Back in 2013, Beyonce and Jay-Z went on a 22-day “Vegan Challenge.” They basically went completely vegan for three weeks and they enjoyed it. It didn’t seem like Bey and Jay did it out of any kind of animal-rights belief – Beyonce wore leather and cowhide to a vegan restaurant, after all – but it felt like they were experimenting with something for their health. Well, two years later, Beyonce is endorsing/launching a 22-day vegan challenge program for the peasants. I’m sure Gwyneth Paltrow is so proud of her!
Today Beyonce and exercise physiologist Marco Borges announce their business partnership in 22 Days Nutrition and launches the 22 Days Nutrition plant-based home delivery meal service. Beyonce, who trains with Borges, took the 22 Days Nutrition challenge in the winter of 2013 with her husband, JAY Z, and has since made an effort to include more plant-based foods in her everyday diet. The program’s philosophy is based on the concept that it takes 21 days to make or break a habit and on the 22nd day you are well on your way to forming new habits.
The home delivery service was born out of a demand from Borges’ friends, colleagues and clients who enjoyed his delicious meals that were naturally low in fat, sugar and salt and filled with flavor from whole-foods such as vegetables, beans, grains, herbs and spices. The home delivery program takes away all the guesswork and makes it easy to adopt the plan.
“I am so grateful that I took the challenge and credit Marco with leading by example,” says Beyonce. “He is the most energetic person I know and it’s all because of his decision to live a healthy lifestyle. He came up with a great program to get people motivated to make better nutritional choices. All you have to do is try. If I can do it, anyone can. I am excited to partner with him.”
I never really think of Beyonce keeping to one specific diet though, you know? She’s like Gwyneth that way – Gwyneth’s diets change every month, and Gwyneth will literally try anything with “cleanse” or “elimination” in the description. I guess this 22-day thing is less of a lifestyle change and more like a fancy vegan cleanse. Once the 22 days are over, you can go back to eating whatever you want. The point of it is that after 22 days, you won’t want to stop, I guess. So, what do you think? Is Beyonce encroaching on Goop and Tracy Anderson’s turf? Or is this a totally different thing?
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.
Beyonce and Goop are probably high-fiving right now.
I need a bucket.
Goop 2.0
I think this is more about investing/supporting the business and less about her becoming GOOPesque
Beyonce’s right about Marco. I’ve known him half my life and he is one of the most energetic, positive people I know. I’m really happy for him.
Beyoncé launches a 22 vegan challenge food service “for the peasants “. Errrrrrrrr, I’m not really sure about that phrasing. That is not Beyoncé. “For the peasants? Really? Doesn’t look to me like someone who looks down on others. Or maybe you’re just joking
I agree with Shunty. Beyonce says, “if I can do it, anyone can!” which is hardly looking down at others. I think she’s a smart businesswoman, and she believes in the product. This seems like a POSITIVE thing to me; I don’t get the diss.
NAH.
A delivery meal service costs money so not for people who aren’t financially well-off. Secondly, making your own meals (even non-vegan) takes a lot of time, energy and planning, not something a celebrity understands so what ‘effort’ did B put in her food choices? Bye girl.
I did research on that 21-days to form habits and it’s not true. The complete process of creating and maintaining habits takes up more than two months. This 21 days is to make it seem like it’s easy and that’s simply untrue. If it was, there wouldn’t be any addictions would there? There wouldn’t be people completely self-aware of their bad habits but unable to change them. You see this with increased gym memberships at New Year, only for members to quit shortly when the resolution ruse is over.
who enjoyed his delicious meals that were naturally low in fat, sugar and salt and filled with flavor from whole-foods such as vegetables, beans, grains, herbs and spices.
I don’t get this obsession with low fat. Good fats, if eaten in moderation, are essential for your body and aid weight loss. I shudder to think these are professionals when basic research contradicts most of these trainers’ claims.
He is the most energetic person I know and it’s all because of his decision to live a healthy lifestyle. He came up with a great program to get people motivated to make better nutritional choices. All you have to do is try. If I can do it, anyone can. I am excited to partner with him.”
No thanks boo, going vegan is not for everybody. There was/is a famous blogger who gave up vegan because it wasn’t good for her and she got so much abuse of the vegan community for daring to speak out on something that is an open secret basically.
And nah, if you can do it, then I’m going to need some cash and some serious extrinsic motivation as B is all about looking perfect because she’s in the public eye which is not relatable to my life.
I hate when celebs pretend you can follow their lifestyle lmao…
The blogger in question wasn’t criticized because she spoke out about returning to animal products… she was criticized because her story was used by MANY to prove that a vegan diet isn’t sustainable or healthy. The problem? She was not doing it right. She wasn’t eating a healthy vegan diet; she was depriving herself of key nutrients, she had an EATING DISORDER, and when she went off the diet, she went straight for a big seafood meal… also a terrible idea if your body isn’t used to that food anymore. She can’t possibly know that her body can’t handle a plant-based diet, because she never gave her body a chance to eat an actual, balanced, plant-based diet.
It’s not an “open secret” that vegan diets aren’t healthy. I was a vegetarian for more than a decade before I switched to veganism, and these past two years have been the healthiest and happiest of my life. Everything from my skin and hair to my conscience and emotional stability have been affected. I know vegan diets aren’t possible for everyone (for example, low-income families with limited-to-no access to fresh produce)… but it’s irresponsible to pretend every vegan diet is exactly the same. Not saying you did that, but a lot of people do it, and it really hurts me to see. I do it for ethical reasons, and it breaks my heart that animals might continue to suffer because people have the wrong information.
Well said Brittney B.
ME TOO! is Like J.Lo in that way, Ya’ll not “relatable” and whatever else about it, you look like you do through a Combo of Deprivation, precise calorie counting measure just so for you, extensive workouts tailored just so and because you Have to look a way as part of your job, and they should have the good sense and “realness”of at least telling us that this is what it takes and not make it seem like Oh this? Just a couple weeks of nebulous “hard Work”, Girl!”
@Brittney
I searched for her story and Tasha (the blogger) ate cow meat, not a seafood meal. Second, she was a healthy vegan for years before her body signaled that she was missing key nutrients. It’s a fact that many vegans do (B12).
Also, she got a lot of support of people who felt the same way but didn’t want to quit for many reasons, just like Tasha, they were people with strong convictions.
http://letthemeatmeat.com/post/3141542244/interview-with-an-ex-vegan-tasha
Her blog was loved by the vegan community and recommenced by the vegan community so she must have been doing something right no? It’s too easy to dismiss her food habits AFTER she quits, I guess nobody cared during her disordered vegan eating period then? They just spread the false information to other vegans/potential vegans?
While I found her journey back to eating meat a bit ridiculous and did warrant negative critique, it did not however warrant death threats and harassment.
Her blog post influenced other vegan bloggers too who described the struggle and some of them even admitted to not wanting the label ‘vegan’ but being scared for harassment from the vegan community. If many high-profile vegan blogs were so popular then why are they being dismissed as ‘unhealthy’ when they dare to say that they don’t like being vegan anymore for whatever reason? Many vegans who seem to be doing well, quit
I agree with your other paragraph. I’m a ‘part-time vegetarian’ as they call it now and I know very well you can eat crap and get sick in any diet.
Vegan diets are varied (raw, macrobiotic etc) and I do believe they can be just as healthy as diets consisting of meat if you know what you’re doing after plenty of research but indeed not for everybody.
I was going to go ahead and assume that, because my next question was “how much?” That I couldn’t afford it.
Eh whatever gets people interested in vegan is a good thing.
That’s how I feel… as long as people don’t use this as an excuse to perpetuate the myth that vegans are holier-than-thou elitists/extremists, or that plant-based diets can’t possibly be affordable or accessible.
Well said @bettyrose!
Until they realize it’s impractical for their particular circumstances (limited or no access to fresh produce, meat substitutes, healthy fats and proteins). Besides, it’s not a *bad* thing to actually consume meat…
I doubt the peasants can afford her service. While I applaud more publicity for plant based diets, it does irritate me that she was such a tool that she wore leather to vegan restaurants. I wish she’d nix all of her animal products. I’m not keen that she’s jumping on this bandwagon as a way to earn more $$$. Fraud, really.
I’m going to go full Beyonce – I’m going to get a burger for dinner, but photoshop it into a kale salad before my personal archivist posts it on my instagram.
So witty!
Wasn’t a fan of hers to begin with, but after reading the TMZ article a couple weeks ago about how she threatened to sue Etsy after a vendor on there was selling personalized mugs for newly married people that read “Feyonce” (and that seller was selling them for $10 a pop and she only sold four before her listing got taken down). I just plain dislike her now.
Beyonce is a raging egomaniac and only cares about herself, her image, and money.
Also.. LOL at that obvious push-up bra in the first photo.
Link to said TMZ article:
http://www.tmz.com/#Article/2015/01/23/beyonce-etsy-feyonce-taken-down
She has an image to protect. I doubt you’d remain silent if it was you. They even had the accent over the é. And it wasn’t etsy she threatened. It was the vendor. Jeez, can we wait till she actually does something worth being dragged for
The vendor was selling them for ten dollars.. TEN. It’s not like the vendor was making thousands of dollars. She only sold four mugs before Beyonce’s lawyers started firing off threats.
Huge overreaction on Beyonce’s part.
Can we really be pissy with her for this and not with Taylor Swift for copyrighting the phrase “Shake It Off.” I mean come on.
that’s not as bad as when Paris Hilton tried to copyright “That’s Hot”
Those who can afford it will try it, those who can’t will probably try to find the meal plans and see what is offered (get a little inspiration). It’s a great way to use star power to promote healthy lifeestyle principles so kudos for that.
Maybe she chose a plant-based diet to be healthier and is not interested in the ethical aspect of veganism.
Yes, nobody has to follow a certain overall agenda because of their eating habits. Carnivores can care about animal rights and the planet and refuse to wear fur and eat lots of fruit and vegetables. You can wear leather and fur and still eat 100% vegan. or you can eat vegan some of the time but not all of the time. It’s definitely a health issue for humans, who are accidental carnivores rather than obligate (all our essential amino acids are plentiful in plant foods and our physiology is not anywhere near as well suited for eating animals as the physiology of true carnivores like cats; we can survive on a carnivore diet, but that doesn’t mean it’s optimal for us). Certainly just cutting down on meat and dairy is likely to improve health for many people, if they eat properly the rest of the time. A true varied vegan diet for a few weeks won’t hurt anybody, our bodies are made for it.
I want the 22-day bad photoshop challenge instead
Oh god that would be great. All the celebrities should be forced to live Photoshop free for 22 days.
That would be enough for the end of the Kardashian empire.
Good news for the peasants is that a vegan diet doesn’t require fancy cooking. I have eaten mostly vegan and always vegetarian for several decades and I don’t even own a stove (old microwave and small convection/toaster oven). A lot of my meals require no cooking at all. Fruit, raw veg, nuts, seeds, nut/seed/legume butters, canned beans, roasted legumes (including peanuts and edamame) are all available to toss in a bowl. I have various wheat and non-wheat crackers for toppings (just had avocado/lime juice with rice/quinoa/sesame crackers, for example). Nutritional yeast can be mixed with ground nuts/seeds for a very tasty Parmesan cheese like high-protein topping. If I had more time than money, I know how to make crackers from anything resembling flour. My idea of cooking is to make up some wheat or non-wheat pasta or millet in the microwave (or use precooked rice or quinoa which I buy nowadays although I do know how to cook those) and then toss into a pan with whatever veg and/or beans or other protein food and coconut oil. Or I use cut up commercial veggie burgers and sausage etc, use frozen veg blends when on sale, and occasionally use on-sale frozen meals if I can find any suitable as a basis (can add beans or veg to anything). All this can be done more cheaply from scratch and it doesn’t take that much time. And the only person I know who needed B12 injections was a dedicated carnivore- you can take a supplement if you want, but actually the human need for the infamous B12 of such concern to carnivores cluck-clucking at vegans is very easily satisfied by plants (which have plenty, far more than we need in a normal vegan diet).
Plus cleanup is so much easier when eating vegan… Much cheaper than a carnivorous diet also- my food bill doubled when I went temporarily carnivore during allergy testing and initial rotation diet for control. (The feline obligate carnivores were ecstatic, but I wasn’t.) Definitely if you’re on a tight budget, go vegetarian or vegan. The fancy meals cost a lot for carnivores also, but you don’t need to eat fancy and can even just follow the sales to avoid taking out a bank loan in the produce department. Get a pressure cooker and you can have a different type of bean every day rather than relying on canned beans, but usually the house brand of canned beans works just as well as the pricier brands.
Not a fan. I’m a vegan so yeah whatever…. BUT WHAT’S WITH THE DAGGER NAILS??
Does Blu ivy have an eye left?
Look, if someone was cooking my delicious meals for me for 21 days, I’d happily eat whatever they were, vegan, paleo, carnivore, whateves, I’m not cooking!