Run the Caldera

This was my 6th Run the Caldera.

6!!

And I just keep coming back. Getting to do a catered run through the caldera satisfies that urge in me to get OUT; to get away from people. Sure, there were some 80 other runners, but after mile 3, we all spread out.

This race really shouldn't have been on my calendar. I'm doing another HARD marathon next weekend. This was also the last day in an 80 mile week for me in my build to Leadville Trail 100. I've been feeling a little ...bleh... like I am not getting the recovery I need. But, I simply can't resist this run. So, I signed up but had absolutely no time goals.

No really.

I didn't review the times from previous years.
I didn't plan how fast to try to get up the first hill.
I told everyone it was a long training day, that I was taking it easy.
       I was really glad about this too, because my 14 mile run the day before was a challenge. My legs didn't want to move, certainly not uphill, my hips ached, my hamstrings ached. It was NOT GOOD. Ending that run on a downhill, and the fact that I love being out on those trails was the only thing that kept me from being unhappy about the run. Well, that and there was absolutely no expectation for me to run fast or hard at the marathon the next day.

Surprisingly, after the 1:45 drive up Sunday morning, my legs felt pretty good. I still held back though. K had warned me multiple times that the marathon the next weekend was ridiculously hard. So this needed to be a long easy training day in which I didn't expend any unnecessary energy. The first 3 miles at 9.5 min/mile pace was right on target. I ran through mile 6 or so, and then as it gets steeper, I switched to walking. I tried to work on that a bit and focus on not overstriding, on using my glutes. It was nice not to have to push. I didn't look at my watch until I got to the top. 1:49... I think. Might have been 1:47, but I don't think so. Since I hadn't looked at my previous race times, I didn't remember whether that was fast or slow for me. Ah well, doesn't matter. But the time continued to bounce around in my head, and I became convinced that I was on about 5 hour pace. That seemed about right for me that morning. I checked my speed a few times, and I was right around 8:30 to 10 on the way down. I kept it easy, and expected ES to pass me any minute now... I had passed him as he fixed a sock. I was breathing easy, and my legs felt really great. Way better than I thought they would after 64 miles in the week. I was prepared for that good feeling to go away once I hit the road, and I was prepared to have to hike all of the remaining hills, even the little ones. Wouldn't be the first time. I ate my Honey Stinger Waffles, and kept my easy pace.

I looked at my watch again when I got to the road at the bottom. Not sure why, as the 2:51 didn't mean anything to me. I was so happy to realize that the temperature was not a furnace this year, that it was actually perfect running temperature. And there was a breeze, but not a gale force wind. This was the most fun I have ever had running that road through the bottom of the caldera. And I ran it. The entire thing. I felt great, I kept it easy... Not too far along, I came up on CB. We had run the first 3 miles close to each other. He was having some cramping issues. I asked if he was taking salt tabs, and he was. He ran with me for a bit, and then had to walk - he told me to keep it up, that I was looking strong. I had the fleeting notion that, this was only mile 17, and the wheels were still pretty likely to come off. But actually, I didn't really think they would anymore. I felt great, and felt like I had two or three higher gears if I wanted to use them. But that wasn't the goal for today. Today I was just running at altitude for a somewhat long time. Easy effort. So I told myself that I wouldn't look at the watch again just in case I would start to get competitive and try and beat last year's disappointing time. That decision made me pretty happy and relaxed.

Another 1/2 mile and I thought I saw MM ahead of me. I caught up to her at an AS, said hi, grabbed an orange (where were the potato chips? I kinda wanted some.) and kept running. I thought she'd catch up to me and we'd chat, but I never heard her footsteps. (mmm, maybe I should have waited? I hope she's not having any problems. ah well, she's a great runner, I'm sure she's fine.)

As I approach the trees on the other side of the caldera, it dawns on me that I just ran the entire road section. I've never done that before. Cool! And I still feel like I have lots left in the tank. Even better, I'm sticking to my plan. There's a guy in front of me that is running the STEEP hill at mile 19.5. I hike. I catch up to him. He skips the next AS which I stop at to refill my pack, and I see the next hill he downgraded to hiking too.

I came up to a woman all bent over to the left. I asked if she was doing ok - "No."

Me: "Cramping?"
Her: "yes"
Me: "Do you have any salt tabs?"
Her: "no."

I gave her 2 of mine and wished her good luck. Maybe that first question of mine was a little dumb. Her expression was one of 'I'm in pain, and you are asking really stupid questions, Captain Obvious.' And the second question too. But... it's hard to just open a conversation intelligently after running alone for 20 miles. I hoped she'd make it in ok.

There were no popcorn grasshoppers this year as I ran through the meadow. Hey, I'm almost done. And still feeling like I could go faster and farther than the 3 miles I have left. One guy I pass asks how many more uphills. We're at mile 24 or so, and really we've done them all. But there are a couple of really short rolls... and something about the way he asks me makes me think that he'll count those. "Mostly down from here, maybe 1-2 more short ones."

And it was smooth sailing from there. No drama. I come up to the line and think oh yeah - what's my time this year?

4:39

Wait, what? 4:39? That's a PR of ... maybe 20 minutes? No, 15 minutes? Wow. and I feel like I could keep going. That's a great confidence boost.

And for analysis girl, even though she wasn't in on the planning for this one, I couldn't keep the data away from her:

          (mile 9.5 ish)
Year     Top of hill     Finish
2007     2:04              5:45
2008     1:55              5:13
2009     1:46              4:54
2010     1:54              5:08
2011                          5:03
2012     1:49              4:39

Hitting the bottom at 2:51 means I ran the last 10 miles at about a 10 min/mile pace - including the hiking up the hills at 19.5 and 21.5.

So far, so good! Now here's hoping that 2.5 weeks of vacation at sea level doesn't mess up the rest of my training for Leadville!

And the build to Leadville starts...

This spring slipped away on tip toes in the night, quietly and quickly. I'm not sure if I'm behind in Leadville training or not. I'm sure I should be doing more climbing. I'm sure I should be doing more speed. I probably should be doing more distance.

I guess I think I should be doing more, period.

I want to finish under 25 hours. Whew, that's hard to admit in the broad daylight. I think lots of things will have to come together for that to happen. Some things I can't control - the weather - but I am going to train as hard and as consistently as I can for it.

So many things run around in my head when I think about this. Strategies - Maybe I get a second nathan pack so my crew can have one packed and ready for me at each AS, and I just swap out and go. How Nascar should I try to get? Could this include battery changes in the lights? My stomach has always been ok with eating, but maybe because I don't eat a lot and I don't go hard. If I change both those things, I don't thing I want to place bets on what would happen. I need to figure out ways to not stop at most of the Aid Stations. Probably only really pausing at 3: Winfield, TL inbound and FH inbound. Maybe I don't change shoes at TL outbound, only at TL inbound to get rid of the waterlogged shoes and socks. I need to eat more. I will need to run more of the course, but not waste energy on the climbs. I will have to get better at climbing, which means I should try to lose the 5 pounds I picked up over Christmas.

I think a lot about needing to get comfortable with the idea of suffering. At the Ice Age 50 miler, I went out too fast, and cramped at mile 18. I finished in 9:56. But I spend a lot of the last 32 miles "taking it easy" because I was cramping. Especially after I started drinking Heed (which it turns out I can stomach, even though I abhor the flavor) I think I could have run the last 15 miles faster than I did if I had been willing to suffer a little. Instead I kept a steady easy pace until the last 3 miles, and then decided to push to get under 10. I won't have the luxury of doing that at Leadville if I want to go faster. But I'm not sure even how to go about working at that. Suffering during speed work is short lived, and I know it's short lived. (and sometimes I still ease off.) Maybe suffering during tempo workouts will help, but again, that's only 20-30 minutes. Not 10 hours.

ah, the pre-Leadville brain dump. I'd forgotten how the small concerns build up. And then the relief to blurt them all out, even to the infinite emptyness of cyber space.

Things to include in the ramp up:
2 - 100 mile weeks - for building running efficiency, muscular endurance, confidence
5+ night runs, with my new fenix lights - for comfort
4+ ski hill sessions, working up to 3 repeats - for better climbing. Really work this.
Tempo runs getting to 5 miles, 1/week.
Some rocky trail running.
At least one run at altitude per week.

Really there is only 8 more weeks of training left, +2 weeks of taper. Yowza. I am now on the border of cramming, and I didn't want to be here!

Testing.... testing... 1, 2, 3....

All righty! So this wraps up my little n=1 experiment of going vegan (and healthy vegan at that) for 12 weeks. Yes, finally, you have reached the last post in the "contemplating my belly button diet" section of this blog. I can't promise it won't happen again, but at least I'll take a break from being a nutrition zealot.

Protoss Zealot Says, "I hunger for veggies!"

It wasn't hard. Really. The excitement of trying something new with K easily overwhelmed any feelings of inertia. The only challenging part was going out to eat. I'm pretty sure I slipped up a few more times - once when egg was in a Vietnamese dish, once when I think there was cream in an Indian dish, and once when I got black beans, and I'm pretty sure they were cooked with lard, once when Parmesan came on our pasta even though we had requested no cheese. When I had control over what I was eating, though, it was easy to create tasty things that didn't have any animal products in them. Cookies, cakes, I made several. And I've adapted things to be vegan. Almost everything was good. The failures were a brownie mix that made the worst brownies I have ever had. Really, really not good. They were so bad, I don't even want to list the brand on this public blog, because I am embarrassed for that company. I couldn't even take them to work. Between myself and J, I think we did manage to eat them all. It was kind of like - "hmm, maybe they'll be better now that they are cool?"
   "nope."
"Are they still really that bad?"
    "yep, they are."
 And trying to make chick pea coco puffs - meh. Don't bother. And actually, don't bother trying the spicy roasted chickpeas, either. Not worth it. Also I have decided that I do not like Martha Rose Schulman's recipes on the NY times. Her palate and mine do not agree on what a person should eat. The Indian lentil burgers were not tasty. They weren't yucky, but I didn't want the leftovers.


My issues of edema and cramping in my hands and feet never totally went away. Although the docs weren't sure, I think my 2 blood tests give a pretty good understanding of what was going on. Both symptoms were mild, and maybe others wouldn't have noticed the edema. But I did.

Here's what the blood tests showed:
Hematocrit  - low (34, where ideal range is 36-48)
Hemoglobin - low (11.4 ideal range 12-16)
Albumin - low (3.3 ideal range 3.4-5.0) and the second test was lower.
Alkaline phosphate - low (21 ideal range 50-136)


So all those things I am borderline low in can be caused by inadequate protein intake and inadequate B12. Also potentially magnesium and calcium, although those tested in the normal range. Low albumin is known to affect oncotic pressure. Or, in the words of wiki, "In conditions where plasma proteins (like albumin) are reduced, e.g. from being lost in the urine or from malnutrition, there will be a reduction in oncotic pressure and an increase in filtration across the capillary, resulting in excess fluid buildup in the tissues (edema)." Hey, that sounds like a decent explanation for me. Slightly low albumin, (potentially lower oncotic pressure), get slight edema. Also, all of the things I am low in could signal anemia. Other studies linked the low numbers above to slight malnutrition, specifically proteins. (CLINICAL CHEMISTRY, Vol. 41, No. 4, 1995, 515
Significance of Low Serum Alkaline Phosphatase Activity in a Predominantly Adult Male Population, Gifford)

I did try to take a multi-vitamin, and managed it about half the time. I also tried to take omega 3s, B12, calcium, and magnesium, and I think I managed that maybe 10 times over 11 weeks. (oops)

But most of all, I was not good about getting as much protein as I said I needed. I averaged, every day, about 45-60 g of protein. While that is more than the 44 g a day that a normal person my weight needs, it's only slightly more than half of what an athlete needs. In order to get enough protein, I had to eat 20 g of protein every meal, and get 10 g of protein in each of my 2 snacks a day. That was tough, and I only managed it twice.

Turns out, I just didn't make myself eat enough beans!




What I really wanted to know from this experiment, is whether my health would improve on this diet - both subjectively (how I felt) and objectively - by looking for a positive change in my cholesterol and triglyceride numbers, and no negative change in other blood work. Well, the other blood work (CBC - Complete Blood Count, CMP - comprehensive metabolic panel, Folate Serum, Vitamin B12, Vitamin D, and Magnesium) had some low values as I noted above, that had never been low before. None of these caused the doc any concern, however.

But cholesterol - this is where dietary changes should be seen! After all, in Forks over Knives, the narrator had a spectacular drop in LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. So. I've had two Fasting Lipid Panels (cholesterol tests) in the last 3 weeks: Test 1 at 7.5 weeks, and Test 2 at 10.5 weeks.

Results:                   Last Fall         Test 1          Test 2
Total cholesterol         205                221             197
LDL                             105               109              98
HDL                             80                 102             83
Triglycerides                91                  52              79
Glucose                        76                  94              85

I think these tests are within the noise of each other, there doesn't appear to be any trend. How anticlimactic! But, that is the first time I've seen a 3-digit HDL number for me. The ratio of LDL to HDL was lower in the last 2 tests than last fall, but even that is slight. I was pretty healthy before, and am pretty healthy now. Not terribly exciting.

Plans?
Because of the cramping and edema, I am going to add back in eggs and fish. There are some reasons for me to continue to eat in a "whole food plants-based" way most of the time:
1.) Minimization of allergies - I can't think of anything else that explains how minor my allergies were this year. I hate allergies, never had them until a few years ago, and would go to the ends of the earth to get rid of them... but maybe I only have to eat vegan. Sold.
2.) While the tests say I'm not at risk for heart disease or diabetes, two of the "western diseases" that this diet is supposed to prevent, I have a family history of cancer, the third western disease. I don't want it - if this might help (and since it isn't going to hurt), sold.
3.) I think I am recovering faster from hard workouts. I attribute the tiredness I've felt in the last week to being at the end of my build period - 3 weeks of 70 mpw running, and the beginning of the hot season. And I have been working on my house late into the night, so there's been less of the sleep thing than I'm used to.
4.) I like cooking this way. As it is, I cook maybe 4 times a week, and eat left overs or take out the rest of the time. Now that I have the spices I like, it's a little cheaper, too. Oh, and TASTY. I've been amazed at how good things are.
5.) It makes sense to me that the food I eat should be as close to the ground - as little processed - as possible. Science is awesome, and food science is great, but no Kraft/Nabisco/General Mills plant can create a food-stuff to match what comes from clean air, water, and soil. Foods are more than the grams of protein, fat and carbohydrates that we can measure.




Just because I CAN (being a chemist) pronounce all the items on a nutrition label, doesn't mean I should eat or buy it!

Thank you, Animaniacs.
G'night everybody!

Veggie feelings

So, after 7 weeks of this vegan thing, How is it going?

Well, I cheated a few times. Yes, it turns out, I am a big fat cheater. Once was a powerbar on a 20 mile run - I didn't realize it had milk in it. I ate half before I realized, and then ate the other half because I still had 6 miles to go and it was the only calories I had on me. Another misstep was ordering polenta - while I make it vegan, this restaurant version definitely had butter in it, and maybe cheese. Ooops.

And then there was the Night of 4 Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches. I can't explain that, other than to say I've been increasing my mileage a lot over the last month. This was the first 70 mile week of the year. Guess I was hungry. What was I thinking, as I opened the fourth package? As I pulled the 4th sandwich from the wrapper with my fingers still cold from the last THREE sandwiches? I'm not really sure. But I am glad there were only 4 in the box to start with, otherwise it might have been the night of 6 ice cream sandwiches. Or, if I had gotten the economy sized box from Costco, the night of 24 ice cream sandwiches. The secret to avoiding this phenomenon from re-occurring has to be something other than "don't keep it in the house." Right?

It called to me from the freezer, "EAT ME! AND MY FRIENDS!"

Other than that last, ahem, slip, I haven't had cravings for meat, cheese, butter, etc. I certainly don't feel like I'm missing anything. I drive past Rudy's BBQ without a sigh. And I've been watching season 9 of Top Chef, and all the meat-centered yummy dishes they make - not a twinge. I miss Coke more than I miss meat. (Yes, I still am off the coke. Coming up on 4 months.)

On the BAD side:

I have experienced odd periods of just "being hungry" though I feel full (yes the Night of 4 Ice Cream Sandwiches was one of those). Since I was tracking calories, I know that I have typically been eating 2100 cal a day. And then, 1-2 times a week, I'd just want to eat, and would take in 2600 to 2800 cal. That's not typical for me. Maybe 2100 calories isn't quite enough? Maybe trying to hold to 20% fat leaves me wanting more? Maybe it's the vegan diet, full but not satisfied? Maybe it's a lack of protein? I think it's a combo of calorie expenditure and intake not matching, and missing the fat. I would eat a handful of nuts (salted nuts especially - I think this diet is quite a bit lower in sodium) and feel "better."

I've been a lot thirstier - turns out that is to be expected, it takes more water to digest all that veggie bulk. I've been a little bloated too - same cause. And I've had some edema in my hands and feet, especially when I run, which is abnormal.

For the first 3 weeks, I had these odd cramps in my hands or feet, 2-3 times a day. I'd be holding a few papers, or reading a book, or just standing, and suddenly my hand or foot would cramp up. The weird cramps have mostly gone away. I think it just took this long for my digestive tract to get on board with the new menu, and wasn't absorbing the calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium very well. Thank goodness it caught on.

I also have to say - I'm not sure it is such a good thing for me to be thinking "What will I eat today?"  That is fairly constant, and the tracking makes it seem obsessive. I've never been this focused on what I eat, how much of it I eat, and what it is made up of. I don't think this is a sustainable way of thinking for me.


On the Neutral side:

Sleeping = Still great. never have had a problem here. Too tired from running!
Weight = The same, maybe 2 pounds lost.  119-121.5
Bodyfat% = the same. ~15%
No change in really anything like skin tone or hair.

On the GOOD SIDE:

I think I am recovering better than I used to. Better as in faster - a run the day after a hard run I don't feel as tired as I expect. I have always recovered pretty quickly, but this is a noticeable improvement. I think this is diet related. It could also be that as I am on an up-slope of fitness, that I am recovering better. Although, it usually seems like when I'm in a phase of increasing mileage, I am constantly a little tired. I've had periods of tiredness, but as I say, it seems better.

I think I may have more energy. This is somewhat hard to tell. I still get tired, but it seems like I have more to start with. Maybe. Or maybe this is psychosomatic, as many accounts of people switching talk about this.

On the "I don't know if I believe this, but.." front: my allergies are better this year than they have been the last 3 years. Others around me that also have juniper allergies tell me the wind, etc. has made this a really bad year for them. For me, it's ok. I still need my allergy pills, but in years past on the heavy pollen days, I'd still suffer. Not this year. Some people postulate that a body has less inflammation when not trying to digest meat and lots of processed stuff, and so the inflammatory response toward allergens is decreased. I don't know about that. But my allergies are better. I'll take it.

And on the very touchy-feely front, I feel really good about cooking and eating this way. I like chopping up fresh veggies and cooking them. Oooo, curry. Oooooo, lets try eggplant and parsnip in this. Garam Masala? ok! Hm, I wonder if the quinoa I made yesterday would go well with this. Huh, there are turnips in my box from Skarsgard Farms. What shall I do with that?  Let's try indian - thai - vietnamese - what else?  Flax seeds as an egg replacer? let's try it! It feeds into my adventurous and independent nature, and it's even better than I get to do it on my own terms, without someone telling me what and how to do it.

And although it doesn't resonate with me the way I see that it does for some vegans and vegetarians, I like that I am not contributing to the industrial meat complex/animal cruelty. I also like that this diet requires less energy to produce/is greener/is better for the environment. These are good things to me.

Finally, on the blood test front: the nutritionist suggested I go for 10-12 weeks to see a difference, so I'm scheduled for a cholesterol test on Apr. 24th. I saw my primary care physician about the cramping and edema, and she decided a blood test for electrolytes, protein and cholesterol would be a good idea. ("Otherwise, make sure you are hydrated."  "yes, Ma'am.")  So 2 tests in the space of 3.5 weeks. Ok then, I think that's plenty of testing. Can't wait to see what happens!

gimme gimme gimme some protein

It may be the first question people ask - oh, no wait, the first question is "why the heck would you go VEGAN?" The second question is, "How do you get enough protein?"

For an average, moderately active person, a vegan diet has plenty of food options that have enough protein. All plants have a little bit. Some, like peas and beans and grains, have quite a bit.

Being vegan isn't really that restrictive. I mean, come on, Oreos (tm) are vegan. You can eat a whole lotta junk, and still be eating vegan. You can eat almost every potato chip and tortilla chip under the sun. Lots of dark chocolate. Lots of cookies, breads, pasta, and other processed stuff. Lots of sugar, HCFS, all manner of things that most people generally recognize as not being good for you.

Being on a vegan whole foods, low fat diet, however, has its challenges. And being an endurance athlete on this diet makes it trickier! (I do so love a challenge.)  It's become important to me for two reasons - one, after more than 3 weeks on this diet, I think I've lost some muscle. My body fat measuring scale agrees with me, it says I'm up 2 % on average in body fat, but I'm the same weight. So that means I've burned up some muscle, which I'd rather not do. The other - I've been getting very odd muscle cramps the last 2 weeks - hands, feet, calves, quads, hamstrings. This is more likely related to not getting enough sodium, potassium, calcium or magnesium, but could also be related to my protein and amino acid intake.

The whole foods part of the diet is just that - eat mostly things that haven't been altered. Veggies, fruits, nuts, whole grains. The low fat is supposed to be 10% of your calories from fat. Yowch, that's low. So now I know how much fat I get per day. What about the rest?

How much protein does a very active girl need, anyway?
Going to the literature, an average person needs 0.8 g of protein per kg of body weight. For me, That'd be 44 g of protein. Easy. (Take your weight and divide by 2.2 to get kg.)  An athlete, which I am going to consider myself even if it makes me sound like I have a big head, needs 1.2 - 1.4 g of protein per kg of body weight. Oooookay, so for me, that means 65 - 76 g of protein. Ok, I can probably get that....

But wait, there's more.

The bioavailability of plant sources of protein is markedly less than that of animal protein. It comes out to about 80%. So of the plant based protein I take in, I actually get 80% of that. Which means that now, as a vegan athlete, I need 81 to 95 g of protein a day.

Holy cats, man. That's a lot of protein.

and what does that mean for my overall nutrient intake?
total calories per day are about 2200
fat = 10% or 220 calories, or 24 grams
protein must be ~85 grams, so that's 340 calories, which is 15.5%
and that means that carbs make up the rest - 74.5%

The problem is, it rarely plays out that way. With such a low fat ceiling, basically nuts are out. Straight out. Because there's enough fat in grains, beans, potatoes, veggies alone to make up that 24 grams, never mind a handful of almonds. And it's not like I can go out an grab a hunk of beef jerky to get my protein. What about tofu, you say? yes, but that IS processed. It has lots of protein, but also has a fair amount of fat -  7 g of protein, and 4 g of fat. So that doesn't really solve the problem. And if I keep to that caveat of no processed stuff, then seitan is out, too.

To answer the original question, my protein comes from beans, whole grains (quinoa, brown rice, oats, whole wheat), lentils, peas, and did I mention beans?

And I'm relaxing on the fat %. That is a difficult target to hit. I think I could do it, but that would mean cutting out the ground flax, the pumpkin seeds, the pecans, and just about any bread, tortilla, or other baked product out there. When I was trying to hit that target, I'd actually be around 15%, and although I felt full even stuffed, I still wanted to eat. An odd sensation. Upping the fat has helped that go away. My target is going to be 20%. With more wiggle room, it will be easier to eat more protein too.

But even with these changes, I find I'm only getting 50 g of protein a day.

More beans, anyone?

I am not afraid of you!

I knew, now that I am newly vegan, I KNEW I'd have to face this little aversion of mine. As a Wisconsin girl, there was never any reason for me to come into contact with this block of nothingness. I ate cows. And chickens. I knew what those looked like. I knew where those came from, what they ate, how they grew.

Not so for this ersatz food product.

TOFU.

Even the name is suspect - doesn't sound like a real word...  it sounds like the babble that comes out of the mouth of a 1 yr. old.

And I'm supposed to eat it?

Even worse, I'm supposed to cook it in some way?

No one can tell you what it tastes like. "oh, it just tastes like whatever it was cooked with."

The texture is similarly mystifying - not a curd, not a paste... uniform... That doesn't sound good.

What do you mean it comes in a block? and it's white-ish? Not white, not beige, but somewhere in between...

None of this sounds appealing.

Yup, it's TOFU!

My first forays into the realm of tofu eating were under professional guidance.

Experiment #1: I figured I'd best try something in the privacy of home. You know, just in case I had to abort.

K picked up:

That's right, it's CHICKEN-LESS CHICKEN!!

Inspection of the "nuggets" as they were browning revealed little. They were breaded, and shaped like chicken nuggets. I tried to reserve judgement. Wisely, the package comes with sauce to heat up and pour over your "nuggets." I complied.

And, lo, they were tasty. I'd eat them again. The breading was crispy, and they were seasoned and had flavor. You might not think they were chicken, but it didn't scream at you, "I AM SCARY AMORPHOUS TOFU! BE AFRAID!"

So, on to

Experiment #2: Eating tofu in public.

 K and I went to Thai Vegan. It's very well rated. I picked a dish from the reviews that sounded both like an adventure, and like something I'd enjoy... perhaps: Spinach "shrimp" noodle with green curry sauce.

This was a real test. How on earth can you make shrimp:

out of ...







THIS???



Well, I don't know. But they did. It was shrimp-shaped, shrimp-colored, and shrimp-textured. They must have a Thai artist in the back sitting on a stool sculpting, molding and painting tofu shrimp all day long. That dish was TASTY. The shrimp, like the chicken-less nuggets, might not taste exactly like shrimp, but they were good. And not Frightening. I'm sure there were at least two servings on that platter, but I ate almost the entire thing before stopping - and that was only because we had banana chocolate rolls coming for dessert. (also yummy)

Experiment #2 was a huge success. I'm sure we will go back there and try other meat-less and faux meat dishes. That only leaves.....

Experiment #3: cooking TOFU myself.

I know. Scary, right?
 
Standing in Trader Joe's, I bent over to carefully examine the 4 different types. I kept my distance, looking like an uncertain tourist in a strange country. The recipe specified "firm." Ok, but what does that MEAN,  exactly? I poked the packages hesitantly. It felt like there was LIQUID in some of them. ew. Firm, silken, extra firm... I had other recipes which called for the other types. So I bought all of them. What the heck. Wait - how much is this going to set me back? Must be expensive... oh. $1.29 each. ...ok, I guess I can swing that.

All of the groceries found a home, with the one package of tofu squatting silent and solo in the middle of my kitchen island.

I felt like I did more than a decade ago (holy cow I'm old) when I had to figure out how to remove the backbone from a chicken. I approached it carefully, and tried to peel, then tear open the package, but it resisted my wimpy efforts.

I got a knife. That worked - as I cut the plastic off the top of the container, some liquid dribbled out. What IS that, anyway? Soybean whey? Then I see the directions on the package: "After opening, keep tofu immersed in water and change water daily."  Or what, I'll awaken to gremlins running around my house trying to stuff Dante in the microwave? A pod will grow in my fridge, and one day will replace me with a pale bean-curd version of Mo?

I sliced off two servings (that's weird weird weird - there's no discrete size to tofu, just slide your knife through the slippery chunk) and ...

I had to drain it. Huh? Sandwich it between two plates and paper towels for 10 min to squeeze out excess liquid. Can't I just pat it dry or something, like you do with chicken... oh, never mind. ok, fine, done.

I prep the rest of the ingredients for my sesame ginger tofu with bok choy and quinoa.

Back to the ... holy cow that's a lot of liquid from the 1/3 of the package!  Now I wonder if I should drain/press it a bit more, you know, just in case there's more in there somewhere. I do. Just in case. And there was more. (ew.)

I cut little precise blocks out of the larger block that I cut from the original block.. hey this is kind of like fractals....

Back to work, mo!

 and roll them in sesame seeds and saute them.

um. When are they done, exactly? The little white blocks refuse to answer, mute and white in the pan. After a while I shake the pan to rotate the blocks to a different side.... but they don't rotate, so I do it by hand, one at a time. Flip. Flip. Flip... The blocks are kind of soft and spongy. I do this a few more times. A few popping kernels of sesame seeds startle me, but I hold my own. It smells like... well, like sesame seeds, and not much else.

After a few sides are browned, I call it done.

TOFU - you are DONE! I have cooked you!

Of course, now I have to eat what I have created. I wish I had taken a picture to show you, because the little blocks, browned and coated with sesame seeds actually looked pretty guh.... well, pretty ok.
I stirred them with the bok choy and other veggies, and took a forkful. 

Hey - pretty tasty! now, don't ask me what it tastes LIKE, because we all know the answer to that question. The bok choy, broccoli, ginger, and sesame seeds stole that show entirely. But I have now successfully conquered my fear of tofu, and find it to be a painless way to get a little more protein into ye olde vegan, unprocessed, whole foods diet. Which is necessary, btw.  Yes, I have been to the edge of culinary veganism and DID NOT FLINCH! (except when the sesame seeds popped). Ha!

I am in-wince-able!

Onto the next challenge!

Super-veggie me!

Really, one of the things I never thought I'd do. I don't like to use the word "never" because it's just too easy to be wrong. But going vegan, and giving up eating meat and anything that comes from an animal - I would have said never.

Why would I do this? Welllll... you remember that sheep post, right? And I'm a scientist. That pretty much sealed my fate.

Plus, I've already given up Coke, so how hard could giving up meat be?

K and I watched "Forks over Knives". I also read RawFoodSOS blog that reviewed and critiqued the science. And that was a long, long critique. FoK features two docs that advocate a plant based diet (aka vegan and low fat vegan at that) as a way of "eliminating heart disease, diabetes and most forms of cancer." Ok, that sounds pretty darn good. They offered a lot of evidence in the forms of correlations, and some specific studies that they spun somewhat (IMHO) to reinforce their hypothesis. They also have numerous patients on their diets and seemingly lots of evidence that their low fat (10% of cals) vegan diet works.

The scientist in me says:

• That doesn't mean that the vegan diet is the ONLY diet that works.
• When you go vegan, it can mean that you cut out nearly all processed foods along with the meat, eggs, and dairy.  -You are eating a whole-foods diet. 
• and, of course, correlations in the movie do not equal causation. So, maybe the mainly plant based diet of the rural Chinese results in better health because they don't have access to licorice (or other processed foods, lots of sugar, preservatives, name your poison), whereas on the coasts where trade is good and the economy is quite a bit more worldly, they eat more meat, but also more junk food. Anyway. I intend to get the China study book, and read it myself to sort this out and think about it more clearly.

But meanwhile, I'm a sheep. And a scientist.

K wants to try this.

And the movie made me very curious - the narrator undertook the diet and had a dramatic decrease in the bad cholesterol, increase in the good, decreased triglycerides, decreased BP, etc. etc.

Ok, so here we go. My total cholesterol is always (for the last 5 years and last tested this fall) between 203 and 210. HDL = 64-80, LDL = 101-103, triglycerides = 99. Of those, my total cholesterol, LDL, and triglycerides are higher than I'd like, but still healthy considering my HDL is nice and high. BP is 115 over 68. I weigh 118-121. I don't eat a lot of junk, but typically eat meat as the center of both lunch and dinner, and have an egg for breakfast 1-4 times a week. I don't shy away from having chips, cookies, ice cream, bbq, hamburgers occasionally. I cook most of what I eat - 19/21 meals a week. Spinach salads, tacos (beef or chicken), chili, quinoa, rice, pasta with bottled sauce, grilled chicken or fish, steamed veggies - these are staples.

I'm already pretty healthy. I exercise probably more than 10 hours a week. What will a vegan diet do for me in the short term? Let's try this for 6-8 weeks and find out. No meat, dairy or eggs (I haven't been strict about this, but will be now - otherwise it won't be meaningful.) I'll continue to take my multivitamin when I remember - that ends up being ~ 5x per week usually. I'll add in the supplements the docs recommend - omega-3s (vegan) and B12 as much as I can remember. I won't change anything else. And after the 6-8 weeks, I'll do a blood test to see what, if anything, happened to me.
I guess I'll log what I'm eating too. (This part sounds like more work and less fun. But I said I was a scientist...) As a fun thing, I should benchmark a 5 or 10K now, and do it after 6-8 weeks to compare... but my hip is bugging me. Maybe I'll use my 2.5 mile handicap time instead. Unfortunately for this comparison, I'm planning on ramping up my training, so any gains/losses there may be explained by factors other than diet.

Once I complete that, I'm considering taking on the next extreme step of Vegan + no processed stuff whatsoever. No flour. No sugar. No diet soda. No gum. Whole foods only. This seems hard to me - hardly like living! No chocolate! No bread! We'll see when I make it through March and what the blood test shows. If I have fun with this, maybe then I'll go Paleo for 6-8 weeks and see the difference there. But for now, Super-Veggie me!

I know this isn't really scientifically meaningful, a sample size of one. But come on! Should be fun!