The Engine 2 Challenge Week 4: It's Over and I am a Little Afraid

Last night marked the end of the 28 day Engine 2 Challenge. I was the only participant still standing after the first week, but I powered on, with the support and encouragement of people who were following along with me here on the blog, on Instagram, and on Facebook.  So now what?  Do I start another 28 day challenge?  Do I go back to the way things were before I took the challenge?  I'm not quite sure yet.

I become obsessed when it comes to stuff like this.  If I decided I wanted to eat this way for the rest of my life, I could.  But do I?  Not really.  The thought of never having deep fried Toffalo Wings drenched in melted buttery buffalo sauce dipped in creamy ranch really freaks me out.  Much in the same way an alcoholic must feel when they decide to give up alcohol, I have an obsessive and unhealthy relationship with food.  (Which makes my career choice as a food blogger and cookbook author a pretty difficult one.)

Week 2 of Engine 2: I think I'm getting the hang of this

Time to get real. I honestly thought I would have given up on this challenge by now.  I mean, seriously, it just about goes against everything I ever talk about, and the new followers I have on instagram are all of the "healthy" variety.  Ha!  It's definitely not like I am anti-healthy or anything.  I mean not really.

Maybe it's that I never was able to put that much focus on healthy eating because I was always focused on "yummy" vegan eats.  Vegan eats are my main form of activism.  I feed people delicious vegan food. And people see that vegan food is "normal" food with flavors they are familiar with. And then people say things like, "Oh my god, you can still eat this? Maybe I will go vegan!"  (Well that's how I hope they respond, anyway.)  So, cooking for health, and eating my medicine were never very high on my priority list. 

Vegan MoFo VIII, Day 8: Red and White Quinoa Kale Salad

Red, and White Quinoa Kale Salad  from Going Vegan (page 111), photo by Celine Steen

Today's recipe comes from my newest release, Going Vegan: The Complete Guide to Making a Healthy Transition to a Plant-Based Lifestyle, featuring photos by Celine Stten, and written along with my friend, nutrition expert and food scientist, Gerrie Lynn Adams.  Gerrie is "one of those" vegans. One who cooks without added sugar, oil, or salt. Since you know me, you know that is certainly not my way of cooking...or eating. But, Gerrie knows what she's talking about! As a food scientist and nutritionist, Gerrie has taught me so much about how one can cure what ails them through the food choices that they make. And I was honored to be able to teach Gerrie about some of the horrors of factory farming, animal rights, and the effects animal agriculture has on our environment. And that is exactly the point of this book.