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?