Celebrity Vegetarians - Choose Your Motivator

You've heard being a vegetarian is healthier, can help the environment, and is more humane. Do you know which of your favorite celebrities or sports heroes are living a vegetarian lifestyle? Here's a sample.

Actors

Hollywood has embraced a healthy lifestyle and the social, environmental, and spiritual benefits that accompany a plant-based diet. Famous vegetarians include Alec Baldwin, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ellen DeGeneres, Richard Gere, Christie Brinkley, Tobey Maguire, Demi Moore, Clint Eastwood, and Brad Pitt.

Athletes

Many successful athletes, even in macho sports like football, have embraced the vegetarian lifestyle. These include Tony Gonzalez, perennial pro-bowl tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, and Joe Namath, hall of fame quarterback. Who says you can't be big and strong if you don't eat meat!

Tennis great Martina Navratilova attributes a vegetarian diet for her success on the professional circuit well into her late 40s. Ruth Heidrich, three-time champion in the grueling iron man triathlon, is a vegetarian. Carl Lewis, the Olympic track star, is a committed vegan.

And when your friends ask about how you can possibly get enough protein on a vegetarian diet, tell them the world record-holder in the bench press, Stan Price, is a vegetarian. In basketball, hall-of-famer Bill Walton is a vegetarian.

Musicians

Many performers are activist vegetarians. Here are just a few: Alanis Morissette, Jeff Beck, Barry White, Billy Idol, John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Chris Martin (Coldplay), Robin Gibb (Beegees), Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam), and Jon Anderson (Yes).

Geniuses

Vegetarians in history include Albert Einstein, Vincent Van Gogh, Jean-Jaques Rousseau, Albert Schweitzer, Cesar Chavez, and Isaac Newton.

Motivators

Great teachers like Deepak Chopra, Tony Robbins, and of course the Dali Lama are vegetarians.

Choose your hero or motivator from the millions of vegetarians. Whether its health, weight loss, the environment, or the humane treatment of animals that motivates you, you are in good company.