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Plant Power Anniversary!

One year ago today, I started my “Vegan Challenge“.  It started at a month-long test and 12 months later, I’m still going strong.  It’s been a great learning process and not only do I feel physically good, learning about health and diet and implementing what I’m learning gives me a psychological boost.  The biggest change I’ve noticed is the one that pretty much everyone talks about, I have great, consistent energy.  Even on days when I’m up at 4:30am to go for a long run, it’s very rare that I have mid-afternoon crashes.  Part of that has to do with the fact that I’m not stuffing myself with foods that my body struggles to digest.

I haven’t been perfect.  But I’ve only had meat twice – a few pieces of sushi last fall and half a sausage at a post-marathon barbeque.  Cookies are a bit of a weakness.  While I know that there are plenty of great cookies made without dairy or eggs, it’s not that I’m going out to buy cookies, the problem is that I have a hard time turning them down at the office or my parents or at a party, etc.  But as I said when I started this, I don’t get too vexed about that.

My Vitamix has been a fixture of this diet – I’ve blended my post-training breakfast in it nearly every day since I got it last August.  Above is a picture of today’s mix – dino kale, beets and beet greens, celery, celery, apple, ginger, frozen papaya, mango, strawberry and pineapple, a few almonds, cayenne pepper and cinnamon, coconut oil, chia seed, Udo’s Oil and Jai Repair PlantPower^TM Protein (new product from Rich that I dig, review to come soon).  I switch it up and other ingredients I often swap in or out include pears, kiwi, fresh pineapple, lemon, watermelon, grapes, cucumber, fresh coconut meat, coconut water, aloe, spinach, jalepeno peppers, acai powder, maca powder, hemp oil, cacao nibs, dulse, chlorella powder, brown rice protein, Vega Sport Performance Protein, Vega One.  It mostly just depends on what looks good at the farmer’s market or grocery store, what I get in my CSA box from Farm Fresh To You and what I see when I open the fridge in the morning.  It’s a bit of an acquired taste, but by now I’m pretty good at it.  (Elizabeth still won’t get within 5 feet of the result!)

I get plenty of calories without any problem.  I eat a ton of greens, fruit, nuts, quinoa, rice, lentils, beans, avocados, sweet potatoes and hummus, I love hummus.  I’ve cut down on gluten but don’t see any reason to cut it out entirely.  So bread, pasta and pretzels are still a part of my diet.  I’ve gotten much more adventurous in the kitchen, especially trying new veggies and new ways to prepare the usual ones.

I’ve also found huge support from friends, online resources, books and movies.  To name a few: Rich Roll (and his book, Finding Ultra, which I reviewed earlier this year), Brendan Brazier (and his book, Thrive), Dave Chan, the fantastic documentary Forks over Knives, and Mark Bittman’s “On Food” column in the New York Times.  Over the year I’ve learned about tons of athletes in all kinds of sports who realized that animal protein isn’t necessary for great performance.  Their stories have and continue to inspire me.  

I don’t proselytize on this blog (or in real life) because I don’t believe there is one “true” answer to any of life’s questions and I believe strongly that everyone has to choose what works best for them.  But in this case, I do believe that cutting out – or at least reducing the amount of – meat, dairy and eggs is a very healthy choice.  (I’m learning that it’s also really good for the planet, but that’s a topic for another blog post.)  And I’m proof that it’s not a particularly hard choice to make either.