Forks Over Knives!?!? (A non-triathlon post, about FOOD - and everybody can relate to that!)

For the most part, I have always considered myself a healthy eater. Yes, I've had my moments/seasons of indulgence, but on the whole, I'd say I'm pretty clean with how I eat and have always been mindful about keeping healthy and not getting over weight.  That said, I've often wondered about the benefits of eating cleaner, and if I should or could do it.  I have known a few people growing up who call themselves Vegan, or Vegetarian.  Usually I teased them a bit, and acted like they were crazy ;)  But, truth be told, I always "secretly" wondered if they were on to something better.

More recently (the past several months or so), I have read about several endurance athletes successfully performing on vegan, plant based diets. So, I contacted one of my vegan friends, who had several good tips about this form of eating.  One thing he suggested, was to see a documentary called "Forks over Knives".  Turns out you can rent or buy it through YouTube, which I did.  MY TAKE AWAY?:  This is a potential game-changer, with mind rattling stats, that are paradigm shifters for sure.  I am planning to watch it again, because it was that jarring and informative (glad I 'bought' it).
Spoiler alert: The gist of the film is that a Whole Foods Plant Based (WFPB) diet is simply far more healthy, and does not contain the harmful effects found in eating animal based foods (meet and dairy products).

So, starting tomorrow I am all in with this "experiment".  I call it an experiment, because I am not sure if this is a path for me long term.  I'm not sure how/if I will feel worse, or if it will negatively effect my training.  Even some WFPB eaters still have occasion fish or chicken (white fish mostly, and free range, organic chicken is preferred) this may make up only 5% of their diet (so its in very controlled amounts).  But the original intended way of the WFPB plan is eating no meat or animal dairy, so I am going that road for now, to give it an honest assessment.  I am hoping to do it for the month of April, to see how I feel eating this way, and what effects it has on me (either negative or positive).

I will post updates here about the journey.  Oh, and I didn't just decide this today.  I decided last Thursday, and gave myself the weekend to read up more, and grocery shop appropriately. That being said, since watching the movie, it was next to impossible to not start eating more veggies and eating cleaner, so the weekend has been pretty clean eating!

And also, if you are or have experience with this type of eating and have any tips or great dishes that are EASY to make, I'd love to hear them!!  Thanks for reading...

To Health,
Jon          

Its Been 4 months. (Training Update)

Hello,

Its Saturday night, and I am watching some awesome Ironman racing online and figured it was also a good time write a quick training update.  Yes, its been a while since I wrote anything on here, but the truth is training (especially in the winter), is not that "sexy" or fun to write about :)  In fact, I think that is one of the biggest hurdles people have when taking on or hoping for any fitness improvement.  Accepting that consistency, will always beat "sexy" every time.  There is no easy way.

But I digress.  Its been around 4 months since I paired back up with my coach and friend (Sandy Musson - (http://www.triandrunsports.com/Sandy_Musson.html).  And as customary, we ran our baseline tests back then, and subsequently "put my head down" and got to work on the executing the weekly training.  Its been nothing fancy, and in terms of Ironman training, not even THAT much volume. On average, I'd say I've been doing around 11 hours a week.

Ok, time for the good part:  I have recently re-tested both my run and biking and have seen some solid improvements in both areas.  The run results are a bit fuzzy (was a few weeks ago), but I've got about 2kms/hour faster - I still have lots of work to do here, but the run always takes the most time and work for me to get to "fast".  I bike tested yesterday, and am super pumped with how it well it has come back to me.  In 4 months, I raised my FTP 60 watts (from 230 to 290w, and pushed up through a 1min at 380w).  This is pretty close to where I was before I last raced Florida in 2010, and of course I still have lots of time to make more gains! (the race is in Nov.).  I didn't think it'd come back this quick (if you call 4 months quick, so I'm pretty pumped).

The weight loss is on track as well.  I am down 20lbs since Jan, and 32lbs since Oct (yes, I know... I got a little porky ;)  I have 3 more months till my race season will ramp up, and I am itching for the warm weather for some outdoor riding!

I'm still plotting all the races for the year, but should have it laid out soon.  When I do, I'll put the list up so you can see where I'll be racing and stay in the know ;)

Cheers,
Jon