2010 already?

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted anything since November of 2008. I was planning on posting something for my one-year veganniversary, but it came and went without my really having much to say about it. Here I am at two years since I started my process. Though I initially imagined it would be more of a process than it actually turned out to be. It now just feels normal to me to be vegan.

Since that last post in November, I've done my first half marathon and two more 15K's. This is going to be my year to do my first full marathon. W00t!

That holiday party I was worried about? It didn't happen. No one said anything about it, but I am guessing it was economy-related--everyone is cutting back on things like that. December 2008 AND December 2009 went by without that tradition. One less thing to worry about.

So, let's see--vegan goals for 2010. Try more recipes. Write here semi-regularly. Be a good example. :)

Skinny Vegan

In early May, I found my weight had crept to the high end of the "healthy" range (I'm 5'7" and I was weighing in at 159.4 LBS). I cranked my running into high gear and cut back on eating veggies cooked in oil--loading up on steamed veggies/salad instead. Then, in June, I picked up Eat to Live and started doing a modified version of that (I don't abide by his "no snacks" rule--sorry, I'm active and I need to stay fueled!) So, between early May and late September, I went down to 133, where I've been ever since. The funny thing--to me anyway--is I've reached a tipping point of some sort, where people have gone from saying "You look great" to "You're getting too skinny!" Funny to me because I'm not even close to being underweight. I'd have to drop below 118 for that.

I'm now reading The Thrive Diet, which is awesome because it's written by a vegan triathlete, Brendan Brazier, and he actually gets the whole "needing fuel" thing and is all about meals + snacks. He's got some promising-looking recipes at the end, too, many of which are raw (though not all, and I don't see myself becoming a 100% raw vegan).

In related news, here is where I am with my running progress. In October, I did Race for the Cure, and my time was 26:47. Last year's was 30:28. Average per-mile time went from 9:49 to 8:38. Then, earlier this month, I did my first 15K (longest race I ever did, including high school, when I ran cross country and track). My first mile I did in about 8:42 and I got slower as I went, but I was still happy with my overall time. 1:28:11--9:29/mile average (so still faster than last year's 5K pace!).

My yoga practice has also been developing so that I can do things I couldn't do before and overall I'm stronger than I've been, maybe ever. It's so silly that people have a stereotype of weak vegans--I just keep getting stronger and faster and I've never felt better. 41 years old and I feel younger than I did when I was 21.

Vegetarian Expo

This past Saturday (September 13), we went to the NY Capital Region Vegetarian Expo in Saratoga Springs. Despite the name, it definitely had a "vegan" slant to it, which of course made me very happy. We were lame and slackerly, so only managed to get our acts together to catch the tail end of Jeff Novick's talk and then T. Colin Campbell's talk. Fortunately, this last talk was the one we were most interested in attending. When he asked the audience how many people had read his book The China Study, almost every hand shot up. Later on, Dkat commented, "I'm glad he was treated a little bit like a rock star." :)

The downside to being as late as we were: The exhibitors were packing up once we got out of Campbell's lecture. I would have liked to have gotten the chance to check them out and gather literature. The upside to that is Boykat is only five, with limited patience. Though he was happy to see ponies and greyhounds--albeit briefly. Dkat had been hoping to get a chance to sample foods--which is another thing we'd actually have had the chance to do if we'd gotten there earlier.

Oh, well. Presumably, there's always next year!

Healthy Veganning

Not every vegan vegans alike. There are plenty of foods that are vegan but also junky/fatty/sugary, etc. It would be so easy to live on vegan cupcakes, So Delicious frozen desserts, and entrees laden with oils. Of course doing that would also lead to being a fat vegan and an unhealthy one to boot.

Using The China Study and Eat to Live as our guides, we've shifted to consuming most of our calories from fresh fruits and veggies. We load up on salads, soups, steamed vegetables. Healthy fats come from nuts rather than oils (though a small amount of olive oil with a larger proportion of balsamic vinegar can go with our salads). We have beans and legumes, tofu, and some whole grains, such as barley, quinoa, or brown rice. The idea is to have the most nutritionally dense foods--namely produce. Most people don't realize that veggies are a high-protein food. In terms of caloric composition, many veggies are more than half protein. But it's necessary to eat them in large enough quantities to get a substantial amount of these nutrients.

Eating copious amounts of nutrient-poor food leaves the body looking for those nutrients--hence becoming hungry again and again. Conversely, we're finding ourselves less hungry even with fewer overall calories consumed. I've dropped 13 pounds since last month. Everything's fitting more loosely and best of all, I feel great! Dkat is also having similar results. We can hardly believe how energetic we feel. I know my running is improving.

But doesn't it figure I bought Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World? I didn't even get around to baking any of the cupcakes before we banned the flour and sugar from our lives. Maybe for Boykat's birthday next year, I'll make an exception.