To veg or not to veg

So the week is up but have I turned into a hippy yet. Not yet but I am running with this a little bit longer.

Why?                     

Well first off it’s not been too bad it requires a bit of manoeuvring and will power but I’ve managed it. Secondly a week probably isn’t long enough to see any decent effects on the body or overall well being.

Have I noticed any differences?

Well the first couple of days I did seem to be quite hungry but as I mentioned that may not be to do with the veggie diet. This rest of the week has been fine if not a little bit in the air on a personal level.

I did wonder if my training would be affected but no I seemed to be functioning relatively well I have cut down on the running because of knee trouble so I haven’t put my body through as much as usual.

I do feel I have trimmed up a bit and I’ve defiantly lost weight as I’m down about 5lbs but the last time I weighed before that was about 3 weeks ago so not a true reading. On top of that despite hitting the gym with a few decent sessions my measurements haven’t changed and may be a fraction on the slide so will have to keep an eye on that.

Pro and cons

I’m finding I’m waking up a bit more alertly in the mornings so that could be a bit of an improvement.

It’s good to be able to create meals straight from the cupboard and fridge. However I do find it a little bit limiting at the same time because I just like to cook so doing a veggie means I have to look at alternatives to my free flowing spirit ;)

It’s also been quite good for discovering new recipes as on Sunday I knocked up a mung bean and paneer curry.

I also battled with temptation and difficult times this week. I had to rush out on Friday night hence the grab stuff kind of meal plus on the way home I had to fetch the good wife a chicken kebab...I gave in I had a tomato covered in burger sauce.
I’m still off the booze and this has been one of those testing weeks which I could quite of easily gone f*** it got drunk and polish a tub of fried chicken but I feel I’ve hit an ultra disciplined zone at the moment.

I’ve also realised how much I eat meat, the other day it suddenly dawned on me that I possible don’t even go a day without it or certainly never past 2 so this is quite an achievement at the moment.

Anyway here’s a break of the remaining week

	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun
Breakfast	Scrambled eggs and toast	Slice of banana protein bread & 2 boiled eggs	Scrambled eggs and baked beans	Boiled eggs and soldiers (classic)
Lunch	Mozzarella & Homemade Mackerel pate, pitta and salad	Mozzarella plus salad and flapjack	Small cheese wrap and Chunk of banana protein bread	½ cheese wrap & ½ a seaford stick wrap
Dinner	Quorn sausage stew	Bolied egg, 2 table spoons of mackerel pate, lump of cheese,crisps (I know)	Fish, oven chips, beans and peas (shop bought so lowest calorie, chips skins on)	Mung bean and panner curry with brown rice
Snacks	Handful of mixed nuts, 2 shape 0% yogurts, Protein shake	Handful of mixed nuts, apple, Protein shake	banana	Cake, boiled egg
Pre/Post workouts	Protein shake

Quick Veg Update

So almost half way through and the only thing I have to report is I’ve felt quite hungry so far.

Now it may not have been completely down the veggie diet. For example Monday morning I had a chunk of my protein bread and I ate it earlier than normal. The result was that throughout the day I was always hungry. The upshot is eating earlier and less meant I wanted food sooner throughout the day, not anything to do with a veggie diet.

Training seems to be fine I’ve cut back on the running due to my knee giving me a bit of jip.

I’ve struggled to get a good nights sleep so far this week but again I don’t think that’s related to my food intake.

Anyway it was just a quick update so here’s a breakdown of my meals so far

	Mon	Tues	Wed
Breakfast	Chunk of banana protein bread	Slice of banana protein bread & 2 boiled eggs	Scrambled eggs, tomato and a slice of granary bread
Lunch	250g Cottage cheese with garlic, chilli spring onions plus a salad	Mozzarella plus salad and flapjack	250g Homemade Mackerel pate and salad
Dinner	Steamed trout with a lemon & herb seasoning. New potatoes, green beans, carrots & kale (with ginger, garlic, chilli & sesame seeds)	Homemade falafel, wholegrain pitta, salad, yogurt with harissa paste & saffron	Miso soup with mushrooms, pak choi, tofu and spring onions
Snacks	Handful of mixed nuts, 50g cottage cheese, 2 shape 0% yogurts, cereal bar, Protein shake	Handful of mixed nuts, apple, Protein shake	Handful of mixed nuts, apple, Protein shake, banana, 50g homemade Mackerel pate, some crips
Pre/Post workouts	Protein shake	Protein shake	Chunk of banana protein bread

Bye for now

Veggie, Veggie, Veggie, Oi, Oi, Oi

I'm having a little experiment this week and I'm going veggie...well almost.

I'm still allowing myself fish, I know to some people that's cheating but its baby steps.

Why? I hear you cry

We'll I read a post off of a friends blog
http://www.skinnylattestrikesback.com/2012/02/no-meat-no-problem-endurance-training.html
and it did get me thinking a bit.

We had Phillipa and Tom round for dinner a while back and both advocated the benefits of being veggie.
Now I love my meat, a medium rare rib eye hits the spot, bacon sarnies, bbq ribs... need I go on.
However I am big on nutrition so why shouldn't I give it a go.
Another part of me wanted to see if I really do feel any different after cutting out the meat. You have to listen to your body and I'm always curious how it reacts.
Since the 5th January I havent touched a drop of alcohol and even had to change some of my recipes to avoid cooking with it.
Now there are a lot of people who swear by giving up the booze however I'm not one of them. I don't feel ten times better than I normally would and cant really hit on any other benefits at the moment. Apart from losing the best part of a sunday normally followed by a takeaway in the evening those have disappeared.
I did recall though the last time I had a lengthy lay off the booze. On my first night out I was quite sick on just a few pints, I felt awful.
Where am I going with this, well I'm not sure but I guess it highlights how much of a poison it is to our system.

Anyway back to the whole veggie thing.
I'm also interested if it has any effect on my training. I'm currently doing gym work as well as my half marathon training.
Now I can obtain proteins from other sources but apart from whey protein some of the other veggie sources will not contain those complete amino acids.

I've kicked things off on Sunday night by making myself a nice protein banana bread which I'll try and get the recipe up online.

So for now the meats on hold

I'll be back with updates

Simon

Must do better

Training has been a bit on and off at the moment.

Just over 3 weeks ago my good wife had to go in to hospital to have her anterior cruciate ligament repaired.

So with a combination of hospital trips and lunch time journeys home to check on the patience things have been a little in the air.

I’ve started to get on it again over the last couple of weeks.
 
My biggest problem at the moment is the balancing act between gym work / muscle building and my cardio work.


I play football every week which will have an impact and now I’ve started training for my half marathon.

A good friend has meet me the last 2 Saturdays to go for runs as I’ve had a break in the football fixtures.

Last week I was planning on a treadmill run straight after work on Saturday mainly because of the snow and ice. Now I quite like running in the snow but you not going to be setting any PB’s and with more ice about I decided I’d get more from the treadmill.

In the end I went for the run in the snow and I’m glad I did. I think that gives me a good article to right about next time treadmills vs the great outdoors.

We did just over 7 miles and it took us just over an hour.

I know nothing to write home about but considering the snow and anyone who knows High Wycombe will know it’s quite hilly round these parts.

I normally love my hill runs but I must concede on this occasion my friend ran me into the ground.
 
Surprisingly I didn’t have too many aches and pains after that but that’s what the right nutrition does for you.

I've also started using an app for my iphone which helps me record workouts and do challenges it does help so check it at www.fleetly.com

Maybe join me in some of the challeanges 36,500 Push-ups in 2012 and 100 Mile Running Challenge - 2012, if you feeling brave enough.

Bye for now
Simon