Going Vegan!

So as we all know I LOVE documentaries. Netflix has a great database for documentaries and I take full advantage of them. My two most recent faves were Farmageddon  and Vegucated. I highly recommend both and if you have Netflix they are both on there,

Boom! Easy peasy!

Farmageddon looks into the way our government over regulates local organic farmers while they let farm factories slide on by. I was disgusted after watching this documentary and it furthered pushed my desire to eat local and shop at farmers markets, which Matt and I have begun to do! Yay! Our local one in Bastrop is pretty small but we got some AMAZING bell peppers, eggplant, pretzel bread and honey -- all grown or made locally- and definitely plan on going back. I also have been trying to find a farm where I can buy raw milk. The benefits of raw milk are astronomical:  proteins, it's lactobacalli bacteria intact (which allows people with lactose allergy to drink it!!), good fats,

vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and beneficial bacteria. 

Matt actually did find a farm near us that does sell raw milk (and milk products such as yogurt and cheese) that we plan on checking out. However, my raw milk hunt is temporarily MOOt because.....

Last night I came home, flicked on Netflix and found a nice little documentary to watch: Vegucated.

This documentary follows 3 meat loving New Yorkers as they go vegan for 6 weeks with the help of the film maker who is vegan herself. This documentary was a huge eye opener for me. Matt and I have been buying "free range" chicken and eggs and "grass fed" beef for awhile now and we will continue to always do so; we are even in the talks about getting our own chickens.  However,  learning about how the majority of Americans get their meat, eggs, and dairy, from farm factories that cruelly treat the animals and brutally execute them once they've served their purposes was horrifying. Here's the facts that stuck with me: 

1) male baby chicks serve no purpose so they are therefore killed immediately either by being GROUND ALIVE or just thrown in the trash to starve/suffocate to death

2) Other chickens are killed by being hung upside down, heads in water and then electricity is shot through the water. after they live their entire lives in tiny cages where their beaks are sawed down so they can't peck each other to death

3) pigs are thrown into boiling water to be killed and sometimes skinned while still alive. 

4) baby calves are taken from their mothers within 48 hours of life and either sold for veil, killed, or sent to another farm to live a horrible existence.

Had enough? Yeah me too. Now, not ALL farms are like this, but the majority of them are, and that's enough for me to try to give another lifestyle a try: a vegan lifestyle. The documentary goes into way more details of how beneficial a plant based diet is for our bodies and the earth, but I am not going to go into the details. Watch the documentary! You won't be disappointed :) 

So this morning I presented the idea to Matt about me wanting to try to go vegan for 6 weeks (as they did in the documentary) and his first response was "I'm not doing it!!!" "I can't survive that way" "I NEED meat."  Which I totally expected. He has a career that causes him to exert A LOT more energy then I do. I know he COULD do it, but I also understand that he does not want to, and I respect that. Just as he respects the fact that I want to try to do this. So we packed up and drove into Austin to go to Whole Foods. I stocked up on lots of veggies, fruits, some quinoa, peanut butter (a must have in my life) and a few other vegan substitutes- such as Nada Moo vegan ice cream- made with coconut milk. It's all organic and all AMAZING! I love it! I felt I would struggle the most when I watched Matt eat things I couldn't (like ice cream-- oh how I love ice cream) but having this alternative substitute will be great for me!

So that's my background on the start of this 6 week(and maybe forever journey) 

I am going to be tracking my struggles and accomplishments, my likes and dislikes, my new favorite dishes and things I could live with out. I plan on going full vegan my first week (giving up dairy is going to be hard for me, I love Greek yogurt and cheese-- I also plan on continue using my whey protein for after my workouts- I want to continue to build muscle) But I will have NO meat for 6 weeks. I hope you'll follow my journey on this! I have already had so much support from friends on Facebook and would love if y'all commented/questioned on here too.  

Til tomorrow,

Stay fit friends.

xoxo Katie