So Far So Good

Two and a half weeks into my vegan experiment and I have to tell you, I am loving it.  It is not too much of a switch since I cut out most dairy already and was only a little cheese, eggs, and whey protein that I had to stop eating.   I really enjoy the way I feel, lighter, and cleaner.  Once I realized that soy did not react well with me....I felt fantastic.    When I started this I thought it would only be for the month and then I would go back but now I am not sure....I really like this so far.  This is totally doable for anyone.

I think the fact that I love to cook has helped a lot.   I have found that if I plan and make sure that I have meals cooked and ready, things are so much easier. It is not as easy to find a quick easy meal on the go.  Last weekend I was running around and all I wanted was some lunch before I hopped on the train.  I went to three different places and there was nothing other than hummus for me to eat.  I ended up waiting til I got to Ridgewood and stopped at the Wholefoods to get some chickpea salad.  I was beyond starving at that point and it was hard to get my energy back up for a while.  I have learned to carried at least some nuts, fruit or energy bars with me.   I also learned that if you are going out to eat...you can call ahead and ask for a vegan meal.  I went out to eat with my family to Union Sq Cafe a few weeks back.  I called in the morning and asked for a vegan meal.   So when I got there, I had it specially prepared and it was pretty good.

I have not noticed any difference with my energy with working out.  I have had some long days the last two weeks and I have not been sleeping too well, so it has been hard to tell.  When things settle down, I am hoping that I will notice more.

Here are some good recipes or new foods that I have tried:  

1.  Rice milk.   I used to be scared of rice milk but Bloomberg only carries rice or soy.  Since I stopped the soy milk, rice was left.   Suprisingly it is actually pretty good.  Probably because it has sugar!  I have to ask to see if they will carry almond milk.  

2.  Rice Protein Shake:  This concoction is something I stumbled on last week and I cannot stop drinking it.  I mix chocolate rice protein with this super green stuff and chocolate almond milk (yes, I actually bring some food in to work).  Takes a while for all of it to dissolve but it tastes so good.   Only bad thing, it looks like sludge.   Every time I bring it to a meeting, I get cracks from my co-workers about what I am drinking.

3.  Curried lentils with tomatoes, carrots, onions and kale:   It actually should be curried kale with lentils, tomatoes, carrots and onions since it is about a head of kale in every serving.   It is soooo good and lentils are an awesome source of protein.  I just have to be careful on how much since they also have a bunch of carbs

4.  Almond Cheese:  You can get this at Fairway or Wholefoods. The cheddar is crap but the jalepeno is pretty good.

5.  Beet and Carrot Salad:  Ok I HATED beets.  The earthy taste grossed me out.  We have been getting them each week in our CSA and I would give them away.  Monday, one of my co workers brought in a simple shredded beets/shredded carrot salad with a lemon juice and olive oil.   I tried it and I could not believe how good it was.  No earthy place. I went home that night and got some beets and made it.  Been eating every day since.

6.  Homemade veggie burgers:  I have made a batch of black bean and corn burgers and a batch of lentil burgers.  I keep the burgers in the freezer and they are my go to item when I come home.  I throw them on top of a salad.   I love the fact that I can control what goes in to them.

This weekend I want to try some stuffed cabbage (have one from my csa) and some more protein bars. 

On other news:

I am finally a New York City resident.   One thing that I really never wrote about before in my blogs (in case of jinxing the process)  was that along with training, commuting into the city, and working, I was looking for an apartment to buy.  It was probably the biggest cause of my stress this summer.  After 8 months of looking and going through the coop process I finally closed two weeks ago. 

Gone are the 4:50 am and 9:30 pm bus rides and in their place has been bike treks through central park.   I actually can make dinner now and go to bed at a normal (well my normal time).  I still get up early but 5:15 is much nicer than 4:20.   I am now getting about 2-3 hours more sleep a night. 

Better than sleep is that I live between Central Park and Riverside Park.  I feel like I am a kid in a candy shop when I am trying to decide where to work out.    You cannot go wrong with either direction.  I am slowly learning the beauty of running along the river with the breeze and getting to watch the sunset over Jersey City. 

I've Got a New Challenge...Well Challenges

Its been a while since my last post.   I think that the last few months finally caught up with me and I needed a break from everything.   As much as I hate to admit it, May, June, and July were a struggle for me.   I look back and cannot believe that I completed everything that I said I  would do.  That includes the Half Ironman....the main purpose of this blog.   I wont say I am happy with how I did but I finished and throughout the whole process learned everything that I could do better for next time.  Its funny, at the end of the race I said I would never ever do it again but now I am already planning when to do my next one.  I want revenge and to hit my goal of under six hours.

So now that I have had some down time I decided I needed a new set of goals to keep me going.  The first one is my short term challenge and the second is my currently unachievable partly crazy goal. 

Short Term:  Eat vegan for a month.   I made the move to stop eating meat a few months ago in efforts to help me recover faster with my training.   I pretty much was eating 90% vegan with the exception of whey protein powder and a few eggs.  I wanted to go full vegan as Thrive said to do but was extremely worried where I would get my protein and did not want to make the change right before the race.    I did spend  lot of time reading about becoming a Vegan, started to visit a lot more Vegan restaurants (which are freaking awesome) and took out a bunch of cookbooks from the library to figure out what and where I could get my protein. 

I decided last week my focus for the next month or so was to get my strength back.   I wore out my legs so bad training for the Half that even with twice weekly PT sessions they barely held up to cross the finish line.    As part of that, I signed up for Bootcamp for August.  (very excited that Ariane brought back Hardcore!!).    Then came my idea to go vegan for a month.  It is going to be my experiment to see if I can get enough protein and still limit my carbs to keep my body fat % the same and not decrease my muscle mass.   I have read all over that it can be done, now I am ready to see first hand if it is possible.   I am determined to show any of the opponents of vegan eating that it is possible to still enjoy food, cooking, and remain at the same fitness level.   Maybe I will inspire one of you to try it too.

Crazy goal:  Qualify for the Boston Marathon for 2013.  There, I have finally put it up.   Some of you have heard me say this for the past few months now I am making it official.  Oh, I should tell you that I have not run a marathon yet!   So yes, I am truly crazy.    My plan is to get my leg 100% better, run my first marathon in March, then pick one closer to September to run to qualify.  This seems doable on paper but we will see.    Slowly I am working towards this and as I mentioned above getting healthy and strong enough to actually do it.   Though this is a crazy one, this is one goal I am going to hit.