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Okay... so I thought I was going to do a Crock Pot challenge. Still will, don't even need to research it (going to taste all the good food this month that was suggested on the previous challenge chat). I'm making them all, because wowza on the recommendations. I however started to do research today for the Red Moon side challenge... I ended up finding an article that went in detail in a way I haven't seen before, and found matching results as I looked up similar terms. Recommendation to do a Plant-based high fiber and low oil eating. Damn.... this research wasn't what I expected. I have never taken a serious trial to this way of eating. So I will be starting to make the blocks.... Like what will I eat? Trying to figure out the new grounds as I use up food I have and probably meal plan ect. We are an area of diet changes I have never tried before but hoping to mull somethings over before the new year.

Hi all! I'm Stronkey Kong. I started on NF 9 years ago and am still fat, but making the best of it, and grateful for the community here regardless. Main Goal: Find my 'Best Weight' My ideal weight is probably 180 lbs. going by the numbers and pictures. I recently (today actually) came across the idea of best weight, the weight that lets you live the life you want to live. So that's the real goal. Mine is probably about 220-230, which is halfway between my current 285 lbs. and my 'ideal.' Goal 1: Run. I'm still following the program in Run Your Butt Off (RYOB). I had some trouble tho, once I hit the run 2 minutes, walk 4 minutes workout, and these last two weeks I've only got 1 walk or run/walk workout per week. I'm going to redo the run 1 min./walk 4 min week, then increase 20 s per week until I hit 2 min, then pause and reassess there. Goal 2: Eat 99% Vegan I tried to go vegan back in the spring. I was thirty days in and it was going very well. Lost a few pounds, had fewer GI issues. Then I got Covid (probably) and went off it since. I'm going to try again for 100 days (July 24 - Halloween) of 99% vegan eating. I call it 99% to allow for mistakes and variation in practice. I will probably forget at some point that most pestos contain cheese, or that some vegetable recipes have beef/pork/chicken broth etc. But I will not: eat a steak, put cheese on salads, eat baked goods that have eggs... yada yada. If I can see an animal product on my plate, or on an ingredient list, I have to start over. Otherwise, I can keep on going without a restart. Halloween is good, it's right before the holiday season when the temptation to have animal products based solely on tradition is highest... and there's a good chance I won't be able to refuse polish sausage, ham , and cheese pierogies as part of my family's Christmas Traditions. I've read most of the book Vegan for Life (VFL) which is written by a couple of Vegan R.D.s and will be following their plan and recommendations. Doing so, it will be hard to go over 2500 cals/day which is a good goal given what RYOB recommends for daily calorie intake on their program (per my individual calculations based on their program). =============================== First? (addit: No. RES beat me.)

Right, it's 2022 and I've pressed my rest button to turn myself off an on again According to the various diagnostic checks that run, I can see that I have gained a bit of weight over Christmas and lost some stamina but nothing terrible. I haven't drunk too much and I have been exercising periodically. The nagging pain in my knees is still there though And I have a sore back today, which is annoying. So i don't think I'll be doing anything too challenging. 1. Yoga. Yes yoga. Like the meditation I experimented with last year, this is definitely under the heading of things I am predisposed to recoil from but there's a core of something useful there so I'm going to overcome my natural tendency to run away and just go with it. Mrs 18ck has suggested a thirty day course led by a super-spiritual America lady who says Namaste at the end of her videos. It's going to be a long month. 2. Exercise 6 days a week, using a combination of upper-body strength and knee friendly cardio. Rowing, cycling, swimming, but maybe giving running a bit of a rest for a while. 3. Starting on Monday, not tomorrow, go back to calorie counting since that's quite helpful. We're eating "vegan" in January. Pretty heavy quotes there since although we won't be eating meat, the definition of what counts as dairy is pretty fluid. And I will not be drinking booze either. 4. Continue knocking out one to-do list item per day The aim is to restore order and be generally healthy (not in pain, and back to the weight I had before Christmas) at the end of this and then start on something more ambitious. I haven't really got a clear idea of what I want to achieve in the year. Maybe more speed at 10k, maybe longer distances, maybe focus on rowing instead. One thing I definitely do need to do though is make a follow-up appointment for my health checkup. I had one in early 2020 and was supposed to go back for a progress check but then the world ended. I'd like to do that but probably not in this challenge since I feel like I am in a rubbish place, so I am doing the health equivalent of... Well... You know when people who have cleaners but they are ashamed to show what a state their house is so they run around tidying up before they arrive? That.

What do you guys do for post-workout nutrition? By that I mean the first thing you consume after a good workout. I've recently taken a liking to a quick baked sweet potato in the microwave usually with some greens.

I need somewhere to keep my plant based diet recipes to help me meal plan and cook.

Hello everyone, I've been reading along here for a little while but not as a member so since I can't seem to find an answer / help for my problem I thought I'd sign up and see who has any ideas / tips / we've been there and done it & please don't give up kinda thing. A bit of background and history of me: In my teens I weighed a whopping 92kg at one point. How?? Simple eating delicious stacked sandwiches with 6 different topping plus a few extra helping of chips, chocolates and no exercise. My mom dragged me to the GP, got a major telling off and was put on a hypoglycemic diet (had sugar crash problems) and within 7 months I was back at 68kg and healthy as a horse. Fast forward to now: I became a mom 8 months ago, couldn't be happier apart from one thing: I'm still way way waaay too heavy. But this time I can't go to the gym (like I did 2 years ago), I can't do too much outside (nosy neighbours) and I can eat for 3. Or 4 or 5 people for that instance. I asked the GP and got told: just move 30 minutes a day and eat healthy. That doesn't work for me anymore. I've lost and gained 10 to 15 kg over the past 10 years and I've never been able to keep it off. Me and my husband looked at lots of the vegan / plant based movies and I decided to try it. I felt loads better without the milk and meats but I still don't know what else to do to get my weight off and fitting into a lower carb way of eating. I have one set of weights at home and a kettle belt plus a bouncy baby who wants to do all kinds of things but that's it. I live in the UK so walking outside in horrible weather doesn't bother me but isn't such a good idea with a small baby. What can I do now? I don't want to give up my new way of eating but I don't lose weight. I can eat 4 slices of toast and after 30 or 45 minutes be hungry again. I have no idea anymore after trying almost every diet and trying loads of new exercise routines.I tried Insanity Max 30 (30 minutes is easy if baby is asleep) and I gained a few kg of weight in 4 weeks that I stopped totally baffled!!! I would really really appreciate any ideas or help since I have no idea anymore what I can do at this moment to get healthy and fit again. I know losing weight isn't done overnight neither is getting fit but after struggling for months and months I really hope I can make permanent positive changes

I am 26, just moved back to my (small) hometown and I have anxiety so getting to the gym has been a bit of a struggle. I have driven all of my family and friends (and coworkers) crazy by talking about my workouts and muscle pain and I just want someone to talk to that has the same struggles and complaints. I have been looking into eating better and fitness on and off for almost 10 years and have made quite a few changes but there is still room for improvement. Goals I want to get up early enough to walk my dog every day before work. We walk Saturday and Sunday and every Monday and Tuesday she brings me her leash and is heart broken when I rush out the door. There is a class at my gym M W F and I LOVE it but I only go once or twice a month. I would like to go twice a week. I try to eat between vegetarian and vegan. I am off fish (except sushi once a year) and pork. I live in a farm community so things like tofu and sietan aren't always available but there are some amazing delivery services now. But I want to work on meal prep and less snacking. I'm working on my mental health and trying to get into better routines. I am trying to be more flexible. I want to squat 100lbs. (I'm only using the bar now) I want to do 5 pull ups. I'm working my way up on the assisted pull up. I want to do 15 pushups. I want to jog a whold 5K without walking. Got some solid goals that will be easy to reach and replace as I continue. But I'm mostly here to have someone to talk to. "People throwing weights around gives me such anxiety that sometimes (like last night) I have to leave the gym."

. . . . . . . . Yeah, so, back in February, my depression and anxiety got...way out of hand, and i ran from...as many places as i could, really. Things got really bad, and i spent a lot of time wishful-thinking about suicide. Realized i have some resentment issues, some abandonment issues, some undefined issues. Thoughts and feelings about the world, about myself, that i don't know what to do with yet. There was a difficult situation in the family, and i'm wholly convinced it was God who carried us through it. I've read some books (The Screwtape Letters, some historical fiction, some historical nonfiction), done loads of research on a wide variety of topics, finished a quilt that was started by my late grandma, been freaked out about the chocolate industry, and, for the past month, have been fostering four kittens on a part-time basis. ( that first and that last have been so helpful ) Also, mom and i started going to church again. My situation hasn't really changed - i haven't contacted a doctor or gotten a job or any of the Big Things i thought i wouldn't come back until getting done. The dark thoughts still come and go, the feelings still flare up, but...it's time to try another Challenge, if the Rangers will have me back. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ My goals are routine-based, pass-or-fail, and built on some of the things i've discovered make me feel better: Daily Morning Stretch 10 Squats each time i leave my desk Daily Scripture Writing/Devotion Time Memrise/Duolingo/Khan Academy Assignments Workout- Final Girl from Darebee, generally. Finish one writing assignment daily. Minimum 3 water ( my cup is 32oz ) Bonus points for cutting sugar from tea Another thing i've realized makes me feel better is, weirdly enough, fasting? Having only water/tea all day and then one good meal in the evening. But it won't be a rule so much as a guideline.

I'm back and ready to do a full, real challenge. Dedicating this one to my favorite "kind of gay" witch. I've been dabbling in some "magic" lately to try to reach my goals, so in the spirit of that, it's going to be a magicky sort of challenge. GOAL 1: MENTAL BANISHING SPELL A while back, I talked about how I was looking into the idea of compounding success. Since May 2nd, I've been tracking the habits I built in previous challenges, combined with a few habits I want to build. I've made it into a game and so far it's working. Really well. It's a game of "How often can I cheat and how often can I weigh myself?" to satisfy all the stupid, impulsive pieces of my brain that will never not be obsessed with food and weight. While those parts of my brain are occupied, I get to satisfy my love of tracking (seriously, I track every book I read, every show I watch, every anime episode, EVERYTHING), and I get to actually gradually change my lifestyle, get healthier, feel better, and work on weight loss as a component of those things rather than the only thing. Spoiler tag has the deets. GOAL 2: RITUAL OF RESTORATION I went to the doctor (my new doctor, she's awesome :D) about my ankle. It's definitely an aggravated ligaments/tendons issue. I'm doing daily mobility exercises and RICE. I want to make sure I keep this up until it's healed, so my "exercise" portion of the challenge is entirely dedicated to recovery. GOAL 3: CAROLINA'S GRASP My previous challenges focused a lot on mental health, but I don't need much mental health TLC these days, since getting off the pill magically [sic] transformed my mental health over the last few weeks from always struggling with severe anxiety, mood instability, and depression, to I'm alright y'all. It's like my previous doctor was an asshole or something. I'm also [pretty much] done with graduate school, which is a huge load of stress off my shoulders. What I do need to do is find a job. So weekly job hunting and associated duties are going to be part of this challenge for me. See ya next week!

I'm trying a couple of new vegan recipes each week and I'd love to get some recipe ideas from other people as well. I plan to post pictures of what the food actually looks like (vs the curated blog photos) next time. Being terrible at introductions, generally, I'm just going to dive in with the dish I made tonight: Peanut Tofu Buddha Bowl prep 20 mins cook 15 mins total 35 mins yield 4 bowls Ingredients Tofu Bowl 2 cups cooked brown rice 1 cups shredded carrots 2 cups spinach leaves 2 cups broccoli florets 2 teaspoons olive oil or additional sesame oil, divided 1 cup chickpeas (drained and rinsed, if using canned) salt/pepper 16 oz extra firm tofu, pressed and drained Peanut sauce 1-2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce 1/4 cup 100% pure maple syrup 2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce 1/4 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter Instructions Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cube tofu and place in a single layer on a non-stick baking sheet and cook for 25 minutes. If you aren't using a non-stick baking sheet, lightly spray with cooking spray. Remove from oven and place in a shallow bowl. Whisk together the ingredients for the sauce (sesame oil, soy sauce, maple syrup, chili garlic sauce, peanut butter) until creamy and smooth. Add 1/2 of the sauce to the tofu bowl and let marinate while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Toss the broccoli with 1 teaspoon sesame or olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Place in the oven and roast for 20 minutes until just tender. Heat remaining olive or sesame oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add tofu, in batches, along with the marinating sauce until crispy and golden browned, about 3-4 minutes. To assemble, divide the brown rice among 4 bowls, top each bowl with 1/4 cup shredded carrots, 1/2 cup spinach leaves, 1/4th broccoli, 1/4 cup chickpeas and a few pieces of tofu. Drizzle with remaining peanut sauce. I got the recipe from this blog. Comments Oh.my.wow. This is the most delicious thing that I've made in a while. The "20 minutes" of prep time wasn't quite accurate for me... It took 30 minutes to cook the rice and press the tofu. I don't think the cook time is accurate either since roasting in the oven takes 20-25 minutes. I was in and out of the kitchen in an hour when it was all said and done. You can definitely prep the tofu and rice ahead of time to save time, though. I followed the recipe pretty closely but not faithfully. I didn't put chickpeas in, and I used white rice instead of brown. I also didn't marinate the tofu while the broccoli was roasting because I roasted them at the same time. When I portioned out a bowl, I looked at it and thought, "There's no way this is enough food." By the time I got to the end, I was full. Like I had to power through to finish the last couple bites. I didn't get hungry afterwards either, so it kept me full. So it definitely made 4 bowls for me, which I am very happy with. Did I mention it tastes amazing? Because it does.

I am a little late to start this challenge, but I sort of started it yesterday... when I bought the e-Book of the RBG Fitness Routine. If Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg can do it at 85? Damnit, so can I. But baby steps, yeah? I'm starting a shortened version twice a week, 30 minutes, as I don't have the time to do more right now, but yeah, it's a cute book, and why not? Which brings me to.... TIME BLOCKING. As I get closer to my trip to Japan, my time is more and more valuable. I have two major puppet builds to do this month, a day job to keep on top of, and learning Japanese throughout. So I need to make a nice obvious easy to follow time blocked schedule and then I need to STICK TO IT. Wish me luck. But I need to EAT to have the energy to do all this, so I figured I'd try a vegan/vegetarian version of Whole 30. I've been vegan off and on, and was thinking to keep that up, but I might being in eggs from the local farmers here, as they are local, good for me, and cruelty free. It depends how I feel about eggs at the time, I guess. So far I've been starting my day with frozen fruit, kale, protein powder, and chia blended to death smoothie, lunches seem to be lettuce wrap based, and dinner I've been making insane fusion tacos that are kinda brilliant. I will mix things up, but I'm going to try to do Whole 30, but the vegetarian version (so lentils, peanuts, tofu, that sort of thing are okay as protein sources.) That's about it, besides massively studying Japanese. Which I'm doing alright with. I am going to start using tutors to talk to in June and July, as I leave end of July and need to be able to base level function in conversation. That and I'm making a delightful puppet to accompany me, and I will share him with you all when he's done!

I want your input on whether the following diet can result in a slimmed down appearence: Breakfast: protein shake (like this one) Lunch: quinoa lentils avocado Dinner: refried beans corn tortillas black olives nutritional yeast hot sauce

Hi, I'm Seraphina. Backstory below... I'm new to NF and I just finished my first challenge. I was so pumped to start the next one, and I just found out it doesn't start tomorrow like I thought. What is this BREAK business? I'm not taking a break from smashing my goals, so I'm here for accountability, commiseration, and camaraderie.

What Would Matt Graham Do? He'd keep on keepin' on. The man can run 100 miles in a day: only way to do that is to keep putting one foot in front of the other. So that's what I'm going to keep doing. Week 0 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/dude-youre-screwed/bios/matt-graham/

Hi. A week ago, I was in a car accident. Totaled my car in a state 1200 miles from home, minor injuries, involved another driver, yep. Anyway, I'm trying to move on from it. Yesterday was a really good day, and I feel like I can start getting back to normal now. So I'm here. I'm showing up. I'm not doing a full challenge with a theme and all the bells and whistles, because during this time period I'll be defending my thesis and wrapping up the last semester of graduate school and starting a job hunt. It's going to be busy, and was made even busier by the accident. I'm still kind of overwhelmed, but it's important to me to do my best and keep trying to reach my health goals. 1. Limit sloth time I'm lazy. I need to make sure I meet deadlines over the next three weeks, and to do that I'm going to limit the amount of time I spend doing nothing. I'm pretty much going to hold my "dearest nothing time" hostage until I go through my to-do's. Exception is coffee time, because until coffee kicks in I'm useless so I might as well browse NF/Reddit/whatever and watch dumb YouTube videos until I finish my coffee. 2. Plant-based, no sugar, no delivery/restaurant food I've been pretty off-track with the eating since the vacation/car accident. I need to tighten that shit up, so that's one of the things I'm going to do my best with. I'm still really digging the mostly vegan diet, as it makes me feel really good and I eat tons more fruits and veggies than on an omnivore or low-carb diet. Also, restaurant food and delivery make me blow up like a balloon, even if all I order is a salad. Too many calories, man. So I need to nip that in the bud again too. I'm going to make one exception because I have a coupon for buy one get one free Chipotle burrito bowls and it expires the 30th. I'm not letting that go to waste. I also eat a lot of Dave's Killer Bagels, because they're vegan. They're habit-forming and way too good. I'm not going to worry about it right now as long as I don't cover it in dairy or sugar. 3. Go to the damn doctor I need to go to the doctor. I mentioned in my last couple challenges that my ankle has been bugging me and keeping me from doing circuit training or dancing or anything fun. I really don't think it's going to be hard to change doctors. I just need to talk to strangers on the phone, find a new doctor on the internet, and then talk to more strangers on the phone. Yep. Not hard, just annoying. It will probably result in referrals/x-rays/more appointments.

This Padawan passed the first challenge in a Han Solo fashion (started good, went back to scoundrel habits, and only barely passed by showing up at the end). Now, as a Level 2 Padawan, I plan to do it more like Luke Skywalker (consistent throughout) - and learn how to do instead of try, especially getting more sleep. My main quest remains the same - only the race is now one month closer, so it requires greater discipline. At the same time, I tweaked goals to be more attainable (e.g. aiming for 10:45pm bedtime, but permitting 11:15pm as a pass). Subquests serve the main quest and my long-term fitness goals. I decided to make them more tangible and fun by adding stat points (full points can be gained only at 100% of completion and will be decimally reduced by lesser percentages). Main quest: Run between 10 and 15 km in the Wings for Life World Run (Zadar location) on May 6 Subquest 1: Follow the weekly running+walking program: (a) >6000 steps each day; (b) 1 weekly long run (>10 km) that includes hills; (c) 1 to 2 speedworks (tempo/HIIT/fartlek) per week. -> 3 STA + 2 DEX Subquest 2: Strength train 3 times a week (bodyweight + dumbbells; barbell is optional). -> 2 STR Subquest 3: Have a: (a) vegan protein meal after each run or strength training, and (b) an IF twice a week. -> 1 CON: facilitates muscle gain and fat loss + 1 CHA: increases attractiveness and confidence Subquest 4: Go to bed between 10:45pm and 11:15pm, without internet. Only devotions and time with wife permitted. -> 2 CON + 1 STA: boosts my immunity and energy levels Subquest 5: Start each day with Scripture study, meditation and prayer, and end it with at least prayer. -> 2 WIS: helps me make wiser decisions + 1 CHA: makes me peaceful and better with people So, let us DO!

First of all, I don't want this to devolve into a discussion. Or actually, it's welcome to devolve into a discussion of mutual respect where we take everyone's point of view into consideration. But the reason I'm starting this thread is that I've given this much thought, and I bet I'm not the only one. So if you're not vegan, why have you decided not to be / not decided to be? I'm going to start with my reasons: I've come to realize that whenever I eat, something had to die for that food. Growing up on a farm, I've definitely felt bad when I watched my Dad skin a rabbit. That said, I also felt bad when we grew potatoes and I had to kill potato beetles that would otherwise prevent our potatoes from growing, or snails that would otherwise eat our veggies, or even the weeds that grew between our useful plants because I knew they were alive and wanted to stay that way. Health reasons. Or I guess I should say laziness reasons. It's just so much easier to eat meat than to find all the nutritions I get from meat in veggies instead, and prepare them properly. I don't believe that grains and legumes and such are unhealthy per se, you just need to put extra work into preparing them. Low Carb High Fat (i.e. at most about 150g of carbs per day) is the diet I'm aiming for, so as far as I know, if I wanted to avoid animal products I'd have to eat lots and lots of nuts. When I tried that I realized that nuts don't agree with my digestion, at least if I eat them daily. So meat and cheese and eggs it is, I guess? Convenience is part of it - I want to be able to eat out anywhere. That's also the reason I'm mostly Paleo when I cook for myself, but when someone else cooks for me or I go out to eat, I don't like to sort out foods. Factory farming is despicable, but there's gotta be other ways to prevent it than avoiding animal products altogether. I'm more for supporting local farmers that treat their animals well, eating venison since we have to keep the deer population under control anyway, that kind of thing. I don't want to give up milk (I know, milk isn't Paleo either) because giving it up can actually cause lactose intolerance. What are some of y'all's thoughts?

Carrying over my goals from the last challenge: Work out 5 days a week (run / row) Eat in accordance with my doctor's orders (as vegan as possible) My running goal is to get into consistent (re: at least one week) 10:30 1 mile time. Once I hit that 5 days in a row, I will increase my distance from my current 1 1/2ish miles to 2 miles. My food goal is to continue practicing Intermittent Fasting 5 days a week, and to continue experimenting with new and delicious meals.

I am back! I need to work on follow through for this sort of thing! I've fizzled out on my last challenges, but travel had a bit to do with that. Travel exploded my world in the most delightful of ways. What are my goals for this challenge? Be vegan for a month. I've done it off and on, and I just want to try it, actively, for 4 weeks. I rarely do dairy, so it's not too far a jump, but being vegan forces me to focus on what I am eating, and I often am making my food anyway. Tonight starts 4 weeks of meal prep! In the Japanese bento style! I'm going to make little bento for my lunches each week, see how that works. Why Japanese? BECAUSE I AM GOING BACK, MOTHERFATHERS! I got a scholarship to go study Kuruma Ningyo puppetry there, attend a giant international puppet festival, and teach my own workshop in Tokyo! I am literally vibrating with excitement... but I don't speak Japanese so hot. I mean... I do alright, but not "hot". I have a subscription to a learning website (multiples, really), a tutor, and rampant ambition. I want to clock 10 hours of study a week, at minimum. This is not so much, but also a lot. I need to find where it fits in my routine. I joined a Doctor Who themed mini challenge which is about running around looking for The Tardis (oh, my hearts) and that will keep me physically active. Though on dreary winter days I am going to stay in a do yoga. Anyone have a suggestion for a good yoga class app? Or youtube video series? I had Yoga Studio, I bought it any everything, but they clawed it back and now want more money via subscription, which makes me want to watch it all burn. Not very enlightened of me, I know. So I am open to suggestions. Alright, a day late to the party, and I must dash, but I am in! What are you doing?

Hey everyone, happy New Year! I'm getting ready to do a "Daniel Fast" with a coworker, I was wondering if anyone here was doing one, or interested. Some info here: https://ultimatedanielfast.com/ultimate-daniel-fast-food-guidelines/ Basics are whole food vegan, no sugar, only water to drink for 3 weeks. The premise is that it is what the biblical Daniel ate when he was training under a king, rejecting the "royal foods" he was offered, instead consuming plants and water. I'm not really religious or anything, but it seems like a good way to start the year in health and clean eating and thinking about my connection to the Earth and place in it. And my coworker and I can keep each other in line, so win win. I've started this year already cleaning up a lot of the junk, scaling my meat and coffee consumption way back, and preparing plant rich recipes in preparation, so it's not such a big shock (the holidays, all healthy eating went out the window!). We're doing it from the 8th to the 28th. I'm pretty excited about it. Anyone else?

Hallo! I iz bak. So life kinda kicked me in the proverbial balls. Last time I was on, I was kept afloat by my wonderful RAGErs but I was still struggling with an overall lack of energy, a seemingly unending cold, and was compensating with an increasing amount of junk food. I also went from being one of three people in my department at work, to being the ONLY person in my department - which meant I was working overtime and weekends to keep up with the workflow. I started experiencing dizziness and (according to my doctor's diagnosis - I had no clue what was happening) anxiety attacks. When I finally went to my doctor, she sent me out for blood work and we discovered - surprise, surprise - that I was showing prediabetic and very high cholesterol levels. So I'm now on what basically amounts to a vegan diet with high carb restriction. I go in for another blood test in 3 months to see if anything's changed. My goal for the next 3 months is pretty simple: follow my doctor's orders, and get those numbers as close to normal as possible. This week's goal has been to get my diet on track and get my running shoes back on. I meal prepped last Sunday, and have been 90% compliant thus far (went out with the husband to B-dubs yesterday and had their black bean Southwest burger with fries and a beer - felt awful afterwards; will not be repeating that performance). Went for a little 1 mile jog around my neighborhood Tuesday and today; will go again either tomorrow or Sunday. Next week's goals are 100% dietary compliance and run 1 mile M-F.

Hey guys so I posted this to my 4 week challenge thread but I thought I'd share it here too! I'll be posting the other recipe right after this one so keep an eye out for it! VEGAN TACOS INGREDIENTS MAKES 6 SERVINGS -1 teaspoon vegetable oil -1/2 onion, sliced -2 teaspoons chopped seeded jalapeño chile -1 12-ounce package soy chorizo (sometimes labeled Soyrizo), casing removed -1 15.4-ounce to 16-ounce can vegetarian refried black beans -12 corn tortillas, warm -Diced onion -Chopped fresh cilantro Instructions Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add sliced onion and jalapeño; sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Add soy chorizo and cook until beginning to brown in spots, stirring often, about 5 minutes.Meanwhile, cook beans in heavy small saucepan over low heat until heated through, stirring occasionally.Stack 2 warm tortillas for each of 6 tacos. Spread scant 2 tablespoons beans over each stack. Top with soy chorizo mixture, dividing equally. Sprinkle with diced onion and cilantro.

Greetings and salutations to all of my companions on this road to health! Its been a while since I've been as active as I want, so I am going to make my first goal to: 1. BE ACCOUNTABLE: Come on the forum at least 4-5 times a week and read up on peoples progress, update my own progress, and not be too hard on myself. Now for a little about me. Hi my name is Crafty and I am an alcoholic.......wait, scratch that, wrong forum. lol! Seriously though, I am currently working on getting my certification as an EKG Monitor Tech. I will be reading patients EKG strips that basically can tell me if I the patient is ok, or if they need a nurse ASAP! My mom had a heart attack back in January and I've decided that more than anything I want to be able to help people. This is just the first step to much more certification and schooling. I'm loving it!!! The heart is a fascinating muscle. Like seriously, I can't believe how amazingly complex and yet super simple it is. In my studies I've been discovering just how your heart health can be affected (good and bad) through what you eat. Now, I have lost and gained weight plenty of times before. I have been on every diet, program, etc out there and while I lost weight, I never felt "better" health-wise and stereotypically gave up and gained it all back. I mostly just ate less. Now I am older and wiser and to be frank, I really don't want to have a heart attack or any other chronic illness. My mom went through hel. Surgeries, medications, therapy, omg the list goes on. I want to be healthy and happy in my 80s and 90s, not dead by 50 (or on 20 meds and miserable feeling like I'm 70). Among the other things that I've researched, I have been watching all the healthy eating documentaries on Netflix. Its fascinating and has helped me to strengthen my resolve. My BIG PICTURE goal: To transition to a healthy diet based on plant-based calories. Basically I'm going to work my way up to becoming a vegan. I have a bad track record with my follow through, so I'm going to break it down by weeks and change my goal eat week until I am 100% clean vegan eating. I'm very excited about this, but also scared. Growing up I've been a typical fat American - I hated fruits and veggies, loved soda, junk, and meat. And what's worse, is I've noticed I'm passing these horrible habits along to my two boys (2 and 3 years old). The fear of failure is all too real. Thus, the weekly breakdown. Small changes, am I right NF peeps?! I also work for a hotel at night and have to make the breakfast each morning. I HAVE to handle bagels, muffins, sausage, donuts, omg this list goes on and on. What can I eat that the hotel offers for vegans? Bananas, oranges, and oatmeal in a packet. The struggle is real people! But I'm going to be healthy dammit!!! The main goals I hope to accomplish by the end of this challenge are: 1. Limit meat to dinner only 0-3 times a week. (Lets be realistic, a self-proclaimed carnivore cannot change overnight!) 2. Minimum 10 cups of water daily. (I'm actually already doing this, but it seems like a good goal to keep me positive!) 3. All meals must have 2/3 plant-based foods. (The more fruits and veggies i can pile on the better!) 4. Twice a week I will allow 1 serving of a processed food (ie-I've been craving doritos like a mad woman. the smallest bag available would be ok.) 5. Try a new fruit and a new veggie each week. (I have a very narrow experience with these and need to force myself into trying new things. yay!) 6. Limit sugar intake to less than 50g daily. (Defeat the sugar beast that has had his claws in me all my darn life!) Ok, that about sums it up. Now to post my goals for the first week! Hi ho Silver! Away!