Saturday, November 26, 2011

Thanksgiving Recovery

I thought I was going to die. This is the honest truth. You might think I would have chose to prepare for the 5K I ran on the morning of Thanksgiving 2011, but I didn't. I didn't...much. I did purchase proper foot attire and started running around the track on campus but then I discovered spin. I love spinning. Spinning kicks running's ass. It just does.

I did, however, run my race. And I did not die. Surprisingly. I ran my first 5K coming in at 40:11, placing 340th out of 412 and 33rd in my age group. I also decided to sign up for another 5K. Some might say I am a masochist like that.  I just can't help but to want that feeling back; that feeling of accomplishment, of knowing that I can do something I never thought I could do.

  These are my friends and colleagues Anna and Tyler who ran the race with me. We each finished, Anna coming in 1st, Tyler 2nd, and me 3rd. It doesn't matter to me who finished in which order. What matters is that I finished. I had never set a PR before so I figured I was a winner just by showing up.












Onto Dinner! Anna graciously opened her home for our Vegan/Vegetarian Thanksgiving potluck. Below are some of the delicious food we were so thankful for!

 Cranberry, Apple, and Walnut granola Crisp (Above)
 Roasted Harvest Vegetable Couscous (Above)
 Pictured above is Brussel sprouts with Tempeh Bacon and Vegan Stuffing
 Anna's Amazing Avocado salad
 Also pictured here is homemade cranberry sauce and vegan balsamic mashed potatoes.

All in all, it was a wonderful holiday spent with people I love very much. This was my first year engaging in a vegan tradition where I didn't say grace to my invisible sky daddy but rather expressed what I was grateful for to the people I was grateful too. Is there some mystical force to whom I should pay thanks? I don't know. What I do know is that if I spend all day thanking some unseen, improbable force and not engaging with the people who touch my life on a daily basis, how thankful am I really?  So during this holiday weekend, let me take a moment to thank each of you who look at my blog, comment on my blog, and those who will do so in the future.  I <3 you all.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Deciding to go Vegan

Most people do not make major lifestyle changes at the age of 34. They just don't. But I did. And even though I am just a few month into this change, I often sit back and wonder "Why didn't I do this sooner?"

Sure, it is convenient to take the easy road - not watching what you eat, not exercising, etc. Who doesn't love to just sit on their asses and eat some Sonic? But that comes at a price, one that is often unseen.

My ten year old daughter lives with her dad. She informed me this summer that she no longer wanted to eat meat. I was not surprised; she really has a heart for loving animals. But...she is a growing kid and needs certain levels of vitamins and nutrients for her development. So, like any good researcher, I went to the Internet. I researched what being a vegetarian would entail and how I can make sure she is getting enough of what she needed. As my summer closed and I went home to Vegas, something surprising started to happen. I began to eat more vegetarian as if to support my daughter from 1,700 miles away. Then as school started up, more and more people in my department - people I respect and consider 'friends' - began eating vegan. I thought that I could never do it because, let's face it, sometime I think cheese and butter are the greatest things man has ever come up with...I mean, after the wheel and fire, of course.

One night I am out to dinner with a few friends. We hit up this place called Bar & Bistro in downtown Las Vegas. Unbeknownst to us, the chef had just released their new vegan menu (which is phenomenal BTW). I didn't eat vegan that night but that was the night I went vegan. We ordered a small vegan dessert to share - a chocolate cake with ice cold rice milk. I don't particularly eat sweets all that often but I took a small bite of cake and a sip of the rice milk, and I was SOLD. I did not realize how yummy non-dairy substitutes could be. In the next days I began exploring other vegan options and found myself loving the alternatives more than I loved what I had been eating all this time. I slowly began transitioning to a vegan lifestyle. Additionally, I watched the documentary Forks Over Knives and that cemented my change.   

I am not a vegan out of ideology or for political reasons. Some friends tell me I am not a big 'V' vegan but rather a little 'v' vegan, and I am OK with that. I give myself permission to not eat vegan on occasion, and I still wear leather.  This is about health. This is about me making a change in my life that I should've made a long time ago.

I also began working out. Running, spinning, Pilates, Yoga, and weights.  Tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day 2011, before we sit down to our vegan/vegetarian potluck, my friends and I are running a 5K. It is my first one. If there are no subsequent blog posts, assume I died.

All in all, what matters most at the end of the day is that I: (1) LOVE my life; (2) LIVE my life; (3) VALUE those in my life; and (4) HAVE GOTTEN OFF MY ASS TO MAKE A CHANGE. It may not be perfect but it is mine. We only have this one, finite life to live. Live it and love it like there is no tomorrow!