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Dinner was a success!

Us girls met up at Mellow Mushroom, one of our favorite spots to grab something to eat and discuss our friend Lauren’s upcoming bachelorette party. We are all SO excited to say the least. Guess where we are headed?

New Orleans!! Half of us, me being one of them, have never been, so we are especially looking forward to it. Our group will be spending 3 days & 2 nights and I can only imagine what kind of trouble shenanigans we’re going to get ourselves into! Any suggestions on hotels, sights or must eats??

DINNER: Mellow Mushroom Tempeh Hoagie (no pesto mayo) – 470 calories

MM’s Tempeh is absolutely delicious, and I’m pretty obsessed with it. That being said, I have to say that my friend Mandy’s Avocado Pizza looked amazing! I never would have thought to slice 1/2 of an avocado onto a pizza, but holy heck it looked good. Now I HAVE to recreate it.

And I just have to share this as well. My Dad text me a picture of his dinner tonight. (I think it runs in the family to get really excited over food and take pictures of it share with your friends and family. I’ve done this LONG before this blog ever started. Haha)

He had mashed cauliflower!!! (Well, his wife, Susie, made it.) But he ate it! Go Dad! Susie’s looks way better than mine ever does though. Humph. I’m going to be getting that recipe! And then I’m going to share it with YOU

WORK IT OUT

Following dinner, I met up with the hubby so we could hit up the gym for our respective workouts. I started with 20 minutes of HIIT before knocking out a full body strength workout. All of this talk about upcoming weddings and bachelorette party weekends in New Orleans made me realize that Spring is quickly approaching. Never too early to get started toning up for bikini season!

So, today at work, my co-worker told me that she saw an interview with the Houston Texan’s quarterback, Arian Foster, and that he is vegan now. Awesome, right?!

(source)

When they asked him why, he said that he was going to try it out and felt SO good that he just hasn’t stopped.

Weird because that was my “why” story as well. I read a couple of books (Skinny Bitch, The Kind Life & The China Study), watched a couple of documentaries (Forks Over Knives & some others) and decided to give it a go for 30 days. After 30 days, I felt better than I even knew possible. And that’s saying a lot for a health-conscious 23 year old.

It got me thinking…why, if I felt so awesome, have I started to slack off and eat eggs & dairy again?

My first thought was, “I need the protein.” Then it was, “I work out a lot more. I strength train now for God’s sake. I NEED eggs.” And finally, “You eat too many carbs when you don’t eat eggs. Carbs are baaaad.”

The fact is, none of those things are true. I looked and felt better than I ever have without touching meat, eggs OR dairy for 2 years. So what’s with the excuses? The answer is so simple. I let other people’s opinions affect me even though I know what works best for ME. I got lazy. And let’s just be totally honest, cheese is pretty darn delicious.

I decided right then that I was going to get back to that place when I had never felt better. And then I went to Mellow Mushroom and didn’t ask for “no cheese, please” on my hoagie. Ha!

So here’s the plan. I need to motivate myself again! Read my favorite vegan blogs again, re-watch Forks Over Knives, and get excited to cook new meals by seeking out new recipe ideas.

What do I have to lose, right? And this time I have you all to hold me accountable!

Off to finish my book!

Goodnight!