Whoop-ow!

This is what you think eating vegan is like. This is what it actually is.

Welcome to Girls Gone Veg. I'm Tony and I'm Ali. We are super excited to be here with you today to start this show together.

Yes, our dream, our dream about all things veg. Veg. Vegan. You're the vegan.

So I'm the vegan and it's going really well so far. I really like it. I enjoy it. I'm finding it. You know, it's doable.

Being an elite athlete, no issue so far. And I am the flexitarian, which basically can mean anything you want. But in my case, 90% vegetarian and Tony has inspired me to take that next step.

I'm almost vegan and I don't know. I'm just kind of feeling my way through it and we have these incredible plant-based recipes that we've developed together.

I am a certified health coach and I'm really into making things, you know, sugar-free. Maybe a lot of nuts and sweetened with fruit. And then Tony, you have your style.

Yeah, I like to make things familiar for people. I like my food and my dishes to remind people of, you know, things we've had in the past. So when they think of vegan food, they're not thinking like, oh my god, like, what is this? I could never.

I just want them to, you know, think that it's doable. It's easy. It's simple. It's not as hard as people may think. It's not daunting at all. It can be fun and exciting. And you can be so creative in the kitchen, finding different substitutes for things and your recipe. And that's what we're doing here today.

Yeah, we love eating. We love cooking. We love sharing. We love hosting dinner parties. A little bit hard during COVID. But that's actually how we met when I came for my first season with the Orlando Pride in 2020. And it was quarantine.

So Tony and I, the first time we met, we started talking about food, but we couldn't actually eat together. So we would make recipes at home. And I was really motivated to try to impress her and make vegan recipes.

And then we would drop off aluminum packets outside each other's home. So she'd come to my apartment. I'd come to the house. And then from there, when we actually were able to spend time together, we're like, maybe we should kind of start a partnership here.

And here we are. And here we are.

What inspired you to become vegan and what have you noticed in terms of a difference as a professional athlete at the highest level?

I know you mentioned you love cooking. It's not daunting. It's easy. It's fun. But kind of what pushed you to do that step in the first place?

Yeah, I think initially I was just curious. I had been making mainly vegetarian meals for myself at home. I do love to cook.

And I was like, well, veganism doesn't really seem that different from vegetarian. So why not go ahead and try it. And then at that time also, I was looking for anything to give me that edge in my performance as well.

So I would definitely say the curiosity aspect and the performance aspect or the two things that led me into veganism. And I was just like, you know what, this is like a no-brainer.

Like, I'm going to stick with it. This is going to become a lifestyle. And I absolutely love it.

And I think you mentioned kind of the difference you felt when you were competing. And I've definitely noticed the recovery time is so much shorter when we're going from game to game.

And we can be playing three games in a week. So to reduce inflammation, to be able to be feeling good and not be exhausted between games.

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