What I Eat in a Day

Breakfast: Arrowhead Mills Flax hot cereal with almond butter, agave syrup, and a banana. Sometimes I just add blackstrap molasses and a banana to the hot cereal. It makes for a yummy and filling hot breakfast!

Morning Snack: Apple and roasted soy nuts

Lunch: Amy's Three bean and pasta soup with added tofu for extra protein. Broccoli too :)

Afternoon Snack: Homemade chewy granola bar and carrots. I found this granola bar recipe on vegweb and it's delicious. All my coworkers asked for the recipe and make their own version and their kids even love it!

Dinner: Blackbean veggie burger on Dave's killer bread. For condiments I used hummus, cucumber and arugula

I didn't take a picture of my evening snack, but usually I'll have something like a piece of fruit or toast with almond butter along with soy hot cocoa (made with soy milk and unsweetened cocoa).

Day 1

I had a lovely day. I had a doctor's appointment and because my weight has dramatically improved since my last appointment two months ago, I am approved for exercise. Specifically, 20-40min cardio 3times per week, and strength training as well. Using my new "privileges" I did a TRX class at the YMCA with my parents. It's using these rope like things attached to the ceiling for strength building. I think my body was craving cardio, but this was nice too. I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow since I haven't done strength building in a long time.

8am- 1/2c mostly fruit muesli, 1c soy milk, coffee with 2TB soy vanilla creamer and 1/2 tsp raw sugar
12p- black bean veggie burger on 2pc Dave's Killer Light Bread w/ 1TB hummus and arugula, apple
1pm- coffee with 2 TB vanilla soy creamer
4pm- homemade vegan chewy granola bar
7pm- 2/3c (dry) curry lentil soup, steamed edamame
8pm- large sweet potato, raspberry soy yogurt

Calories: 1760 (1500-2000)
Protein: 72g (70-80)
Carbs: 295g (>200)
Fat: 38g (65)

Exercise: 45 TRX class

Definitely need to work on getting my fat intake up!

Why Vegan?

I'm not doing this for the label. First and foremost, I'm doing it for health. The way I've been eating is NOT taking care of my body. I've found the vegan diet makes me feel good about what I'm putting into my body. Especially after watching documentaries like Food Inc, I realize what I put in my body impacts everything.

I've also been made aware from educating myself how the industry treats animals with such cruelty, simply for profit. I was shocked to learn about the evolution of slaughterhouses since industrialization. Don't even get me started because I could rant about it for hours. I have to make myself shut up when talking to friends about my newfound passion. 

My Goal? To treat my body and other beings with kindness. I think I can take a step towards my life goal as a vegan! SO I'm going completely vegan for the next 30 days. I'm choosing it for my health and ethics.

I've been 95% vegan the past two weeks. Abstaining from meat wasn't difficult since I've never been a big meat eater anyways. The only two things I usually have on a daily basis that don't fit into a vegan diet are yogurt and honey. THANKFULLY, both are easily substituted with things like soy yogurt and agave syrup. I've also been weaning myself off artificial sweeteners like splenda and products containing sucralose or aspartame. 

So starting tomorrow is DAY ONE of being completely vegan- no poultry, fish, dairy, eggs, or honey. AND no artificial sweeteners. After 30 days, I'll re-evaluate and see if this is something I want to continue as a lifestyle. This blog is my journey and I hope you join me! :)