At the start of September of 2023, I started eating vegetarian for 2 of 3 daily meals. For the veggie meals, I chose to allow cheese and eggs. When I started that I wanted to see if I would notice any changes. I was curious to see what effects I would see on my blood glucose level, my blood pressure and on cholesterol levels. I also wanted to see how this might affect my running and fitness.
It was work but overall a lot easier than I thought.
During that time, my body was still recovering from months of weirdness like vertigo and from a series of falls while on the trail. I also DNF’d or DNS’d the heck out of the year in races with a spectacular fails from Leona Divide in April to the Ray Miller race all the way in December.
I had some good shorter races though so the who year wasn’t shot and things were getting better towards the year in terms of fitness, stability and, knock on wood, not having any big falls.
I also kept careful track of my blood glucose levels, checked my blood pressure after races and tougher long workouts. All of these vital measurements were good and mostly getting better throughout the entire process. I’m very grateful to have health insurance so I can get regular tests.
I don’t think I can overstate the fact that keeping these measurements in check is the most important reason why I do all of these challenges, why I run, and why I will keep doing them as long as I can.
At the end of November 2023, I decided to go veggie until the end of the year.
Because B has been going along with a good portion of these eating changes, going veggie has also been easier than I thought it could be.
I still don’t eat “clean” every meal but have been eating less and less junk food.
Some of go to foods have been Mexican food like chile relleno burritos or beans/rice/cheese and I started experimenting with other foods like making falafel salads. I had a falafel pita while at the Mammoth Trail Fest and it was delicious. I learned how to make something similar at home in only 15 minutes so that’s pretty cool. I also learned how to make 15-minute sushi which I love.
Now that 2024 has come I might start eating fish and meat again but haven’t done so yet.
In terms of other changes, I do feel more fit although I haven’t really lost much weight. Weight loss was not a primary goal or I would have made the diet much more restrictive and would have been counting calories, which I did not do.
Even though the Ray Miller race in December didn’t finish the way I wanted it to, I finished feeling strong and took that going into the Paramount 10 race.
I’m still working on my treadmill challenge although I had to take some rest days as I’ve been getting over this cold.
I didn’t give too many details on my health markers but trust me that they have been looking good and all in the normal ranges. I do take medications as well and test my blood glucose every day.
Do you have any questions about this vegetarian exploration?