Friday, June 5, 2009

Experiement & Last Weekend

I have been inspired, or at least my curiosity was piqued by Charisa and JP and I have gone meatless. I don't say vegetarian because I feel that term denotes a level of commitment I have not risen to... yet. It has only been 11 days that I have refrained from consuming any animal that doesn't make its home in the ocean (and I only ate some of those once). For those that know me, and my ....er... nutritional predilections in the past, this news would (if any of them read this) come as a HUGE shock. To say that historically my eating habits have been predominantly carnivorous, would be a DRASTIC UNDERSTATEMENT!! Meat, be it red, white, the other white, brown, or almost any other color, has been a firm STAPLE of my diet for the entirety of my, as of yesterday, 29 years on this planet.

For the last 11 days that changed. NO MAS! I was intrigued by JP's posts and the obvious copious amounts of research he had done, and decided to give it a go. I know it was a little risky to try during the last big week of training for IM CdA but I knew that if I felt down, I could just drop the deal and eat a steak. I was pleasantly surprised however at how good I have felt. I wouldn't say the change has been glaring by any means, but I have noticed that I feel like my digestive processes have sped up, and thus I feel as though I am better fueled for workouts and have had less GI issues and naggings during my trainings as a result. I don't think it is the no meat diet, but more just the eating healthier and training more, but I think I have dropped a few lbs, which is good. We will see how long it lasts. But for right now, I am content to keep experimenting.

This weekend will be my last weekend of big training before the taper for IM CdA. Saturday will bring the 21mi loop I was supposed to run 2 weeks ago and with the calves (FINGERS CROSSED!!) feeling relatively good on my last 2 runs, I think it is going to be a good one. A swim video session is to follow and then a birthday BBQ. (I don't know what I will Q, so I may have to eat some more of our swimming friends). Sunday will be my last big ride, but is not going to have all the hills I usually incorporate and should be pretty mellow towards the end. Then its taper time. Getting anxious!!

Cheers,

Ian

7 comments:

  1. Must be something in the air, I'm going on my fifth week as a pescetarian (no, not presbyterian), no way I could give up sushi. Like you, my biggest fear was just committing to it. But I told myself that if I fail, I fail so be it. That thinking gave me the mental edge I needed and haven't failed yet.

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  2. Quitters.

    Prawn shishkebabs are a favorite of mine for the BBQ. Throw some red, yellow and orange peppers, onions and potatoes on the skewers too. DELISH!

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  3. Welcome to the world of vegetarians, actually if you are eating fish and seafood like me, then you are pescaterian ha ha.

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  4. I pretty much only eat fish. Except when I'm home and my dad deep fries a turkey. YUM!

    Tofu is good grilled up. Drizzle with olive oil and some herbs and toss it on the grill. Or marinade it in something and put it on the grill. Grilled portabello mushrooms are AWESOME.

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  5. Have a safe training weekend!! GOOD LUCK on the run - your calf will do beautifully :)

    Nice job on the no meat "thingy"... My Other Half would probably loose it if I gave up meat all together (he never cooks)...but your post made me realize how much fish we eat. And chicken... but hardly any red... In fact, when we do grill, I'll get something steak-like for him and go for salmon myself... Hhhmmmmm......

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  6. nice. I am at the tail end of my "experiment" and will posting my thoughts in a day or so.

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  7. NICE on the veggie thing - I was meaning to ask how it was going! Are you finding enough to eat? Let me know if you need ideas on protein stuff - that is sometimes the tricky part.

    Can't wait to track you at IM CDA!

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