Merry Christmas! and 2010 Goals

At church yesterday, the celebrant mentioned a 'Christmas' button that many people have been wearing. His sermon started off by saying how angry this made him, but I think that was more to get our attention than anything else.




What's wrong with saying "Merry Christmas?" I guess I've never thought of it that way. To a non-Christian, I typically say Happy Holidays, out of respect for their beliefs. At the same time, I do see how Christians shouldn't shy away from celebrating Christmas, the birth of Christ.

We spent the Christmas holidays together as an extended family, and had a big feast, a family gathering, a nice prayer beforehand, where our whole family holds hands in a big circle around the kitchen island. I wasn't thinking of exercise or diet or health or happiness, per se, but more about family and what that's meant to me. And also, the decade that was, how much of a blur it really was, and everything that happened in the last ten years.

I've been taking it very easy the past few days, resting, gearing up for 2010, reflecting, trying to improve, trying to clean house. It's always good to have extended rest periods, to calm everything down, to renew, to rest, to clean up. I have my personal goals for 2010, and they are not trivial. They go from least important to most important.

1.) Get down to my ideal weight, once and for all :)
2.) Cross train, do yoga, core, abs, cardio, and strength train regularly
3.) Begin 2010 with 30 days of very healthy and disciplined eating
4.) Train for and complete the 2010 San Jose Rock and Roll Half Marathon
5.) Train for and complete the 2010 San Francisco Marathon
6.) Become 100% better professionally, as an engineer
7.) Become 100% better personally, as a father and a husband

Wish me luck, it won't be easy, but I plan on getting all of them accomplished, and accomplished with grace, style, and panache. :) Try writing a few goals for 2010 for yourself, write them down, post them so you can see them everyday, and take action daily to get them done.

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a safe and prosperous New Year!

Moderation

Gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins. Ask 100 people what gluttony means, and likely most of them will talk about food, and it's over consumption and indulgence. Eat, overeat, become consumed with food, often unhealthy and addictive. Use food to make you feel better, temporarily, to satisfy a need, a craving, or to help deal with sadness or stress.

For me, there's a couple of other aspects I think about. Surely, one is food and nutrition. And the other is what I like to call 'stuff'.

Regarding food, I think we all have our gluttonous moments. We all have our favorite foods, things that bring us back to our childhood, things that make us happy, things that satisfy us like no other. I understand that, I really do. I used to polish off a large pepperoni pizza when I was in my 20s, just to get over a loss or failure. I didn't care how many calories, how bad it was for my body, or anything long term. I just cared about smashing that pizza, and drowning my sorrows into it. And hey, it worked for me, so I continued to do so for many years. It wasn't until much later, when the pounds started to accumulate, that I thought I'd find a better alternative.

Even today, even as a Vegan, I still have my moments. I'll fill up my plate with a grip of salad, fresh veggies, and a couple of pieces of fruit. Eat til I can't eat any more, then just sit back and try to catch my breath. The difference is that I'm full very quickly, because of all of the fiber and nutrition. Now, I'll be honest, I do the same thing with pasta, cooked veggies, breads, grains, etc. and I probably can get 4x the calories and not feel as full, but the gluttony is definitely still there. I have a voracious appetite after working out, so sometimes, I just need to get my calories, and I'm not as conscious as I should be. But unlike days past, my body recovers very well from eating a Vegan meal, much faster and cleaner than before. I'm not diverting energy to digesting meats and dairy products, like I used to.

Okay, so enough with food. What about 'stuff?' What is 'stuff?' Stuff is what we collect, what we buy, what we surround ourselves with. Could be computers, tv, clothes, cars, toys...whatever we're into. And we accumulate 'stuff' about as voraciously we do a pepperoni pizza. We shop like mad, we shop online, we buy new stuff every day, search for new stuff, tell our friends about new stuff, spend time researching new stuff, throw away our perfectly good old stuff, and replace it with new stuff. Man, talk about gluttony. I have so many clothes that I literally go through my closet once every six months and chop it in half, and send my old stuff to charity or otherwise. I don't even miss anything I donate. And yet, in six months, more stuff. I'm a gadget and technology enthusiast like a lot of people, and I'll tell you, I have generations of stuff lying everywhere. Probably half of my garage is filled with remnants of Black Friday's past, perfectly fine, but not as up-to-date as I need. I think we're all guilty, in some way, of being gluttonous with our things, our personal belongings. We spend so much time and money on needless things, instead of savoring and being happy with what we have.

Ah, moderation. I love that word. It's a virtue, isn't it? Be moderate in what you eat and what you have. Be mindful about being as efficient as possible, and not wasting anything. Take an inventory of what you eat, and what you have, and your habits dealing with both. See if you can make improvements, optimize, and clean up. See if you can use those resources on other, more productive endeavors. Hopefully, you'll find benefit in more meaningful ways, and be healthier and happier in the process.

Healing and Wellness

Man, so many people are getting sick these days. Seems like every day, somebody is worried about their health, dealing with serious illness, or trying to figure out what's wrong. My sister has a lot friends that have heard her story, my mother's story, my story, and are trying to cope with health issues a plenty.

So, in each case, the symptoms are different, the problems have different names, the doctors give different advice, prescribe different medication, and the only constant is that nothing is ever cured. But, that is the world we live in, and the people that we've become. We don't worry about our short-term choices, and how they may effect our long term health. We don't worry about our health, unless it's compromised at this very moment. We are very reactionary, and hence we want instant cures, a magic pill, or a simple and easy cure. We care more about our symptoms that fixing the root cause, and industry has followed suit.

I overheard a commercial for flu medication, and couldn't help but carefully listen to the words. "Treat your flu symptoms with ..." "Feel better by dealing with your symptoms with ..." It's all about the symptoms, isn't it? And not the root cause.

So, what is the root cause? I don't pretend to know. But, I can put my opinion out there for you to consider. I think it's fairly simple.

1.) Stress
2.) Poor Diet
3.) Lack of Exercise

If you are stressed out, have a bad diet, and don't exercise, then you're more apt to be ill, have problems, take medicine or drugs to try and deal with the symptoms of your problems. You may not have problems with all three, just one or two, and that may be enough to cause major problems.

Think about it. Stress affects your immune system, and takes away so much attention and time from taking care of yourself. We deal with stress by eating poorly, not exercising, and becoming more stressed. So many disease and health problems (diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, etc.) are diet related. You eat poorly, and your health metrics suffer, it's that simple. And lack of exercise weakens you, closes your body, tightens your joints, makes you lethargic, and doesn't enable you to take care of your stress and poor diet. Aren't they all inter-related somehow?

So what should I do? Well, quite simply, deal with the issues as best you can, and be conscious about them, and your choices in your life to improve them. You're not going to be perfect, nobody is, but you can heal yourself dramatically if you try. And stick to it, don't try for a week, then give up. Try it for 6 weeks, see what happens, and if you see improvement, do it for another 6 weeks. Be as discipline or as flexible as you wish, there's no absolute method or recipe, do what you want, but be conscious, and keep trying.

Here's what I do:

For stress, I do yoga and meditate. I love yoga. It's the greatest gift you can give to yourself, to practice yoga regularly. The stretching and exercise is just a small aspect, but the peace and calm it gives you, by learning how your breath works, gives you a method to find relaxation, and reduce stress. Try it, take a class, don't worry about the weirdness, just see what it does for you. And again, do it for 6 weeks with a few teachers, and then decide, not just 1 time with 1 teacher. Or just rent a yoga DVD and try it yourself. I hope you'll find that yoga, as simple as it is, to simply breathe and relax, is a cheap and simple method to reduce stress, much better than a magic pill.

For diet, I'm a vegan, so it's pretty much already done there. Becoming a vegan is the greatest decision I've ever made for my health. I love being a vegan. For you, that might be extreme, and I totally understand that. If anything, research and find out what type of diet do professionals and medical folks recommend to cure your illness. What types of food should you avoid? I think it'll be a common theme, eat more fruits and vegetables, whole foods, unprocessed, plant-based, and less dairy and animal products. It seems universal, but you can do research and make that decision on your own.

For exercise, I go to gym 3-5 times a week, and train for marathons and half-marathons once a year (usually training lasts for 3-4 months, then I take a lot of time off away from running). I love to do gentle cardio, light weight lifting, lots of core work, and lots of stretching. I don't like to do high-impact, plyometric, or heavy lifting type of work, not at my age. My body does much better with easier stuff, I feel fresher, more open and more flexible. But, again, listen to your body, and make your conscious choices here as well.

Now, I know what you're going to say. You're extreme, how do find the time? I know, I get that a lot. I'm not extreme, I'm a regular guy, a family man, and I have a lot of responsibilities with work and my family. You can make the time, you don't need to make any excuses. And in the end, it's totally worth it. Spend some time now, while the time is 'cheap' so you can live a healthy and full life, and not worry about being sick, being ill, being less than optimal later on. You don't have to be like most older people, who walk with pain, and carry a bag full of medicine. You have a conscious choice to take care of yourself just by dealing with stress, diet, and exercise.

Catching Up!

I remember when I first started this blog, I had an entry every day, for like two straight months. One of my friends said, "That'll change real quick. It'll be much less frequent very soon." So, he was right! Between work and a lot of other lame excuses, I haven't kept up. Not that I haven't had anything to say or report, just didn't get to it.

The good news is that I'm still holding fast in my diet and exercise. Still a vegan. Still drinking green smoothies in the morning , still working out diligently, albeit changing my workout routines a bit. I'll detail those changes in a later post, but needless to say, change in a workout routine is always good.

I did complete the San Jose Rock N Roll Half Marathon in 2:15:59. I ran the previous two in 2:03:20 and 2:03:45 respectively, so it definitely wasn't my fastest time. I took it pretty easy, because my training showed that my times were not fast and my effort level was still high, which for me was a sign to take it easy. My ankle held up, thank goodness, and I recovered in just a day or two.

There was two casualties as part of the race. I know, "Casualties? What do you mean?" Casualties are not usually part of a race, but it happens. Two people died during the race, Rose Lo and Brandon Whitehurst. May they rest in peace, and may their friends and families find strength. I think I passed one of them near the end of the race, there were several people there, and I thought I should've stopped to help, but I kept running, thinking the race officials had it covered. But, it definitely made me rethink any thought of sprinting the last few miles in. I slowed down, and used the last few miles to cool down and recover. I saw my kids and my wife near the finish line, so they gave me the boost I needed to finish it off. But, my mind was still on the runners who were down, and their well being. When I found out that two of the runners had died afterwards, and learned more about their backgrounds (one a young mother and wife, the other a newlywed), I couldn't help but feel a terrible loss. You don't run a race thinking that anything catastrophic is going to happen, and for sure, none of your friends and family are never prepared for any news like that. Life is so precious and short.

My next goal is to run the San Francisco Marathon in July 2010. This will be my last 26.2 mile race. I've run two before, so three for a lifetime will be my goal, one for each of my kids. And I will personally dedicate this race to Rose Lo and Brandon Whitehurst. I will run 13.1 for Rose and 13.1 for Brandon. And remember, I'm running this marathon as a vegan. I think we've done the math before in a previous post. Pilipino, Vegan, Marathon Finisher. Very rare indeed.

Well, the holidays are coming, and I wanted to wish all of you an early happy holiday wish. Take this time to re-evaluate your diet and exercise program, and use the holiday time to improve them. Try a "Turkey Trot," typically a 5k/10k walk/run on Thanksgiving morning. Try to have something healthy to eat. For us, we're going to have a "Vegan Thanksgiving" at our place, the first we've ever done. It'll be fun to see how creative we can be, and how many leftovers there will be afterwards. And I'll probably jog 10 miles in the early morning, just for fun.

Disney Half Marathon

I finished the Disney Half Marathon successfully, jogging the 13.1 mile course in 2:27. My PR for a Half Marathon is 2:03, so it was a very gentle and easy pace for me. It was fairly cool in Los Angeles and Anaheim, up until the last 3 miles, when the temperature spiked up a bit. So that was good. Usually, it's hot there, no need for warmups or coverups at all. The air quality wasn't great, with all the fires happening in Southern California, but air quality in Los Angeles isn't great anyway. It wasn't much of an issue.

As for the course itself, it was fun! Not the type of course you'd try to "race" per se, it's the type of course you really want to enjoy. My wife and sister-in-law were taking pictures throughout, so it was really more of a fun-run, than a race. We ran through California Adventure and Disneyland in the first part of the race (very cool!) and then through Angel's Stadium (yes, actually through the baseball stadium with thousands of fans in there!) and finally finishing in Downtown Disney. In the middle parts of the race, we went through the streets of Anaheim, with lots of bands, cheerleaders, and people cheering us on.

I ate a lot more than usual during the week, just to try and calorie-up, but I probably didn't eat enough. Not to mention I'm in the middle of my Half Marathon training for San Jose Rock N Roll in October, I hadn't gone past 8 miles for my long runs in this cycle. So, even though I had a good even pace throughout, I struggled a little bit after 10 miles. My feet, quads, and achilles felt a little tweaky near the end, and I did feel a little light headed afterwards. Between the heat at the end, my lack of calories throughout the week, and my injuries, it wasn't ideal. But, at the same time, my goal was an easy 2:30, and for the most part, I feel good about that and the results.

We arrived in Los Angeles on Friday, so eating out was a challenge. Luckily, we found several vegan markets and restaurants (Mother's Market in Irvine and Huntington Beach, That's Amore in Cerritos, etc.) so we had plenty of supplies to choose from. I missed my green smoothies for a few days, and I definitely missed them. I had one this morning, and I'm feeling better already.

For this week, I'm back on the Eat-To-Live plan, so I'll post another checkpoint next Sunday. In the meantime, I'm in the peak time of my Half Marathon Training, so the workouts are toughest this week. I had to skip this morning's tough workout, because my quads were still a little sore.

Have a great week!

Eat to Live - Checkpoint #6 + Half Marathon Training

Just finished a long slow distance run (8.0 mi) this morning, ending Week #4 of 10 of Half Marathon Training. I mixed it up a bit this week, because of scheduling and early morning issues. I did my interval runs at night, one at the track, one at work at a random route. I did my weekend runs on the treadmill and on the track (early morning) due to the heat, it was over 95 degrees! All in all, not bad, I survived the workouts and my body is healing up well.

I weighed in this morning as usual for my weekly checkpoint, and low and behold, I dropped another ONE AND A HALF POUNDS! I'm 2.5 lbs. lower than my two-year low, and only 5.5 lbs. away from my 10-year low. I felt leaner this week, my clothes were fitting a lot looser, and I was able to get into some shorts I bought I long while ago when I was "skinnier." LOL. As far as my energy levels go, they're very good. I've been getting a lot of good night's rest lately, so that probably has a lot to do with it. I've been busy at work, but I've been able to balance it well.

As far as the Eat-to-Live experiment, I'm doing great. I'm still on the green smoothie breakfast, in fact, I'm having one now. Kale, Bok-Choy, Collards, Romaine, Spinach, some fruit juices (acai, carrot, and pomegranate - 12 oz. total), some frozen wild blueberries, a whole necartatine minus the pit, and some ice...yummy! We ran out of bananas, LOL. Going shopping today to restock. Salads for lunch and dinner, still, with some chopped veggies mixed in, still good. I ate out quite a bit this week for lunch and dinner, but still was vegan. I did get a lot of soy proteins, beans, and rice, in addition to my whole fruits and veggies. Lots of fresh fruits as after meal snacks. Portions, overall, were decent, mostly because my workouts were long and tough this week, especially with the heat.

We had a BBQ to go to last week, and we had some leftover hamburgers (don't ask) that we had to cook up for a party. Ugh, my kitchen hasn't smelled like that in a long time, smelled like McDonalds or something. :) I had to ask my wife to open the windows and do some major ventilation because I was gonna gag in there. :) Ah well, we all survived the ordeal with no problems. I think it just re-emphasized to me how much I really don't need that type of food to survive and make it.

Disney Half is next weekend, I think I'm ready to go, although I'm really just gonna jog it. I think I'll try to get 2:30, and try as much as possible to that time without a hard effort, just easy breathing and striding. Note my real goal is to run a 1:59 in early October, which is only 6 weeks away. That's gonna be really hard to do, if my training times so far are any indication. But, we'll see how it goes.

Have a great week everyone! I do hope all is well in your lives...

The ADA's Position on Vegetarians/Vegans

My friend of many years recently found out about my drastic change in diet (well, really not that drastic, since I've been a quasi-vegetarian for nearly three years, and a vegan now for a short time) and asked a few questions:

1.) Where do you get your protein?
2.) Where do you get your calcium?
3.) Where do you get your Vitamin D?

In my research, I discovered that all of these were readily available in a Vegan diet, just as long as you maintained a plant-based whole foods diet. Eating whole vegetables and fruits, and having that be the basis of the majority of your calories would satisfy all of that. He shook his head in disbelief, and wrote off what I was doing as a phase. I can see where he's coming from, he's not in the minority, and he's not the only one to question me.

Well, I came across a very interesting paper I'd like to share with you. Don't listen to me, listen to the American Dietetic Association, and their position on Vegetarians/Vegans. Read the evidence. It's not like this is some random thing here, people who have changed their diets are healthier, leaner, less prone to illness and disease...all the stuff I've been saying for a while now.

Give it a read...let me know what you think.

http://www.eatright.org/ada/files/VegetarianPositionFINAL.pdf

Have a great weekend!

Eat to Live - Checkpoint #5 + Half Marathon Training

Just finished Week #3 of my half marathon training, and it was rough. I ran a 5k simulation yesterday and gave it my all, but my all wasn't very good. :) I usually run much faster than that, but I guess I'm still running pretty slow. No worries, though. I finished a long-slow 5 miles today, and for the most part, it was fine. My ankle is still bothering me, and I'm working it vigorously, with stretching, massage, ice, etc. And my lower back has flared up me, first time in a long while. I think I slept wrong one night or something, because I haven't had that much pain in a while. So much so, that I asked my wife to get me some Motrin, which I very rarely take. I'm hoping it's just a transient issue.

As for the Eat-to-Live plan, I'm doing well. After a busy week at work, and the 3 out 5 lunches out at restaurants (still vegan though!), I weighed myself this morning and the scale the same as last week, which is what I usually expect. I'm a hard-hard loser, it's really tough for me to lose weight, so I expected a plateau somewhere, and I'm right at it. I feel good, not great. I get a few episodes of light-headedness sometimes, and I feel warm all the time. I think I need to drink more water, and probably just ease up on eating out so much, although with co-workers asking you to go to lunch, it's hard. This week, I'll do 1 less lunch out to see how that changes things. My workouts were tough this week, so that probably has something to do with it.

Next week, I'll talk more about macro and micro nutrients, and what I've learned about them through my experiences. Have a great weekend!

Macro and Micro Nutrients

I knew what these were, but had a hard time understanding why they were so important. Macronutrients are those that take up calories like protein, carbohydrates, and fat. And micronutrients are those that don't take up calories like phytochemicals, enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and fiber. For the longest time, I just concerned myself with the macronutrients, and played around with diets to limit them or divide them up. But, now, I think I know better...

The key to achieving health is to get as many nutrients as possible, in as little calories as possible. Dr. Joel Fuhrman's equation is:

H=N/C

Health is proportional to the nutrients we consume, and inversely proportional to amount of calories.

Think about this. What percentage of your daily calories come from:

1.) Animal proteins
2.) Plant proteins
3.) Animal Fats
4.) Plant Fats
5.) Refined Carbohydrates and Sugars
6.) Plant Carbohydrates

If the vast majority of your daily calories comes from animal proteins and fats, and refined carbohydrates and sugars, you've basically consumed calories with very little nutrients. And it's likely you've consumed a lot of calories.

On the other hand, if the vast majority of your daily calories comes from a plant-based diet, then you'd likely would have consumed less calories, filled a great amount of nutrients.

Why is that?

Well, because animal proteins and fats, and refined carbs have no fiber, none at all. They have little to no phytochemicals and enzymes. And the vitamins and minerals in them are also not significant. Yet, the levels of bad cholestorol and saturated fats are high in animal fats. Yet, enzymes meant for cancer cells are diverted to digest animal proteins. And refined carbohydrates and sugars are basically as empty a calorie as you can find. To top it all off, all of these types of food require just a small amount to take up a vast amount of calories. 1 lb. of this stuff could be 3000+ calories. Low nutriets, high calories = bad health.

Plant-based foods have all of the advantages, and none of the disadvantages. They are loaded with nutrients, phytochemicals, enzymes, fiber, vitamins, and minerals in their purest forms. They are easy to digest. And they don't take up a ton calories. 1 lb. of greens, for example, is just 100 calories. High nutrients, low calories = good health.

So, you don't eat as many calories with a plant-based diet, yet you get a huge nutritional and digestive benefit. You feel full because you have so much fiber in your diet. And you strengthen all of the systems in your body, including your immune and digestive systems.

Hopefully, you can at least mix in some leafy greens, and some plant-based whole foods into your diet so you can improve your overall health in the short and long term. It doesn't take long to see and feel the effects. Just after a month of making a change, you'll see and feel a difference. The human body is amazing that way. Once we get out of it's way, it finds a way to get to where it wants to.

At the very least, be educated and aware about what you're eating and why. Don't just go on auto-pilot, and just eat with no reason or thought. When someone asks you, "Why do you drink milk?" or "Why do you eat meat?", understand why and what that may be doing to your bodies. Don't just say, because it tastes good, because you're doing yourself a disservice. You and your body deserve the right to these answers.

Weddings...

We attending a Jewish wedding for the first time yesterday. We've attended our share of weddings in the past, mostly Catholic, with Buddhist and Muslim weddings thrown in for good measure (two of my best friends). One thing they have in common is how happy everyone is.

We really had a great time at this wedding, it was amazing. You have your share of personalities in the world, and the couple celebrating this union were about as quirky, funny, and interesting a couple as I've seen in a long time. Even the Rabbi was great, he was very funny, even though he kept a holiness and sacredness of the ceremony through the laughter. I really appreciated the couple's attention to detail in this wedding, knowing there were many people there who did not understand the intricacies of the Jewish faith, much less the details of a Jewish wedding. Everything was explained both in the pamphlets handed out, as well as spoken during the ceremony. It was a beautiful time.

For a while, I closed my eyes and the breeze blew over them. I could feel something there, I don't know what it was, but there was a peace and happiness I hadn't felt in a while. I'm so happy for them, so honored they thought enough of us to invite us and have us participate, and so blessed to see a different point of view, even though the end result ... a marriage ... is the same for many a religion.

Our diversity is our strength, isn't it? We're all different, we all have different points of view, different ways to celebrate and be happy. Isn't it amazing that we can share that with each other and learn?

Eat to Live - Checkpoint #4 + Half Marathon Training

Just finished Week #2 of my Half Marathon Training, and a long-slow distance (7.0 mi). I did my first two weeks on a track, to minimize the impact on my achilles tendon, which is still a little tweaky. I've survived the first two weeks well enough to sign up for the Half Marathon in early October, so now I'm committed. I'm still running slow, compared to last year and two years ago, but I'm not worried about it too much.

As for the "Eat To Live" experiment, I'm at Checkpoint #4 now. And compared to last week, I dropped another TWO AND HALF POUNDS. Man, I'm telling you, for me, this is major. It is so freaking hard for me to lose even a half a pound. To put this into perspective, I'm 1 lb. less than my two year low, which took me 3 months+ of hard and intense training to achieve. I'm 7 lbs. away from my 10 year low, which took me 2 years of extreme training to achieve. I'm 14 lbs. from my high school weight, and 19 lbs from my ultimate goal. I'm thinking it's gonna take 2 years to hit, but at this rate, who knows?

Scoping out the way I feel, I feel really strong, very alert, very clean. I don't feel any different in terms of weight, per se, my muscles in my legs, back, shoulders, and arms still feel the same, fairly dense. And my clothes don't really feel any different. My abs do feel a little less "spongy" as my youngest daughter calls it, and I can pinch a lot less than before.

Again, I've stuck pretty much to the plan. Green smoothies for breakfast, love 'em. I'm adding some other greens to the mix (beet, collard, watercress -- in addition to the staples: kale, spinach, romaine, bok choy). Some of them are "challenging" to take a sushi term, but I don't really care much about the taste or texture per se, I'm more concerned with the energy and nutriets and how I feel afterwards. After one or two times, they taste quite good and refreshing. Lots of green salads for lunch and dinner, some more cruciferous raw veggies with some yummy vegan dips my wife was so kind to procure. And some inventive dishes that my wife cooked up for us, like brown rice sushi, with crunchy nori, tofutti cream cheese (a little), carrots and zucchini. Too die for stuff. We even mixed in a vegan pizza (no cheese, no meat), as well as some Tofurkey (trying to see if can we have a vegan Thanksgiving!). All in all, not a bad change of pace.

Next week, I'm gonna talk more about food again, focusing on portions, calories, etc. I was wondering during my run today, why I gained weight these past few months, even though I was quasi-vegetarian, and doing some intense strength training. Maybe the answer lies in the food I ate? We'll see... Half a great rest of the weekend! Health and Happiness to you all!

You're not a vegan...

The weekend is upon us, and after some very heavy topics about animals, cancer, diabetes, and cholesterol, I'm in a light mood still, even after the last post. Why not? Gotta by happy also, right? So, as I'm writing this, remember I'm smiling throughout...in a very light and happy mood. Don't mistake my writing for emotion, this is really tongue-in-cheek. That said...

I just finished my Saturday run, an easy 4.0mi jog and the miles just flew by, because I was thinking about what my wife told me last night. She said that her friend said (uh, second hand, eh?) "You're not a vegan...because you wear leather."

Wow.

Now my initial reaction was simply that, wow. Not knowing the context which it was said, who said it, whether or not he/she was vegan, whether or not I would get my booty handed to me in an MMA match with said person, I just said wow.

Then, it moved to something else. Thanks. Thanks much, friend, for the encouragement. It isn't enough that only 0.2% of world's population is vegan, and I'm the only 40+ male Pilipino vegan marathoner in the world. We really need that type of encouragement to get the word out about the benefits of a plant based, whole-foods ... uh ... vegan diet. It's not like we're the in the minority or on an island all by ourselves, right?

He/she is right, though. The label or characterization of "vegan" by Donald Watson in 1944:

[T]he word "veganism" denotes a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude — as far as is possible and practical — all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals.

So, wearing leather is a violation of the vegan definition. Big deal.

Given that, let me ask a few questions. What should I do my my leather jacket that I bought 10 years ago? And my leather shoes that I bought 2 years ago? Donate them? Does that make me vegan? Should I toss them in the garbage so they go in the landfill? Does that make me vegan? Should I go and buy synthetic leather replacements right now? Does that make me vegan? Should I just dump that leather couch we bought 5 years ago? Does that make me vegan? Oh, and my wife, should she do the same for her purses, wallets, jackets, and shoes? Does that make her vegan? Now, I agree that knowing what we know now, we are extremely hesitant to buy leather. One of the first questions I asked my wife after watching "Earthlings" was "Aren't your purses made of leather?" And she said, "I know, I know...it's not good." It's not like we're ignorant to it, but really, what do you want us to do?

We don't eat animal products, no dairy, no meat. We will be very cautious and aware about our clothing and other purchases in the future. But, we're not gonna dump all our stuff and replace it with hemp or synthetic manmade materials just to say we are vegan.

On the other hand, do you drive a car? Do you have a computer, television, or tupperware? Is synthetic leather really better? Look, petroleum (gasoline for cars) and plastics (cases for computers, televisions, and base for synthetics) are by-products of crude oil, which is from dead dinosaurs. So, are you a vegan if you drive a car or use plastic or synthetic products? Do you use shampoo, cosmetics, etc. that may contain palm oil? I hope not, because the orangutans will be extinct if you continue to use those types of products. We can extrapolate and continue to divide, can't we?

Don't hate. Don't judge. Especially since you don't even know our context and why we made our choices. I am no better than my carnivore counterpart because of my choices. I am no better than a real vegan, who walks daily from their grass, solar-powered hut, to their job to save the dolphins or whales. I am no better than anyone else. The only thing I did was read a few books, experimented over many years, watched a few movies, and made my choices.

But, I am a vegan.

Lighten Up! You're special!

Man, so many heavy topics these past couple of days. Being that it's Friday, a rest day for me during my Half Marathon Training, it's also a good idea to rest the mind as well, with something light.

Consider the following.

The percentage of people in the world who have completed a marathon is 0.1%. So, if there are 6.7 Billion people in the world, only 6.7 Million have completed a marathon.

The percentage of people in the world who are vegan is 0.2% (approximately). So, if there are 6.7 Billion people in the world, only 13.4 Million are vegan.

I was lucky enough to complete two marathons, so I'm part of the 0.1%.

I am a vegan now, so I'm part of the 0.2%.

And if I complete a marathon as a vegan (planned for 2010), I'll be part of the 0.1% of the 0.2%, which ends up being 1 in 13,400!

And if you take into account that I'm a 40+ year old Pilipino, I think I'm probably the only one in the world! :) Okay, my Pilipino vegan non-marathon running or non-vegan marathon running or non-vegan non-marathon running brothers and sisters, join me! In 2010, we complete a vegan marathon! We indeed will be rare, and special!

Cholesterol

If there is a measure of health, cholesterol is one of the few that many people monitor and view as important. Weight, blood pressure, blood sugar levels, resting and active heart rate, etc. are all very important measures as well.

But, cholesterol is linked directly with diet, and hence directly with the disease and issues associated with a bad diet. There are two types of cholesterol, LDL and HDL. LDL is the "bad" cholesterol, and HDL is the "good" cholesterol. Their counts and their ratio to each other are important measures. I won't go deep into them here, let's just say that you should get a baseline check on your cholesterol to see where you're at.

So, what causes bad levels of cholesterol is our diets? Animal products. Fatty beef, pork, chicken, etc. For the most part, plant-based whole foods have zero cholesterol, and hence "good" vegans will usually have very good cholesterol measures. Now, even you're you're a vegetarian, you could still have bad cholesterol, if you're eating a lot of oils and fried foods. Be careful there. I've said this before, it's not "wrong" to eat meat, heck, I've eaten my share throughout my life, although I'm a vegan now. But, it isn't good for you to have so much meat, with so few plant-based whole foods. We'll talk about portions of food, etc. in a later post. Imagine your diet is bacon and eggs for breakfast, a roast beef sandwich at lunch, and some chicken and pasta for dinner. How much cholesterol is in all of that? Way too much! And yet, many people eat this way and wonder why their cholesterol levels are out of control. They'll eat this way for months or years, use drugs to lower their levels, and make no significant changes to their diet.

The good news, like diabetes and cancer, is that cholestorol levels can easily be controlled and changed, without drugs, through changes to your diet. If you eat a majority of plant-based whole foods, your levels will drop signficantly. Cholesterol is not something you want to mess with. High levels of bad cholesterol are a precursor for heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, cancer, diabetes, etc. Lots of people say that "moderation" is the key, just have a meat once in a while. Well, that's great if you're completely healthy or if "once in a while" means 5-10% of your total calories. But, more often than not, after you count all of the meat, fried foods, and oils, it's way more than that. Moderation isn't the key here. You need take measurements, get a baseline. If your numbers come up "normal" then I suggest you research and find out what "normal" means. "Normal" to Americans is dangerously high in many cases. "Normal" to other people of other nations can be 2x lower. Again, read "The China Study" by T. Colin Campbell to understand more about cholesterol and the statistics associated. Whatever numbers you get, work to get them lower via a plant-based whole foods diet. If anything, see that changes in your diet really does effect your cholesterol numbers, without drugs.

By controlling your cholesterol levels through a plant-based whole foods diet, you'll greatly reduce your risks of a plethora of diseases and health problems.

Diabetes

Just like cancer, diabetes hits very close to home for me. My mother is a Type II Diabetic. My father was also on insulin for many years. My mother takes nightly insulin shots, tests her blood sugar regularly, and has be very careful, like many diabetics, to watch their diet, their feet, and other things. Not to mention the costs associated with treating diabetes, we're talking about a life-altering disease that has to constantly be managed and dealt with. Diabetes affects the fundamental processing of glucose in the body, which is essential to normal bodily function. Because Type II diabetics cannot produce insulin as efficiently (Type I cannot produce insulin at all), they have to supplement with injected or oral insulin. Insulin is the mechanism by which the body can process glucose, which is used for fuel for the muscles. Too much glucose, not enough insulin...high blood sugar. Diabetes leads to a host of other problems, too numerous to discuss here. Suffice it to say, that living with diabetes is tough.

Fortunately, there are answers besides injecting insulin regularly. As many will tell you, your weight, your amount of exercise, and of course, your diet can greatly effect how much insulin your body needs. Take my mother, for example. Her "diet" previously consisted of massive amounts of Diet Coke (awful stuff), fast food, and an occasional salad. She exercises daily, but her insulin and blood sugar were difficult to control. Within two weeks of changing her diet to a vegan plant-based, whole foods diet, her blood sugar levels were in normal range, and her insulin dosages dropped dramatically. Of course, she drank water instead of Diet Coke, which helped immensely. She looks amazing, with a glow I haven't seen a while, and she's dropped 10 lbs. or so.

Catch the movie, "Raw for 30 Days" a documentary of healing diabetes simply with changes in diet. You'll see some amazing and powerful stuff. Many agree that diabetes is easily curable with changes in diet. Yes, I said curable, like "no more insulin". It takes discipline and care, and be sure to check with your doctor if you plan on trying. But, be hopeful that there are alternatives out there to help heal you.

Cancer

This is difficult topic for me. Once you've had a visit from cancer to your family firsthand, and see how it changes you, you'll know what I mean. Cancer is a brutal disease. Brutal because in what seems like an instant, it can make a totally healthy appearing person into a wilted shell of his or herself in a matter of weeks. Such was the case for my father, who died from liver cancer when he was 56 years old. My dad was always active, working around the house, busy with work, always moving around. He was smart and funny man, and I remember him fondly. He complained of pain one day while working on this car outside of the house, and that's where our family's journey with cancer began. It turns out he had Stage 4 liver cancer, and was given just a few months to live. The shock of that news, that your 56 year-old father, young and very active, had literally days to live, is something I'll never forget. Things race through your mind, regret, things I said, things I did, things failed to do. And utter helplessness and sadness. There wasn't the flurry of information we have today on cancer and all of the different possibilities. Like so many people afflicted and maybe so many even today, we were told by the doctors it was very bleak, and we had few options. Had I known now what I didn't know then, it's quite possible my father would still be here. It's not guaranteed, but if I had a chance to rewind time and do it again, I would've done things differently. To make a long story short, 5 weeks into his diagnosis, after getting several opinions and options, my family decided to go with chemotherapy. For some reason, I was totally against it, but because that's what my father wanted, I went along. Once he had the chemo treatment, is went it all went downhill. He went from ill to deathly in a matter of hours. I wish we never put him through that. 2 weeks later, he was gone.

Cancer is a slow growing disease. It takes years for a tumor to cause pain and thus be detected. But, when you are diagnosed with it, the typical response is that we have to act immediately. I think it's just human nature to do so. Once given a problem, we need to find a solution. And the solutions for cancer today are chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, or experimental drugs or treatments. Depending on the type of cancer or treatment, the facility, the doctor, the patient, and variety of other factors, there's a success rate associated with each. If I ever got cancer, I would want to know that percentage for my case. And if I didn't get an answer or it was something less than 50%, I'd consider other possibilities. And surely, I wouldn't be in a hurry. My inclination is that I would never choose any typical treatment. I'd rather do nothing than go through what my father did.

The good news about cancer is that there's a lot more information now about what causes cancer and how to prevent it. Again, nothing is guaranteed, but if you take steps now to prevent it from happening, or take steps to reverse it if it happens, then maybe, just maybe you'll give yourself a better chance to survive it. I have become a vegan for this reason, to possibly prevent cancer by taking proactive steps now, while I'm relatively young.

So why and how, you may ask, does becoming a vegan prevent cancer?

Good question.

1.) No dairy. I've said this many times. Casein, the main protein in milk, is a known fertilizer of cancer. If you have a carcinogen in your body, and you drink a lot of milk, eat a lot of cheese, ice cream, yogurt, whatever, you're more at risk for having that cancer grow. Eliminate the casein, and guess what, the cancer stops. Just drink soy/rice/almond milk instead. Those plant based proteins do not fertilize cancer cells.

2.) No meat. Animal products raise cholesterol, and higher level of cholesterol lead to lots of issues, including cancer. I will talk more about this later, but suffice it to say if you're a "good" vegan (don't eat french fries and PB&J sandwiches, but instead a plant-based whole foods diet), your cholesterol levels will be very good, and you will not be as much at risk for many diseases, including cancer.

3.) Greens, veggies, and fruits! If you're a "good" vegan, you'll eat lots of these. And heck, you know this already. Eat right and exercise, right? Eat right? What does that mean? Get more whole vegetables and fruits in your diet. Everyone says this, you know it by now. Unfortunately, most of us don't get near enough of the complex nutrients that plants give. Some of us just have 1 piece of fruit per day and no vegetables. Some of us eat a small salad with head lettuce slathered with blue cheese dressing and call that our veggie for the day. These plants hold the key to strengthening our immune system, helping us to fight off disease. In the place of dairy and meat, they provide all the nutrition (save Vitamin B12) that we need. Jot down what you ate today for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And if you can, measure how many calories came from plant-based whole foods. If you're talking 5-10% of your overall calories, just think about what that's doing to your body. That means that 90-95% is coming from dairy, meat, fats, junk food, or somewhere else. It should be the other way around!

Okay, off my soap box. Read this book, watch this movie, and get back to me.

"The China Study," by T. Colin Campbell.
"Healing Cancer From the Inside Out", 2008, Mike Anderson

Earthlings

Have you ever seen a movie that completely changed your view on something? I remember back when I was in high school, and I saw Platoon, with Willem Dafoe, Tom Berenger, and Charlie Sheen. Now, I was always a non-violent type, and never had aspirations to join the military. But after watching Platoon, I basically made it a point to never work for a company who's end product was meant to kill people. That ruled out a lot of companies for me after I graduated from college, but I stuck to my guns, because of the impression of that movie on me.

It's happened again. See the movie "Earthlings" narrated by Joaquin Phoenix. It's a documentary about the role of animals to humans. It's divided into sections on pets, food, clothing, entertainment, and science. It's hardcore. And like Platoon, it's very powerful and influential to me. I found myself saddened, shocked, and surprised by many things I've heard of, but never witnessed firsthand. In combination with "Food Inc." which is another movie I highly recommend, this hammered the last nail on the omnivore coffin for me. I'm a vegan now, that is my conscious choice. It's for health and for peace of mind, like I said before. But, it's also for something else I can't put into words. Something that "Earthlings" influenced on me.

The website and forums for Earthlings have comments from many people, and isn't it great that we have the freedom and diversity to have so many opinions? They range from people not caring at all, to people that think that tomatoes bleed, to folks that think that religion is worthless. I guess you can have any type of reaction to this movie. For me, it's complicated.

My initial reaction was sadness. Sadness for the animals, of course. How can you not feel that? I won't go any deeper, because it must be seen and experienced, words can do it no justice. But I also felt sadness for the people involved. Their behavior many would characterize as inhumane. I feel sad for them, maybe because I don't work where they work, I don't live their life, I am completely ignorant to their upbringing and backgrounds, and ultimately, I can't comprehend their actions. But, even more than that, I'm saddened by the lack of humanity. "Humanity and Humane" are defined as "the quality of being humane; kindness; benevolence" and "characterized by tenderness, compassion, and sympathy for people and animals". After seeing this movie, it's hard for me associate humans with humanity.

See the movie for this reason, to answer this one question. And I keep hearing Joaquin Phoenix say this over and over again, "so...where's does our food come from?" Get a glimpse, understand the answers, dig for more information, then make your conclusions.

Eat to Live - Checkpoint #3 + Half Marathon Training

Well, it's week #3 and I'm feeling very strong, and very clean. "We don't eat any animal products!" my youngest daughter (5 years old) proclaimed during breakfast, as she was downing a green smoothie. Wow, can you ask for anything more? My wife and kids have joined me full-on, and we are each other's greatest support structure. Green smoothies in the morning are our default, can't go without them. Salads for lunch, and the occasional vegan-made meal at a restaurant with co-workers (gotta fit in with the new company, eh?). It's easy, just tell them no-eggs, no-meat, no-dairy, and you're good to go. I had a Thai dish (pad-see-ew) and a burrito on the days I didn't eat my salad at work. For the Thai dish, tofu no meat, and no eggs. For the burrito, veggie burrito, no sour cream. How easy is that? And dinner is just a salad, some steamed veggies, some beans and rice on occasion. Just simple, plant-based, whole foods.

I weighed myself after my long run today. I hate getting on the scale, because I didn't feel like I lost any weight. For me, losing half a pound is a freaking miracle. So, guess my reaction when I stepped up and the scale read FOUR POUNDS LESS than last week! Huh!? Nah, must be mistake. I got off, got back on, got off, got back on. And it all read the same. I'm only 1.5 lbs. off of my two year low weight. And if I recall correctly, it took me 3 months of hard training to get down that low.

For next week's training, I'm repeating my week #1 schedule exactly. I'll give a recap at the end of the week. For the blog, I'm gonna delve into some fairly heavy topics about health, disease, food, etc. I've been deep into thought about a lot things, and I want to share with you all next week.

Have a great weekend! Enjoy the sunshine!

Race Day!

Race day for me will be in early October, but it's something that motivates me throughout my training. There's something truly amazing about running in a race with 10,000+ other runners. In what other sport can you do that, participate in the same race, on the same course, at the same start and finish lines, with some of the most elite athletes in the world? Cycling? Swimming? Basketball? MMA? Uh, no. But in running, you have that and more.

In the beginning of the race, you're so pumped up, so excited with everyone's collective energy. In the middle of the race, you see all the fans lined up cheering you on, the workers at the water and aid stations helping you, and if you're lucky, you'll have family and friends somewhere along the way holding up signs and yelling for you. And at the end, you see the finish line, the culmination of weeks of training, and crossing it gives you a sense of accomplishment you've never felt before. It's truly amazing. Of course, there's pain, there's hardcore breathing, there's pushing yourself to the max. But, there's also relaxation, ease because of your training, peace and running free. You'll feel both during the race, hopefully more of the good than the bad, but don't worry, we all have our good days and otherwise.

You'll finish, most likely, somewhere in the middle. And that's great! Heck, even if you were the last person to cross that finish line, it's still great. For you, for your individual goals and aspirations, completing your training, crossing that finish, despite your time ... is all that matters. It's enough that you just finished, no need to beat yourself up for finishing 1 minute or 10 minutes lower than last year, it's no big deal. You didn't train all that time to be hard on yourself. On the contrary, pat yourself on the back, be happy and proud. Enjoy the moment, and the privilege of running. Not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to train and run a race, so bask in your accomplishment and cherish it.

I highly recommend you train for and participate in a race at least once. Try a 5K, which is just 3.1 miles. You can run, run and walk, jog, jog and walk, or just walk. It doesn't matter. Just enjoy the event, no matter how big or small the race. You can train for 4-8 weeks for a 5K, never having run before. Plan it carefully, take it easy, be consistent, and shoot for your goal. Get the experience of running a race with many people, it'll give you the energy and motivation to continue to exercise.

Finally, don't worry about getting passed up. Like I've said before, I've been passed by whatever and whoever you could imagine. Little kids, old men and women, young men and women, parents pushing their kids in jogger strollers, parents carrying their kids in their arms or on their shoulders, couples dressed in costumes, you name it. I just laugh. I'm not a fast runner, and I don't pretend to be. If you pass me, then great for you! I won't be too far behind, and we can share some laughs after the finish. In the end, we all finish, we all win.

Warming Up and Cooling Down

Isn't it hard enough to get up early in the morning to go for a run? Do I really have to warm up, stretch, run, and cooldown? Heck, can't I just run and be done with it?

I hear ya...

I feel this way sometimes, and it's something I have to fight often. Most times, I'm pumping myself up to go for a run, telling myself that it's all worth it, but there are times when I'm tired and lazy that I tend to stray, lose focus, etc. It happens to all of us. We have good workouts, we have awful ones sometimes.

But, when I'm doing well, I usually go through my routine. Warmup. Stretch well. Run. Cool down, stretch again, ice up. Let me take your through my routine.

Warmup. Nothing spectacular here, just a very slow jog, could be in place, could be just a walk from the car to the track, could be a few miles or laps, just something to get you warm. You don't want to stretch cold muscles.

Stretch. In the early morning, I like to do "joint rotations" and "dynamic stretching". It works well for me. I start with my ankles, rotating them in a circle in both directions, with foot pointed forward, then sideways, then backward. Then I rotate my knees, hunch down, hands on knees, and make small circles with your knees. Then hips. Hands on hips, do a hula, both directions, then go forward and back. Then more hips. I lift up one knee sideways, and rotate my foot in a circle so that my knee and hip get rotated, do both sides. Then more hips. Face a wall or fence, hold onto it with your hands for balance, kick one leg left and right repeatedly, then the other. Then turn sideways to the wall or fence. Kick one leg forward and back repeatedly, then the other. Then my shoulders. I do arm circles, backstrokes, frontstrokes, and "huggers". Give yourself a hug, right arm over left, then switch, and repeat, like Michael Phelps does before he swims. Then neck. Rotate that big head of yours in a circle, both directions. Then left and right. Then front and back. Finally, elbows, wrists, fingertips ... get them all rotated. Do more static stretches, if needed. For me, I do calves, hamstrings, and quads. After this, I feel really good, ready to roll...

Run. That's the easy part, eh? Start slowly, then get into it.

Cooldown. Your last few miles, or after your run, bring it down. Catch your breath. Slow it down. Feel good.

Stretch. This is the most imporant. If you have an inversion table, use it, even for a few minutes. If not, do some leg drains. Lie on your back, prop your legs up and just hang out for a few minutes. After that, spend some time doing some nice static stretches.

Ice. If you have any injuries, ice up for at least 15 minutes, then take off the ice for at least 5 minutes before you move around. My bum achilles always needs ice after a run.

That's my routine, when I'm doing well. It keeps me fresh and makes my runs a lot more consistent, and prevents further injury. It does take a bit more time, but the investment is definitely worth it.

Intervals

Interval training is supposed to help your speed. You'll see lots of marathoners and half-marathoners do track workouts to work on their form, as well as their speed. And it definitely helps. It's always better to run with a group, and if you can find one that's convenient and at your level, it's ideal. I'm not so lucky. I work out at 5am, before work, and before most people are up. And I'm usually done in 60-90 minutes.

I'm still recovering from an achilles injury, so although I'm doing intervals on TU and TH, I'm still taking it slow. On TU, I do more intense intervals in between warming up and cooling down. On TH, I do easy intervals after a longer run. And while it's still early in my training, I'm ramping up slowly. I let my ankle decide how intense my intervals are. And of course, I stretch very well before and after.

One thing to note is that you should be very careful when running your hardest intervals. You should reserve that "all out sprint" for very rare occasions, or just don't use it at all. Pulled hamstrings and other tweaky injuries happen when you go all out. Hold a little bit back, even for the short intervals, work on your form, try to be efficient, try to be faster with an easy breath and pace, try to control your heart rate by breathing deeply. And most of all, don't worry too much about your day-to-day performance. Just run.

The bottom line is that it's good to mix up the types of runs that you do. It makes it more dynamic and gives you different ideas and areas to focus on. Give it a shot. Go to a track (nice, flat, and soft!) and add some simple intervals to your normal runs.

Rest Days in Between Training

During your training for a half marathon (or any other race), it's important to have rest days in between, to give your body a chance to heal up. I used to go every day, and that lead to plateau, injury, and overtraining. Especially now that I have a sore achilles tendon, it's very important that I stretch very well before and after training runs, as well as my off days. I'll spend 15-60 minutes on my off days stretching.

My training schedule for this year's races enable me to concentrate on work and the family a bit more. Having M, W, F as rest days is really great and gives me the time I need to get a good night's sleep after work, and allows me to spend more time with the family, which is always good.

Lastly, I like the way the workouts are setup this time around. My hard workouts are on TU and TH. SA is easy (unless it's a race or race simulation), and SU is long and slow. So, I get lots of rest in between all of my hard workouts, before and after.

Don't forget to rest. Your body needs it. Avoid the temptation to train hard every day. If you're just starting, do 30 minutes walks every other day, and go from there. And on your off days...stretch and rest.

First Training Run!

Today was the start of a 10-week training program for an October Half Marathon. My goal is to run a 1:59, which would beat my personal best by 4 minutes. Fairly ambitious for someone with an aching achilles tendon, and also someone moving to a pretty much vegan diet. But, I'm gonna try my best.

I got up at 5:00am, got to the track at 5:30am, did an hour's worth of intervals (about 5.5 miles total), stretched before and after, iced my ankle, got the kids ready to go, and then started off to work (my new job). Man, it's gonna be a busy time, and this is with the kids NOT IN SCHOOL YET! :) But you know what, it's worth it. It's a privilege to get up early and just be able to run. It's a privilege to train and run a race. I don't look at it as work or sacrifice, I look at it as something very special.

Oh yeah...and my recovery drink? Green smoothie! Acai, Carrot Juice, Spinach, Banana, Blueberries, Ice ... Blendtec, voila! Recovery drink and breakfast all at the same time.

Half Marathon Training - Week 1

I'm running two half marathons in the next 10 weeks. I'm training for the last one, with the first one as a "fun run" with the family. This year, I'm experimenting with a different training schedule, less overall miles, more rest in between, lot of stretching, and some interval work. Here's my Week #1 schedule:

M - Rest
TU - 5.5mi total (2mi Run + 1.5mi intervals + 2.5mi Run)
W - Rest
TH - 4.5mi total (4mi Run + 0.5mi easy intervals)
F - Rest
SA - 4.0mi easy run
SU - 7.0mi slow run

For the week, it's a total of 21 miles, which is low for me, but I need to ease into the program because of my aching Achilles tendon.

If you are thinking about starting a program or running a race, start with goal, and then choose a program that is suited to your goal. For me, I want to run a 1:59 Half Marathon, which is ambitious for me, since my personal best is 2:03. So, I've chosen a program tailored for that goal. We'll see what happens. The important thing is NOT that I accomplish 1:59, because in the end, it's not that imporant. What is important is that I'm shooting for a goal and working towards it on a daily basis, a win-win situation.

I encourage you to look for a race, set a goal, find a training program that is suited to your goal, then train and go for it. Just finishing the training, and finishing the race will be your reward. If you reach your stated goal, then great, that's a bonus.

Eat to Live - Checkpoint #2 + Half Marathon Training

We're at Week #2 of the 6-week "Eat-to-Live" program, or our modified version of it, with green smoothies in the morning, instead of just fruit. I'm doing great! We decided to celebrate my new job (starting tomorrow) with a nice family dinner at our favorite French Restaurant. Now, French Cuisine is not known for being whole-foods, plant-based. On the contrary, lots of meat, lots of dairy ... very hard to avoid. But, we agreed that this was a "free-day" and we could have whatever we wanted for this one meal. Think about it. If you did one meal per week like this, that would be 1/21 or less than 5%, which is no problem.

Here's the kicker. I looked at the menu, and I ordered:

1.) Asparagus Soup (I always get the soup at a fancy restaurant, it's just how I roll!)
2.) Romaine Salad
3.) Vegetarian Pasta
4.) Souffle, Grand Marnier

Okay, so I caved on dessert. I'm not a sweet-tooth at all, but my wife loves the souffle there, and it's a minimum order of two! I must say the meal was great, and I didn't miss any of the animal protein (save the egg-whites in the souffle). It was impossible to go non-dairy here, with the slight cream in the soup and pasta. But, I didn't crave anything I used to before, at all. In fact, the best part of the meal was the broccoli in the pasta! Funny how that goes.

As far as weight goes, I'm 5 lbs. above my low-point just 2 years ago, so I'm very close. My long term goal is get to my high-school weight, which is 20 lbs. from now. I haven't been there...since high school. :)

And as far as half-marathon training goes, I just ran a week's worth of "tune-up" runs to get myself ready for the 10-week training program. It's all in an effort to test my bum achilles tendon, which has been giving me problems for a while now. So far, so good. I just finished up 7.0 miles (slow pace) and I was fine. For the next few days, I'm going to focus on the half-marathon training, to give you an idea of what's involved.

Legarza Basketball Camp

A plug for a great program. Legarza Basketball Camp has been around for 20 years, and for the first time, it was run in San Jose this past summer. My daughters had the privilege of attending the camp for two weeks and I must say, it was a great experience for all of them. And as a basketball coach myself for so many years, it was just great to see my kids play and have fun, getting this type of exposure to organized basketball for the first time. The coaching staff there is first class, and emphasize all the right things, all the best things that sports offers.

If you have an opportunity to send your kids to camp, consider choosing a sports camp, to get them moving around, and to also give them exposure to team dynamics, great coaches, and fun.

Here's a link to the Legarza Basketball Camp website.

http://www.legarzabasketball.org

Protein

When we talk about the "quality" of protein, what are we really talking about? What is a high-quality protein? What is a low-quality protein? Which is better for you?

Read "The China Study" by T. Colin Campbell...because a lot of this is from that book.

First off, there are 20 amino acids that combine to make protein that our body uses to build muscle. 11 of those are produced by the body naturally. And 9 are not, we must consume those via food.

We've all heard that an "egg" is the highest quality protein available, because it is a 99% complete protein. So, for the longest time, I've eaten eggs thinking that it was the best protein source available. I've also taken whey protein (from milk) as a supplement, with the same assumptions. But, let's go back an analyze the difference between "highest quality" and "best".

What is the highest quality protein available? Ummm ... eggs? Nope. That's right, "human flesh." Yes, look at Timmy or Johnny, because they are the highest quality protein available. And why is that? Because human flesh matches up 100% with the protein profile for humans. And thus, eggs match up very closely, and is the next highest quality protein available. So, "quality" is a measure of how the protein profiles match with our own.

What about plant protein? Plant protein is considered "low-quality" because it is "incomplete" and it doesn't match our protein profile as well as eggs and animal proteins. Different plants have different protein profiles, and in combination, they complete each other (like beans and rice for example). Greens, veggies, and fruits are similar.

Okay, so the $20,000 question. Which is better for you? We've learned that animal proteins are fertilizers for cancer and disease, and if you rid yourself of dairy and animal meats, that you're much better off. But, what about proteins and keeping our muscle? Well, it turns out if you eat a variety of fresh vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, seeds, and some whole grains, you'll have plenty of protein building blocks, all that you'll ever need. And here's the catch, you don't need to eat them as a complete protein set all at the same time. For example, you can have beans at one meal, rice much later, and you're body will combine them to form a complete protein. Of you can have greens one meal, other veggies another meal, and your body will combine them later.

And the bottom line is that plant-based proteins provide all the necessary building blocks (amino acids) that you'll ever need, without any of the disease-causing side effects. So, if you're still eating animal proteins because you think they're the best available, reconsider. Do your own research, experiment, and then come to your own conclusions. Maybe you'll see that you can definitely live without animal proteins, and that your muscles will be fine.

Learn to love, love to learn...

I was at my (2nd) daughter's basketball camp this past week, when the head coach of the camp sat and talked with me. Great man, by the way. He talked with my oldest daughter, who had attended the camp last week. He asked why she wasn't at the camp this week, and she mentioned that her cousin was town, and that it was her younger sister's turn this week. So the coach asked her if she liked the camp, and if she wanted to go again this week. And he offered to have her go again ... for free. Wow, as a coach myself, I've known how generous coaches are with their time, energy, and effort. Coaching is one of the most gratifying and satisfying things I've ever done, and a lot of it has to do with the coaches that have taught me, and the coaches that are out there teaching kids. Thanks again Coach! You have a great basketball camp, run the right way, with great young coaches leading the way.

One thing I told him, "You're running this camp the right way. Get the kids to learn to love the game first." And he agreed that was the right way. "Too many parents push their kids too soon, burn them out." And then he said something profound...

"Learn to love the game, so you can love to learn the game."

Isn't that true for everything in life? With school? With work? With diet? With exercise? With your spiritual pursuits? Without the love of doing something, there's no foundation. Without motivation, there's no work and progress, and thus, no results. Without passion, life is just an existence. Apply this to your life, in your search for health and happiness. Learn to love your health, your diet, your exercise, and yourself ... so that you can love to learn more about each one. And by all means, go after that knowledge, and experiment as much as you can to better understand what works for you, what heals you, what makes you healthy and happy. Don't just sit there and do nothing ... get up ... read ... learn ... try ... move ... experiment ... modify ... make change ... heal ... smile ... help others.

Running

With my wife and sister-in-law completing the SF Half Marathon (2nd half) last week, I thought I'd write a bit about running. Congrats to my sister-in-law from running through injury, and finishing the SF Half, and thus completing the California Series (3 Half Marathons in a year!). My wife also deserves kudos for pacing her sister and helping her through it.

There's nothing more humbling and exhilarating as running. It's painful and joyous all at the same time, and nothing feels better than completing a goal, crossing the finish line, and knowing that you've finished a race, a long training run, or just a fun run. And I saw humbling because people that you think have no business passing you up ... pass you up. At the CIM (California International Marathon) last year, I ran my 2nd marathon ever. I trained for 1 year for it, and in retrospect, that was probably too much training. Anyway, at mile 20, I hit the wall like everyone does. I was great up until then, but those last 6 miles of the marathon, as any marathoner will tell you, separates runners from joggers...and I'm a jogger. :) There were little kids, elderly men and women, overweight men and women, people pushing their kids in jogger strollers ... just flying by me at the end. Talk about humbling. At the very end, I somehow garnered some energy to run in the last 400 yards, and I was about to pass an 80-year old woman, who was just struggling (like me) to finish. But, I tucked in behind her, slowed down, and finished just after her. It felt amazing to finish, to complete a year's worth of training, and to say that I've finished a marathon. Only 0.1% of the human race has finished a marathon, so I felt very special at that moment. But, at the same time, knowing the many people that blew by me at the end, I felt very humbled also.

That's the greatest thing about running. It has something for everyone. Competition for those who want to compete, goals for those who just want to finish, and fun for those who just want to participate. And of course, a wonderful opportunity to move and exercise with lots of people, not to mention the many people cheering you on as you go through the course.

If you've never ran in a 5k, 10k, half, or full-marathon ... give it a try! You don't have to "run" per se. Most people dont "run," they "jog". And a lot of people walk. It's all good. Make a goal to do a race, train for it, and then run/jog/walk it. And enjoy the benefits, as well as the accomplishment. Go to "www.active.com" and find a race near you. Give yourself enough time to train, and then find a simple training program (look up "5k training schedule" for example) and go for it. Find a buddy to train with, someone at your level of fitness, it'll help a lot.

I'm training for another half marathon in October, and it starts next week, although I've been tinkering for the last couple of months now. I'll detail my training plan, results, and issues on the blog. Stay tuned for it...

For the love of the game

My daughters were at basketball camp this past week, one that emphasizes fun, and builds the foundation for "loving the game". I race around to drop them off, then come back early enough to watch a few hours just to watch them play. Note this is the first time they've ever played organized basketball, even though I've coached for many years. I just sit there and observe, watching them smile, make mistakes, make some plays, make some shots, run back and forth, laugh and joke around ... in a word ... play.

I was talking with the camp director there and I was telling how him how much I appreciated their approach to running the camp, that I felt it was the right way to do it, especially at this age. We were definitely on the same page as far as that's concerned. The coaches there are so positive, so energetic, and truly enjoy spending time with the kids.

Now, I've coached competitive basketball for many years, and I've always taken it seriously. But, at the same time, I've always stressed that basketball is a game, and should be enjoyed as much as possible. We don't have much time to be as strong and as good as we are when we're young, since basketball is truly a young person's sport, so we need to take advantage, work hard, and have fun doing it. I'm understanding that now that I'm playing here and there again. Boy, it's hard to shoot, dribble, play defense, and move like I did when I was a kid. It's not the same with a 41-year old body, but it's still fun.

Lastly, my kids appetites have been very healthy since they have gone to camp. Running around for 8 hours in a day will tend to that. So, bottom line, if you have the resources and the time, try and send your kids to an athletic camp, have them move around and have fun with other kids, and learn to love the game, whatever game that may be. The exercise they'll get now, learning to love it, will be invaluable for them later on ... to combat the sedentary, video-game based lifestyle that's so prevalent today.

Are you still drinking milk?

Why?

Because we need milk to grow strong bones, we need the calcium. There's plenty of calcium in plant-based foods, without any of the negative effects. Your bones will be fine.

Because it's high protein. Yes, high in a protein called "casein", which has been shown to be a very strong fertilizer of cancer. Plant-based foods have plenty of protein (another post), so your muscles will be fine.

Because it's low fat. Low fat? Are you serious? Consider that "2% low fat" milk is actually 33% fat as a percentage of total calories. The "2%" is based on volume. So, that's like saying "low fat butter" because we add a quart of water to it. The butter-water mixture is actually 100% fat as a percentage of total calories. And "whole milk or 4%" is 67% fat as a percentage of total calories. If anything, skim milk (5% fat as percentage of total calories) is the only choice here, but even that has lots of casein in it.

Because I need something to eat my cereal with. There's plenty of alternatives. Try soy, rice, almond, or other nut-milks. Watch the sugar content in those or just make your own at home. For nut-milks, all you need is a blender and a some cheesecloth.

Consider how much milk you're feeding your kids, with cereals, with meals at school, etc. And consider how much exposure they're having to casein and the fats associated with milk, not to mention the sugars associated with the cereals they eat for breakfast. For us, we've thrown out all animal milk completely. And for me personally, I'm just gonna be dairy free (milk, cheese, yogurt, creams, etc.) because I just feel a whole lot better without it. And I don't miss it at all. Try it for a week and see how you feel, if it makes a difference. I'm guessing that you'll feel a lot better without it.

Eat to Live - Checkpoint #1

1 week into the "Eat to Live" plan and I'm doing very well. Green smoothies for breakfast are great, and I'm having to split some with my wife and my youngest daughter, which is great. We've mixed up our greens quite a bit, and have with sweet (carrot juice, acai juice, etc.) and just water. Some are more challenging than others, but overall it's the quickest, most convenient meal of the day, even after running and working out in the morning.

Lunch is easy. Just a big salad with either chopped veggies or some chopped fruit (pears, apples, organic strawberries). I've used my normal dressing, and tried some fat-free ones as well. It's all good.

Dinner is the same. Big salad with more veggies, some black beans, some nuts and seeds, and on occasion a nice slice of whole-grain bread.

I feel great! My runs in the morning are fine, even the harder effort ones. I begin my half-marathon training program in 1 week, so there we'll really test it. I can't say that I've lost a lot of weight (like my sister and mom have), but I do feel very clean, I have zero digestion issues, I sleep better than ever, like a baby. And for me, sleep has always been tough, so I'm enjoying this restful time. And to think of it, I'm never hungry, even with just these three meals. They are very nutrition dense, even though they are fairly low calorie. That's Dr. Fuhrman's equation: H = N/C. Health = Nutrition/Calories. Which translates to "Pick the foods with the highest nutrition density per calorie". And those are ... drum roll ... fresh vegetables and fruits!

On the family front, my mom, little sister, and nephew (as well as my wife!) have joined in as well. We all feel great, better than in a long time. My wife is just completing the SF Marathon (2nd half - 13.1 mi), and she's done it without the mass carbo loading we usually do, just smoothies, salads, etc. And she's doing fine, although she just texted me, "Done. I want a beer and a hamburger!". I told her to get a beer and veggie burger. :)

Sundays will be checkpoint days on the blog, so stay tuned for more...

Growing Up Pilipino-American

I was born in Manila, Philippines and came to United States when I was two years old. We were the basic middle-class family, growing up in Silicon Valley before it was called "Silicon Valley." From our backyard to the hills to the east, there were endless cherry orchards. Pictures of my cousins and siblings shaded by cherry trees, and picking cherries race through the mind. That was home for me, something I constantly miss now that modern technology has morphed the farm town that was into the hustle and bustle we have today.

I'm very proud of my Pilipino heritage. The people, the culture, the history of the Pilipino people and all of their accomplishments is something I'm proud to be a part of. Given all of that, because I've lived here for most of my life, I've as much an American as I am Pilipino. And for my friends and family who have grown up here, there are few common threads with respect to health.

1.) We are afflicted with cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, etc. This shouldn't be a surprise, because this is true for all of America.

2.) As a people, we have a sedentary lifestyle. Again, not a surprise.

3.) As a people, we combine the worst of American Fast Food, with the oil-laden, meat centric, deep fried, white-rice heavy Pilipino cuisine. As if the Standard American Diet wasn't bad enough, go to any Pilipino party or for that matter, breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and you'll see this firsthand. Our diet, as a people, is horrible.

So, why are our parents and loved ones stricken with health issues? Why do they have countless medications (another post)? Is it because we don't eat right and we don't exercise enough?

Let me give you an example of our family. At any given family party, you'll find some or all of the following:

- Lichon. A whole roasted pig, skin on.
- Lumpia. Deep fried beef, pork, chicken, shrimp and veggies in won-ton wrapper, rolled like a taquito.
- Fried chicken or fish.
- Beef stews, like caldereta or kare-kare (oxtails with peanut butter).
- BBQ'd chicken, ribs, steaks.
- Pancit - Noodles with veggies and pork or beef.
- Lots and lots of white rice.
- Sugar laden desserts, like leche-flan.

If you're lucky, you may find some fresh fruit and maybe some head lettuce with ranch dressing. Now, I love my relatives and my family and I know the effort it takes to put together a party. Heck, I've prepared for family parties myself. But, seriously, what are we doing here? And the scary thing is, this is how we eat on a daily basis. Maybe not all at once, but we'll have lots of white rice with one of the dishes I mentioned above. The percentages are all wrong here. We should eat a plant-based diet, with little or no meat or dairy, with very limited oils and sugar. And yet, we do the exact opposite. We eat tons of white rice, we deep fry, and we eat way too much meat. And I'm not even taking into account all of the junk food (chips, soda, cookies, fast food, etc.) that we as Americans, are also prone to consume. It's the worst of both worlds.

It's not easy to change, I'm finding that out firsthand even in my immediate family. My mother, bless her heart, is trying her best, but it's tough to overcome years of habit. She still wants to get those french fries, and eat rice and meat. But, I'm trying to help her understand that by changing her habits, she can reduce her dependency on her numerous medications for diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. My sister just told me that she's lost 6 lbs. and that her blood sugar levels have lowered enough to reduce her insulin dosages. We've seen this before, we just hope she stays with it. My nephew, bless his heart, has yo-yo'd just like his Uncle, is now trying to go plant-based. He just texted me the other day, saying he felt like a "champion" instead of feeling crappy all the time, now that he went off of the auto-pilot junk food diet (cereal, salami sandwich, frozen pizza) to a plant-based diet. Finally, my little sister told me the other day that since she's gone plant-based, she hasn't had a seizure (knock on wood) since. This is pretty incredible, because she has seizures daily, or sometimes multiple times per day. She's as vibrant as I've seen in a long time. And I hope and pray that she stays with it.

So for all my Pilipino brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, lolos, lolas, and kids. Please do yourself and your loved ones a favor. Be conscious of what you're putting into your body. Find out and learn more. And if anything, take a cue from the Japanese and Koreans, who's grandparents and often great-grandparents are still alive (I'm talking all 4 grandparents!). They eat well and take care of themselves, why don't we do the same?

Father, Father

Thanks to my little sister (told you she was a godsend), as well as help from her friends and a priest at our church, I was able to meet the Big Celebrant, "Father JB", from now on.

What a privilege and honor to spend time with that man. He called me this morning, and we were able to meet shortly thereafter. For a moment, I was reminded of the movie "10 Questions for the Dalai Lama". Great movie, by the way. What was I going to talk to Father JB about?

Luckily, I had a few ideas. First, some personal stuff. Next, the Philippines. And finally, health. Okay, so it's only 3 questions, I didn't want to monopolize Father JB's time.

The personal stuff is, uh, personal. Enough of that.

On the Philippines, I simply asked, "What is life like in the Philippines?" And we went on from there. Life in the Philippines is different in the big cities vs. the more rural, and poor areas. Father JB mentioned "I wonder sometimes how the people in the provinces (poor rural areas) make it. But, they do. They live a very simple life, and really don't know what they're missing. And to think of it, I often wonder who's more fortunate, them or the richer big city folks." Very interesting. I learned that Pilipinos in his region eat lots of fresh vegetables, usually grown themselves and lots of fish. Rarely, they eat chicken and pork. They don't really drink cow's milk or eat beef. Most people are healthy and happy, and kids there have the same issues and problems as kids here. American fast food has worked it's way into the Philippines, with bigger cities having the usual chains. And probably the most interesting point, every kid in the Philippines has a cell phone and texts all the time. They have a ridiculous unlimited text plan, so kids will literally text each other, instead of talk to each other ... face to face, uh, like they're sitting right next to each other and they CHOOSE TO TEXT. :) Geez, that's crazy. And in the rural areas, you'll see kids on caribou (water buffalo) with cell phones, texting each other! He has a huge following at his Parish, some 40,000 parishioners! They have a 100 year-old church, with a basilica in need of constant repair, and their masses (only twice a week) are so packed that people line up outside to attend mass. Amazing stuff... For him, he talked about the festivals in the Philippines, and how everyone fed and overfed him, and how it was an insult to people if you didn't eat. I totally understand, and I'll detail it in a later post about Pilipino-Americans and food.

Then we move to health. My question simply was, "What about your health?" as we were talking about the health of Pilipinos in general. I brought my only copy of T. Colin Campbell's "The China Study" and I presented it to Father JB as a gift, careful not to offend. I wasn't making any statements or assumptions, I just wanted Father JB to read and learn what Dr. Campbell had discovered. I explained some of the theories presented, including the theory that heredity has a very small influence on cancer, which went against what he (and I previously) had known. Diet, not your genetics or heredity, has a greater impact. He was very cool about it, and very thankful as well. He even mentioned several times that he was going on a plan to exercise and lose weight regularly. And I told him that I'd bug him via email occasionally to see how he was doing. Lastly, I invited him to lunch and we enjoyed a nice bowl of Shoyu (soy-based) Ramen at a close-by Ramen Shop. Mine minus the animal proteins, of course. :) I told him about the movie "The Ramen Girl" starring Brittany Murphy and how it shows how Ramen is revered in Japan. He said he would check it out.

I feel very blessed to have talked to Father JB for the very short time I had. He has a warmth and optimistic compassion about him that I admire and it shows in his presence and his impromptu Homilies. He says "30% Me, 70% Holy Spirit". I laugh about that, but know it's true. If I get a chance to home to the Philippines, I will make it a point to visit Father JB at his church.

Buying Organic

Why buy organic?

This is a good question, and to be honest, there's a lot of conflicting information out there, even in the very books that I quote.

For me, like I've mentioned before, I always buy organic. The only time I choose not to, is if the product I'm buying isn't available at the time I need it. And in those rare cases, I will buy conventional. However, I will not buy conventional greens, berries, apples, and other thin-skinned produce. That's just me. The one big exception is bananas, since I use them so often. There, I choose which is best, regardless of cost. At Trader Joe's, it's $0.19 per banana for conventional or $0.29 per banana for organic. And often times, the organic bananas aren't good enough to buy.

As I mentioned previously, when I used to buy dairy and meat, I would always try to buy organic and in the case of salmon, wild. The only exception was when we had a huge party to throw and invited the family over, which like twice a year or so. Then, we would get conventional just to manage costs. My extended family has a voracious and carnivorous palate, I'll explain that in a later blog.

So, back to the question...why buy organic?

For me, there are two main reasons.

1.) For my personal health and peace of mind. Consider that conventional produce, etc. has pesticides, herbicides, larvicides, and other chemicals sprayed directly on them. Also, consider that hormones and antibiotics for conventional animal products and dairy are used. These are very dangerous to your health, and could be the carcinogens that lead to cancer and disease in the long run.

My best friend illustrated it to me this way. Say, you're at a produce market and the vendor is selling apples. The conventional apples are $1.00/lb. and the organic apples are $3.00/lb. But, somehow the vendor runs out of the conventional apples. So a person asks, "Can I get the organic apples, but at the conventional apple price?" So the vendor grabs an organic apple, pulls out a can of "Raid," sprays the organic apples thoroughly, then hands it over and says "Sure, here you go, $1.00 per/lb." Now, would you really want to eat that?

On the meat and dairy front, it would be great if you knew more about how conventional animals are raised these days. I will explore this in another post, but if you have some time, go see the movie "Food Inc." as mentioned in a previous post. Talk about cruelty to animals. I'm not an animal activist, by any stretch, buy I bought organic meat and dairy previously because of the abhorrent conditions and treatment given to these poor creatures. I'm so relieved now, that I will very rarely consume these products ever again, even the organic version. Conventional meat and dairy is downright dangerous, so I'd rather not consume any of it.

2.) The impact that conventional farming has on our environment. Again, I'm not an environmentalist, by any stretch, but I try to do my part. In our home, we recycle, we compost, we use power shut-off to save vampire power, we use CFLs all over, we try to conserve energy and resources, but it's never enough. But, if you see what pesticides and conventional farming do to the land itself, you'd be appalled. Once fertile land is turned dry and lifeless because of conventional farming. Farmers are dying because of it. If you have some time, catch the movie "One Man, One Cow, One Planet" (http://howtosavetheworld.co.nz/index.php) to learn about the atrocities of conventional farming and the hope of organic and biodynamic farming.

I try to buy most of my organic produce from the local farmers market because that also reduces the environmental impact. Note the measure of "food-miles" that lots of tree-huggers and scientists use. The lower the food-miles, the better for the environment. Translated, that means it you buy produce from someone that grows and sells their food locally, it's better than buying it from a far-away place, since we don't have to pay (in carbon) for the fuel and transport costs associated with it. So, "Buy Local" is a mantra that you'll see a lot.

Organic food is expensive, we all know that. It can cost between 2-4x that of conventional, and it not always available. And if you do more research, you'll probably be more confused about it's health benefits, etc. You're not alone, it's a tough decision. Some people will tell you that it's not really necessary, that peeling off the first few layers of leaf lettuce, for example, is good enough. Some people will tell you that buying organic is more important than being vegetarian. Some people will tell you that the nutritional value of organic vs. conventional is astronomically different, and the super-important micronutrients of organic soil are present in the organic produce, and not in conventional. Some will tell you it doesn't matter. I encourage you to do more research and then make your own conclusions. For our family, we go organic.

Shopping

Calm down ladies. I know what you're thinking. Buy a new LV bag, the latest Jimmy Choo's or Christian Louboutin shoes, or a shiny new pair of Tom Ford Sunglasses. And you too, fellas. Uh, whatever you guys shop for these days.

I'm talking about grocery shopping. It's really been an eye-opening experience when I went "Raw for 30 Days" and now I'm on a similar mission, eliminating all dairy and animal products. It's interesting to see how my shopping habits have changed, and how much money I've saving. It also effects how we go out to eat as well.

First off, milk. Man, we went through milk like water in our family. When I ask the kids what they want to drink, first answer is "Milk!". When we go out to eat and the waiter ask my youngest daughter what she wants, she screams, "Milk, please!". When they are in school, they drink ... you guessed it ... milk. For about the last three years, we've been on organic milk. Why we did that is the topic of another post, but let's just say that I was scared enough by conventional milk, how it was produced, and the dangers associated with it, that we went organic. Now, you can buy conventional milk at Costco for $3.00 for 2 gallons. Or you can buy organic milk at Costco for $11.00 for 2 gallons. So, for the past three years, I've bought organic milk for my kids to drink at home. Never a question, despite the about 4x difference in cost. But, because of T. Colin Campbell's book "The China Study" and issues with milk proteins (casein) and animal proteins in meat causing disease and cancer, my wife and I decided for our family just to not buy it any more. Heck, it saves us some serious money, saves me time, and is probably better for our health in the long run. And to think of it, the times when I had digestion issues, when I started to feel sickest, is when I had cereal and ... yes milk for breakfast. When I went off of it (and also my whey protein shakes), I did feel a lot cleaner. So, this is a win-win for me. We did spend some time talking with our kids, and they were very cool about it. So, now we're trying alternatives ... soy, almond, rice milk. It's an ongoing process, but it seems like the kids aren't having much difficulty.

Next, meat. Well, we didn't really buy meat anyway, unless we're throwing a party for my family (another post). And when we did, it was free-range organic chicken, wild salmon, or grass fed organic beef. Again, why we bought those is a subject of another post, but let's just say it was similar to the conventional milk argument. And man, talk about cost difference. For any of those, you're talking about 2-3x cost difference versus conventional. We're lucky we were quasi-vegetarians, else we'd have to take a 2nd on our house just to have dinner. Again, it's much easier to shop without having to worry about buying any of this. We're gonna try some of the veggie proteins, like TVP (textured veggie protein), but to be honest, I don't like to buy lots of packaged and processed stuff that has "Vegan" on it. I'd rather buy whole fruits and vegetables, etc.

Okay, so now that the grocery store is literally cut in half, it's much easier to shop. Here's a rundown of what I buy and where.

Costco - Organic spring mix and spinach. I eats tons of both, and it's super expensive at other places, so I just get it here. If they have organic frozen blueberries by the bundle, I nab those as well, because I use them in my green smoothies.

Trader Joes - Fruits (bananas, apples, oranges, etc.) -- always organic. Olive oil, spices, salad dressings, soups, nuts, seeds, soy/almond/rice milk, etc.

Farmers Markets - We're lucky we have several to choose from and they're close by. I go twice a week to get fresh greens (kale, romaine, bok choy, swiss chard, basil, etc.), other veggies (zuccini, broccoli, long beans, squash, bell peppers, mushrooms, etc.) and other fruits (nectarines, berries, etc.). I always buy organic.

Whole Foods - My last stop, because it's so darn expensive. Here, I focus on the "Bulk Items". Organic nuts, seeds, rice, and legumes. I'll get whatever I couldn't get at Trader Joes (flaxseed, other seeds, brown rice, nuts, black beans, red beans, other beans). I'll also get my Acai smoothie packs here (darn expensive things), as well any produce I didn't find fresh at the farmers market. Nearly everything at whole foods is organic (unless it says "conventional") and by now you know, I always buy organic.

I don't know exactly how much time and money I'm saving by eating this way, but it really does simplify my life. In our hectic schedules, when we make every excuse in the world just to go to McDonalds and grab a Happy Meal for the kids, and a Super Sized #1 for ourselves, isn't it ironic that eating healthy may actually be easier and cheaper to do? I wonder... Someone tally up the cost (time and money, and include the cost of gas going to the drive-through every meal!) of eating fast food for a week, and let's compare it with eating healthy for a week. I think the healthy eaters will probably feel better after that week (Supersize Me!), but I'm wondering if it really does save time and money... Hmmm!