DAY 3: The Adventures of a Vegan Carnivore

Original Post Date: Thurs, Feb 24, 2011

To eat out or not to eat out … that is the question for today. Do I go and enjoy a vendor lunch, talk some business, hear about new things, be tempted by the menu, OR do I stay the course, don’t upset the apple cart, and all those other wonderful clichés? After all, I do have a mushroom and red pepper pasta awaiting me in the fridge at work, but there’s talk of Thai cuisine. Surely a Thai restaurant would have something vegan on the menu, right? In the end, I decline the vendor lunch and stick to the plan! And it was really okay. That pasta was yummy – especially if you know how much I love mushrooms! But I do wonder … 28 days of not eating out? That could be a stretch! So, my bay area friends. Where does one eat out if one is a vegan? Hold that suggestion … I should also mention, that on this v-tox (aka vegan detox), I should not have caffeine, gluten or sugar, and it’s better to have my veggies cooked for detox purposes. Now you can suggest a place!

My other new discovery today is how this vegan eating affects my workout regimen. I have a trainer, because … well, if I don’t pay someone to yell “drop and give me 20” I just won’t do it! There’s usually some concern when an “athlete” (and I use the term loosely in reference to myself) goes on a vegan diet. The usual question is “how do you get protein?” I went through my hour-long workout surprisingly well. My trainer was pushing me pretty hard today - from squats to step-ups, back to squats, to ice skaters, to walking lounges, courtesy lounges, one-leg squats, the dreaded wall sits and on and on … heart rate up, legs burning … and then with 15 minutes to go … I’m toast! I’ve been here many times before and my trainer and I have always worked through it, so we treated it no differently. And I’m no worse for the weary!! I say all-in-all, the eating actually boosted my workout, at least for the first 45 minutes. Next time, I will try a more substantial afternoon snack.

Closing thought … who knew I could use so many clichés in 1 blog post? Brownie points to the first who counts them all!