Monday, March 10, 2014

eat and run

I read this book from start to finish while flying to Alaska.  Scott Jurek previously came out with Born to Run, and then came out with Eat and Run – both books are awesome reads, and not just for the running community.


Jurek grew up hunting and basically eating a meat and potato diet – few vegetables, lots of meat, lots of dairy.  He wasn’t that active when he was younger, but started becoming more active when he was in high school by joining the ski team, and then started running.  He loved running – started to get strong, started running more and more. 

He began to tweak his diet by eating more vegetables, and slowly started cutting back on meat and other animal products.  He was shocked by how much better he felt – he assumed he needed meat, needed animal protein, to be a strong and fast distance runner.  He was wrong – he found energy and strength from holding a more plant-based diet.  Over time, he found his way to veganism.

Jurek isn’t just a distance runner, he’s an ultra-marathoner.  And not only is he an ultra-marathoner, he wins them, he sets records.  He’s run dozens of ultras, and runs at least 100 miles a week.  He’s fast, he’s strong.

Before finding my way to veganism, I ate healthy and clean.  I ate a largely plant-based diet, but was eating meat and dairy on a regular basis.  Last year I slowly cut out animal products, and have had a Vegan diet since the end of September – never felt better.  I felt great before, and had no idea there was that much room to feel better than I did before.  I have more energy.  I’m sleeping better.  My blood levels and vitals were stellar before, and now they’re even more so.  Without offering too much information, I’ll just say my digestive system has never been more on point.  I’m lighter, I’m leaner, I’m tighter, I’m stronger, I’m getting faster.  The effects are astounding.

I get so many questions from people about my veganism – aren’t you hungry all the time?  But what do you eat?  How do you live without bacon?   Aren’t you lethargic all the time?  But how do you get your protein?  I’m hungry a lot, yes – but no more so than before.  Running 30 to 50 miles a week will make you hungry.  I actually stay full longer because I’m eating five times a day instead of three (as advised by my nutritionist).  And my plant-based meals keep me full.  And I eat lots of stuff!  I luckily grew up with a mom who cooked lots of different kinds of food for us, and made sure we acquired a taste for grains, veggies, and fruit.  So, I eat lots of food, all different kinds.  How do I live without bacon?  Well, that was actually one of the first meats I cut out.  I was never a big ham and bacon person, and once I discovered pigs are as intelligent as dogs, I threw that out the window without looking back.  And I’m not lethargic all the time – in fact I’ve never had so much energy.  And I get my protein from lots of places.  There are so many plants and grains and legumes that are packed with protein that I think a lot of people don’t realize.  I have my struggles, sure – but when I’m tempted, or feel myself craving milk chocolate, I think of the reasons I became a vegan and the craving subsides.

People find their way to Veganism for different reasons – my reasons are ethical and environmental, and the health benefits are a bonus.  Jurek became a vegan for the sheer health benefits and how it affected his performance as an athlete – the ethical and environmental reasons came a bit later, but he is still largely a vegan because of the health benefits. 

Last week I posted an interesting article on my Facebook page about the rise of Veganism – check it out below:

There has been a significant spike in the popularity of holding a plant-based diet as people discover the multitude of benefits is holds – it is an easy way to affect your life, the world, and the lives of animals.  The US population of vegans has more than doubled in the last three years.  The percentage of meat consumed by Americans is falling – we consumed over 12% less meat in 2012 that we did five years prior.  Wow!  Those are some awesome stats!  Other than the benefits for animals and the environment, think of the health benefits if we continued to raise this awareness!  Our children would be more educated and healthy.  We would be healthier for future generations.  Fast food chains would be less.  As the demand for fresh produce would grow, we would see the rise of more private and organic farms.  I’m not trying to force my agenda on someone, and not trying to be some militant vegan – but I would like to be a part of the movement of educating others on the benefits of eating a more plant-based diet.  I’m not even saying to become a Vegan.  Just cutting out meat of a few meals a week make a huge difference – to your health, to the environment, and to the lives of animals. 

This article also suggests documentaries cover mostly the health benefits of a more plant-based diet. If you want to Netflix some of the movies, I recommend Vegucated, Forks over Knives (also a good book that my dad actually wanted for Christmas), and Supersize Me. Vegucated is quite entertaining - challenges big meat-eaters to maintain a vegan diet for several weeks, and highlights some of the realistic challenges we face. Forks over Knives covers the benefits of eating more of a plant-based diet. And Supersize Me (went totally viral) follows a guy who eats only McDonalds for 30 days, every meal, every drink, and covers the decline in health he faced over this period of time.  There are a few others that have some grotesque footage and images of animals at slaughterhouses if you’re interested in those, which I do encourage others to watch – but forewarning, they are graphic and extremely hard to watch.  In fact, over 42% of vegans became vegan after watching a video like these they are so powerful.  Ignorance can be bliss.


Eat and Run is a great book, article is a good and quick read, and the documentaries listed are enlightening and eye-opening.


That is all for now, Zoe signing off.

No comments:

Post a Comment