We hope that after participating in a PDX Veg Challenge you will be inspired to continue on your vegan journey. Virginia Messina, MPH, RD, points out that people abandon vegan diets for many reasons and one of them is that they lose faith in the benefits of eating this way. Is it any wonder? We tell them that the pounds will just melt away or that vegans don’t get cancer or that vegans can count on aging as beautifully as Christie Brinkley. And what do you know–somehow they figure out that these things aren’t true. They figure out that they can drink kale smoothies from now until forever and they still aren’t going to look like a super model or be bullet proof when it comes to chronic disease.