I know, you’re reading this and thinking – but you’re a HUGE meat eater! You grew up on a DAIRY farm! You’re changing your ways?

Yes I am. I went (unexpectedly) vegan. And it was actually a lot easier, and more fun (and delicious!) than I expected. And still is…

How did it happen?

Right after Thanksgiving and a massive meat feast, I was approached to do this One Meal a Day Challenge for New Years. You go vegan (or as Suzy refers to it – “eating a whole foods, plant-based diet” which mean whole foods, not processed vegan food like Oreos) for only one meal a day. ONE. I thought this is totally doable and simple. I already basically am vegan for breakfast (I have coffee with almond milk), and lunch (usually a tofu bowl with greens and grains in the city or just plain). Meat would be easy.

Plus I had just done a major purge in my food pantry to get rid of all the junk and processed food I had accumulated over the year that just had no place there. If you see it, you’ll eat it. Bye.

Plus, I was reading Catra Corbett’s book on being an ultrarunner after listening to the Rich Roll podcast. They are both vegans and both run hundreds of miles – AT ONE TIME.

And they’re not the only ones. I was intrigued if anything.

Then I started to read OMD.

Go all in and throw out all this meat in my freezer? It’s packed – like PACKED with hundreds of dollars of “grass fed, sustainably and humanely grown beef and chicken. Ugh I wasn’t ready to just toss this out. Seemed such a waste.

I still had eggs and cheese in my fridge and I had just made egg salad.

I grumbled a little and walked away from the kitchen. I didn’t have Max that weekend so I settled in with a huge bowl of creamy eggs and cuddled up to watch “Forks over Knives” like Suzy recommends in her book. I figured I would just go “full vegan” or  OMD at least until the meat and dairy was gone so I didn’t waste it. 

I wanted to go full vegan (WFPB) like Suzy did and go all-in.

There are a million reasons to go WFPB, but even just one allows you to reap all the benefits even if you don’t actually care about them all.

Want to do it for your health? You’ll save the planet.

Want to do it for the animals? You’ll save your health.

Facts:

• Eating three plant-based meals a day and annually you’ll save 584,001 gallons of water and the carbon equivalent to driving across the U.S. more than three times.
• Vegetarians and vegans are at reduced risk of certain diseases, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, obesity and some cancers.
• Compared to a typical diet, eating a vegetarian diet reduces the risk of type II diabetes by 16-41%.

The list goes on and on, but really here’s the kicker and if you read nothing else know this.

Eating ONE MEAL A DAY, just ONE on a whole foods, plant-based diet will actually save the planet. Just you, one person, going meatless and dairy once a day can have a hugely dramatic effect.

My decision was for my health. I actually want to stick around for a while for my son, and it’s been a driving force of my changes to my health over the last few years anyway. I’ve always been afraid of heart disease (#1 killer of women), and this was the push I needed to see that I am actually in control of my health.

Okay so back to the book. What now?

Take the 10-Day Challenge

Sign up here for the challenge and try 10 days of just ONE meal a day with no meat or dairy. It’s free AND you get free meal planners and advice and help.

I’ll be honest – meat is easier than eggs, butter and cheese, but you can do it. It’s ONE MEAL PEOPLE.

Next, get the book. You won’t regret it.

Then curl up and watch Forks over Knives.

Still skeptical if you can do it?

Watch my Instastories – I am posting my OMD every day of the challenge.

Here are a few tips that are keeping me on track:

Purple Carrot (not a plug, I pay for it!). It’s the only 100% vegan meal delivery service. I started this for January to help me learn how to cook vegan and make sure I was getting good foods and not being a “white bread and french fry” vegan.

Rich Roll’s meal planner. I love this. He gives you multiple recipe options every single day – that will then populate into a grocery list, and THEN – wait for it- goes right into your cart for Peapod, Amazon Fresh or Instacart. He also has recipe categories ultra athlete (to make sure you get enough protein).

Trader Joe’s. Has all the vegan eats. You can’t go wrong here – they have so many good things. I even laughed and picked up this Turkey-less loaf to cook at Jamie’s over the holiday break and it was actually SO GOOD I went and bought two more to stock up. Plus they carry cashew butter. Just brace yourself and hold yourself back. It’s that good you’ll be wondering why you ever cooked with cow butter in the first place.

Ready to take the leap? Just try it – it’s ONE MEAL A DAY. No pressure, no feeling bad if you don’t but I think you’ll enjoy it and find it a lot of fun!

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Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post on behalf of OMD4ThePlanet but all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting Football Food and Motherhood!