About

Diet

About 10 years ago, after much consideration and research, I made the conscious decision to become a vegetarian. To be honest, I was never crazy about meat but was always told I needed to eat it in order to get the proper amount of protein. Yet I constantly felt bloated, sluggish and fatigued. I always suspected that meat was the culprit of my general discomfort but decided to test my theory by removing it from my diet to see how I would feel. Through my research, I quickly learned how easy it is to meet the proper protein requirements without meat in my diet. As I dug deeper into my research I discovered how little we know about what goes into the process of meat production. It seemed like I had nothing (literally nothing!) to lose by dabbling in the vegetarian lifestyle. I told myself that I would try it out for a month and if it didn’t work then I would just return back to my meat eating life! Here I am 10 years later and I haven’t looked back! To be honest I don’t miss it either and I certainly don’t miss the lethargic side effects. In fact, I’ve never felt better since removing it from my diet. My energy levels increased, my hair and skin appear and feel healthier, the dark circles under my eyes have reduced and the list continues! I won’t deny that in the beginning it took some extra brain power to come up with meat-free recipes but it didn’t take long for this to become second nature. Fast forward 10 years later and one of my greatest pleasures in life is coming up with new and exciting vegetarian recipes to cook for my family and me.

Exercise

I grew up in the world of competitive dance and have always enjoyed being active. I ended my dance career shortly before starting University which is when I was introduced to Pilates. I instantly fell in love with this form of exercise because it had many similar components to dance and years of dance training landed me in the advance category almost immediately. I mean who doesn’t want to do something they are good at!? Seriously! Not long after starting Pilates, the owner of the studio I was attending approached me to become certified to teach. Soon after, I began my journey to become a certified Pilates instructor. What I love about pilates is how it aligns with my overall outlook on exercise being that you don’t need much (in the way of time, space or equipment) in order to stay or become fit -which is why I haven’t owned a gym membership in well over 15 years. Yet I have managed to consistently workout and maintain fitness in that time period. I certainly venture outside of Pilates when it comes to fitness which we will explore more through my blog!

Why Running on Forks?

When naming my blog I wanted to combine my passion for vegetarian cooking (which is the forks component – over knives) and my love for fitness (which of course is the running component). Lo and behold I landed on the catchy name Running on Forks to signify how my vegetarian diet energizes me to keep fit! I look forward to sharing my successes, challenges, tips and tricks with you all!

xoxo,
Tricia