Going Meatless for 20 Days | Day 1 of 20
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I am so excited to be blogging consistently again for the next 20 days. I guess I need to live my life in challenges so I can keep having something to write about 😛
First off, let me show you how fabulous Sam and I looked for New Year’s Eve!
We went to Sam & Casey’s (yes we are friends with a couple named Sam and Casey, you did not read that incorrectly) Roaring 20’s party and got to dress up super Gatsby status! I loooooove costume parties, so I went all out and got an entirely new dress, heels, gloves, pearls, a faux fur shawl, and flapper headband. And Sam wore his coat tails for the occasion.
To get my look, I watched Michelle Phan’s 20s makeup tutorial and for my faux bob, I watched Elanna Pecherle’s hair tutorial. I must say, YouTube tutorials rock!!! I never really ever followed a makeup tutorial until I had to do my “Top 100 influencer” makeup, and that really got me to believe in makeup tutorials! Haha. I know. I know. I am soooo late in the game. But I am here now!!!
Just some friends having a good time 🙂 This makes me wonder what I should do for my bday! Jan 16 is coming up in a couple weeks…should I have a lil shindiggity? I don’t wanna really plan my own party but then again, I kinda do!!?? Ugh. Should I have a party or keep it small? Contemplating.
Next, I wanna say that your enthusiasm for the #2020challenge has been lighting up my life!!! I love seeing your check-ins on Instagram!
If you guys want me to be your accountability partner for the #2020challenge, I will gladly do that! Just text me at 510-692-4556 (US and Canada only) and I will remind you for the next 18 days what moves you have to do for the day.
Plus I’ll send you pics of what I am eating on my 20 day meatless journey to help inspire your culinary adventure!
Why am I going on a meatless journey?
I watched a documentary called The Game Changers on Netflix and it talked about how plant based athletes have improved performance. It was incredibly well done. As weird as I feel saying this, it inspired me to test out my own meatless challenge to see if my fitness performance would improve. I say I feel weird because I didn’t actually do my own fact checking on the studies presented to me – which I usually do.
There’s been a lot of heated debate over how certain facts were ridiculously cherry picked to prove their point, which is never good because I’m juts ingesting propaganda. I also read that James Cameron (Director of Titanic, Avatar etc.) is an executive producer for The Game Changers and that he has invested “…$140 million in plant-based proteins, including a company that produces pea protein, a key ingredient in Beyond Meat, which is in short supply right now.” – Medium
But I will say is this – personally, I think fruits and veggies are the gems of the earth – nutritionally dense and so healthy. I also think if we can try to eat less meat and still thrive, then we should. Do I think everyone should be vegan? No. Do I think everyone should be a carnivore? No. I think everyone needs to eat what’s right for their bodies, and that we should stop shoving ideologies down each other’s throats.
With that said, I will eventually dig into some fact checking over the documentary! But either way, I am happy it inspired me to go meatless because I’ve been wanting to try it for a while now! And to be clear, I am not going vegan because I tried that for about 6 months once and lost a lot of muscle, bruised constantly, and felt fatigued. So this time around, I’ll be testing out a grain free, dairy free vegetarian diet for 20 days to see how I feel!
Day 1 Food Log:
Mango with sweet, salty, and spicy dip. After coming back from Vietnam and Thailand, I became obsessed with dipping my fruit in a mixture of chili, salt, and sugar – something that Vietnamese and Thai people did for all sorts of fruit! Absolutely geniuus. It elevates the flavors so much! But I wanted to make my own healthy version as soon as I got home. So I mixed 0 calorie monk fruit sugar with Tajin and guys, IT IS BOMB!!! Absolute perfection! You’ll need to test your own monk fruit to Tajin ratios (you can start with 1:1), but seriously, omg, so good. TRY IT.
To celebrate day 1 our meatless journey, Sam and I went out to a vegan restaurant called Follow Your Heart with a few friends! Here’s what we had!
Vegan mac n cheese as an appetizer. I think the cheese was made of cashew nuts and nutritional yeast. No, not low carb – hard to do low carb vegan out at a restaurant – but fun to try!
Vegan nachos as an appetizer. So good. I’m not sure what the sour cream was made of, but it tasted fantastic!
Squash soup. Meh, it was ok. Needed more flavor.
My main dish. Ugh I made a terrible mistake. I tried to go low carb vegan and totally hated my meal! It was supposed to be zucchini noodle spaghetti but I ended up with like no zucchini spirals, a ton of bland kale, a ton of bland broccoli, a ton of beans (not a fan of beans), and marinara sauce that was pretty disappointing. I’m the type of person who needs A LOT of flavor and also I need a protein of some sort to make my meal not feel like a side. Good thing the mac n cheese and the nachos already filled me up!
Some green grapes for dessert! So good!
Okay you guys, well that is day 1 of my meatless journey! Day 2 will be some home cookin’ which I am excited for. Should I show you what Sam is eating as well? He’s doing regular vegetarian and I am doing grain free, dairy free vegetarian. Maybe showing you both our meals will help you and your significant other embark on a meatless challenge of your own! I told Sam…”Hey if for some reason it gets hard while we’re vegetarian, you can always order a Domino’s cheese pizza ok?” I think that made him say yes to my challenge 😛
30 thoughts on “Going Meatless for 20 Days | Day 1 of 20”
There are 30 comments posted by our users.
you give me hope for when i grow up 😀
I am glad that you had so much fun. Going Vegan. I have tried Amy’s drive thru in Rohnert Park CA. So good food. I love their Super Salad. It was so yummy. The vegetables in the salad reminded me of being pulled straight out of the garden. I also tried Amy’s drive thru Organic Chunky Tomato Bisque Soup. It was so yummy and delicious. I have not tried any other items on the Menu though. I also had some of the Lemonade. I really like Boudin SF restaurant. They have great food too. I don’t think that they are vegan, but I do love their Butternut Squash Soup. Its so yummy too.
I love that you’re open to trying more vegetarian food! I feel like there’s nothing wrong with eating a bit of meat every once in a while, but we def do’nt need to eat it every day to be strong and healthy. Especially if you take into consideration how much of a strain the large scale meat industry puts on the environment and causes animals to be treated like a product rather than a living being. I hope you inspire some people to try it out for themselves and see that eating vegetarian doesn’t have to be boring at all 🙂
Lol! You can definitely make vegetarian trash meals if you wanted to, it’s not too hard!^^
I love reading your blog posts, and as a carnivore eater that even loves her meats raw, I can’t wait to see the things you come up with the next 20 days.
Hi Cassey! Happy to hear that you are trying a meatless dairy free diet! If I am not mistaken you are also doing grain-free. As a vegan, I think half of my protein intake comes from grains and you have also mentioned you are not a fan of beans so please watch your protein intake not to lose muscles. Lentils, chickpeas and quinoa are like my staples. If you prefer, I would suggest using a plant based protein powder in smothies.
I love that you’re encouraging people to encourperate more fruits and veggies! Nature’s truest medicine. I’ve been vegan for 5 years, meat free for 7. It took me almost 2 years being vegan to find what really worked for my body and now I’m thriving and feeling the best I have in my entire life! It’d be cool if you gave veganism another chance because I think everyone can thrive most eating plant based. There’s so much information online it can be hard to find what works for you right off the bat 🙂 happy new year and can’t wait for all the workout videos to come! Xoxo vic
The nachos look absolutely wonderful! But I really wonder how you can go meatless without the beans! Red kidney beans are my fave. Hummus should come to your rescue. As well as chicpeas on their own. Lentils and tofu would be your friends too. While you’re at it, you totally should try this Mediterranean/Middle Eastern main breakfast dish called foul! فول
Foul is canned fava beans you buy at the store and cook with onions, garlic, tomatoes, cumin, ginger and you could go all out on the spices! Perhaps you’d find canned foul at a Mediterranean shop, and check out recipes online!
Another LOVED vegan Middle Eastern recipe is Mjaddarah مجدرة which is rice cooked with lentils, onions, tomatoes, and carrots and topped with caramelized onions. I hope you find a good recipe online.
Personally I’m thinking of having exclusively meatless Mondays throughout the year, and from there maybe multiple meatless days a week❤️
Agree with the other comments! Pick up Limes have amazing plant based recipes and they are all full of flavor! Different kinds of veggies, legumes, grains and beans are def part of a vegetarian diet! And all spices to make it extra delish 😋 will be great to see how you do after the 20 days!!
Yay for going meatless!! 🙂 i also watched Game Changers on Netflix, and i must say it really does well on explaining the biochemical mechanisms going on in your body while eating plant based. But even though i eat plant based myself, i think the portrait of the athletes was kinda misleading, as if one had to become vegan to improve their performance, which i don’t think is true. Anyway, it is great that you are trying a meatless diet for 20 days! Lots of love!
The sour cream was prob partly creme fraiche. You would LOVE it!
*oatly not partly 💆🏼♀️
I meant to say oatly not partly 💆🏼♀️
‘Do I think everyone should be vegan? No. Do I think everyone should be a carnivore? No. I think everyone needs to eat what’s right for their bodies, and that we should stop shoving ideologies down each other’s throats.’
sorry just had to share but I couldn’t agree more! I have been regular vegetarian for about a year and a half and I feel so much better. I don’t think everyone suits vegetarian or vegan, some people need a carnivore diet for whatever reasons. I hate when people try and push others into whatever diet they use because it is not needed. Do what you need to do!
Last year I did the 28 day reset and felt great. Then I went vegan and tomorrow (been sick since NYE!) I’m starting your vegan reset! Going vegan was the best thing I did for myself on 2019! Good luck for your journey!
I would love to hear your thoughts on the impact diet has on the environment as well as athletic performance! I know you wrote that you hate having ideologies shoved down your throat, but I’d really like a nuanced analysis that goes beyond maximizing the body’s performance and taking other factors into account! And as you’ve written that you’d like to share more of yourself and your opinions unapologetically I’d really really love to hear your thoughts on this great subject without sugarcoating – do you think it’s important or just meh, don’t care?
I hope this doesnt come out as too pushy or something, I’m not sure my Swedish is translating well! Anyway I recently ordered your 2020 fit planner and am SOOOOO excited to get it! <3
Hugs,
A long time fan that recently found her way back!:)
Would love to see what Sam is eating too! My body really likes carbs (yes, it actually does) so that would be great. Really excited to see what you guys will be eating, I find it so inspiring!
Hey Cassey,
Joe Rogan (usually not a big fan!) did a podcast with James Wilkes (from game changers) and Kris Kresser (an acupuncturist who tried to debunk the film), that’s a good watch.
Can I ask why you’re going grain free? Beans and legumes will give you all the protein you need. There are lots of other plant based sources too, protein deficieny just doesn’t happen when people eat enough food 🙂
Enjoy! Xx
Grains bloat me!
Been doing vegetarian/almost vegan with my husband for the last few weeks and we both feel better than ever. Energised, no lethargy or 3pm slumps, less coffee pick me ups and not missing meat at all. I even lost 1.5kgs and thats huge for me as Ive never gone below 69kgs. Also my jaundice yellow eyes from my Gilberts syndrome is improving with less hard foods to process. Also shopping bill has gone down or allowed more $$ for the good fruit and veg
This is amazing!! 💗
I am interested un tour food log as I struggle to carry a low meat diet without going too crazy on carbs. But I love carbs and as a constant runner, I know my body needs them and can’t function properly on low-carb.
So happy that you’re going on a meatless journey! I highly recommend these YouTubers/Bloggers for meal inspo and tips and tricks they use to make vegan eating easier and yummier!! Cheap Lazy Vegan, Pick Up Limes, The Viet Vegan, Sweet Potato Soul, and Avante Garde Vegan. If you have a chance, please check out their content! They truly have helped me so much on my vegan journey and are all such genuine lovely souls!! I really think you’ll enjoy!! Good luck to you! Love you, Cassey!
Eat Move Rest and Maddie Lymburner are amazing too!
Your meals look so tasty! I hope you really enjoy eating meatless! Even though you’re not doing full-on vegan, I’d still recommend supplementing B12 to help your body’s food-to-energy conversion during these 20 days 🙂
There are a lot of great vegan YouTubers out there that share awesome vegan recipes. Natalie Matthews, Rainbow Plant Life, Garbanzo Girl and Simnett Nutrition just to name a few, but there are so many more to get inspiration from.
Thanks for the share! I also like Pick up Limes she’s great and has tons of flavor to her food 😊
My husband was recently diagnosed with celiacs disease and we are vegetarian so I’m also trying to keep an eye out for yummy gluten free/veggie recipes.
Livs healthy life has some amazing recipes. Plus the “oh she glows” cookbook is incredible! Xoxo
Love that you are going meatless for the next couple weeks! Eat some legumes! Fruits and veggies are amazing but not eating enough and not enough legumes are why people fail on plant based vegan diets!
This!! My husband and I have been vegan for over 3 years and legumes are where it’s at! 🙂 We like cooking ours from dry in the Instant Pot.
Slightly off-topic but still relevant, we also track what we eat periodically on Cronometer to make sure we’re getting all of the nutrients we need.
This is a great place to start for some game changer fact checking. It very clearly explains what conformational bias is, and why the film is very misleading.