Diet Advice

Eat less sugar; eat more vegetables. Keep it simple. 

I just watched a nice Retro Report video about diets: http://www.retroreport.org/video/fighting-fat/

Point being, we know less about "the ideal diet" than we think we do. Different diets work for different people. Fat is not necessarily bad. Truly eliminating sugar sounds nearly impossible, even vegetables have some sugars in them. Our bodies make cholesterol. 

Being vegan was an eye opening experience to me how emotional food is to people. I enjoy food, but I don't think it's ever been something I throw fits and tantrums about, at least not in the last 20 years. Being vegan was a science experiment with mixed results. People that go all in on whatever diet, more power to you. I understand the mental focus that having a specific rigid diet gives you might be worth as much or even more than the actual diet. That being said, I am not sure of any popular diet that eliminates vegetables. Seriously, if you go raw paleo vegan then fruit, vegetables and nuts are about all you can eat, and I've never even heard of anyone going on a raw paleo vegan diet. So eat more vegetables.

Getting Sick (From the Food) While Traveling

I've gotten sick, diarrhea, multiple times while traveling. A lot of people get sick traveling in Asia and Africa. A lot of people, even former locals of these countries, eventually get sick of the food. It's funny, dal bhat apparently is even not liked by some Nepalese who live in the western world and return here to visit family, yet I could eat the stuff every day. Dal bhat is generally vegan, and reminds me a lot of the vegan meals I ate last year. Plus, they keep giving you seconds and thirds. Most meals, especially the western ones, are pretty limited, but rice and dal they just keep giving and after nine hours of backpacking that's pretty nice.

I'm pretty stunned that I didn't get sick this time. I was really expecting to get some sort of sickness. I did have some loose bowel movements on the trek in, but one Imodium cleared that up. Gut bacteria is the new genome, the cure for every ailment is supposedly linked to gut bacteria now. I'm pretty sure that on my 11th country now, and after spending over a year of my life living in the mountains, I've got some pretty awesome bacteria. It's no surprise that after time our bodies get hardened to the environments we subject them. Other people were sick, some multiple times, and I had no real problems.

The standard tips are to drink only bottled water, or boiled water drinks like tea, and wash you hands often. It's pretty simple, carry a bottle of hand sanitizer and use it after going to the bathroom and before meals. I didn't worry about clean water as much on this trip as I have in the past. I mean to say, I drank a whole lot of tea, and you never really know if they boil the water or just heat it up. Also, the way they bottle water locally everywhere, after paying 25 cents for a one liter bottle I have to wonder how pure it really is.

Nepali food and I got along quite well. Indonesian food was really spicy and the fish with all the scales still on and bones still in was intimidating. Pakistani food was a shock at the time, but in hind sight only the goat was really not an enjoyable experience. Rwandan food was basically the same as the three above with more sweet potatoes and chicken instead of goat or fish. Costa Rica is the same rice and beans three times a day. The challenge in these places, as it is in the USA too, is of course their cleanliness standards for washing things, but also they use different oils and I think that the shock of changing the type of oils used makes things slide through a little differently. Also to my benefit, I can be pretty good at boring monotonous tasks, like running over an hour a day or eating the same meal every day and that helps me cope in places where, because of the money, they eat the same meal every day and sometimes multiple times per day. It might also be worth noting that as far as my engineering career is concerned, I've never had a sick day. I've taken personal days for hospice and a funeral, but not for being sick. Huh, I didn't realize that until just now.

By the way, I hate porridge. It's gross. I'll take oatmeal 100% of the time over porridge.

Well, I leave Nepal in like six hours. The next time you hear from me I will probably be blogging from my parents basement. It's been an interesting trip to say the least.

Takeaways from Being Vegan

What are some take away lessons from being vegan?

• The “protein” sources are just not as good from plants as they are from animals. Now, we are so basic in our understanding of protein vs carbs vs fats, that I will go so far as to say, no one has figured out the ideal diet, at least not the ideal diet for everyone. For example, there are at least ten (okay nine, plus one that your body makes a little of) amino acids in protein that you need to get from food, and animal meat is the best way to get it. Fats can be broken down into monounsaturdated, polyunsaturated, saturated, and transfats, and there may be more, and they all have slightly difference metabolism mechanisms in our body. Carbs run the gamut from fructose, to sweeteners, to sugar, to whole wheat pasta, and hearty Ezekiel 4:9 bread. We break a diet down into carbs,  protein, and fats, but it’s not that simple. Yet who has time to make sure you get enough phenylalanine and threonine on a daily basis? As a competitive marathoner I need to get enough of everything, on a daily, or at least nearly daily basis to recover after a hard workout and before the next. If a lack of threonine meant it took me six days between hard workouts instead of five, the diet is inadequate. While you won’t see my grilling brats four times a week, eating chilidogs, or having meatlovers pizza, maybe ever, I plan to have steak and (ocean) fish at least once a week each. Probably small portions of each, 4-6 oz, but enough to get some quality protein. I might also go for MSC fish and free range cattle since I will be eating so little and I can afford the cost up. I will also probably eat up to half a pound of sandwich meat per week spread over five lunches. I realize that eating 16-20 oz of meat per week sounds really low, only 2-3 oz per day, but in addition to vegan protein sources I think I can thrive on those levels.
• Very related to the first point, I am know that protein helps muscles repair and recover, I also think it might make a difference in glycogen storage, i.e. the right mix of proteins and minerals, perhaps something like retinol (animal vitamin A), may just help our muscles store more glycogen. This is more so a theory, but I think carbohydrate loading, which happens on a daily basis does not happen simply because we eat carbs, and it doesn’t happen best just eating carbs after a run, it happens best eating carbs after a run with the other chemicals that help our cells store it, and what those chemicals are, be they amino acids (proteins) or what, I think that eating a sufficient amount of animal protein (again we’re talking maybe only one pound a week) probably helps with this process. Even if it increases the glycogen stores in my body (my legs) from 1700 to 1750 calories, that could make a huge difference in a well paced marathon. Keep in mind, this is only my own personal theory, and we’re talking about a complex chemical reaction responsible for perhaps 3% of the total glycogen storage process. Also, on my one 27 mile run I really struggled the last seven miles just to run 6:20s. Other than that I never reached the level of depletion in training that I did at miles probably 18-22, let alone miles 23+ in Chicago.
• I never had that post-thanksgiving-tryptophan-super-full feeling, like I do after a large meal particularly a large amount of steak, milk, or butter. I really enjoyed not having that feeling. For that reason I will continue in the future on a plant based diet, omnivore of course, but there will be many vegan meals and probably even vegan days. It only took about three days for me to realize that heavy stomach feeling had gone away. I may just be lactose sensitive, certainly not intolerant, but I just don’t feel as good after drinking a pint of cows milk as I do after that much soy or almond milk. I had a huge 20 oz mocha with cows milk Monday morning, and I felt sick to my stomach.
• I seriously felt less inflammation. It’s a subjective feeling, but especially in my joints, especially my ankles, I felt in the first week that they felt, narrow, less expanded, less inflamed, I liked this feeling too. Another reason to eat plant based food.
• I stepped on the scale after a run in September, on a hot day, and I was a dehydrated 123.6 pounds, wearing all my running gear. That’s three pounds less than I ever weighed in college, and I almost always weigh myself in the afternoon after a run, so it is consistent with previous weights. Part of the goal of this was to lose a little body fat, and I did, about 2% of my body weight, so roughly 11% to 9% body fat. While that helped with some of my faster training, I think that simply not eating pizza and doughnuts at work would do the same thing. In short, yes, you will likely lose weight if you turn vegan, but no guarantee that you lose a lot of it.
• My bowel movements were softer and more regular. I think milk and cheese contribute to constipation, even if only mildly. The take away is instead of drinking two gallons of milk per week and half to a full pound of cheese, I will probably drink a gallon or less of milk (and drink soy and almond milk in addition) and less than half a pound of cheese per week.

In total, I have four positives from being vegan and two negatives. Some aspects of being vegan will stay with me, others will not. It was a great 73.5 day experiment.

I’m not alone: http://ambereverything.blogspot.com/2011/03/vegetarian-to-omnivore.html

http://kristensraw.com/blog/2013/03/17/my-vegan-diet-caused-health-problems-would-primal-paleo-or-real-food-be-better/

Practical Vegan Athlete Meals: Edition 1: Salsa and Chips

People don't understand what I eat as a vegan. Everyone thinks I eat salads. I eat maybe one or two salads a week, otherwise it's pasta, sandwiches, cereal, rice and beans, burriots, and chips and salsa. This is the first in a miniseries about practical vegan meals that most people can make, that contain all sorts of nutrients, including protein. As a side note, quit telling me to make sure I get enough protein. I ran 20 miles at 5:52 per mile pace Saturday mostly alone without any water bottle support after 50 full vegan days. I think I'm getting the nutrients I need.

That brings us to the first meal, chips and salsa, a hot weather two-hours-of-exercise staple. After an hour and a half or two hours of running in hot weather sweating profusely, we need salt. While too much salt is not a good thing, for the small percentage of athletes who sweat like I do in the summer, salt is good. That being said to justify the chips, you could put this salsa in a tortilla or a even on bread. Also for the record, this is about the most vegetable heavy meal I make for myself.

Raw Ingredients: Scallions, Avocado, Onion, Tofu, Sunflower Seeds, and Black Bean and Corn Salsa (from a Jar)

First, slice up the scallions (little onion like things) into small bite size pieces.

Slice the Scallions

Next, dice up the onion. I cut a slice out of a onion, in this case I had about a quarter onion left, more than I usually use, but okay. Next I dice it into small pieces that will easily fit on a chip.

Dice the Onion

Next, dice the avocado. I dice it in the same way as the onion. The pieces end up being like 2 mm x 3 mm x 12 mm. You can cut them smaller if you would like. I use a half avocado for one person. I find myself craving avocado frequently during high mileage, probably because of the relatively high fat content.

Dice the Avocado

Next add the sunflower seeds and tofu. Use as many nuts as you prefer, about 1-2 table spoons per person works well. I prefer crumbling, smushing, the tofu into little pieces, like feta cheese so that it spread around. I use a thick slice of extra firm tofu (extra firm is key, the soft stuff is gooey), maybe 2-3 ounces.

Add the Sunflower Seeds and Tofu

Penultimately, add the salsa. I use Hy-Vee Black Bean and Corn Salsa, because it is slightly spicy, has a little protein and not much sugar. I use about 1/4 cup, about 3-4 ounces, per person.

Add the Salsa

Finally, I add some hot sauce, just a few shakes, maybe 1-2 tea spoons. Franks Red Hot just happens to be the only hot sauce I have at the moment.

Add Hot Sauce, If You Dare

Then I mix the concoction with the knife I used to cut everything with so the only dishes are the knife, the plate I cut everything on and the bowl I eat out of. 

The Result... Delicious!

Finally, here is a video of the whole process. Maybe 10-15 minutes of total preparation.

Raw! Paleo!! Vegan!!!

If anyone is in the mood to spend a lot more time preparing food and more time eating, the raw paleo vegan diet is for you. For those that don't have as much time, eating more vegetables, including some raw ones, is probably nearly as good.

The only reason I point out that raw paleo vegan is a possible diet is to expand your thinking. We, in the United States, often have an unhealthy relationship with food. We think of it emotionally, not logically. As a master of science, while I still have emotions about the food I eat (chocolate! coffee! cheese!) the logical part of my brain continually asks the question, 'what is possible?' In this particular context the question is, 'what food, or diet structure, makes it most possible for me to achieve my athletic goals?' Truth be told about all I really know is eating four or more servings of vegetables a day is a great way to strengthen your immune system and digestive system, runners need carbohydrates for races two hours and under, and getting a fair amount of protein (1g/kg per day) helps your body recover.

I'm not recommending anyone become a raw paleo vegan, but it can be done, and chances are cutting out the refined sugar and fat from a standard western omnivore diet will probably make you a little more lean.

What Prohibits You From Trying to be Vegan?

Most people I talk to say they could never try being vegan. Yet after learning what I eat, or seeing what I eat, most say they could eat that. Already two people who I would not expected have mentioned trying a vegan diet. I was blown away in both cases. I'm not doing this to promote a healthy lifestyle, low inflammation, less bloating, or animal cruelty, I'm doing this to run faster.

Given the relative success I have had as a vegan I think I might continue this experiement after Chicago. I'm considering making it 100 days. That will free me up for turkey on Thanksgiving and other meals for Christmas yet allow me to see how I recover from a marathon.

That being said, when this does end I think I will continue indefinitely on a plant based diet. Not a catchy name, and very inclusive of all food, but really putting the focus on vegetables and whole grains. I think most of the health benefits of a vegan diet are from the higher consumption of vegetables and fruits rather than the elimination of meat and dairy.

As a side note, cravings do fade away. I have not salivated over steak in some time. It is even easier to walk past the cheese aisle now.

Do I Like Being Vegan?

Good question. I was asked this on Saturday after yet another out to eat experience where they put cheese or butter on nearly everything. After 45 vegan days I ask myself this same question. I responded by saying, "I like that I am having the best workouts of my life." Being a vegan is not all fun and games. How about a list?

Things I like about being vegan:

• My running is going the best it ever has, perhaps due to dropping a couple percent of my fat body composition
• I feel little to no inflammation, specifically after meals I no longer feel bloated and my ankles and knees do not feel the expansion that they normally do
• Once again I am bringing awareness and diversity to those people I know, helping them to reconsider their own choices and offer an opportunity to help reach their goals
• Quinoa, tempeh, tofu, almond milk, wild rice, Larabars, Clif Bars, and vegan breads of all types
• We humans often like to be part of a group, vegan athletes like the Williams sisters, show that this diet can bring one to significant athletic success as part of a total training program

Things I don't like about being vegan:

• Cheese, fish, steak, blue cheese dressing, and boneless chicken wings
• Going out to eat, it hasn't been totally satisfying nutritionally or in terms of server understanding
• The time and effort it takes to read labels, prepare food, and honestly I spend more time simply eating

People want a yes or no answer, it's not that easy. I am getting what I want out of the diet, running fast, but I would still like these other foods. I have considered being a 20 meals a week vegan. In other words, that once a week when I go out to eat or want something different I could eat the steak, sushi or chicken fettucini alfredo that I desire. I enjoy fine cheeses and a good steak and fresh fish. I have learned that being a vegan is certainly within the grasp of just about anyone for a meal or for a day or week. 

Do I like being a vegan? Yes and no. Ultimately, I'm doing this to run fast while I can and it seems to be working. 

I Live in Iowa: Week 122

I'm tired. What else is new, right? Truth be told, not much is new. 

Work goes well. One of the hard parts about engineering, and the reason we get paid what we do, is that we have to make difficult decisions in the grey area between clearly acceptable and clearly not acceptable. It is not always stress free. We are all on the same team, design, test and customer, so saying something is not acceptable, when it is clearly very good can be difficult. This is life. What is white collar or creative collar work? We make decisions. 

Running went well, 100.1 miles, which is maybe 40% more satisfying than 99.9 miles. I also won a half marathon by nearly ten minutes, completed a special block and did a 4x1000m hill workout. A solid week of running I am thankful for. This past weekend I ran 52 miles in 30 hours over three runs. I couldn't push the pace at the end like I wanted, but after that kind of mileage, I'll take it. 

Coaching went well. I end up running with only a few people due to my marathon training. The team is improving and our first meet is this week so we shall see how well we are actually racing this year. 

Other than that, I worked at the winery a bit, which probably hampered my half marathon race Monday. My vegan eating continues to cost money and teach me what nutrition I need and what doesn't work so well. For example, peanut butter strait half an hour before a run doesn't work. Neither does three retried bean burritos make for a good running stomach. I can run on both, but I just don't feel great. 

Life is good. I am very blessed

This Vegan Does Not Eat Many Salads

Quite a few people have asked what I eat as a vegan. I then proceed to tell them in excruciating detail everything I have eaten, but every time I only make it to about mid morning before they lose interest. Finally, someone asked if I eat a lot of salad and I understood more what people where looking for. No, I do not eat many salads, maybe one or two a week. Perhaps I will eat three in an unusual week. 

Think of vegan more like rice and beans or whole wheat pasta with red sauce (yes standard spaghetti). I do eat more fruit and more nuts and nut butter than I did before. I also switched from cow milk to soy and almond milk. Tofu and tempeh also supplement my protein desires. 

I eat about the same number of vegetables that I did as an omnivore. Salads, lettuce and cabbage salads in particular, tend to have very little calories, and I don't have the time to prepare and eat 1200 calories that way. Angel hair pasta cooks in minutes. For better or worse I have been eating more chips and salsa. Although, I make a mean salsa with beans, avocado, sunflower seeds, and blueberries which some might call a thick salad. 

In other words, when you hear "vegan" don't think salads. Instead think rice, bean and tortillas or spaghetti with eggplant or the fruit aisle (fruit isle?) at the grocery store. 

Empathy or Sympathy

There are two primary different ways to comfort people going through a crisis.

Empathy: Understanding what others are feeling because you have experienced it yourself or can put yourself in their shoes. (Source)

Sympathy: Acknowledging another person's emotional hardships and providing comfort and assurance. (Source)

As I run, eat vegan food, coach, visit Africa, and in general interact with others I have noticed the general lack of empathy in the world. There is also little sympathy. When 1400+ people are gassed to death with Sarin nerve gas and the British parliament votes to do nothing, there is a distinct lack of sympathy in the world and certainly no empathy in that situation. 

The same can be said for starving people in Africa which we do not give money, in any way, shape or form, to help. There is no empathy and little sympathy. In the same way people don't really understand my running because just like starving or being gassed, they have never averaged 10 miles a day for six months.

Being vegan is a bit of a cry of empathy to those food insecure. In other words eating rice and beans helps me understand, empathize, with poor Africans who can't afford to eat meat. After trips to other countries I often feel the need to make a change, to double down on what I am good at because I have the resources to be even better at it.

There are many thing I will never be able to empathize with. For example, I grew up very privileged. I was never beaten. I never had to carry water for the family. I always had shoes. We always had food even if it was processed and bleached or the meat was too chewy to recognize. My problems have certainly been first world problems. In the face of the challenges in Africa and Asia my own problems are too insignificant to mention.

I often write or say, what is possible? I think to some extent thinking outside the box, or along the edges of the box, one must sometimes take away the floor of the box as well as the ceiling. Limits aren't just up and up, but beneath us too. To illustrate, take running a fast marathon and being vegan. A fast marathon is taking away the ceiling of the box, a higher goal. On the other hand being vegan is like taking the floor out of the box. The idea of ideal nutrition has to be completely redefined for an Iowa resident. Yet working in concert, taking the floor out seems to be working towards raising the ceiling. So I am doing this vegan thing to run faster, but it also helps me relate to the poor of the world. For better or for worse, it also takes me at least one step farther away from the standard American diet. So even fewer people can empathize with my situation.

I love commitment. Commitment allows me to say, "yes, I gave it everything I was willing to give." Life is short and the sacrifices we have the opportunity to make seem enormous at the time but often are insignificant compared to accomplishing our goals. What if I run a 2:17 at Chicago? That's just crazy I'm not in that kind of shape! What if I ran a 2:21:XX at Chicago? Would it have been worth it to be vegan for ten weeks? Absolutely. I am beginning to dream of times I have not had dreams of in some time. What if I ran under 2:20?

The Vegan Diet Continues

Today was test day after 32 full days of vegan food, and I passed, with flying colors. I won a half marathon this morning in 1:14:58 with some hills and wind, and 9:53, nearly 10 minutes ahead of second place. It was a good run. Not to be outdone I ran another 14 miles in the afternoon including a 10k tempo at 6 minutes per mile pace. A 30 mile day, with 19.3 of those being rather quick. That's a good day. Plus, I feel okay right now. 

After that second run I stepped on a scale for the first time in well over a month. Somewhat dehydrated wearing my running garb I weighed 123.6 lbs. That is the lowest I have been since high school. Given how well today went I cannot help but think the food, and my weight, played a big role in today's training success. 

I have a mere six weeks, 40 days, of training left to the Chicago Marathon. The last five weeks I have had some great long workouts. The hope is the next five weeks will provide even better workouts. 

The vegan experiment is over, but the lifetime experiment continues. What is possible? I have asked the question and this is the journey to find out. In short, a sub-2:30 marathon seems likely after today. 

Java Dreams and Hot and Spicy

Java Dreams on University in Dubuque closed Sunday. The family than ran it for years is moving to Port Townsend, Washington, where they will have a blast. It is the only place I know that had white espresso. Their "white coffee dream" was amazing! Similarly earlier in the summer down the street on University Hot and Spicy, the only Indian restaurant in town closed. The owner had another business somewhere else to attend. Earlier another place on University, the Athenian Grill, closed for food safety violations. It was a Greek place I actually never even tried.

The point is in two months two of my favorite food establishments in Dubuque closed. Two of the few places that offered something alternative to hamburgers, slabs of animals, and pasta.

Dubuque is an old town. One that moves slowly. While that means nice old buildings and great trails and wilderness to run on, it also means that diversity, such as white espresso or hyderabadi biryani, can be lacking. 

I will miss the people that made this place even more attractive to live. Although I am sure they are having a great time in their new locations.

I Live in Iowa: Week 118

Updating the blog less than an hour before I go to bed Monday night, sorry, I really do like to write articles the night before they are published. So the week in review shall we gents and ladies?

Work went well, I developed the project I am working on further. Part of me thinks, 'I'm a genius, I'm rocking this project! I might as well phone it in. Seriously, I'm so good at what I do.' The other part of me, experienced through lived failures and problems thinks, 'great, I've spent so much time on this project and I must be missing something. This is far too complicated for me to really understand. No one else has understood it. I'm missing something and it is going to cost us hundreds of thousands.' What is the truth? We will find out, probably before the end of 2013.

Running went well 81 miles including a true trail race, a half marathon that is. It was the inagural Mines of Spain Trail Race and I was second to Scott Gall, a guy that was once 5th in the world in mountain running, a 2:20 marathoner and in the last few years ran a 1:08 half. However, I made him work for it. I thought him being 39 years old he might be on the decline in terms of 4:10 mile speed, yet after leading from 1 mile to about 3.75 he took the lead going into a hill, and wow can he climb! I do not see myself as a particularly strong hill runner, but I'm certainly not slow. The two of us were in front of all of the 5k and 10k runners from 200 meters on despite running a half marathon. In short, once he got about 15 seconds on me, based on my heart rate, I relaxed a little and never really chased. That being said I couldn't see him to chase him and my legs did go anaerobic on three different hills. I also did a short 5x1000 meter workout, on a humid 86 degrees Fahrenheit day, that went better than expected.

Now for what everyone is really interested in, how is being vegan? Well, I'm hungry all the time and I'm tired pretty often. Which is to say, running is going well and I feel normal. Seriously, my tweets today, Monday, August 12th, chronicle all the food I have eaten today, I'm not restricting. If I am hungry I eat something. There is a bit of a challenge finding food. That being said, Saturday night, after the trail half marathon and going rock climbing in the afternoon, we climbers went out to Buffalo Wild Wings, and I had nachos without cheese or meat. Basically chips with lettuce and onions and salsa on the side. Still for one person it was actually filling. The point being, it is possible to go out to eat without creating a scene and still get a fair amount of food.

A vegan diet does cost more than my standard diet. Bread goes at $6 a loaf, soy, almond, and coconut milk is also in the range of $6 a gallon, and I drink at least a liter of milk a day. I drink lattes, which means getting soy milk, which costs $.50-75 more eat time. I spent more time cooking and preparing my food. It takes longer to make rice or quinoa than it does pasta (which I still eat) or grill a steak.

I do feel more lean, less fat even after only 12 days than I did before. It is probably imperceptible to others, and maybe better if they can't see, thus they worry less. Also, sometimes after eating a large steak or huge chunk of fish or milk or ice cream it is common to get a heavy feeling in your stomach, I have not had that feeling in 12 days! I have an iron stomach so it was never really a problem, but all of the sudden I do not have that feeling, and it feels better.

Finally, I did start taking a strait up iron pill Saturday. I have not felt strong all summer, and after hearing of yet another runner getting anemia I decided to bump up my iron intake. After two pills in three days I ran a 1:10:59 12 mile run tonight, which is in short, great! 12 miles at 5:55 pace average far exceeded my expectations, and I still feel good. Especially considering that Saturday I ran a tough half marathon.

The vegan experiment was kind of designed in my head to help me lose a few pounds but hamper my performance and strength, then I had this great medium pace tempo?! I fear this experiment may last longer than the month of August.

I Live in Iowa: Week 117

Another week, working moderately. I think we in the US like to think of ourselves as hard workers, all the time, but real hard work is not sustainable.

Engineering went well, I cycled through a few iterations of the project I am working and took a two day "Working with China" class. The class was very good, I learned quite a bit. For example, even though China is communist it is a very hierarchical society. Your status is an important aspect of you in that culture. That is a stark contrast to our western perception of communists being equals. Another aspect of the Chinese culture, and most of Asia, is that relationships are more important than the task at hand. Again, that is different than the argumentative goal orientated culture of the west. The concept of "Face" is important too. "Face" is like one's reputation, or quite literally, one's face to the world. The more status someone has the more face that person has too. The implication is that the boss can yell at people, even though he is wrong, if it means he can save face in front of a third party. The concept of a verbal "yes" is interesting too, maybe a whole blog post interesting.

I ran 84 miles including a 24 mile long run and some strides and a couple hard hills, though no formal workout. I need to do some quality, and I would like some running partners to help push me through workouts.

How is being vegan? Expensive. Who pays $6.59 for a loaf of bread? This guy. How about $3 for half a gallon of soy, almond or coconut milk? The upside is I am discovering new foods, like coconut milk, new mushrooms, brown rice, wild rice, quinoa and tahini. I have had some before, but never tried to cook them myself.

I am tired, between working, running, and making food, there is not a lot of time left over. I realized recently that I have not had cable, satellite, or even a home Internet connection in over two years! Considering that means I have probably saved close to $2000 by now, I would say it was a good choice.

The Vegan Experience: Lessons Learned after Two Days

A few lessons have been learning in a very short amount of time. That is another point of doing unique things, to learn. I have had more quinoa, black beans and rice in the last two weeks than in the rest of 2013. That's not really a lesson learned, eating more of a food, but it's about learning how I like my quinoa or rice. Here are the major things I have learned thus far. 

1. Really this was the warmup challenge, finding vegan bread. Between Trader Joes Sprouted Wheat Bread found in Madison, WI and Ezekiel 4:9 at The Food Store in Dubuque it looks like I shall survive. I eat a loaf of bread about every five or six days, because I eat 2-3 sandwiches per day at work most days, plus bread with olive oil and vinegar. Point being, I cannot envision going without bread. That seems more drastic to me than being vegan.
2. Sometimes I feel like an idiot for the length of time it takes me to learn something. For example, [anecdotally] vegans always seem to be really skinny, so if I am a vegan I will probably get really skinny. Not once did I try to reason why vegans are skinny. I thought for some reason they didn't eat as much or something. On day one of my vegan month (August 1st) I discovered why in the evening: I had a craving for ice cream. Vegans cannot eat ice cream, custard, or gelato because all contain dairy products. Suddenly I knew why vegans are skinny. It's not for lack of eating, already two and a half days into the month the volume of food I eat has gone up. The reason vegans are skinny is that many of the vegetarian friendly foods like doughnuts, brownies, pizza, and most baked goods are off limits. Many of the high sugar foods are also high in milk, cream or butter, which tends to contain more fat and often saturated fat. It's as simple as that. Forget meat as a source of high fat and salt, which are not always conducive to weight loss, what about milk and related cream products as a source of fat and sugar? How many calories of that subway sandwich are in the cheese?
3. Always carry food wherever I go. Often there is one ingredient that makes an entire food inedible to a vegan, like honey or an egg in bread. In short a vegan has to read a lot of labels, which is not a huge change for me because I have been on the lookout for high fructose corn syrup and sugar in foods for some time. This just takes that to a whole other level, instead of eating something I have a craving for, like ice cream, I have to find soy or almond milk to satisfy the craving. The point of this lesson is that leftover pizza and doughnuts are something that might be in my best interest to avoid regardless of my diet, and having my own chosen more healthy food available I am less likely to eat the junk food.
4. We are not meant to be vegan, because of B12. It's a huge issue for vegans. It basically only comes from animals, really from bacteria, but in a symbiotic relationship with animals. What this means for me is that a vegan diet, even if I stay on it for years, is temporary for me. I like steak, salmon, cheese of course, and especially the occasional sea bass.

On a side note I have been tired all of August. I think that is from passing 300,000 miles on my van, talking to my parents of Africa, traveling to Moline two days in a row, and running over 50 miles in three days. So I don't think it's tiredness from an inadequate diet. 

I am going Vegan for August

Well, here we go! I am doing this 90% to lose weight, even just a couple pounds could be the difference between a highly satisfying marathon and a not so satisfying run. I am doing this 10% because if everyone in the world ate the meat and animal products that Americans eat, the world could not feed itself. I am not doing this for the animals.

I have been reducing my meat consumption for years so it was really a matter of time before I have vegan a try. Why not just do vegetarian? I have done that before and the truth is, milk and eggs and cheese contain more fat, especially saturated fat, than I need. Those products also tend to be higher in salt content, which raises blood pressure. Another reason is vegan will be a challenge. I enjoy challenging myself and my diet has not been very interesting lately. 

As for what will I eat? Actually, it will be similar to what I already eat, pastas and vegetables, nuts and more emphasis on beans. In fact, I am looking forward to new recipes and new foods. Did you know aloe vera is a fruit you can drink?

The first challenge is bread. There are vegan breads out there, but I don't think they exist at my Hy-Vee. I will likely eat a lot of "salsa" although after I finish adding ingredients it's more diverse and heavy than most salads. This will certainly be an interesting month of experimenting.

Cucumber, Corn, Mushroom, Blueberry, Cilantro, Sunflower Seed Salsa