Tomorrow marks Week 7 of the Winter Shape Up. You know what that means… By 11:59 EST tomorrow, send me your:

• progress for Week 6
• new goals for Week 7

Let’s do this!

We’re in Week 6, and you all are still going strong! Here’s a sampling of your successes:

Meghan: “I managed to completely shatter my previous 5K PR yesterday. I ran the race in 26 minutes — almost TWO WHOLE MINUTES faster than my record.”

Brieann: “This week was really solid and I definitely made progress.  It feels like making healthy decisions is getting easier each week.”

Mariel: “I was kind of in disbelief when I stepped on the scale this morning, but I checked it like four times, and it was true.  That brings my total weight loss to 8 lbs!”

Ann: “That’s a total of 5 lbs lost since I started. Pretty awesome considering I would probably be 5lbs heavier than my starting weight by now if I had not joined this challenge.”

Kelly: “I am proud of my progress in the past week.  I worked out most days, made wise decisions regarding food, and lost 1 pound!  1 full pound!!”

Sharon: “I definitely started Jillian’s DVD and it kicks my butt!”

Nathalie: “I had a successful Vegan Day on Thursday! It was a lot harder than I thought, but I did it! I think I’m going to have a Vegan Day once a week from now on.”

V: “I did a really good job serving myself (or only eating) a reasonable portion size at every meal. In particular, making sure I didn’t overdo it at dinner helped me feel less lethargic the rest of the evening.”

Maggie E.: “I ran a marathon relay yesterday - I ran about 8 miles, which is the farthest that I’ve run since I began my training for the half marathon.”

Kelsey: “I am addicted to green monsters. WOW. And…I got my boy hooked on them too!”

Hey Winter Shape Uppers!

How did Week 5 go for you?

Vegan Week was a partial success. I say “partial” because I became un-vegan on Friday. Why? Well, I had intense stomach pain all day Thursday, and even though I doubt it had anything to do with my vegan diet, I didn’t want to risk it. So I unveganized. I think I easily could have kept up the veganism through today, though.

The overwhelming thought that I had while vegan was, “This is really not that hard.” Hands down, the hardest thing to give up was cheese. Meat? Take it or leave it. Milk? Almond and soy work just fine. But cheese? There’s nothing like a sprinkling of parm on pasta or soup, or a bit of goat cheese on salad or a sandwich. I also missed eggs a bit, too.

Really, the biggest lesson from my five days of veganism was that I don’t NEED animal products in my life. I can cut wayyyy back on them and barely notice the difference. And you can bet I will. Cheese is going to stay in my life, as are eggs. But my meat consumption has already been dwindling, and it will continue to do so, as will my dairy milk consumption. I’ll try to follow Mark Bittman’s Vegan Before Dinnertime plan as much as I can.

Remember, any amount that you can cut back on meat and other animal byproducts is helpful not only to the environment, but also to your body as well (see: Cowboy Rocco). No eating style or diet plan has to be all or nothing, and that’s something a lot of people forget. Every time you have a plant-based meal instead of an animal-based one, you save about 2.5 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. There’s a whole campaign based on that idea. So don’t think you have to go extreme to help save the environment, your body, and your wallet.

Anyway, how did your Week 5 go? WSUppers, send me your Week 5 progress and new goals by 11:59pm EST tomorrow (Monday, 11/23) to stay in the challenge!

Yesterday, as part of Vegan 4-A-Day, I ate all vegan meals and snacks. I’ve been eating vegan all week as part my goal for the Winter Shape Up Challenge. I photographed some of vegan eats yesterday to show you what kinds of delicious foods you can eat while still adhering to the principles of veganism (no animal products or byproducts). Sorry for the bad quality… I had to take them on my phone!

Breakfast was multigrain oats with pumpkin, peanut butter, and banana.

I actually keep all these ingredients in the office, so all I have to do once I get to work is add water and heat.

I forgot to snap a photo of my lunch, but it consisted of a falafel sandwich with tahini, lettuce, and tomatoes. I also had a side of lentil soup. I munched on a PB&J Larabar in between meals.

Dinner was eaten at happy hour. I had a hard time finding something vegan on the happy hour menu, but finally settled on another Middle Eastern-themed meal.

Cucumbers and pita with hummus and tabouli. I had them leave off the tzatziki sauce that normally comes with the plate because it contains yogurt.

Yesterday was my fifth day being vegan and I have to say, it’s the most annoying when you’re eating with other people. When I’m cooking for myself, I have no problem at all.

Those of you that have been following along at home know that as part of the Winter Shape Up Challenge, I’m going vegan for this week. You may also know that other bloggers have also taken on the challenge of going vegan. What you may not yet know: Why going vegan might be a good idea!

As a disclaimer, let me clarify that I’m not trying to preach veganism to any of you. Though much of what I eat is naturally vegan, I’ve only been officially, completely vegan for three days. I don’t think it’s the right lifestyle for everyone. But there are many benefits, and I’m here to highlight those for you.

10 Reasons to Go Vegan:

1. You’d be giving a little boost to our lovely planet. Producing meat and dairy consumes a lot of fossil fuel. Eliminating them from your diet drastically reduces your carbon footprint.
2. It will probably save you money. Meat is more expensive than vegetarian forms of protein. Enough said.
3. It might help you eat more whole foods. Yes, there are processed vegan foods (tons of them). But lots of processed foods are not vegan, so you might be forced to cut many of them out of your diet.
4. You could lower your risk for chronic disease. Much of the heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity in this country can be partially attributed to our over-consumption of meat and dairy.
5. Vegan food tastes good! Though your palate might not be used to it at first, vegan food is very flavorful. In fact, in my short experience with veganism, I feel like I’m able to taste the flavors of my food more.
6. It forces you to get creative in the kitchen. I’ve been in a slump with my cooking lately, and going vegan has really forced me to pull myself out of it.
7. Going out to eat will only seem desirable when the restaurant is worth it. When you’re vegan, most restaurant food is off limits. You’ll only want to splurge when you know the restaurant will have options for you, and that equals a healthier body and wallet.
8. As a global community, more people can be fed on a plant-based diet than a meat-based one. The amount of vegetable protein fed to U.S. beef would feed almost the entire populations of India and China.
9. Eating animal products isn’t biologically necessary! Why spend the extra money if you don’t have to? Why increase your carbon footprint if you don’t have to?
10. A vegan diet can be just as gluttonous as an omnivorous one. Vegans can still drink beer and eat french fries (as long as they’re not cooked in lard!), so don’t think you’ll be deprived if you go vegan.

All that said, will I be vegan (or even vegetarian) for the rest of my life? Probably not. But I have been, and will continue to be, a LOT more picky about where my meat and dairy come from if I decide to incorporate them into my diet. I’ll try to buy free-range, organic, vegetarian-fed meat and dairy, as well as buying from local farmers when I can. I’ll also strive to keep at least 1-2 of my daily meals vegan, as even decreasing your meat and dairy a little bit can have an impact on the environment (and you’re also voting with your mouth!).

If you’re wary about veganism, try going vegan for just a day… TODAY! Michelle and Katy have declared today Vegan 4-A-Day. Katy says:

On Thursday, November 19, we are asking that you devote one or all of your meals to being vegan. We just kindly ask if you could link back to either my blog or Michelle’s when you make your posts about Vegan Week. We will be compiling a list of all who participate throughout the day, on our blogs under the ‘VeganWeek’ tabs. If you could make sure to either send us the link and/or leave it in the comment section of the ‘Vegan 4-A- Day’ official post on Thursday then we can give you proper accolades.

If you know of any other friends, bloggers or not, who are up for the challenge…spread it around! Everyone who takes part will have a chance at a really cool prize — details of that to come soon!

Check out your progress this week. Just a sampler platter of your amazingness:

Michelle: “I was successful in my goals this week! I’m feeling kind of on-top-of-the-world right now :)”

Ariel: “Wanted to email you tonight before I forget but also b/c I’m really happy with how I did this week and surpassed my goals.”

Marci: “Finally I got myself into action and accomplished my weekly goal!! It was definitely a challenge but I was super determined”

Tara: “yesterday I bought a new pair of jeans - one size smaller!”

Ginny: “This challenge is the only thing keeping me from eating too much!!”

Sharon: “Week 4 was awesome!”

Kendyl: “I have waited all weekend to send this email!! I finally busted through the plateau by switching it up.”

Brieann: “Let me start off by saying last week ROCKED, or more accurately, I ROCKED :)”

Christina: “Middle of the challenge! I’m having a lot of fun with this, it has made me love Mondays.”

Tracey: “I asked myself, how bad do I really WANT IT?????  I indulged as I had planned on and knew I would, but made ok decisions.”

Helen: “My goal last week was to wake up extra earlier at least twice during the week so that I could work out before work and after work.  I met that goal, yay!”

Kelly: “NUTRITION: No diet soda: Passed with flying colors!  I crave it so much still, but I’m going to extend this goal until January 1.  NO soda till then!”

Claire: “This was a great week! I started to get a lot better hold of nutrition, and fitness, and it paid off on the scale! …I’m really making progress!!”

Mary W.: “I lost the my goal weight: 2 pounds!”

Kate: “Nutrition: Check! Let’s just say I drank my weight in spinach and dandelion.”

Maggie E.: “I’m using the new nike+ipod feature and it’s so great to try and beat your last run/time.  It’s making running a little more fun for me!”

Melissa: “One thing that I was proud of myself for this week (and I have you to thank for it!) is that I satisfied my french fry craving (obsession) by substituting with roasted sweet potatoes.”

Katie S.: “I really feel like this is helping me, again, thanks so much for providing a venue for this!”

Katie K.: “What a drastically better week i had.  i feel much more encouraged”