Forks Over Knives Review

I was super excited when I heard that the new documentary called "Forks Over Knives" was actually coming to our local Sundance Cinema in Madison, WI.  Patiently, I have been waiting for this movie to finally make it in our area and knew right away who I was going to see it with.  I emailed my friend, Ms. L, who helped me become vegan. We even coaxed our meat eating husbands in joining us for an adult evening out with no kids to see the movie and get dinner after.

Honestly, I was a little nervous on seeing this and getting the reactions of our husbands on this movie.  I knew I would love it as I enjoyed reading "The China Study" book which this is based on.  The documentary was truly fantastic and I loved ever minute of it.

After the movie, we headed across the street for a late dinner at Restaurant Muramoto for some sushi and other entrees.  I have never been there and am not a sushi fan, so I was happy to see they had a fried tofu entree.  It was tofu with sautéed baby carrots, asparagus, onions, mushrooms in a truffled ginger scallion broth and it was heavenly divine.  The waiter was a saint and made sure my food was made properly for me being a vegan.  Don't you just love that when waiters go to out of their way like that?  Everyone else went for sushi, but they said it was fantastic as well.  Will definitely be going back and bringing the camera next time so I can take pictures of the food.

Believe it or not, the movie had great impact on our husbands as we were talking over dinner.  Ms. L's husband is a true meat eater and I thought he would hate the movie.  But, after having him watch "Food Inc", I knew this might help him understand why his wife and I went vegan and give more incite on just how bad meat can be.  I think Ms. L almost jumped out of her seat to cheer when her husband said he would be eating less meat because of that movie.  It was definitely a sign that we both wanted to hear.  I wasn't worried about my husband as I knew he is slowly creeping into the vegan world and seems to really get it.  Overall it was a successful night!

One of the added perks of going to the movie was that if we took our ticket stubs to our local Whole Foods store, they would give us a swag bag full of vegan goodies in return.  So, the next morning we headed to Whole Foods to get our bags.  To our shock and surprise the bags were more than what we were expecting.  It was the best swag bag we have ever gotten.  There were recipes, coupons, snack and dish soap samples.  Thank you Whole Foods! 

If you hear that this movie is coming to your area, I highly recommend seeing it.  They also just released it on DVD, so you can watch it in the comfort of your own home.  I hope this gets as big as "Food Inc" or even bigger!  Has anyone else seen it?  Would love to hear your take or others on this movie.

Vegan Confession

Yes, I admit it, last week was bad for two of the days for me.  I was doing so well on the vegan diet, something clicked and all I craved was cheese.  Not just any cheese, but mozzarella cheese which led to an all out veggie pizza binge with lots of cheese.  I am almost a year into being vegan and I slipped up, messed up, what ever you want to call it.  It was a horrible feeling after I ate it and then to have it again for another meal the next day, what on earth was I thinking.

But, I learned a few amazing things from my two day slip up on having real dairy cheese.  My stomach ached for days after, clogged up my system, acne came back at full force on my face, skin started to itch like crazy (I believe my eczema outbreaks are related to dairy) and felt so tired.  I couldn't believe how just a few meals could change my body so dramatically.

In a way, it was a great experiment, if you want to call it that, to see how much my body has adapted to whole foods and the vegan lifestyle in just short of a years length.  But, I am even more amazed how my body is changing back for the good.  Acne gone, system being flushed out, skin clearing up from the eczema outbreak and energy back.

Has anyone ever slipped up on the vegan lifestyle before?  I can't imagine I am the only one ever to have done this, but it certainly was a great wake-up call and so glad to be on my vegan path again!