22 Day Vegan Challenge - why I started & the book behind it all!

  

The 22-Day Revolution consists of a 22 Days Vegan Challenge of carefully planned meal plans and recipes along with 30 minutes of exercise each day.

For over a year I’ve contemplated time and time again whether I could try a plant-based diet. Usually, I would get overwhelmed with going vegan because of what I thought it would mean. It wasn’t until recently that I started taking my time to research and learn what going plant-based would do for my body, my environment and my quality of life. Like many of you, I knew that behind the 22-day revolution was Beyonce’s face hence why I just knew that it was something worth trying, it wasn’t until this year where I saw just how my eating habits have taken me. I have watched the documentary on Beyonce’s Coachella performance more than I can even remember (I think I've watched it roughly 30x) I’m not exaggerating. Every time I watch it not only do I feel like I can tackle the world but I see how much hard WORK goes into making anything legendary. This past year was one of the most stressful, life-changing, life-altering and eye-opening types of years. I went through SO much change, trauma, emotional roller coasters and had one too many eye-opening experiences that changed a lot of relationships around me. The reason why I mention this is because it is the reason why I allowed myself to stop working out consistently (like I was doing back in 2018) and my eating habits went from moderation to eating anything I wanted, whenever I wanted. Fast forward to December 2019 and I couldn't (and could if I'm being honest) believe the scale. In the past year, I went from being 128/132lbs to being a solid 146lbs on a regular day. To put things into perspective I am 5”2 and the weight matters to me. In the past 3 years, I have dedicated myself to learning more about my physical health and it is something that is REALLY important to me. I gained 18lbs in a year. When I went for my annual physical my doctor noted the change in weight but said that I am still overall healthy. That was great news but here is the thing - I don’t feel my best. My health and fitness journey is my own fitness journey. People always tell me, "but you already look good", and I always feel like people miss the point. Looking good and feeling good are two very different things. A lot of times people wait until it’s too late or when something is wrong to make a change in their habits and for me going into this new year I want to be more PROACTIVE and less reactive. I don’t want to wait until the doctor tells me that I have X, Y, and/or Z to change the way I eat OR work out. So, that is why I am not waiting for an excuse - I am not waiting for New Years Day or a bad doctor’s visit to change my habits and challenge myself, my decision started weeks ago. So with all this said, in the past three weeks I have been working out consistently for 30min each session. Three days ago, I started Marco Borges's 22-day plant-based challenge. Why 22 days? According to the author, Marco Borges it takes 21 days to break an old habit and form a new one. So if you are working towards establishing healthy eating and exercise habits for 22 days it will become a habit. After 22 days, he believes that you’ve established healthy habits and will be a part of your lifestyle/sustainable. The 22-Day Revolution is based on 5 key guidelines that I am following:1) Choose plant-based over-processed foods.2) Eat three mindful meals a day.3) Aim for an 80-10-10 (80 percent carbohydrates, 10 percent fat, 10 percent protein) breakdown of calories in each meal.4) Exercise for 30 minutes each day.5) Drink water (aka don’t drink your calories) and NO Alcohol for the 22 days For reference my starting weight is 146lbs and I officially started the challenge on December 17, 2019. The reason why I state this is because Marco encourages you to take weigh yourself each day so you can begin to see small differences each day (we don’t gain or lose 15lbs overnight, it’s subtle). I gotta tell y’all it’s been very eye-opening because I have kept written log on my weight and when I work out for the past two weeks so that I can track and compare them to my next 22days. I can’t wait to share with you all the progress and journey. Lastly, the benefits and impact it has on our environment is also something I don’t take lightly. By “switching from a meat-based diet to a diet based on whole grains, fruits and vegetables reduces water and land use, lowers pollution, slows deforestation and reduces the destruction of topsoil, among other benefits.” I won’t go into detail about ALL the benefits or specifics but seriously Marco Borges's book is a must-read. It makes me hopeful to continue embracing this lifestyle even beyond my 22 days, for now, I begin my journey and hope you’ll join along and/or be inspired to be open to try it.  Coming up on the blog later this week - I'll post my 7 day reflection and my favorite recipes from my first week of going completely vegan! Stay tuned. XO. Are you considering going on a plant based diet? If so, what's stopping you? Let me know! Follow along on my instagram too for some encouragement.