Ten years ago I stopped eating red meat simply for the fact that it was the least healthy of them all. Two years ago after watching Food Inc, I decided to only eat fish and meat that I bought from local sources. These two choices resulted in what most people would consider a pescatarian diet. My decision to continue eating fish was based primarily on the fact that I wanted to make sure I was getting enough protein after my big runs. This weeks goal and for the rest of the year I am going to challenge myself to stop eating all meats. I have heard about many athletes that use only a vegetarian or raw food diet and I want to try to make that happen for myself.
My reasons for not eating meat are pretty simple. Vegetables and fruit make me feel healthier on a daily basis and I don't agree with how most of the animals in the meat industry are raised. Fish on the other hand are mostly farm raised, fed corn and dyed before we see them which doesn't seem very healthy either.
I'm mostly excited about this goal to extend my knowledge of vegetarian dishes and to see how my body is affected by long runs on a vegetarian diet. I see the biggest challenges being consuming enough calories on long runs and hikes and also not being able to eat 80% of the menu at work.
There will be a few more diet changes to come later in the year but for now I'll continue the rest of 2014 with no fast food, fried food or meat!
My reasons for not eating meat are pretty simple. Vegetables and fruit make me feel healthier on a daily basis and I don't agree with how most of the animals in the meat industry are raised. Fish on the other hand are mostly farm raised, fed corn and dyed before we see them which doesn't seem very healthy either.
I'm mostly excited about this goal to extend my knowledge of vegetarian dishes and to see how my body is affected by long runs on a vegetarian diet. I see the biggest challenges being consuming enough calories on long runs and hikes and also not being able to eat 80% of the menu at work.
There will be a few more diet changes to come later in the year but for now I'll continue the rest of 2014 with no fast food, fried food or meat!
End of Week 17 Update
I got a text early last week from super ultra runner Paul "Rudy" Rutemiller that there would be an Earth Day event on campus planting trees. What a great way to accomplish my goal of planting one thing a week. I biked over to the event and was pleasantly surprised to find a bunch of people there. There was probably 45 people psyched about getting to plant a tree. How refreshing. I quickly ran into my friend Stephanie and we teamed up with Luis, a freshman from Ecuador who was happy as a plum to be participating and helping a good cause. We picked out our own Chinese Pistache outside of West End and got to work. Forty five minutes later there we were standing next to it knowing that we could come back and visit campus 15 years from now and say "Hey, we planted that one." Pretty cool.
As far as my first week without meat went, while at work I had to cease from ordering anymore tilapia sandwiches for dinner and also had to say goodbye to sushi for the rest of the year. For as small of a change that it was I felt excellent knowing that I was going to have a vegetarian diet for the next 8 months, however I'm sure this goal will have some challenges in store for me.
I wanted to give a shout out to my friend Elena this week for her help with our GIGANTIC trash cleanup effort this Sunday. She had mentioned to me that she knew of an ramp coming off
I got a text early last week from super ultra runner Paul "Rudy" Rutemiller that there would be an Earth Day event on campus planting trees. What a great way to accomplish my goal of planting one thing a week. I biked over to the event and was pleasantly surprised to find a bunch of people there. There was probably 45 people psyched about getting to plant a tree. How refreshing. I quickly ran into my friend Stephanie and we teamed up with Luis, a freshman from Ecuador who was happy as a plum to be participating and helping a good cause. We picked out our own Chinese Pistache outside of West End and got to work. Forty five minutes later there we were standing next to it knowing that we could come back and visit campus 15 years from now and say "Hey, we planted that one." Pretty cool.
As far as my first week without meat went, while at work I had to cease from ordering anymore tilapia sandwiches for dinner and also had to say goodbye to sushi for the rest of the year. For as small of a change that it was I felt excellent knowing that I was going to have a vegetarian diet for the next 8 months, however I'm sure this goal will have some challenges in store for me.
I wanted to give a shout out to my friend Elena this week for her help with our GIGANTIC trash cleanup effort this Sunday. She had mentioned to me that she knew of an ramp coming off
the interstate that needed some major help. It was funny that when she mentioned the spot, I knew exactly the location she was talking about. That's how bad it was. Now lets think about it folks. Blacksburg gets rated as one of the best places to live in the country year after year after year and the first thing that visitors see getting off the interstate is a heaping pile of trash. Something doesn't add up there. It took all of 2.5 hours to clean up a stretch of road that was probably no longer than two football fields bringing us to a total of somewhere near 130 gallons of trash and recycling and an unforseen new obstacle in trash pickup with the coming warm weather! TICKS! We ended up finding about 7 of them on our legs so beware!
End of Week 17 Totals
Soda - 0 ounces
Water - 60.13 Gallons
Liquor - 0 shots
Tea - 196 cups
Trips to unhappy places - Jimmy Johns (1)
$ to support neighbors = $281.39
Fried food consumption - 2 dorito chips
Breakfasts eaten - 70
Pushups - 920 Crunches - 820
Days Flossed - 55 (missed one day)
Coffee - 0 cups
Sunrises attended - 6
Beers drunk - 0
Gallons of Trash Collected - 120
Items planted - 12 jalapenos, 12 bell peppers, 8 yellow pear tomatoes, 30 canna bulbs, 1 chinese pistache
Letters written - 2
Meat eaten - none
End of Week 17 Totals
Soda - 0 ounces
Water - 60.13 Gallons
Liquor - 0 shots
Tea - 196 cups
Trips to unhappy places - Jimmy Johns (1)
$ to support neighbors = $281.39
Fried food consumption - 2 dorito chips
Breakfasts eaten - 70
Pushups - 920 Crunches - 820
Days Flossed - 55 (missed one day)
Coffee - 0 cups
Sunrises attended - 6
Beers drunk - 0
Gallons of Trash Collected - 120
Items planted - 12 jalapenos, 12 bell peppers, 8 yellow pear tomatoes, 30 canna bulbs, 1 chinese pistache
Letters written - 2
Meat eaten - none