Pass Me The Birkenstocks, I'm [kinda] Vegan... and week 10 workout plan.

Today is the 28th day of my trial vegan lifestyle and I'm 'on talk about that today.

I'll start off with letting you know blatantly that I like big houses, nice cars, my 2nd amendment rights, makeup, deodorant, razors, plastic bags, electricity, bla bla-dee bla bla bla.

And I like eating like a vegan.

Shocking, I know!  I never would have expected it in a million years.

The truth is that I don't really love meat.  It's not because I have a problem with animal "cruelty."  I grew up in a farming town.  We had chickens, horses, cows, pigs, dogs, etc.  I even had a pet lamb named Tiny.  Guess what happened to Tiny...

I like hamburgers (if they're not grilled).  I have seen how "our" cows were raised and it doesn't really bother me that they were butchered and cut up for meals.  Not a problem.

Hey kids!  Vegan propaganda!  

We try not to fall victim to propaganda.

I do, however, love finding meals that don't include meat.  I've always been taught to "eat meat sparingly."  Who even knows what that means?  Sparingly like twice a day?  Twice a week?  Month?  I don't know.

So, what am I going to do?  Never eat meat again.  No.  Absolutely not.  Again, it's not about me loving animals (although I think they're great), but there are incredible health benefits to not eating meat or animal byproducts often.  Like lowering your cholesterol over 100 points in just one month.  I'm not sure if this happened to me because I didn't have blood work done.  But it did happen to Bob Harper (from Biggest Loser).  I've been reading The China Study about a plant-based diet and the risk for heart disease (the #1 killer of Americans) pretty much goes away for people who eat that way.  I mean, there is something to that.

We have decided to eat meat a few times a month if we really want it.  Like I said, I don't love meat but Tom does.  I love eggs.  I haven't decided what I'm going to do about that.  Am I going to be 90%-of-the-time-vegan?  Vegetarian (can eat eggs and milk)?

I can tell you that this month of eating only a plant-based diet (and around 1900 calories per day of it) has helped me to get over my weight-loss plateau.  I dropped 3.5 pounds.  I get that that's not a lot, but I was stuck for three months.  And I can now fit into my old jeans.  I even bought a new pair of size 28 Gap jeans at the thrift store for $8.  That's exciting to me!

Shirt refashion tutorial coming soon!

My birthday is at the end of April and I get my buy-one-get-one meal coupon for Tucano's and you better believe I'm using that sucker.  Have you tried their little cheese bread balls?!  Mmmmm.

So for now I'm staying vegan until I'm not.  Besides the poo stories (and the ones I haven't blogged about), I feel really good.  But I always feel good when I eat healthy... carnivore, omnivore, or herbivore.

If you are on a plateau with your weight loss or if you have high cholesterol (or even if you want to challenge yourself), I suggest trying it out for 28 days.  That's 4 weeks.  We did the Engine 2 Diet challenge, which also cuts out refined sugar and a few other things that vegans can normally eat.  And please don't get me wrong.  This isn't a fad diet that restricts your caloric intake or only allows you to eat protein.  It is very well rounded.  You just only eat clean foods.  It really opened me up to a new way of eating.  Like, I think I'll make this raw vegan carrot cake for my birthday.

The Rawsome Vegan

Oh-my-gosh I feel so weird.

Here's this week's workout schedule.  Enjoy!

Cardio (week 10):  It's getting easier.  Week 9 is the hardest.

Week	Sunday (Rest)	Monday (Easy)	Tuesday (Cross Train)	Wednesday (Easy)	Thursday (Cross Train)	Friday (Rest)	Saturday (Long)
1	Rest	30 Minutes (3 Miles)	30-40 Minutes	30 Minutes (3 Miles)	30-40 Minutes	Rest	4 Miles
2	Rest	30 Minutes (3 Miles)	30-40 Minutes	30 Minutes (3 Miles)	30-40 Minutes	Rest	5 Miles
3	Rest	30 Minutes (3 Miles)	30-40 Minutes	30 Minutes (3 Miles)	30-40 Minutes	Rest	6 Miles
4	Rest	35 Minutes (3 Miles)	30-40 Minutes	35 Minutes (3 Miles)	30-40 Minutes	Rest	7 Miles
5	Rest	45 Minutes (4 Miles)	30-40 Minutes	45 Minutes (4 Miles)	45-50 Minutes	Rest	4 Miles
6	Rest	45 Minutes (4 Miles)	30-40 Minutes	45 Minutes (5 Miles)	45-50 Minutes	Rest	8 Miles
7	Rest	50 Minutes (5 Miles)	30-40 Minutes	50 Minutes (5 Miles)	45-50 Minutes	Rest	9 Miles
8	Rest	45 Minutes (4 Miles)	35-45 Minutes	50 Minutes (4 Miles)	45-50 Minutes	Rest	6 Miles
9	Rest	50 Minutes (5 Miles)	35-45 Minutes	50 Minutes (5 Miles)	45-50 Minutes	Rest	10 Miles
10	Rest	45 Minutes (4 Miles)	35-45 Minutes	45 Minutes (4 Miles)	45-50 Minutes	Rest	7 Miles
11	Rest	35 Minutes (3 Miles)	35-45 Minutes	35 Minutes (3 Miles)	45-50 Minutes	Rest	6 Miles
12	Rest	30 Minutes (3 Miles)	30 Minutes	30 Minutes (3 Miles)	Rest	Rest	13.1 Miles Race Day!

Resistance:

Day	Body Part	Exercise	Sets	Reps	Weight	Rest	Speed	Notes	Exercise Info
1	Shoulders	Dumbbell Shoulder Press Standing	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
1	Triceps	Arm Extension Machine	10	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
1	Shoulders	Dumbbell Shoulder Lateral Raise	10	10		60 s	2/4/2		Details
1	Chest	Dumbbell Chest Flyes On Ball	10	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
1	Chest	Dumbbell Chest Press	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
2	Legs	Outer Thigh Machine	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
2	Legs	Ball Squats	10	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
2	Legs	Walking Lunges	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
2	Legs	Inner Thigh Machine	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
3	Back	Ball Cobra	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2
3	Biceps	Standing Dumbbell Curl	10	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
3	Biceps	Standing Hammer Dumbbell Curl	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
3	Back	Lower Back Extension	3	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details
3	Back	1 Arm Dumbbell Row	10	10		60 sec	2/4/2		Details