Texas VegFest is this Saturday April 6 and I am so excited I can’t stand it. I think I should stop eating now to get ready. Or maybe eat a whole lot to stretch out my stomach? How does that work anyway? If you are curious about the festival details check out my interview with board member Molly and go to the official website. And join the facebook event. And follow on twitter. It’s going to be a hell of a time and you have to get their right at 11am to beat the lines and to get a good spot to hear author Christy Morgan do the first talk of the day at 11:30. I asked her a couple of questions so we would know what to expect.
Hi Christy, can you tell us a little about what you do?
My professional focus is teaching others how to make delicious, plant-based meals whether that be through my cookbook Blissful Bites, with recipes and videos on my blog, private and public cooking classes, or with my online wellness program Wellness Reboot. I travel quite a bit teaching at festivals and conferences.
In my personal life I’ve become pretty obsessed with fitness and working out. I’m training for a triathlon later this year so I’m working out a few hours a day 6 days a week. Eating a whole foods vegan diet, with ample protein, has done wonders for my active life. I’m able to push myself harder each day and lift more weight. I actually have bigger muscles than I ever did before I went vegan. It’s pretty awesome. I workout at Beyond Fit during the week, which is a gym run by a vegan. You don’t find that everyday!
That’s for sure, is there going to be a Beyond Fit presence at Veg Fest? Did you hear boxer Omowale Adewale is going to be speaking? Maybe you two should have a showdown.
I actually saw Omowale when I was speaking at the NYC Vegetarian Food Festival but didn’t have a chance to say hello. I’m excited to meet him this time! I’m always down for a showdown 😉
Yes, Chad and Beyond Fit will have a booth there and also the guys from VeganProteins.com will be there flexing their muscles. I love how these guys are proving that you don’t need meat or whey to be an athlete or bodybuilder!
I heard you are also going to be making food for us to try, can you tell me about it?
The focus for my cooking demo is on protein-filled dishes and a discussion on getting enough protein as an athlete. Since my life is all about training right now I’ve been experimenting with my diet and the amounts of protein that allow me to build lean muscle mass and recover from my grueling workouts. But it’s not just about smoothies, I’ll show you a few delicious way to incorporate protein into your diet.
That is exciting! God knows, it’s the number one question we seem to face as vegans, so I will be happy to have some more answers. Speaking of diet, is there anything in particular are excited to try at this year’s festival? There are a lot of vendors.
Well, I plan to fast the week before so I can eat at as many food vendors as possible. I can’t even name my favorites…I want to eat at them all! There’s such a great list of vendors this year; some names I don’t recognize so I’m excited to check them out. Thankfully my talk is at 11:30 so that will give me the rest of the day to enjoy the festival 🙂
I hear that! What, in general do you like to indulge in, when you are going to go all out?
I love me some desserts or pastries of any kind. One reason I work out so hard is so I can have treats every once in a while and not feel guilty about it haha. Capital City Bakery has the best naughty treats and I’m addicted to the gluten-free chocolate mini donuts from Mr. Natural. Counter Culture always has a delicious cheezecake too!
I haven’t had the mini donuts from Mr. Natural! I will have to check them out.
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To be honest I’m a bit bummed to see she’ll be the speaker. I met her on the vegan cruise and when we talked she was very snooty. I talked to others who have had her do presentations and got the same impression. So I could be judging too soon but the what she said and how she said it to me really put me off. Personally I’m looking forward to seeing Colleen speak. 🙂
Aubrey,
Thanks for leaving this. I felt the same way when I read this post, but didn’t want to have her supporters come after me the way they can (on Amazon and such). I have met Christy too and got the same impression. I was not impressed and have heard other stories from people reflecting the same thing. I’m looking forward to the other speakers as well.
I love Christy! She’s one of the nicest people i’ve ‘met’ on the internet.
Christy is anything but snooty. She is warm,
friendly, smart, and incredibly down to earth. She makes eating and cooking a plant-based diet easy and fun. I highly recommend her, her cooking demos, wellness reboot and cookbook to everyone.
I just want to clarify, I’m just expressing my feelings from meeting her in person.
annd you think that this is such a great place to say that? whatever happend to “if you cant say something nice don’t say something at all” she will likely read this and likely feel bad.
i’m excited! I love Christy’s cookbook and I can’t wait to try plantfusion, i keep hearing about it.
And DANG! I should have planned better and fasted this week so I can try all the food! Funnel cake? wth
No worries, people are entitled to their opinion! I actually remember you Aubrey and remember our conversation. We didn’t agree about the no-oil thing if I recall. I hardly think disagreeing about something qualifies me as snooty. Hope you have a blast at the VegFest!
Christy, it wasn’t about the no oil thing. It was what you said, which was “Those guys don’t give a shit about macrobiotics” and how you said it. I don’t know you personally, so I’m not assuming that what you said and how you said it is a reflection of who you are all the time. I wouldn’t want people to do that of me either. I’m just saying it totally took me by surprise and rather disappointed me and my mother. It had nothing to do with disagreeing.
I too hope you have a blast at VegFest. All the best.
I’d love to see you both Saturday and Sunday! My gym Beyond Fit is having a free bootcamp and fundraiser at 10am on Sunday. Come workout with me!
https://www.facebook.com/events/141943245983295/
I didn’t get to see any of the speakers last year. I’m excited that I’ll be on the Fiesta Gardens side so I can see all the speaker action this year! Can’t wait to hear you, Christy.
Thanks Molly! See you there!
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aw I wish I could be there! Christy your cooking videos rock, so I can only imagine how fantastic you are in person 🙂 And I can’t wait to finally meet you at VVC! Sad you won’t be speaking there, too… if there are gluten-free mini chocolate muffins there, we are totally getting some together 🙂
So sorry I’ll miss this, too! I’d love to hear you speak, Christy. I adore your cookbook (as you know) and loved the Wellness Reboot, too. And it sounds like so much fun. But I guess I’ll just have to wait until the VVC, too, to give you a big hug! 🙂
I’m personally so disappointed that I’ve missed Christy twice this year (once at NYC VFF and now Texas VegFest), because I know what an engaging, passionate, and informative speaker she is. I’m envious of those who got to be there, but glad they had a chance to see her in person!