ContentsWhy adapting a vegan diet? The overall benefits of a vegan diet

What we need The Macronutrients The Micronutriens Sodium Water

Raw vs. Cooked Food

Food Pyramid

Healthy Lifestyle Tips

Exercising Why you should move your body My Workout Tips

Healthy Diet Tips Helpfull tools & Storage Vegan on a budget Organic / Local/ Seasonal

Why Adapting a Vegan Diet ?

First of all I want to present you the definition of veganism: Peop-le that lable themselves as vegans don’t consume any animal pro-ducts like meat, fish and dairy products plus any kind of processed food that contains something similiar. Furthermore any materials, cosmetic products or cleanser that contains animal products or is tested on animals aren’t used. The exploitation of animals is avoi-ded in any aspect.

There are different motivations to go vegan. Sure most people come to that lifestyle because of animal welfare reasons, but a vegan diet offers a lot of other benefits, that are worth thinking about a lifestyle change, if you aren’t vegan yet. But eating a veg-an diet doesn’t simultaneously mean that you’re eating healthy. As a vegan you are able to eat a lot of food that is very high in fat and that won’t make you healthier at all, either. I recommend a high carb low fat vegan diet for improving your health, getting your optimal body weight, having more energy and living a hap-py life in abundance. A high carb low fat vegan diet basically me-ans that you are eating a vegan diet where most of your calories come from carbohydrates. The best distribution of your macro-nutrients is to have 80 % from your daily calorie intake from car-bohydrates, 10 % from protein and 10% from fats. But you don’t have to bother with calorie counting and counting your macros all day, that is exactly the behaviour i really want to avoid. If you are eating a plant based diet, consisting of whole plants you will automatically end up with this ratio.

The Overall Benefits of a Vegan Diet

• Long term health• You will attain your optimal body weight• Improving digestion• Improving skin• Gives your body more energy• Lowering inflammation• A lot of common diseases like high cholesterol,

diabetes, hypertension and other diet related diseases are cured

• You save the animals• You have a less negative impact on our en-

vironment• You support a more sustainable planet• You alleviate world hunger

A hclf vegan diet is based on fruits and starches. If you want to eat a fully raw vegan diet your staple food will be ripe fruits. When you are including cooked foods there will be also starches like potatoes, sweetpotatoes, rice, oats etc. I will go into the positi-ve aspects of each in one of the next chapters. You will also find a high carb low fat vegan food pyramid in here. But first let us take a look at the advantages you will have from a high carb low fat vegan lifestyle.

What We Need Our diet is composed of three main elements: carbohydrates, proteins and fats. These are called macronutrients. Carbohydra-tes and proteins contain 4.1 calories per gram, fat contains 9,3 calories per gram. The ideal distribution of these three macros is 80/10/10 according to Dr. T. Colin Campbell. That means 80% of your daily calories should come from carbohydrates, 10% from protein and also 10% from fat. But we also need micronutrients like vitamins and minerals and an adequate intake of water.

The MacronutrientsCarbohydrates: Carbs are the prefered fuel for our body. They get split into glucose and provide our cells with energy. The rest that isn’t used immediately is stored as glycogen in our muscles and liver to maintain a constant blood sugar level and muscular effi-ciency. The greatest amount of your macronutrients should come from carbohydrates. Good sources of corhohydrates are fruits, starchy vegetables, potatoes, brown rice etc.

Proteins: Proteins are mainly building materials for our body. They all are constructed by amino acids. We distinguish between es-sential and non-essential amino acids. Through a whole, plant-based diet you get all the essentiel amino acids our body needs. There is no need to supplement protein if you are eating a balan-ced plantbased diet. Dr.T. Colin Campell has even shown in „The China Study“ that an excess intake of protein can cause cancer and other diseases. All whole plant foods have a high enough percentage of protein so there is no need to pay too much atten-tion to that.

Fats: Fats are building materials, energy storage and our body needs them to synthesize hormones. They are also needed to transport the liposoluble vitamins. Your body needs fats but 10 % of your calorie intake is perfectly fine, all the excess fats are stored as body fat. There are two essential fats called omega-3 and

The Micronutrients

Mineral deFiCienCy syMPtoMs resourCes

Sodium muscle cramps, racing he-art, drop in blood pressure

Table salt

Potassium Muscle weakness, con-duction disturbance in the nervous system

Tomatoes, bananas, citrus fruits, dried fruits, cacao, legumes

Calcium Osteoporosis, muscle cramps

Sesame, broccoli, spinach, kale, oranges, mandarines, legumes, herbs

Phosphorus - Whole grains

Magnesium Cardiac arrhythmia, spon-taneous muscle twitching

Leafy greens, fruits, nuts, wholegrains

Iron Fatigue, paleness, dizzi-ness

Grains, legumes

Zinc Hairloss, skin irritation, psychological disorder, reduced production of testosterone

Sprouted grains, nuts

Iodine Struma Iodized table salt

Fluoride - Black tea, iodized table salt, mineral water

Chromium Fluctuation of the blood sugar level

Whole grains

Selenium Muscle aching, muscle stiffness

Brazil nuts

Minerals: Minerals are essential nutrients for our body that per-form regulating and building tasks. I listed all the important ones

for you:

VitaMins: Vitamins are essential nutrients for our body so we have to include them in our diet. A sufficient supply of vitamins is very important for a proper function of our immune system and or-gans.

omega-6. They optimally should be present in a 1:5 ratio. Good sources of healthy fats are fatty fruits like avocado, nuts and seeds especially flaxseeds for omega-3.

VitaMin FunCtion resourCesVitamin A Beneficial for skin, hair and bo-

nes. Buildup of red blood cells.Carrot,lambs lettuce, celery, bell pepper,spinach, kale, sweet potato, honey melon, mango, apricot, lemon

Vitamin D Beneficial for our immune sys-tem and hormone issues.

Avocado, mushrooms

Vitamin E Antioxidant Wheat, sunflowerseeds, hazel-nut, almond ,flaxseed , sweet potato ,bell pepper,black cur-rant, avocado

Vitamin K Affects blood clotting Kale, spinach, broccoli, brussel sprouts, fennel, chives, chick-peas

Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) Helps to generate energy out of our food. It also affects important neurotransmitters of our nervous system

Oats, lentils, soy beans, brown rice, peas, sunflowerseeds, bran

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) Plays a major role in our meta-bolism.

Soy beans, avocado, banana, peas, almonds, sesame, nutriti-onal yeast, mushrooms, spi-nach, spirulina

Vitamin B3 ( Niacin) Helps to destruct glucose – helps to generate energy. And also plays a role in our fat metabolism.

Broccoli, kale, asparagus, len-tils, peas, mushrooms, whole grains

Vitamin B5 ( Panothenic Acid)

Plays a role in synthesizing ha-emoglobin, neurotransmitters and cholesterol.

Whole grains, avocado, broc-coli, tomatoes, nuts, melons, oranges, sprouted wheat

Vitamin B6 ( Pyridoxine) Activates our fat metabolism and synthesizes neurotransmit-ters and hormones.

Bananas, potatoes, green beans, peas, lentils, spinach, brussel sprouts,lambs lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, bananas, walnuts

Vitamin B9 ( Folic Acid) Contributes to many metabolic processes like protein metabo-lism and buildup of neurotrans-mitters

Lettuce, kale, asparagus, tomat-oes, peas, soy beans, whole grains

Vitamin B12 Forming of red blood cells, responsible for cell growth and cell division.

Sauerkraut

Vitamin C Contributes to an adequate function of our immune sys-tem.

Citrus fruits, berries, spinach, bell pepper, potatoes, tomat-oes, broccoli, cauliflower, brus-sel sprouts,

Vitamin B7 (Biotin) Beneficial for skin and hair. Spinach, avocado, oats, cau-liflower, mushromms, brown rice, banana, strawberry, peas, spinach

Water is the most important element right after oxygen for our body. We need it to sustain different functions in our body like metabolic processes, digestion … . The recommendation on your daily water intake ranges between 2-3 liters. But there are several factors that influence your water needs. That includes the climate, your fiber intake, illness, your activity level and some more. That means you should drink more water on very hot days and even more so if you are active! When you exercise increase your water

intake between 0,5-1 liter at least per hour of your activity.

Water

The body uses sodium to control blood pressure and blood volu-me. Your body also needs sodium for your muscles and nerves to work properly. But too much sodium in your diet can lead to high blood pressure and serious buildup of fluid. So I recommend a low sodium diet. Everytime you are using salt in a meal your body stores extra water with it. Especially if you are trying to lose some weight you should use it on a minimum.

Sodium

Raw vs. Cooked FoodIn the following chapter I want to outline the positive aspects of raw food and also the positive aspects of cooked food. There are people that thrive on a raw vegan diet and others that are th-riving on a starchbased mostly cooked food diet. But first let us take a look at all the positive aspects of both and then I will talk about my recommendation.

Positive Aspects of Raw Food:• more vitamins & minerals• more fiber• completely natural food – no processed food options• lowering inflammation• improving digestion• improving overall health• improving skin• eco friendly ( less use of energy )

Positive Aspects of Cooked Food:• cooking breaks down plant cell walls, so it is easier to digest

and some nutrients are easier to absorb • when you are living in areas where cheap fruit isn’t available all

over the year starches like rice, potatoes,… are more affordable • it’s easier to eat out with friends that aren’t fully raw• for new vegans it is easier to stick to than to immediately chan-

ging to a fully raw vegan diet• cooked food digests easier

My Recommendation:As you can easily see there are positive points on the list for both, raw and cooked food. As long as your diet is high carb low fat and vegan it can only be good for your health. I just love raw food in the summer but also still crave my potatowedges or other cooked food. In the winter I am cooking my oatmeal every mor-ning and also love warm soups. If you want to go fully raw you can start with a raw breakfast for example. Just go for any fruit you just love and have it for breakfast. If you like it and you feel good afterwards you can decide to have a raw lunch as well. Then you’ll only have a cooked dinner. And if you are feeling great on a raw diet you can try to eat 2-3 days completely raw a week. Just to see if you like it and when you feel great and you start to see all the positive aspects I listed above you may stick to it and turn into a fully raw vegan. But if you still crave your cook-ed dinners that’s completely fine. Don’t try to force yourself to a lifestyle that doesn’t work for you. Give yourself time to accustom your body to the hclf vegan diet, the raw meals and the higher fiber intake. And if you are living in a country where you don’t have this huge variety of fresh fruits or no fruits in winter availa-ble at all you can make rice, potatoes or grains your staple food. Hence you spare our environment and also your purse. Always remember that everything is a progress and force won’t get you closer to your goals. When you start listening to your body, you will get there at the right time. Because your body will learn what is best for it and adapt to that lifestyle and then you will crave all the fresh, ripe, whole, plant foods.

HCLF Vegan Food Pyramid

Foundation Foods: Eat Generously! Fruits: bananas, dates, papaya, mango, apple, berries, cherries, peach, nectarine, oranges, pineapple…. Cooked starches: potatoes, sweetpotatoes ,oats, rice, quinoa, mil-let, amaranth…

Leafy greens: lettuce, kale, spinach…Vegetables: tomatoes, cucumber, squash, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, pumpkin….Legumes: beans, chickpeas, lentils….

Healthy Fats: In Moderation! High Fat Fruits: avocado, olives, durian…Nuts: bazil nuts, walnuts, cashews…Seeds: chia seeds, flax seeds…

Healthy Lifestyle Tips Eat at least every 3-4 hoursEating smaller meals throughout the day keeps your bloodcsu-gar level constant. It prevents you from starving and binging due to a constant nourishment of your body. It also helps to keep your digestion flowing and is better for losing weight or maintaining a healthy body weight. Try not to go longer than 5 hours without eating.

Stay hydratedDrinking enough water throughout the day is really important. Particulary if you have digestive issues it’s important to keep your body hydrated. Try to drink at least 2-3 liters of water a day. If you are exercising or sweating you should even increase your water intake.

Plan your mealsPlaning and preparing your meals is helpful to save money but also to avoide binge eating. When you are having a mealplan you only buy the food you need and this prevents you from spending money unnecessarily. It is recommendable to prepare your meals for work/ university/ school or when you don’t have enough time to cook at home. Then you don’t have to starve and prevents binging.

Start a morning routineCreate a morning routine that makes you feel good. It is import-ant to hydrate in the morning, therefore make sure that you drink 500-1L of water before having breakfast. You also can make some lemon water or herbal tea. To give your metabolism a kick after waking up, you can do some stretching or yoga in the morning. If there is enough time you could go for a walk or workout in the

morning. But only if you feel comfortable being active without having a breakfast. Try what makes you feel comfortable being active without having a breakfast. Try what makes you feel best

and repeat that every morning.

Move your bodyMake sure that you move your body once in a while. It doesn’t have to be a hard intensive workout just go for a walk, or a little jog, do some stretching, yoga, walk your dog, dance… the im-portant point is that you have to find something you really enjoy doing! Never force yourself to some kind of workout you don’t feel comfortable with. Sometimes you have to push yourself but just do something you really love doing. Try different things like running, biking, swimming, hiking, yoga, dancing,… your oppor-tunities are endless. And then stick to it. You will see how your overall health improves with an higher activity level.

Get enough sleepSleep is important for your body to build hormones, recover from your daily activities and also for your mind to rest and relax. You should go to bed at 9 pm at the latest. Because your body is only able to produce hormones, that help your body to recover, whi-le you are sleeping. Your entire sleep should be at least 9 hours. When you don’t get enough sleep your metabolism can’t work properly.

Carb the fuck upEat enough carbohydrates from whole plants! Only if you are getting enough carbs in your brain can work properly. To get all the stuff done in your life you need energy. And carbohydrates will give you the energy you need to challenge things in your life. Make sure that you are eating enough of the right food! A who-le, plantbased diet will offer you everything you need to get your body working the way you want it to.

Love YourselfLast but most important point ever: LOVE YOURSELF! Hating yourself will never get you as far as loving yourself will. You are enough, beautiful and just the way you‘re meant to be! Love your body for what it is and gives to you, because you only have this one. Live everyday as if it is your last and enjoy life as much as you can! Be happy, grateful, nice and spread your love to everyone!The more you focus on positive experiences the more positivity will come into your life. This works not only with losing weight and being healthy & fit. This works for all aspects of life. Surround yourself with positive people because you will become like the people you spend most of your time with. Focus on having a he-althy lifestyle and be patient and give yourself the time it needs.

ExercisingWhy you should move your bodyWorking out will improve your overall health. And believe me it’s never too late to start. When you start moving your body consis-tently, it will burn needless bodyfat. As a result your inflammatory factors will reduce. Less inflammation means less illness especially those that are caused by chronic inflammation like diabetes or arteriosclerosis. Another positive effect is that your blood pres-sure drops and your cardiovascular system gets stronger. Your heart gets used to physiological stress and develops some kind of stress-resistance in all life hacks. Therefore moving your body is perfect to reduce stress and also regulates your blood sugar level.Regular workouts strengthen your immune system, burn some extra calories and build up muscles. In conclusion you will get healthier and happier through exercising. But don’t exaggerate it! Your body needs time to rest and recover. Especially if you are new to exercising start slowly. Consistency is key but don’t force yourself to work out. Moving your body should always be fun!

My Workout TipsFind Something You Enjoy Find some type of exercising that you really enoy. There are so many different ways of moving your body. If you like cardio you could go for a run, swim or bike ride. You can do dancing, gym-nastics, yoga or any other kind of workout. Lifting weights or bo-dyweight training is also an option to get into working out. But the most important part is that you enjoy doing it and that will make it way easier for you to stick to it. Remember consistency is key and if you are having fun at what you are doing it will be the easiest for you to do it again and again.

Don’t Let More Than 3 Days Pass Without MovingOnce you started your workout routine don’t let more than 3 days pass without moving your body! This is tip number 3 and my personal „golden rule“. Our body needs rest days and time to recover especially when you are a beginner and completely new to an active lifestyle. But never let more than 3 days pass without doing anything! If you are still exhausted two days after a heavy workout just go for a walk or do some stretching or yoga. This makes you feel better, helps to recover and the most important thing you’ve moved your body!

Eat Enough CarbohydratesThe fundamental requirement to get anything done in your life is to eat enough carbs. Carbohydrates equals energy for your body. That means without eating enough carbs you won’t have the energy to get shit done! When I don’t eat enough carbs, I realise that straight away. I am feeling tired, powerless and I am bad-tempered. And then I eat! ( Fruits, potatoes, rice .. ) A high carb low fat vegan diet will give you all the energy you need to get things done in your life – if you are eating enough!

Set a GoalWhen you are sure that the first condition is complied – set a goal. You need to know where you want to go. It doesn’t matter how hard you are working if you don’t have a goal you’re wor-king towards. Therefore, before you start, make sure that you’ve set a goal. This could be something like: „I want to run 10km in 1 hour.“ or „I want to be able to push 200 W for more than 1 hour on my bike.“ When you’ve already set your goal make a workout plan how you will get there.

Pre-Workout Snacks You need energy to work out. Therefore it is recommendable to eat a little snack 30 to 45 minutes before you are going to exerci

se. Best as pre-workout snack is something high in carbohydrates because it provides your cells with glucose. Therefore fruit is first choice like a banana or an apple. Dried fruits are also a very good option. When you are planning a long or intensive workout you can also have some oats with fruits & nuts.

Post-Workout MealsAfter working out you need to refill your glycogen stores. The-refore complex carbohydrates are best and in combination with some plant protein a perfect post-workout meal. Complex car-bohydrates are for example brown rice, potatoes or whole wheat pasta. To add some protein to your meal you can combine it with peas, beans or lentils.

Drink Enough WaterI mentioned before that it is really important to stay hydrated all day. When you are working out and you sweat it is even more im-portant to drink enough water. Your water intake should be 3-4 liters minimum on days you are moving.

Healthy Diet TipsHelpful Tools• High speed blender or food processor• Large chopping board• Rice cooker • Food steamer• Sharp knives • Non-sticky pan• Instant Pot

Storage Pantry: fruits, potatoes, rice, grains and pseudocereal, baking in-gredients, seeds, nuts, herbs, sweetener, granola, cereals, dried fruits …

Fridge: vegetables, plantmilk, everything that is opened, leftovers…

Freezer: bananas for nicecream, mixed berries and fruits for smoo-thies, vegetables in case that there are no fresh ones available…

Vegan On a BudgetThis is an important topic for me as well because I am a student and have a part time job but I don’t want to spend all my money on food. But also if you have a well paid job it may be interesting for you how to plan your meals to save money and especially to save time, because most people don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen after work or inbetween lectures to have a warm meal. Therefore it is helpful to be well prepared. I always plan what I will eat the next few days.This makes it easier for me to buy only the food I really need and I don’t have to throw away anything that got bad. I never leave my home without my lunchbox also when I have to leave early in the morning. Then i take my break-fast with me and eat between or during lectures. When you are

well prepared it is fun and tastes delicious as well. Make the most available food your staple. In some areas this may be bananas and dates but most times rice, potatoes, oats etc. are much che-aper in bigger amounts. This depends on where you are living and how much money you want to spend for your food and also what makes you feel the best: fruits or starches.

Fresh FoodOne oft he most important things when you eat a diet based on whole plants is that your food is fresh. We want all the vitamins and good stuff that’s in there. But the amount of vitamins and minerals decreases the longer you store your plants. Therefore make sure that you buy fresh fruits and vegetables everytime it is possible. Starches like rice, millet, quinoa… are easy to store becau-se they won’t get bad as long as you keep them in a dry place. And also potatoes are longer storable when you store them in a dry and dark room. But when it comes to all the different greens and vegetables you have so much nutrient loss if they aren’t fresh anymore. Most fruits aren’t in a ripe state when you can buy them at the stores. Bananas for example are ripe when they are spotty and most times you can only buy green ones at the supermarket so you have to ripen them at home for a few days.

Is Organic Really Necessary?I personally like buying organic food if it is affordable to me. So-metimes the organic food is a lot more expensive than the normal version. But when you have the money to buy organic, just do it! It’s an investment in your health and your body and this would be reasons enough for me. To be honest you would spend the money you’d save not buying organic anyway. I’m always looking for hot deals. Particulary fruit is available very cheap on the weekend because the new delivery will come the next week and they have to get rid of the „old“ fruits. If you need some help to decide what to buy organic and which food you can buy non-organic without having a bad conscience

there is a helpful list on the internet called „The Clean 15“ that shows you the 15 „cleanest“ fruits and vegetables. And also the „Dirty Dozen“ that contains food that you definitely should choo-se organic because of the high contamination. You can just put it into Google and search the list for your country.

Buying LocalLet’s talk about environmental pollution. This topic is also related to our diet and what we are buying at the shops. All the fruits and vegetables that are available all over the year don’t grow in your neighbour‘s garden. It is clear that they come here by trucks, ships or planes. Therefore if you want to help our environment try to buy locally grown food. There are farmers markets you can go to or sometimes supermarkets have a local brand. Maybe you are able to grow some fruits and vegetables by yourself or your parents/grandparents. This would be the absolute best option because then you can be 100% sure where your food comes from and that it isn’t contaminated.

Buying SeasonalThat leads straight to my next point: buying seasonal. Today you can buy tomatoes, apples, cucumbers, pineapple, lettuce…. and all the other fruits & vegetables all year at your local supermar-ket. There may be some exceptions like some special tropical fruit when you don’t live in a tropical area but if you are living in the western civilisation, I am pretty sure you have a huge variety of plant food the whole year. We already talked about buying local and buying seasonal goes hand in hand with it. Because if you only bought what is growing in your neighbourhood you would automatically buy seasonal. I love fruits and vegetables each in their season because they taste much better than all the green-house vegetables.

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Product Disclaimer The `Healthy Handsome Life Guide´ book is written by Xenia Rehm.No part of this eBook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including pho-tocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author.The guidelines in this book are not formulated to suit any nutrient deficiences, allergies or any other food related health problem. If you are an individual with such problems, you should consult a dietician, doctor or qualified health professional.The methods described within this eBook are the author’s personal thoughts. They are not intended to be a definitive set of instructions for this project. You may discover there are other methods and materials to accomplish the same end result. Thus, all purchasers and/or readers of this book expressly agree that their download, use, ap-plication or interpretation of this book is done so at their sole and exclusive risk.The ideas, concepts and opinions expressed in this eBook are for general information purposes only. It is not intended as medical advice and should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, illness, injury or medical condition. You should not use this Book as a substitute for qualified professional health ad-vice, diagnosis or treatment. It is imperative that you consult your physician before using this product or starting any program as fitness training and diet can result in serious or fatal injury. Risk of injury can be lessened when safe techniques and common sense are practiced.Xenia Rehm is not liable for any loss resulting from any action ta-ken or reliance made by you on any of the information or materi-al contained in this book. This eBook contains information that is intended to help the readers be better informed consumers of he-alth care. It is presented as general advice on health care. Always consult your doctor for your individual needs. Before beginning

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