off in your life. While some things are out of your control, it's so important to focus on what you can control. Stress can damage your health in the biggest of ways.

So, you really have to be aware of it and manage it. Think about how you respond to things, what you think, and become aware of that. This can't be neglected.

I think another part that a lot of people overlook that definitely is a big deal would be connecting with others and the planet. It's about truly connecting with people, animals, and with nature. Having a community, a circle of people that you can go to and talk to, do things with, connect with, and just enjoy will enrich your lifestyle in so many ways.

It doesn't have to be a lot. As long as you're connecting with others and not so isolated by yourself so much, all of this will definitely impact your health in a positive way. This really does a lot of good. A little goes a long way for many people.

Try making an effort to connect with other people. This can also include animals and the environment. It can bring so many beautiful changes to have a safe space that you can go to and talk with other people about things you both love, things that you feel the same way about or if you want to bounce ideas off of each other.

We all want to have support. We can give that to others, and just talk about life. It doesn't have to be the small talk, shallow surface level communication. It could be the deep stuff, the real connection. It doesn't have to be all ofvthe time either. This goes such a long way improving other people's lives along with yours.

The last thing I want to mention is expressing yourself. There's so many different ways to express yourself. Be who you really are. Express yourself in a way that feels right to you. It can be little things or big things.

Either way it goes, every time you go anywhere, make the intention to express yourself in the best, most honest, true way to you that feels right to you. When you do this, you're not forcing anything. You're just being.

All of these are different aspects to improve your vegan lifestyle. The things that make it vegan are everything. It's the way you eat, it's not supporting cruelty to animals. It's not participating in using animals. It is intersectional. It does include human rights. It does include environmental protection.

Connect with all of this, and always stay firm and true to your morals, your ethics, and your values. Always have indestructible boundaries. The beauty of all of this, and the best news is that it's your life. That means you get to choose how you want to feel and your lifestyle your way.

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Love,

Jessica