January 2, 2013 23 Comments

30 Day Organic Vegan Challenge

I can tell that 2013 is going to be a pretty exciting year full of big changes! One thing that I’ve wanted to do for a long time is eat mainly organic food and another is to officially cut out dairy. This is why I am doing a 30 Day Organic Vegan Challenge.

To ensure the success of the challenge, I am making some easy to follow guidelines. If you’d like to join me, please do! We can discuss progress via twitter and share recipes :) Anybody looking to join in is very welcome!

organic

My first food stock up!

I plan on starting on Thursday the 3rd of January and the official challenge end date will be the 1st of February. I’m hoping that I enjoy it so much that I can continue the lifestyle.

Here are the guidelines:

  • No Dairy – milk, cheese, eggs, yogurt, ice cream etc
  • No meat or fish
  • 80-90% organic fruit and vegetables
  • Organic moisturiser and hair products
  • Mineral makeup when possible (young blood foundation)
  • Organic, natural deodorant
  • 1 x Cheat meal per week that must be organic and dairy free
  • Try to have three ultimate health smoothies per week (RECIPE COMING)
  • Coffee is ok but must also be organic
  • Home made cleaning products instead of chemical ones
  • No soft drinks
  • Print out your 30 day challenge planner and mark off each day as you go [30 Day Planner Here]

 

What I’m hoping to achieve:

Eating an organic diet has always seemed very unattainable due to the price. I plan to sacrifice spending money on clothing and completely cut out unnecessary purchases in order to afford to do this! Check out my ‘Cheap Ways to Eat Organic Food‘ post.

I am hoping that I will discover ways to incorporate more organic food into my diet in every day life after the 30 days. Perhaps I will be more motivated to take care of my vegetable garden.

Also, any weight loss will be a bonus as I am going on a trip to Cairns in February and would like to be in great shape for that as I’ll be in swimwear every day.

What YOU could achieve:

You could lose weight and have more energy! If you live in the USA or UK you will probably find that eating organic food isn’t ridiculously expensive and could almost be an easy switch?

Less pesticides and chemicals ingested could give you better overall health and give you a sense of accomplishment!

How to start?

Visit your local Wholefoods, Flannerys or equivalent and stock up on everything you need. A trip to your local organic markets on the weekend will help you save money on produce while supporting your local farmers.

Print out my FREE 30 day challenge planner and make a 100% commitment to completing the challenge.

PRINTABLE 30 DAY PLANNER

 

Want daily motivation? 

Enter your email below to subscribe to 30 days of motivation. Even if you aren’t joining in on the challenge, you will still benefit from the quotes and encouragement. I’ll be sending positive, encouraging and supportive emails for the next 30 days. They will be short and sweet – just a daily ‘pep talk’ to keep you on track! :)






30 Days of Motivation

Filed Under: Diet Plans, Motivation, Organic Challenge, Vegan Challenge
  • Gisi

    of course I´m in :D I am already a vegan and think its one of the greatest ways to live and especially to loose some pounds :D

  • Mel

    Hi Gisi! I’m so glad you’re in – any tips? Day one starts tomorrow!

  • Gisi

    I would suggest, if anyone needs some tips or recipies just ask me – cause I think if I try to note down all of my “knowledge” I will definitely forget something :D
    I myself was really “addicted” to cheese before turning into a real vegan (trying it for a year now)- but I found out if your eating well balanced with enough of tofu i.e. its kind of easy to stick to a vegan lifestyle. Since I´m living in Berlin, Germany it is quite easy for me to get access to vegan “cheese” (there are special vegan supermarkets, thats why it is easy for me to avoid all diary products. The only tip I can give u – if your starting a vegan lifestyle, dont be to hard to yourself. If you have one day of eating cheese or what ever, thats not the end of the world. Start trying next day again. As already mentioned it took me almost one year to realy stick to it.

    So, if u need any other tips or recipies, just let me know :D i definitely have enough of them :D

  • Christine

    Hey! I always read your blog and got ur email about this challenge this morning, which was so interesting because I too decided to go vegan this month! I’ve been vegan in the past, and it’s amazing; adding an organic element will make it a tad harder. I’m getting married in may and want to npt only slim down before then but just feel so much better and energized. I also added daily 20-min Pilates and yoga sessions. Best of luck girls!

  • Mel

    Thanks Gisi!! Yes would love to hear any tips you can offer :)
    I think cheese will definitely be one of the hardest things for me. Milk is fine because there are options but I find that Australian soy cheese tastes kind of weird. I cant imagine having a vegan supermarket! That would be a dream :D – lucky you!
    What’s your favourite recipe??

  • Mel

    Hey Christine! Thanks for reading my blog and I’m excited that there are others out there who are doing a similar challenge! How long were you vegan for in the past? Congrats on the wedding!!

  • Christine

    Hey Mel! Thsnks! I was vegan for 2 years, about 2 years ago now. Once I graduated college, it was harder for some reason (with work and grad school) to maintain. I live in NY so finding vegan options isn’t hard- I just got lazy, unfortunately. Also, being a lifelong vegetarian obviously makes the transition that much easier. My fav recipes were always stir fry tofu and veggies with brown rice or rice noodles, and just a simple cranberry salad with raspberry vinaigrette. Typically, I eat bland (like dry toast and a banana for breakfast) anyway it’s the junk food my fiancé and friends eat that really kille (do u know how hard it is to go a week without pizza in ny?) anyway, im hoping with a stocked fridge and your support, we can do this!

  • Gisi

    These supermarkets indeed are just wonderfull :D we also have a vegan pizza place :D hmm favourite recipe…. thats really hard. I love my cauliflower/coconut-milk/curry soup.

    Just take two cans of coconut-milk, a package of frozen cauliflower and cook everything til the cauliflower is soft-boiled. Blend everything til u get a smooth soup. Add lots of curry,paprika powder, salt and pepper. DONE … u can also add a table-spoon of peanut butter.
    I love the asian kitchen – thats why I simply love this soup

  • Gisi

    I can highly recommend this lovely page:

    http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/

    soooooo many great recipes for healthy sweets :)

  • Tess

    I have been flipping between veganism and ovo-vegetarianism since I was 9 for ethical reasons and have one word of warning for future vegans – be careful of your soy intake. When I cut out eggs I mostly replaced it with soy as it was much easier to digest than legumes (I’m sure you all know what I mean!). However this high soy intake induced hypothyroidism which caused me to gain weight for no apparent reason and I had the energy level of a sloth in the desert so exercise was out. I have cut out all soy and am now eating organic free-range welfare-friendly eggs that I know where they came from. My body and energy levels have massively improved. I do hope to return to veganism when I have healed my thyroid and found more suitable protein replacements.

    I fully support and thank anyone who is joining the veganism bandwagon (less demand for meat means more animals can escape the cruel lifestyle!), but please just watch that soy!

  • Jamie

    When you say 80-90% organic fruits and veggies, do you mean that you’ll just eat mainly fruits and veggies or is that the percent of how many have to be organic? Does that make any since?

  • Mel

    Oh there would be so many vegan options in NY, how good! Where is your favourite place? I’ll be there in July so would love any recommendations :D
    Junk food is probably going to be the hardest for me too, there are some nice vegan chocolate bars at my local supermarket. I think we can all do it, it’s only 30 days..not long at all when you think about it :)

  • Mel

    Oh we have a vegan pizza place too!! I’m going there on Saturday :D That soup sounds AMAZING!! Thanks for the recipe Gisi!

  • Mel

    I should make that site my homepage for the next 30 days haha. So good!

  • Mel

    Oh what a great tip Tess. I have also heard this before but don’t consume much soy, I might make a post about it to warn others. Will your thyroid go back to normal? Did you ever try a rice milk or almond milk instead of soy or was it mainly tofu etc that caused it?

  • Mel

    That makes total sense! I meant that is the percentage of organic produce I’m aiming to eat. I already have fruit and vegetables that will go to waste if I do 100% organic. I don’t want to be wasteful so once that is gone I will try to eat 100% organic :)

  • Gisi

    this challenge will be great ;) I initiatet one day of only vegan food with my boyfriend :D so that he is doing on one day of the week, what I´m doing all the time :) just great
    I cooked with my new wok and made a wonderfull peanut-sauce :D

    great idea mel <3

  • Mel

    Ooh I was looking for a peanut sauce recipe, do you mind sharing?

  • Gisi

    of course dont mind :) so here it is:

    2-3 tbsp. sunflower oil (or any other vegan oil)
    2 tbsp. curry paste (mild or spicy as u like)
    1 can coconut milk (approx. 400ml)
    150g peanut butter
    Salt, Pepper

    1) stir-fry oil and curry paste in a very hot pot and pour on the coconut milk. Let it simmer for 1-2 minutes.

    2)Stir in the peanut butter, salt and pepper and let it simmer again for 5-10 minutes – til u get a smooth sauce.

    Tadaaaa finished :)
    but caution: I fell in love right away and couldn´t take my hands of the pot :D hahaaaa

  • Mel

    YUM! Sounds amazing, I think I might have all of the ingredients already :D Thank you!

  • http://healthylive.altervista.org/ Lisa

    Hi melissa! i have a problem, you have send my only 1 email!! wath’s appen??

  • Mel

    Sorry Lisa, there was a problem with my email system! You should have received them by now..a little out of order. SORRY!

  • Gisi

    If anyone is interested in healty vegan sweets (and other awesome things) I can really recommend these pages. I tried some of their recipes and they were really great :)

    http://nadeinthekitchen.wordpress.com/

    http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/10/easy-macaroni-and-cheeze.html