I myself am not a perfect vegan. Nor am I a perfect vegan activist (whatever that means) -- far from it. But I will always seek to do better, both in my personal veganism and as an activist. And I have to tell you that each time I encounter a vegan or vegan activist my heart swells.

Think about someone who loves animals and wants to live more compassionately. He checks out veganism, but is bewildered and discouraged by what seems to him to be a lot of rules and a lot of deprivation. He turns to a vegan for help and is told that, "veganism is easy."

For those unfamiliar to veganism, it can be to easy overlook that the compassion associated with helping animals is meant to extend to helping humans, as well. The beautiful thing about choosing a plant-based diet is that in one choice, you can start to help save the world. Literally.

The next time someone questions your commitment because you took an animal-tested painkiller or mentions that "wildlife died to grow all those soybeans, you know," you'll know what they're up to.

When an email made the rounds of the Healthy Living quarters a few weeks ago asking for a poor soul to sacrifice all that is wonderful in their diet -- i.e. to go vegan -- for a series of blog posts, I volunteered.

When I transitioned to a vegan home, I thought the conversion would be as tedious as picking lice out of a child's thick hair. I discovered that it was a spiritually uplifting process that helped to teach me mindfulness.

I'd really like to lose 15, but I might lose 5. Either way, I need to feel good in my own skin and accept the fact that I'm not going to get any cuter.