We did it!

So we completed our goal. We had a couple cheat moments but overall did really well. What we learned....we learned that we can live and feel just fine without meat and dairy. We also learned that if we make goals together they are even easier to achieve. Finally we learned that if you go on a vegan diet during February you will still have Girl Scout cookies in March. Since we have returned to a "regular" diet I feel tired, Ben and I noticed this today. During the month I complained less about feeling tired and the last two days I feel like I just want to take a long nap on the couch.

We plan to incorporate some of what we learned in February into our daily living. For example, Almond Milk in place of half and half in coffee, I'm going to go with a mostly vegetarian diet and Ben is going to do less meat. It was a great learning experience.

Today is hard!

There are those days, those days when you see a commercial and want to eat....and I mean eat everything. Today is one of those days. I want to eat everything and no matter how many fruits, vegetables, and grains I eat I still want more. It is almost 7PM and all I can think is that I would really love some Tikki Masala Chicken or cheese and crackers. That being said, hand me another glass of wine so I can forget my food desires.

Other than that I have been very content with the plant-based diet and have even embraced it with pride. I was able to tell a fellow Yogi that I am a practicing Vegan (ok, so we don't know if it is long term yet...but I'm practicing never-the-less).

Superbowl Sunday Success!

That's right, we went to a big Superbowl party with lots of cheese, dips and meats and we behaved ourselves. OK, so we mostly made meals out of chips, guacamole and vegetables (peppers, carrots and cucumber) but we didn't feel like we were missing out or that we needed to eat the pork sandwiches or chicken chili. Now time to meal plan for week two.

Oh, I stumbled across this story today on MSN. Thought I would share it. It's all about foods that help you lose weight. No big surprise that they are fruits and vegetables.

Day 4!

Today is day four and things are going well. We haven't had much problem with the plant-based diet and have actually enjoyed trying new recipes. Today we went to a vegan restaurant called Munch, the kids and Ben enjoyed pancakes with vegan bacon and sausage and I had vegetable scramble with sweet potatoes. We realized that the faux bacon and sausage are not necessarily to our liking but the corn meal pancakes were excellent. Then we walked over to a local bakery called Bleeding Heart and had these amazing vegan cupcakes. Tonight Ben made a roasted cauliflower steak on a bed on homemade garlic tomato sauce with an olive and sun-dried tomato relish; it was super yummy.

We have played with recipes this week making a spinach and cannelloni bean dip, homemade Alfredo pasta sauce with cashews, soy sauce, Dijon mustard and garlic, and garbanzo bean and black bean hummus. So far it has been a fun adventure.

Day one!

Day one was a success. Wednesday's are crazy in the Murrie home. I teach two bootcamps and spinning class so I find myself SUPER hungry. But I stuck to the Vegan Diet and got through the day with no more tummy grumble than on a normal Wednesday. Actually, I teach an AM bootcamp and am typically famished by the time we get home around 11:30AM. Yesterday I ate 100% Oats with dried mixed berries (thank you Trader Joe's) with my coffee for breakfast and I got through my class and home before my stomach began to make noise. I suppose all that fiber goes a long way. For lunch I had a mix of beans and rice with blueberries as a snack. Around 4:30 I had some cashews before I headed out to teach spinning and bootcamp back to back. After my bootcamp it's always a little late to do a full dinner so tonight I had the bean and spinach dip that Ben made with Donkey chips (corn chips from Whole Foods) and topped it all off with a cold Shiner Bock.

Over all I feel just fine, I don't have more or less energy YET! I don't plan on posting a daily update but figured day one was a good day to post and every few days I'll give an update. Thanks to all who have been showing great support in this process. I guess we'll see how we feel at the end of the month. Happy eating!

February as a Vegan

Anyone that really knows me knows that I love cheese, chocolate and a good steak. So the fact that I/we have decided to go vegan for February may have some of you thinking...NOT GONNA HAPPEN!

Ok, I get it, I doubt myself as well. But this is something that we have really contemplated. I consider myself to be a healthy person. I work out regularly, eat healthy, I sleep enough, and maintain a healthy weight; so why am I tired? I have read more and more about how animal-based foods cause many health problems and plant-based foods are the best for you; even reversing some health issues such as diabetes, heart disease, and cholesterol. But you may say...we are supposed to eat meat...we are carnivores. If we are true carnivores, wouldn't we have the teeth to jump on the back of a cow and bite through the hide? Just saying, maybe we are not meant to eat meat, and if we are we are definitely eating too much.

A couple weeks ago we rented Forks Over Knives and were really inspired to make a change. We have cleared our home of temptations, shopped for plant-based foods and slowly worked animal-based foods out of our diet for the last couple of weeks.

I decided to blog about it every few days. I thought, if I write about it not only will it be on my mind but others will hold me accountable. The funny thing is I think this is going to be easier for Ben than for me. So, we begin February 1st and we need your support. I am interested to see how I feel; if I feel differently at all.