Hello everyone!

So I've been thinking about doing this for a while now and I figure I need to just stop procrastinating and do it. I've decided that for the entire month of May I'm going to go on a completely Vegan and Organic diet. I want to begin this weight loss journey with a mentality that I can not only eat what I want but make healthier choices for my body and the environment.

One month, no mean, no dairy, no animal by products, all natural foods. I'm nervous and excited at the same time. I wanted to know if anyone would be interested in going at it with me. We can check in here, share how we're doing, our challenges, secret recipes we found to be absolutely delicious, anything.

Along with the vegan/organic eating I am also committing to working out for at least 20 minutes a day 6 days a week. I found a free app on my iPod (Nike Training Center for Women) that has some really great workouts you can do at home without equipment. I did the 15 minute ab workout two days ago and the next morning could feel the tightness in my abs which is always a plus.

Anyhoo, if anyone is interested in going at this with me (even if you want to do a variation) please don't hesitate to contact me. I'm always logged in on AIM and Yahoo! So shoot me a message there if ya need to.

Can't wait to hear from some of you!!!!

-Li

Also, anyone have any site or books that offer some tasty Vegan dishes?

Hello and congratulations on being a trial vegan! My 3 favorite cookbooks are currently: The Vegan Table, Appetite for Reduction, and (not exactly recommended for weight loss) The Joy of Vegan Baking. I use the last one mostly to bake for special occasions when I need to provide a cake for someone's birthday etc, and everything usually turns out awesome!

What is really cheap is to buy one of those plastic excersize balls! They are super and make most excersizes fun. If you use it as a chair also while working on the pc or watching tv you actually work out a bit more than if you sit on a chair.
I bought mine for 20 euro and I never looked back

Have fun trying the vegan diet. I'll go for it in the future. But I am already working on so many changes atm but I am still getting used to being a vegetarian, not drinking soda etc and I do not want to force too many changes too fast.

My advise: Try veggies you never even tried before. Asparagus, rhubarb, turnips, artichokes... whatever is exotic at your place. It is amazing what variety of tastes we don't eat so we can have meat every day.

Yeah for going vegan! My weight loss journey started by going vegan for a week and loving it and continueing from there. I lost weight without even working at it. I had so much energy and motivation that I kept going with it. Even though I am vegan now I still watch my calories and exercise daily.

vegweb.com is the best vegan recipe site and fatfreevegan.com is also pretty good. I just ordered Appetite for Reduction on Amazon and am looking forward to it.

Good luck on your vegan journey and let me know if you need any tips or support throughout

Hey Li!
I'm going to try and do this with you. I already foresee some challenges, and I'm not sure at what point I'll discuss it with my family. I visit them every weekend. This weekend I'll be bringing my own food (and we'll see how that goes over...).
I've been doing a lot of searching on the web and there is a blog that I absolutely love: veganyumyum.com. She wrote a book, too. I also was trying to find some blogs about people that were on the journey to veganism, but no suck luck.
I'll be checking in here and offering my experiences and two cents! Great to hear I'm not alone!

-Ashley

Oh, and I also bought two cookbooks, but haven't had the money to make anything yet (though pay day was today, so I'll be shopping and cooking!!!). I'll share what I find in those, too.

@JayZeeJay I will definitely check those out. Definitely want the baking book. I am a sucker for sweets and will limit myself to a couple every now and then. I had a vegan brownie this afternoon from a market up the road from my house...it was glorious. Thanks again for the suggestions!!!

@Chubbykins I should really look into getting one of those. I'm on the computer a lot and having an exercise ball would probably work wonders. I think I may go look for one this weekend. Thanks! Also, I am always up for trying new veggies. I use to HATE Artichokes, tried them again today for the first time in years and loved them! I'll definitely keep my eye open for new, exotic fruits and veggies.

@Jesscobedo thanks luv! I will most definitely be contacting you if I have a breakdown a day or two into the change from not being able to eat cheese. lol Also thanks for the websites, I checked them out for a few minutes and love them already!

@ade903 yay! Alright! I'm excited! This will be great having a partner during this challenge. I will definitely be in touch with you, I'm going to talk to my vegan friend and ask her what she thinks would be good to have starting out. I also downloaded an app on my iPod- 21 day Vegan kickstart- has some pretty awesome recipes. I'll check out the blog you shared as well. Can't wait!!!

Well, I had a vegan dinner tonight (after a mostly vegan day)...
I had steamed collard greens and brocollini, along with vegan "steak" with black pepper sauce. And a few bites of ice cream (made from coconut milk). I got it all at Whole Foods. It was pretty good. The texture of the "steak" was pretty good, but the flavor was just so-so for me. It came with the sauce, which was amazing. I also had a soy yogurt earlier, along with a vegan burger, which was great. The cereal I had for breakfast had honey in it, and I had some cheese later in the day. I already bought this stuff pre-vegan me, and I figure it would be terrible to throw it out. I'll probably end up giving it to my sister.

Off to my parent's house now...we'll see how that goes!

@Ashley Good luck! Sounds like you had a great day. Unfortunatley there's not a whole foods near by for me but we have a place that sells organic foods and vegan dishes as well. hmmmm now I want vegan ice cream. Good Karma has been the best tasting that I have found so far.

Do you have a trader Joe's?

Ugh no!!! I have to drive a little ways to get to one but I could do it. We have a place here, http://www.mustardseedmarket.com/, that is pretty great. They sell a lot of vegan dishes along with organic products and produce do I think I'll be spending a lot of my money there. lol

I'm not a vegan but I wanted to recommend a cookbook called Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (she also wrote Appetite for Reduction). It has some fantastic recipes -- the soups especially are amazing. I highly recommend the white bean and roasted garlic soup. Because of this book I now know how to soak and cook beans, I totally didn't know that before.
She also has a mean tofu scramble recipe and the gigantoid peanut butter oatmeal cookies are fab. Every single recipe I tried out of that book was great, I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Good luck on your challenge! You can do it!

@Spooky thank you so much. I will check that book out asap!!!! <3

Just checking in! Day one went great! Had Apple Cinnamon oatmeal for breakfast and a wrap (hummus, cucumber, and alfalfa sprouts) and baked potato for lunch and dinner. I managed to work out three times today. 1.5 hours of Zumba, 1/2 hour of zumba toning, and a 15 minute ab burner workout. Bring on the rest of the month!!!!