March (Recipe) Madness

This month I have embraced a few fast and simple recipes. As I mentioned in the previous post, I started my grad program at Lesley University (M.Ed. with an emphasis in Mathematics), and my life has turned into a crazy never ending merry-go-round of crossfitting, eating, teaching, planning, babysitting, eating, studying, eating, sleeping, repeat. I hardly have time to spend with friends let alone prepare meals that including chopping, dicing, soaking or baking.  I recently discovered the frozen rice medley isle at Trader Joe's and that has saved me! My absolute fav? Japanese Fried Rice: white rice (although I would prefer brown), seaweed, edamame, tofu and spices. I buy a can of organic black beans, throw both in a skillet add kale and wa-la! Fast, cheap and easy and makes enough for two lunches.

I do have some underlying guilt about buying products that come in packages, which eventually contribute to our overflowing landfills. In the past I have spent the time buying everything in bulk, soaking beans and making everything from scratch. Once my grad program is done and I can support myself without the added income of babysitting, I can revert back to my more eco-friendly habits.

Clover is one my favorite vegetarian restaurants in the Boston area. They have an amazing BBQ seitan sandwich that I used to eat religiously at least once a week, until I found out that it was made with real mayo! GROSS. I swear, when I first ordered it over a year ago, I asked the young hipster cashier if it was vegan and he said yes. A month ago I discovered that no, it's made with eggs, and cheese! What? I was pissed. I turned around and drove directly to Whole Foods to get all the ingredients I would need to make my own vegan version of my favorite dish. Here's what I came up with...

Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Tortillas  (I mentioned these in the So Many Avos post)
WestSoy Seitan Strips
Ketchup Barbecue Sauce (I'm blanking on the brand, I'll check when I get home)
Tomatoes
Avoacdos
Vegenaise

I brown the seitan strips, then add BBQ sauce in the skillet. I cut up half an avocado and half a tomato, warm up the tortilla in the microwave. Throw everything into the tortilla and add some vegenaise. It is SO delicious. Matt can hear me moaning from the next room every time I eat one!

Tacos in general are a staple dinner item for me. Another favorite of mine; Dr. Praeger's California Veg burger, chopped up with tomato and avocado in an Ezekiel tortilla.

13's, Bruises and Vegan Podcasts

It seems every post I begin with "It's been so long since my last post...". But really, they are becoming few and far between. Tack on the start of my masters program and my life could not be crazier. I've had to reach out to my crossfit family for a place to crash once a week; I can not believe the generosity I received! People opening up their homes to me left and right. I am so blessed to have found CFN! Tonight will be my first night staying with Michele and her momma, thank goodness they have pets because I'll be missing my kitties like crazy.

Crossfit 

Three week ago today began the start of the 2013 Crossfit Open. I never thought I would take it as seriously as I have been. Goodness knows I have NO CHANCE at making it to the regionals, but it has sparked a friendly competitive vibe all throughout Crossfit Newton. The Friday night after 13.1 was released, the gym was packed with athletes and spectators. I had completed the workout that morning, but came back for the nighttime classes to cheer on my fellows! It was a huge adrenaline rush watching my friends kick their own asses, screaming, grunting, sweating and finally collapsing on the floor. I couldn't imagine having a more grueling WOD, but then came 13.2. Although shorter in length, it proved much more taxing in the end. 13.3 is announced tonight at 8pm eastern time, I can't wait to see what they've thought of next!

Yesterday our school district was closed due to snow, so I slept in and went to the 12:30 class. It was fun to workout with other people, including Jodie, one of the owner's of the gym. She is in her early 40's and she's a bad-ass crossfitter! It was great WODing next to her (is that even a word??). Here's what we had to do:

WOD 1:
4-6 power cleans (85-125#)  95×6, 105×5, 115×6, 120×3 
rest 15 sec
3-10 HSPU       (3 mats) 5/5/6/6
rest 2-3 min
Do 4x total

On the last set of power cleans I failed twice at the end. Came back after the last set of HSPU and successfully did a 4th power clean. Apparently my right leg does most of the brunt work! lol...

It's hard to see, but I have bruises all up and down my right thigh and none on my left.  

WOD 2

50 cal on airdyne

50 dbl-unders  *got 26 in a row (PR!)

50 cal on the rower

50 dbl-unders

50 cal on the airdyne

50 dbl-unders

Took 18min20sec. Had some trouble getting a rhythm on the 2nd and 3rd rounds of double unders. 

Diet

Matt and I went to Veggie Galaxy for brunch last weekend, it was SO amazing. It is a vegetarian only restaurant, and all their items can be made vegan upon request. I had pancakes and potatoes, matt had pancakes, potatoes and an eggless omelet. I was unsure about a tofu-based omelet, but I tasted it and fell in love. I know what I'm getting next time!

Veggie Galaxy brunch. YUM!

I started listening to Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's podcast "Food for Thought". She is the author of a plethora of vegan cookbooks including; The 30-day Vegan Challenge, Color me Vegan, and Vegan's Daily Companion. In the podcast she covers issues related to the vegan lifestyle; using research to back up her claims and ideas. She's an amazing speaker, so intelligent and thoughtful. I used to listen to it when I was vegan back in 2011, and am so happy I stumbled across it again. I re-visited some podcasts I had already heard; it made me aware of how differently I view veganism today than I once did. It used to be a burden, I fought to stay away from cheese and other dairy products. Now, if I'm in the presence of cheese it doesn't even cross my mind to have a bite. It has also showed me how my awareness and compassion has grown tremendously in the past year and a half.  I never thought my love for animals, all animals, could be any more than it was back in 2011, but somehow it has grown even stronger. I attribute it to my heightened awareness towards the treatment and cruelty of animals farmed for our use and consumption. Colleen's podcast keeps me honest, aware and compassionate and keeps me up-to-date on all current issues. I am so thankful to have her insight and thoughts guiding me through each day.

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. What a happy pig!

They're under there somewhere!

It has been WEEKS since my last post. A 10 day trip to California, followed by a slow transition into my regular 6-days/week crossfit routine, had me discouraged and unmotivated to blog. I was able to crossfit at home in California; but could only bolster enough motivation to go every-other-day. My high school Econ teacher opened a box in Novato, Ca called Crossfit North Marin. My experience at CFNM was fantastic; the coaches were motivating and encouraging, the members were friendly and welcoming. But alas, it wasn't CFN, it wasn't my regular class time, and it wasn't my morning crew. Although leaving my family and flying back across the country was hard, I couldn't wait to get back into my regular routine and workout with my regular folk :)

Since my return, I have hit PRs in my deadlift (225#), strict press (75#) and back squat(175#)!! I started practicing butterfly pull-ups--I took time to video tape myself practicing--it definitely looks like a butterfly pull-up! My chin almost reaches the bar, and I can only do 3-4 in a row. But I'm proud of myself for working at it, I'll get it soon enough! I have also been practicing double unders, and successfully did 9 in a row last week. DUs were incorporated into a WOD two days ago; my calves were so tight and sore yesterday!

After class this morning, I was in the bathroom changing into my work clothes (some days my shower is postponed until after work!), and I took a peak in the mirror. I was surprised to see a hint of abs!! Excitement overcame and I had to snap a photo. I knew they would reveal themselves soon enough...

The past couple weeks I have added another delicious meal to my menu; quinoa with lemon-tahini sauce, steamed kale, tomatoes, red bell peppers and a Dr. Praeger's California Veggie Burger. It's quick, easy and delicious. I make a batch on Sunday, and have it for lunch mon-wed. I have also added rice crackers and hummus to the mix, along with honey roasted peanut butter on rice cakes. 2+ months in and I am happy to report that my animal-friendly food choices do not negatively affect my performance at the gym. I feel strong and am happy with my progress over the past 4+ months.

Get outta here Nemo

Crossfit

Nemo made an appearance this past weekend, did you hear? I live in Somerville but I crossfit at CFN because I teach in Newton.  I didn't drive into Newton on Friday (school was canceled due to the storm) and instead worked out with my boyfriend at his gym; Total Performance Sports. This gym is great as far as regular gyms go; bumper plates, pull-ups bars, tires, ropes and tons of atlas stones! (See below). The gym is located on the 3rd floor and the owner prefers you don't drop heavy weights. So there is a garage, separate from the main building, designed for heavy lifting days. It's small, bleak and chilly, and you need to check out a key to get in. We were working on snatches...

I actually failed this weight (95#)

I worked up to 75#, attempted the 95#, failed and then gave up. It was so cold down there! I kicked myself later though; I totally could have snatched 95.

Atlas stones (there were even more to the left!)

Back to Nemo's visit; we were stuck in the apartment all afternoon and evneing on Friday. The mayor of MA put a ban on driving and didn't lift it until Sunday. Even on Sunday driving conditions weren't ideal for my small, two-wheel drive Toyota Matrix. Long story short? I didn't crossfit for two days in a row and I was going crazy!

THE ULTIMATE MEAL

probably not, but that's what the can says!

Grayson, a guy I workout with at CFN gave it to me the other day. He bought it awhile back and didn't enjoy the taste. And boy was he right!! This is not the kind of protein powder you can mix in water. You need to mask the taste with any kind of smoothie you can get your hands on. I'm keeping this bad-boy at work and have Odwalla Superfood on hand. After my morning WODs I mix 1/3 cup of the powder with 18ish ounces of superfood; it's grainy and mealy...but I somehow get it down. 

Lets see what makes up THE ULTIMATE MEAL...

Cals 170

Protein 15g

Carbs 30g 

Ingredients

brown rice protein

pea protein

flax seed

sprouted yellow peas

amaranth

millet

spirulina 2000mg

Vit. D2  2000IU

lecithin 1500mg

broccoli 500mg

vit. C 500mg

horsetail herb 400mg

Vit. E 300IU

Calcium 250mg

and the list goes on and on, but I'm tired of typing. 

Holy Blood Blister, Batman!

Crossfit

It's been awhile since my last post; lack of a fast computer will be my excuse. As I mentioned earlier last week, I started the competitor WODs at CFN. Before the switch, I would stay after class and work on skills and olympic lifts. But man, these new workouts involve are longer and more strenuous then the previous workouts I had been doing. Afterwards I have no more time and energy to work on anything else. It has totally sidelined my extra skills practice! 

Friday was a combination of 3 separate WODs. It was my first time doing HSPU and rope climbs in a WOD which was pretty exciting for me. I had to use 3 ab mats for the HSPUs, but hey, I was stoked nonetheless. 

On Saturday we had the choice of doing a 5K row or 4 mile run. Rowing is relatively new to me, so I like to take advantage of opportunities to hone the skill so I chose the 5K row. I kept a pretty consistent pace at 2:10 min splits and felt really great and powerful the first 3,000 meters. I started to get tired at 3,000 meters but kept the same pace. From 4,000-4,500 I picked up the pace averaging 2:05min splits. And the last 500 meters I kicked it up another knotch and kept a 1:59min pace finishing the 5K in 21:13. I was proud of my work, and energized to keep going so I worked on squat cleans and toes to bar. 

Sunday was an off day, but the adrenaline from the day before was still going strong so I bundled up and went on my first run in the snow! I ran the 3.25 mile loop around the Charles River, crossing the Harvard and Longfellow bridge. It was beautiful out and so exhilarating! 

Somehow after my run I was still pumped up, so I did some dumbbell snatches and practiced my kipping pull-ups. I PRed at 8 in a row (last week was 7)

ready, set, go!

Huge Swing!

get up there chin!

I took Monday off due-to a superbowl hangover and picked up with today's WOD: 

1. Deficit Deadlift

Deficit of 45Lb plates

This will be done with a clean grip and good form. work to a heavy 5

Keep a tight back and lats. If the hips move, the bar moves.

*it was challenging to hold on to the bar! I was able to do #165 x 5

2. “21″

There is a 3 min rest between A,B, and C

A) 7 min amrap   

7 thrusters@75/55

7 chest to bar pull-ups *had to do regular pull-ups

7 box jumps 20″

**4 rounds + 7 thursters and 2 pull-ups

B) 7 min amrap 

7 squat clean@95/65

7 pull ups

12 calories airdyne

**3 rounds + 1 squat clean

There were only 3 airdyne's available, so coach Rob and I decided I would do 10 calories on the rower. 

C) 7 min amrap

24 double unders

12 wall balls

6 knees to elbow(knees must touch the elbows)

**2 rounds + 24 double unders + 6 wall balls
Still working on double unders, so had to do 1du then 1 single etc, until I completed 24 double unders- this slowed me down. 

After 3 wods with bar work, I looked down at my hand and found this funny thing...

Hiding under a callus is a nice big blood blister. My first thought? "Holy blood blister, batman!" I haven't popped it yet...yikes

Vegans are weak and/or fat

Crossfit
Today while I was researching "vegan + crossfit", I came across a forum on crossfitbrandx.com that was upsetting. Someone posted this question...

"I have been on a vegan diet for a couple of months now and was wondering how that would mesh with crossfit?"

Most of the responses were ignorant, uneducated and some actually disrespectful:

"You’ll never be able to do a pull up."

"...meat will best facilitate adaptation to the CrossFit stimulus (and any of the other of life’s stimuli for that matter)."

"...it is very difficult to get the amount of protein necessary to support CrossFit on a vegan diet. It can be done, its just harder and generally more tiresome."

"Marla Singer was a ten year Vegan who started at our gym...she wanted to do pull ups. I told her that there was only one thing everyone that could do pull ups had in common in our gym. Tall people, short people, skinny people, muscular people…..they all ate meat. "

" I have yet to see a committed vegan who isn’t weak and/or fat." <----Don't get me started on this one

etc. etc. etc,

I started at Crossfit Newton at the end of October, although I've only been vegan for the past 30 days, I've been vegetarian for 3+ years, and I have seen amazing progress since I started. In just 3 months I have:

- lost 3.42% body fat
- gained 5.2 lbs lean body mass
- lost 6.2 lbs of fat
- Gone from black banded pull-ups to band-free kipping pull-ups (I just did 7 in a row this past weekend!)
- 1RM deadlift has increased from 185# to 215#
- 1RM front squat has increased from 135# to 155#
- push press from #95 to #120
- power clean #85 to #125

(I've gained a ton in most areas, but my workout log is at the gym and this is all I could remember off the top of my head.)

This is why I started this blog; I want to prove that one can be vegan and be a successful crossfitter. I don't care what your diet preference is, just don't hate on mine! let me gain muscle, get stronger and improve without the criticism :) Thanks!


Tuesday's WOD

10 rounds

10 calorie row

10 box jumps@24/20

10 banded kbs (35# with small blue band)

10 burpees

This was hands down the hardest WOD I've done since I started crossfit back in October. 3 rounds in I thought there was no way in hell I was going to finish! My mindset was very negative, I was miserable. Then I realized I could kind of catch my breath during the row, so I used that as my motivation..."After these burpees, I get a little break". And of course, the burpees were the worst part, so I broke it down into 5's, never resting but keeping a nice steady pace. At 29:55 I had finished and collapsed on the floor, and couldn't do much for the next 5-7 minutes! The rest of the day I felt great, and I continue to look back at that workout and praise myself for completing it.


Diet
(The first number is calories the second number is grams of protein)

Breakfast
Vega Sport 120/26
Small bowl cereal 180/6
almond milk 60/1

Snack
Soba noodles 435/16.5

Lunch
2 cups black beans beans + spices 454/30
1/2 avocado 161/2
24 tortilla chips chips 280/4

Snack
Apple 100
Luna bar 180/9
Bag of lay's baked potato chips 130/2

Dinner
Ezekiel tortilla 150/6
BBQ sauce 20
Seitan 120/21
1/2 avocado 161/2

Smoothie (1 banana, 3/4cp OJ, 5 strawberries, kale)-250 cals

2800 cals
125 grams protein

I ate a lot today! WAY too many calories. BUT a ton of protein...on a vegan diet? no way! well, yes way. If you're a clean, healthy vegan, you can most definitely get all the protein you need. But I could have passed up the tortilla chips and potato chips to bring it down to 2390 calories. The WOD was long and rough, I probably burned a lot of calories, so 2400 calories is decent.

Kipping Pull-ups = rips

Crossfit
Ouch. Look what I did this weekend! I did 7 kipping pull-ups in a row, I was quite proud of myself. I came down off the bar, and found this bad-boy staring up at me. It was my first one, and I was stoked; I was walking around the gym showing people...and then I washed my hands and wished I could take all that gloating back.

I signed up for a competition in New Hampshire on April 13th, along with a few other girls from CFN. It will be my second comp., and I feel a lot better about this one. I have been putting a lot of extra time in at the gym, and my coach invited me to do competitor WODs now! I did my first one this morning with Joel and Dan:

1. Clean and Jerk

6 min to establish your heaviest 2    (115#)

once you put your hands on the bar you have 14 seconds to complete 2 reps

2. Front Squat

heaviest 1 for the day  (155#)

3. AMRAP 12 or complete 1 round

50 thrusters@95/65  (55#)

75 dbl-unders  *I can only do 3-5 consecutive DUs, so coach had me do singles every-other and still count them 

40 chest to bar or regular pull-ups 

*I was able to complete 30 before the 12 minutes were up. My hand was taped due to the rip, and the tape was getting in the way! Near the end I was only doing 1 at a time. 

Diet

My diet wasn't fantastic this weekend. Of course I did not consume any animal products, but I didn't eat a lot! I hadn't prepared full meals since last weekend, so I was surviving on Amy's brand products- which are delicious, don't get me wrong...but not my best option. On Saturday I had crossfit in the morning and for lunch I had an Amy's burrito and Amy's soup. Then i went out drinking with friend's and all I ate were sweet potato fries from a bar! Needless to say, I was starving the next morning (and the hangover didn't help). Thank goodness Matt went shopping yesterday so I made potatoes, beans and rice last night. I'll do kale and fruit smoothies this week to get my veggies in. It's strange, I'm vegan, yet I hardly eat vegetables. What's up with that??

I have been testing out vegan protein powders, this morning I had Vega Sport Performance Protein in vanilla.  It wasn't too bad compared to others that I've tried. It's more expensive than the others but I only do protein shakes every-other-day, so it's worth it.

Rope-climbs...a success!

This morning's workout:

Strength
L-sits - accumulate 2 minutes
I can't kick my legs out yet, just have my knees up. 

WOD
50-40-30-20-10
kbs 35#
double unders

9min 55 sec

The scaling for double unders was jumping over a bar with 10lb plates, side-to-side.  


After the WOD I worked on banded HSPU and rope climbs. My first time working on rope climbs, and I got them! I'm currently going with the wrap method; I find it easier to hold and Annie Thorisdottir uses this method, and she's a beast.

Also, did I mention I got new shoes? I was using regular running shoes, but I picked up some cute New Balance Minimus from City Sports this weekend. I was running around the store in them, and was so excited I couldn't speak properly.

They're very light, with thin soles. They have worked out great so far. 

Due to the type of food I'm eating, I get hungry pretty quickly so I always have snacks on hand. On my way from the gym to work this morning, I contemplated how much I actually eat in any given day. So I'm tracking my food for the next couple days, including calories and grams of protein. 

Breakfast

-one crunchy rice roll from trader joes (45cals, 1g protein) + 1 tbs peanut butter (95cals, 4g protein)

-2 cups Barbara's Shredded Spoonfulls (320 cals, 10.7g protein) ) + 1/2 cup almond milk (30 cals, .5g protein)

Snack

-24 brown rice crackers (180 cals, 6g protein), 6 tbs hummus (135cals, 3g protein)

Lunch

- Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (175 cals, 1.5g protein. 

- sweet potato fries (500 cals, 5g protein), ketchup (60 cals)

Snack

-apple (116cals), 1tbs peanut butter (95cals, 4g protein)

Dinner

- Amy's gluten free, dairy free burrito (240 cals, 7g protein), 1/4 avocado (80cals, 1g protein)

Overall: 2071 calories, 43.7g protein. 

So many avos

I couldn't wait to write about the yummy animal-friendly dinner I scarfed down...

Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Tortillas (Gluten Free!), tons of avocado, tomato and the beans and rice dish I made in my crockpot this weekend... here's the recipe for the beans and rice
http://low-cholesterol.food.com/recipe/pinto-beans-and-rice-in-a-crock-pot-or-on-stove-top-41246


And now time to get ready for bed, and it's just after 8 (what?!). Yep. You got it. I wake up 4:30am so I can crossfit at 5:30. You might be thinking, "she's just one of those crazy early morning people", well I guess I am now, but I didn't used to be, I swear. I would snooze the crap out of my alarm and get out of bed at the very last moment and rush to work. But after 2 weeks of going to the 5:30am class my body adapted and now it's no big thing. Weird.

Brussels Sprouts and "Mooning the Sky"

23 days on a plant-based diet and I'm feeling great! I may have mentioned in my first post that I gave veganism a chance back in 2011 and it lasted a good 8 months. The most difficult aspect for me was allowing myself the time to prepare vegan meals. It's very time consuming! So this second time around I promised myself more time in the kitchen. The past few weekends I have dedicated a couple hours to cooking meals for the week ahead, and it seems to work out well. This weekend I made baked potatoes and brussels sprouts with olive oil, salt and fresh rosemary (YUM!).

Before

After

I just recently got a crock-pot thanks to a holiday yankee swap. And I love it! It's so easy to use, and saves me a lot of time. I've only made one recipe with it so far, beans and rice. But man is it delicious. I'm scared to try something new because this is so yummy and delicious. So those were the two recipes I prepped this weekend. Last night I toasted raw pecans, pumpkin seeds and cashews- for an easy, light snack at home. I usually keep cereal and almond milk at work for my breakfasts and I always bring 2 pieces of fruit and other snacks to keep me satisfied (rice cakes and peanut butter, rice crackers and hummus, trail mix etc). 

Enough about food, lets move on to crossfit! I competed in my first crossfit competition a few weeks ago in Acton, Ma. For only doing crossfit for 3 months, I did pretty well; 14th out of 30.  Here a couple pictures from my competition...

(95# clean, at the competition I couldn't get 2 115# in a row and now I can do 2 reps at 120# YAY)

Since then I've decided to up my game and up my workouts; I'm still doing 5 WODs per week, but I'm supplementing it with extra lifts and skills practice. 

This is the weekly sheet I'm using to keep track of the skills and olympic lifts I plan to work on each week.

 

I had a really challenging time with power cleans during the competition because I wasnt dropping underneath it, so I'm working on squat cleans every week. I'm also doing back squats or front squats every week. Every other week I'll work on three lifts from the list below. I try to work on 2-3 skills everyday.  

Sunday

Snatches     

1x5 60%  (65#)

1x5 65%   (70#)

1x5 70%   (75#)

WOD

3 rounds

20 kbs @ 35#

20 wall balls (rnd 1-13#, rnd 2/3-10#)

20 burpees

The WOD was rough, especially since I was only competing against my boyfriend Matt, who is a personal trainer and super awesome at everything. He finished in 8:39 and I finished in 11:54. 

Monday

Today was an easy day. Crossfit Newton is 25 minutes from where I live (I work in Newton but live in Somerville). Since I had the day off I worked out with Matt at his gym, Cambridge Athletic Club. 

This is one of my favorite stretches..."Moon the sky"

Squat Cleans: 

1x10 @ 60% 75#

1x8 @ 65% 80#

1x6 @ 75% 90#

1x4 @ 85% 100#

Deadlift 

1RM

PR 215#

100 Sit-ups and Sprints

Tuesday

1. Hang Power Cleans

10x10x10x10 (80/85/95/95)

 I didn't think I could do 10 unbroken at such a high weight! Michelle told me to get underneath it more "you're so straight! You're doing straight muscle-ups, try getting under the bar". And it worked, thanks Michelle!

2. 5x300m row

3. 3x2 min plank. These sucked. Don't like. 

Wednesday

Strength

Back squat

2x2 80-95% 1 RM

PR 165# (and I did two in a row!)

WOD

2 person teams

100 push-press 65# (50 each)

100 front squat 65# (50 each)

100 burpees (50 each)

Ken and I were partners. This was a hard one! well I guess they're all hard. During the squats i was grunting a lot lol. But the burpees were killer. 

Skills: push-ups, sit-ups and ab work with Grayson. 

                  

The Beginning

It's strange being the only vegan in a sea of paleo-driven crossfitters. When they learn of my "veganness" they give me this look --------->
and continue to ask the questions and make the comments that I have heard a thousand times...

1. Where do you get your protein?
2. But meat is so delicious!
3. what's wrong with eating meat?
4. Where do you get your vitamin D?
5. I could never give up cheese. 
6. Can you eat seafood?
7. Why can't you eat eggs?

etc. etc. etc

Guess what??

1. I get plenty of protein from legumes(beans), quinoa, nuts, seeds and occasionally from soy or seitan. This country is obsessed with the idea that we need massive amounts of protein, and it's just not true. I received my BS in Clinical Nutrition from UC Davis, and have done all the research necessary to contest that we do not need as much protein as websites and books say we do (especially sources that inform weightlifters and athletes that they need abundant amounts of protein), it's unhealthy! It's protein overload!

2. Meat is only delicious when you flavor it. Salt, horseradish, ketchup, condiments...you name it. No one eats meat on its own. I just take those delicious flavors put them on plant-based stuff instead!

3. I usually don't respond to this question, most people get offended with my answer. But if they insist...I don't eat meat, because eating meat is eating animals! It's killing innocent, beautiful creatures who just want to be alive. I would feel too guilty, and honestly after avoiding meat for over 3 years I think I would vomit if I tried eating it again.

4. I get my Vitamin D (and plenty of it!) from leafy greens and sweet potatoes.

5. Cheese. This was an especially hard one to give up for me. And I guess this is where I can fit in my diet history. (You might not enjoy reading my answer, FYI). I became vegetarian in November 2009 and had one weak moment in June 2010 where I consumed meat. After reading Skinny Bitch, by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin,  and subscribing to VegNews Magazine, I decided to become vegan in February 2011. My first attempt at veganism lasted 8 months. I continued to be vegetarian throughout 2012 but starting this past December, I couldn't shake the guilt of eating dairy and eggs. So my new years resolution for 2013 was to exclude dairy and eggs from my diet. And I am 18 days strong (lol). This second vegan attempt is SOOO much easier, why you ask? Because every time I think I might want to eat cheese, I picture the mother cow and her baby calf who are ripped apart just moments after she gives birth. I picture the male baby cows, and their short lives on veal farms, encased in boxes in order to preserve their delicate flesh and muscle. And then I remember that by consuming milk I am contributing to the veal industry and therefore I am contributing to the deaths of millions of babies. Consuming milk = killing babies (that's literally what I say in my head when I'm tempted to eat cheese).

6. Nope. eating fish is eating fish meat. I don't eat meat.

7. Another answer people don't like to hear. Why are chickens farmed? For their meat and their eggs. Only female chickens lay eggs, and only female chickens are farmed for meat. So what happens to all the male chicks after they hatch? They get thrown away. Not kidding. Google it. Eating eggs = killing babies.

I apologize if it sounds like I'm ranting, I'm not, I only want to answer any questions you might be having - probably some of these! the rest of my posts will be on my adventures as a vegan crossfitter :) How I fuel myself for 5+ days of exercise and what I fuel myself with!

ENJOY!