Happy Vegan Day! As some of you know, the adults in my family went mostly vegan, except for fish, about two years ago.  The results of changing our diet were immediately visible. We were less puffy - everywhere, especially in our faces. We seldom have that too full feeling. We feel energized and have more energy to push ourselves during workouts.  The major concerns we had ended up being non-issues. We didn’t feel hungry after meals. We got more than enough protein. And, we easily gained more muscle when working out.  

Our reasons for choosing to go vegan were multi-faceted, but mostly it was driven by the environmental impact of meat. Today, my 10-year old son has chosen to become a vegetarian.  He made the choice a couple of years ago and generally holds to his decision, but from time to time when he wants bacon or a hot dog, we encourage him to listen to his body. His choice has not stunted his growth as he nearly surpasses me in height and foot size (adult size 7). Our daughter LOVES plants, but she also loves to eat, so she eats meat when she wants to (at other people’s houses and at school), since we don’t serve it at home. 

If you’re inspired to check it out for yourself, here are five ideas that might help you take the next step:

1. Watch the Netflix film Game Changers 
2. Check out this post on how it went when I took my whole family vegan for a week, including two choosy littles
3. Find Angie’s posts about her vegan staples. Her entire family is vegan.
4. Recipe sites like Forks Over Knives, Thug Kitchen and Cookie & Kate are our go-to favorites 
5. Check out a plant based meal service and the many, many plant-based meats that are equally as delicious

Have you attempted to eat less meat in the past few years? The #meatlessmonday movement was a great changemaker in helping people think about eating more plants.