Vegan-Vittles Interview with Author Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

VV: Colleen, your newest publication is such a beautiful book! Could you please share with Vegan-Vittles your motivation behind it?

Colleen: I wrote The 30-Day Vegan Challenge to answer all the questions and challenges people have when they transition from their meat-dairy-egg-based diet to one based on plants. Everything is covered. One chapter is on traveling, one is on eating out, one is on packing lunches, one is on protein, one is on iron, one is on baking without eggs, one is on living without cheese!

Essentially, we’re talking about habit changes, and people need a guide when they’re removing a familiar foundation. The 30-Day Vegan Challenge is the reader’s personal guide, helping them to replace their old foundation with a new one and inspiring them to reap for themselves the tangible benefits of living according to their values of health, kindness, and compassion. (2-minute trailer video is available here.)

VV: What ways do you think it could help someone that is not currently vegan?

Colleen: The 30-Day Vegan Challenge goes further than just educating readers in the abstract – it shows people how to put the information directly into action. I demonstrate how to read labels, to make time to cook, and show people how to pack a healthy lunch or find great vegan food while traveling. It’s so much more than just a ‘why-to’: it’s a definitive ‘how-to’! 

And it’s quite literally a guide for modifying our thinking and our behavior. Each chapter has several boxes - take-aways - that say “Challenge Your Thinking” and “Change Your Behavior.” By the end of the 30 days, they’re quite literally looking through a different - much more empowered - lens.

VV: How might it recharge and motivate the current vegan, or the "almost-vegan"?

Colleen: The book is so comprehensive and covers every question every vegan has ever been asked that even for long-time (or short-time!) vegans, it will help them hone their responses to non-vegans. For the almost-vegan, the 30-day timeframe is in itself an empowering concept: most people can rise to a challenge for that period of time, test themselves and come out stronger. And allowing ourselves that time period enables us to actually measure the tangible changes that take place and motivate them to continue.

For instance, an early chapter called Know Your Numbers encourages readers to get their numbers - cholesterol, glucose, weight, body mass index, etc. - so they can compare these numbers at the end of the 30 days. That’s incredibly empowering for people. 

VV: Where can they buy a copy of "The 30 Day Challenge"?

Colleen: Everywhere books are sold - from small independent stores to chains. Signed copies are available at my website (www.colleenpatrickgoudreau.com), but it’s also available at the large booksellers online.

A big "thank-you" Colleen, for taking the time to talk to Vegan-Vittles!