Yes, My Dogs Are Vegan

I've gotten quite accustomed to getting weird reactions about eating a vegan diet. When you mention that your dogs are also vegan you really get some strange looks. Honestly though I just laugh about it. I'm the type of person who believes in physical proof or solid evidence. The results I have seen in both my dogs since switching them to a vegan dog food formula have been amazing. That's all I need to know that it's the right choice for my Fur Babies.

Photo taken just a few days ago.
Let me give you a little history about Muffins. She is 13 years old and has a curved spine. Also when she walks her knee caps move out of place. Things started getting hard for her back in 2011 when we lived in California. Back then she still had a lot of spunk and we were able to take her for walks on the beach. Shortly after California she seemed to be in a lot of pain when she walked and she became very lazy. When we moved to Wyoming I took her to a vet and had her put on pain meds. I didn't like giving her meds because I know they cause liver damage. I kept her on them for about a month and saw no improvement at all. I stopped giving them to her.

Muffins in California, 2011
Fast froward to 2012, which is when Cody and I went vegan. I never would of thought that I would find a vegan dog food or even consider switching my dogs to a meat free diet. My views and beliefs changed overtime, I educated myself on how the dog/cat food is made and I just decided that if meat causes so many problems in the human body, isn't it possible it does the same to our pets? Made sense to me.

Muffins and I on the beach in California, 2011
Stephanie from Share The Love informed me that the pet food brand Natural Balance made a vegan dog food formula. I was so excited about it and I was able to just go to my local pet food store and buy it. The price is pretty comparable to brands like IAMS, which is what they were eating prior to switching to Natural Balance. Within only a few weeks of switching the dogs to their new food I saw results. When I fed Muffins IAMS she would barely eat a bowl worth a day, even go a few days without eating. It was heartbreaking.


There were days where I would come home from work and have to check to see if she was still breathing. It was awful. Sometimes I would just start balling my eyes out because I feared the worst. Muffins would sleep for hours and never even get up to drink water or go outside. I had watched my poor little dogs health decline very badly over the last year. She was super skinny and had trouble getting off the deck to use the restroom and even going over the doorway to get in and out of the house she would fall.


It's so hard to watch your pets get old. For a long time I didn't think she would make it to the end of this year. However, after switching her diet I have this completely different dog. It's as if I rolled back time. For one she loves the food and she is eating regularly. She has gained some much needed weight. She wants to be up and about. She goes outside multiple times a day on her own without being forced. She shows happiness and excitement again. All I did was switch her food.


I actually was talking to a co-worker about the vegan dog food the other day. It was so refreshing to have someone show interest and ask questions about it. She planned to tell her aunt about the food because she has a dog that's older and not doing that well. That's when I knew I really wanted to share it with my readers. :) Cody and I plan to take a vacation this year to California. It means a lot to me to take Muffins to see the ocean again. I've never seen her so happy. As far as Chloe goes, she has lost some much needed weight.

Chloe eating a vegan dinner

Chloe is no longer the shape of a barrel. She now has an hour glass shape the way she should. The results with both my dogs have been great. I wrote this post so that I could pass the information along. I know not everyone will agree with me and that's fine. Again, this is my choice and all the proof I need is in front of me everyday. I can't wait to walk Muffins on the beach again!

You can visit the Natural Balance website HERE.

First Clip in Pedal Bike Ride

The next big step for me to take in cycling was to put clip in pedals on my bike. What are clip in pedals you may ask? I'm sure you know what a traditional bike pedal looks like. A clip in pedal is designed to "clip in" to a cleat on the bottom of cycling shoes. Below you can see my cute little shoes and a also a photo of the circle shaped clip in pedal.


I started out just riding my bike on my trainer in my basement to practice the motion of clipping in and out of the pedal with my shoes. It does take sometime to get used to the feeling. The benefits of having the clip in pedals is that they give you more strength while riding your bike. Since your shoe is now attached to the pedal you get more power while you are pedaling. Not only do you push on the pedal, you are also it pulling up. However, Cody didn't inform me how much it was going to hurt my legs the first ride. I felt pain in muscles I didn't know I had! It really becomes a full leg workout.


I did fall/crash twice. With clip in pedals you basically become part of the bike, so it's easy to make mistakes as a beginner. You are attached and need to know what you are doing to get off. The first time I fell was because I didn't push myself up high enough to get on my seat when starting. The padding on my shorts caught the seat just enough to turn it into a failed attempt. I tried to get off and save myself, but with my right foot still clipped in, down I went. My second fall didn't hurt so bad. I was coming to a stop and I had clipped out of my left pedal. This is the foot I always put on the ground when I get off the bike. Somehow I accidentally clipped it back in. Since I didn't know I was clipped in, I just went to get off the bike "thinking" my foot was free. I think my exact words were, "Shit, I'm still clipped in." Crash. hahaha

Caution: Hot Dogs Ahead


We have been riding on actual roads more. I feel fairly comfortable doing it because the people in the area are used to seeing cyclists. I do tend to stay as far over as possible or use the shoulder if there is one. I don't believe in hogging the road because I'm on a bike. I do hope that people don't get too close either. When I lived in Ohio you rarely saw cyclists. When I did see them I'd get so mad and cuss about it. I thought that roads were only for cars. Boy, how my views have changed. It's also very hard for a cyclist to stop and go. It's so nice when people wave you on or have patience. Especially for a beginner like me. :)


I love snapping photos while we are riding. The above photo is a common site here in town. Lots of people have there own junkyard or car lot going on. Cars and campers lined up rusting away. I joke with Cody that I think there are more campers in our city then people. It's a very interesting place to live and I'm sure someday when we move away we will miss it. You really get to see things differently when you are out on a bike. This ride was one of the most physically hard rides I've done, since I was working all kinds of new muscles in my legs. I can't wait to just keep getting stronger!

Photo A Day // May

Snow storm arrives on May 1st

Blue nails // Bought my first knitting supplies

Flower shopping for our yard

Prepping our cabinets for paint // Enjoying Bob's Burgers

Simon is a happy kitty

Starbucks at home // Always pets at my feet

Finally having some sunny days

Planted my first flowers in the yard // Married 7 years!!!

I love my ride - rode 30 miles

Understanding how to knit // Tofu Scramble and Chocolate Pancakes

My cute little pet mouse // Lush makeup catalog

Me attempting to look like a badass cyclist (still far from it. haha)

Knitting going well // Mushrooms in my yard

Watched our friend ride in a mountain bike race. It was very inspiring.

Knitted my first project // Been working on my yard

Photo of my office // Decorating the guest bedroom

Some inspiration from my tea bag: YOU ARE UNLIMITED

Flowers in my backyard // Yawn

Lady bug landed on my glasses

Stewie Pajama pants // Got clip-in pedals for my bike!

I'm really sad that May is over. I lost two good weeks of bike riding because I had a head cold. I feel like time is flying by so quickly. The good thing about feeling this way though is that I'm super motivated to get my butt in gear. I'm ready to get outside more and enjoy the beautiful weather. May was still a good month overall. I taught myself how to knit, planted some flowers in my yard and spent less time blogging. I'm ready for some more adventures. Lets do this June!!!

How was your May? Do you have anything exciting planned for June?

Watching Our First Mountain Bike Race

A few weekends back we got the chance to watch our friend Dan compete in a mountain bike race. In case you are wondering this is not the same Dan that is doing the vegan project on my blog. (I have two friends named Dan!) We were super excited to go support him since he is the reason we started cycling in the first place. Dan has been a huge inspiration for me. He has battled some serious health problems over the last few years and has still been able to stay in great shape. He decided he wasn't going to let his health issues hold him back from his love of biking. Last year he climbed the summit at the Rocky Mountain National Park. (A 9,000 feet climb to the top.) I hope to follow in his footsteps someday.



The race was held at Curt Gowdy State Park here in Wyoming. It was my first visit and I was impressed with how beautiful the park is. I was more fascinated with the amount of bikes I was surrounded by. I may not be a mountain biker but it was still really cool to be around other people who love to ride a bike the way I do. Even though mountain bikers like to tease road bikers about riding on the road verses the dirt and mountains. I'm not ready for riding in the rocks. It's scares the hell out of me honestly. I can get hurt on my road bike but I feel the chances are increased on a mountain bike.


It was nice being able to bring our dogs with us...
There were three bike races held that day. Dan's race was the last one, the intermediate course. It was a total of 15 miles through narrow dirt trails, rocks, steep hills and mountains. The intermediate race was also opened to women. They just started ten minutes ahead of the men and were timed separately. The first hill that all the racers had to climb up was so steep and what seemed to be never ending. Here is a photo Cody took of some of the girls climbing...


We got this great video of Dan starting the race and climbing the hill. There is no way in hell I could climb that thing!!!

Dan waving as he goes by...

After Dan went by us, we hiked out in the woods to find a cool place to catch some photos. Since Dan had practiced the trail many times he told about a great place to sit and wait for him to ride by during his second lap. I had fun climbing some rocks and snapping some photos.




Yes, that is a cowbell sitting on a rock. Notice it has "rule #5" written on it. When Dan first introduced us to cycling he also informed us of the rules of cycling. The rules are mostly just supposed to be humorous. A lot of cyclists follow them by the book though. I tend to be the rebellious type of person and plan to wear my heart shaped sunglasses while cycling instead of buying overpriced cycling glasses. Which is already breaking rule #1 which is, follow all the rules. By the way, rule #5 is Harden The F*ck Up. I remember this every time I climb a hill on my bike. For a complete list of the rules go HERE.


We waited for about an hour for Dan to reach the spot where we hoped to get some photos of him riding. We really had to pay attention because riders came by quickly. When Dan came around the corner he had a guy in front him...




We felt bad for the guy in front of Dan because we scared him. He wasn't expecting there to be people cheering and taking photos. We really knocked him off his game. Dan knew we were going to be sitting there. It was funny though, the guy laughed about it. Dan didn't miss a beat and soon after passed the guy that was riding in front of him.


Then we headed back to the finish line to wait for Dan to complete the race. It got crazy windy and cold.
Poor Muffins.Video of Dan finishing the race. (Listen to the wind!)



It was a very inspiring day. Even though all these people were way better on a bike then me, I just use it as motivation to get better myself. Everyone starts somewhere. I got sick a few days after watching this race so I haven't been able to ride my bike at all. The withdraw is killing me. It may sound silly, but it's addicting. I never thought I would be addicted to something that is considered exercise. I look forward to watching other races in the future. I hoped you enjoyed my photos.