Get Ready For Veganuary

I was late at announcing a vegan challenge but still wanted to do one for the month of January. I know a lot of people over indulge during the holidays and January provides the perfect timeline for getting in better shape.

I remember all too well how the holidays were for me when I was over 350 pounds. All the cookies, desserts and meals... it can amount to thousands of extra calories. And it typically starts right around Thanksgiving and lasts until New Year’s Day.

Then the resolutions start. Most likely, people will make resolutions and not keep them after the first few weeks. If it weren’t for the pandemic, my guess is the gyms would be packed with new members trying to get in shape. What they don’t realize, as I didn’t for years, is that you can’t exercise a bad diet away. If you overindulge, exercise is going to have little to no effect on your weight loss efforts.

This is why a challenge that focuses on lifestyle changes is crucial to your success. My hope is once you get in a pattern and like the results, you will not want to go back to your old ways.

This vegan challenge is about getting healthy, so the focus will not be on eating processed foods. The focus will be on whole plant foods. Don't get me wrong, I'm doing this to save the animals and for the sake of our environment too. But I know how weight loss can be achieved if you eat the right plant based foods and want to help others get there too.

My hope is that once you see the pounds start to come off and how great you feel, you will start to think about the animals and the planet too. Maybe you will realize that you really don’t need meat to attain optimal health.

Here’s how the challenge will work:

Each day, you will post a brief summary of the foods you ate on the Facebook group page (link below). You must indicate if you were 100 percent compliant... i.e. no animal products at all. You will get 2 points for the day if you avoided all animal products and avoided processed foods.

There will be a total of 62 points possible. Whoever gets to 62 points will go in a drawing to win a vegan t-shirt. Other vegan prizes will be available as well.

To join the challenge, go to the Western CT Vegan Life & Fitness Facebook group.