Progress and Setbacks - the Road Ahead

Thanks Quercus, can already see the pace/HR improving so working on taking it slow. Went for another 6.5 miles today and toyed with 2min jog/1 min walk for the majority of it but a few hills made me extend the walking time and cut short the jogging. Was also a few degrees warmer today which affects the HR so quite happy with the results and should be very close to the 40 mile target for this month now.

Need to give the legs a break tomorrow so planning to hit the gym for upper body training to end the week.
 
So giving the legs a break mostly... was headed out for coffee at lunch and running late so decided to jog the couple hundred yards to meet up with friends who were waiting. As I approached the group, one of the guys starts jogging alongside and then tries to pass me and for some unknown reason it quickly escalates into a flat out sprint with him trying to pass me and me refusing to give. Luckily neither of us are in good shape but we ended up a couple hundred yards further down the road than the rest of group and almost had time to catch our breath before the rest of the gang caught up.
 
True Cate,

"Saved by being out of shape" doesn't come up in too many headlines.

So I've started a 7 day experiment with a Vegan diet yesterday. I have been switching over for the past week but yesterday was the first day I skipped all meat and dairy. I had to go hit the grocery store and pick up a few items including almond milk for coffee and have a supply of Soylent powder (the one with 100% less people). Will be an interesting week to be sure and a radical departure from my previous diet which consisted of _lots_ of meat. Have done a week of vegetarian in the past and it wasn't nearly as bad as I had feared.
Somewhat related to my Netflix viewing list for the weekend which consisted of watching "Cowspiracy", "Vegucated" and "Forks over Knives". Have watched many similar in the past but they all seemed a lot more preachy.

Biggest success of day one was getting my daughter to try baked kale chips and having her ask for me.
 
:) Yay for dietary experimentation! I´m pretty sure I´ll never go vegetarian again, let alone vegan, but I do notice I tend to eat less animal products. Environmental issues, health, ethics... Curious to see how you fare.
 
Congratulations on having a go! I'm not sure I could do it either, but I admire people who do. I try to eat more ethically & buy free-range & organic as much as I can. It will be interesting to see how you go.
 
Vegan Day 3 of 7.
Biggest hurdle was going to a grocery store to find a snack. Had no problem finding Vegetarian options but finding stuff that didn't include dairy was a bigger issue so had to settle for baby carrots. I'm sure it gets easier once you learn what options exist and and eliminate the need to inspect and read the labels in detail.
Starting to notice that energy levels are higher and seems like food has more flavor than I recall it having. Weight dropped again this week including a drop over the weekend which is usually when I put weight back on.

No idea how accurate the scale is but both weight and body fat have been dropping.
CW: 252.9 BF%: 32.5
 
Whenever I change my diet the first couple of weeks tend to be hardest. Once I get settled into it (including having learned some labels by heart) it´s a lot less time-consuming. Don´t forget about seeds and nuts when looking for snacks, if you eat vegan whole foods you might be needing the fat and energy.
 
That's awesome that you are giving vegan a try. I try to have multiple sources of protein with each meal and try to eat whole foods as much as possible. The flavor of veggies gets drowned out by meat and dairy flavors. Your pallet will adapt and veggies become much more enjoyable.

I second what LaMa said.
 
Thanks Cate,LaMa & Q

Adjustment hasn't been bad at all which has been really surprising to me. I once ate a vegetarian meal at a restaurant and then immediately raced home to grab a big chunk of Roast beef to compensate so it's a big surprise that I haven't been suffering cravings. I do see that planning ahead of time is a lot more important now as popping into a random place trying to find a healthy food option isn't easy.

I ordered some Vegan protein powder yesterday. I think the protein content in the foods I eat is decent but would like to have a way to bump up the protein on days I have lifting sessions.
 
Yesterday's workout was light bball, followed by arms workout in the gym with a 1mile treadmill run for dessert. Ran a 9:40 mile which is still slow but a lot faster than my low HR training runs so no complaints.

5 days into the vegan experiment and energy levels are through the roof so decided to take the Cowspiracy 30 day challenge. Had an excellent chili for supper last night and had a hard time believing there was no meat added. Also did up a bunch of baked chickpeas in the oven which make great snacks. So far so good
 
I'm glad you are having a good time with the vegan diet so far. Veg and vegan food at restaurants tends to be pretty crappy nutrition wise. Especially with meat free options at a regular restaurant. Actual vegan restaurants are usually better but still not as good as controlling your own ingredients and portions.

Nice run!
 
Glad you are doing so well with trying out a Vegan diet. I admire you for it. I'm not sure I could. It's great that your energy levels have increased so much. I think most of us should reduce the meat in our diets & increase the veg. I know I feel much better when I do. Doing well K&D, xo Cate
 
Thanks Quercus, Pap, Cate:

So one week of eating a vegan diet is complete and have no complaints. I've decided to extend it to a 30 days as I've experienced no issues and very few cravings for meat or dairy although there have been a couple times I found myself on autopilot reaching into the fridge. I've been finding a bunch of new recipes to try so I've been trying a lot of new foods which I figure will continue even after the 30 day run is complete. My wife has also noticed a huge improvement in my energy level in the past week so now she's on board for a 7 day trial run as well which is going to make the next week that much easier. Got around to picking up some vegetable based protein isolate this weekend so nice to have an option to supplement protein intake as required.

Had a doctor's appointment this morning to ask about the high heart rate and doctor isn't concerned but recommended a stress test to be on the safe side. All clear to keep doing what I've been doing as long as the heart rate is the only symptom so looking forward to getting a few more runs in this week. Another positive note is that it feels like I've been eating constantly this past week but still managing to lose weight and looking forward to getting under the 250 mark again.

CW: 250.5 BF: 32.3%
 
Thanks Cate, halfway mark is coming up fast and already feeling quite a difference with the first 20 pounds gone.

I think I may have overdone it (ever so slightly) today. Yesterday was a very reasonable arms and core workout in the gym followed by 2 miles on the treadmills at a slightly faster than normal pace. Today however, I decided to go out for a run and explore some new paths and was about 6 miles in before I seriously started thinking about heading back towards the starting point. Overall pace was still pretty slow but still faster than my starting pace for much shorter runs and by the end my GPS watch was reading 13.2 miles (just over a half marathon distance) in slightly over 3 hours. I'm curious to see how mobile I will be in the morning but am already fearing the worst. Time for the RICE treatment (rest ice compression elevation) and refuelling to help recovery.
 
O wow, that´s a LONG way to run, no matter what the speed is! Hope you´ll be able to walk later.
 
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