Stacey Ditched Oreos & Lifts Hay

Today's guest blogger is Stacey Narduzzi. She lives a very active life in Michigan with her husband and three dogs. She volunteers her time at SASHA Farm which is the largest farmed animal sanctuary in the mid-west. I imagine this is a large contributing factor to her choice to become vegan. And it certainly helps with her incredibly unique workout (see below). This just proves there is no excuse to get moving! Thanks for joining us Stacey. 

Stacey loving life 28 pounds lighter.

I became vegan overnight.  The next morning I had no idea what to eat.  I spent five months starving, eating analogues, and being a junk-food vegan.  Did you know that Oreo cookies are vegan?

I've been an Oxygen subscriber and an avid reader of Tosca Reno's column for many years. Eat clean, six small daily meals, carry a cooler - she writes it over, and over.  I thought carrying a cooler was a bit crazy, but everything else sounded simple enough.  I didn't do it though.

Then I attended The Arnold Fitness Expo so I could meet Tosca.  I felt compelled to go because of one simple line in her column.  She wrote that she was packing a cooler to keep with her while at the expo.  I remember thinking that she really does it. She really does this Eating Clean, six small meals, and that crazy pack-a-cooler thing.  That one line in her column had me traveling to Columbus, Ohio. That one line, after reading dozens of her articles, got me to realize that this Eating Clean is for real.

Stacey at her heaviest before realizing Eating Clean is for real!

Since then I learned that my favorite meal is lentils with quinoa. Shred some fresh spinach on it and I'm in heaven. Include some berries and kiwi for dessert and I just had the best meal of my life.

I now know Eating Clean is more flavorful.  I can actually taste the food because it's not covered with unnecessary sauces and salt.  It's real flavor.  

I'm down 28 pounds and my goal is to be in a figure contest. I'm 42 years old, and still have a ways to go to get there, but if Tosca did it, so can I.

Isn't that what she's been trying to tell me all along?

Stacey's Unique Workout

If you want a good workout, try lifting 75 pound bales of hay to feed over 200 animals.  They get fed twice a day.  If that's too heavy for you, the cow pasture needs cleaning. Cow piles only weight 5-10 pounds each but you have to shovel the pasture for eight hours. Make sure you use both arms when shoveling or you will find yourself lopsided. Looking for cardio?  Feed the pigs and then run like the wind to get out of the way.  It's hard work and I love it!