#i8this Twitter Health Challenge

A friend of mine, Christine, put up a challenge a while back for everyone to post their meals on Twitter (even better if you take a photo too!) and tag it with #i8this. She didn't really know where this would go or if anyone would take part, but I certainly took part.

As it turns out, it was pretty popular. People started tweeting all kinds of healthy meals, even though the purpose wasn't specifically to eat healthy. We even got some pro athletes involved. We all wanted to brag about what we were eating and poach recipes and ideas from each other. I even went to far as to present the food on the plate in the most appealing way before taking the photo. It was a whole lot of fun and a few of us kept doing it even when the challenge ended.

Well, the #i8this challenge has returned, but this time with a purpose. Christine has brought it back with the intention of challenging the participants to pick something about their diet and/or health to pay attention to over the next several days. It can be a big thing or it can be a small thing. It's completely up to the individual. It's not a contest, although many of us like to rise to the occasion.

Here's how you play:

1. Ask yourself "What aspect of my diet/ health would I most like to improve"?
2. Look at certain foods or habits that you may want to remove or add.
3. Decide on a number of days that works for you (maybe 3, 5, 7 or 9).
4. Set your intention by making it known to other #i8this participants (via twitter or email me at christine@liveandeatbetter.com).
5. Try to be ready to start by Friday, though it is flexible. You can start now if you want. You're the boss.

I have until tomorrow to decide what I'm going to take up as my own challenge. I see healthy nutrition in two phases. Phase 1 is cutting out the bad stuff and Phase 2 is focusing on the good stuff. Phase 1 is easy enough because most of us know what we are eating too much of even if we don't like to admit it. That part doesn't really apply to me as much. Oh I'm sure there's something I could cut out, but I feel like I've gotten past that and I'm at a point now where searching for the next bad thing to cut out isn't really the most productive use of this challenge for me.

So... Phase 2. This one is tougher because it's like an open book before you. OK, I'll focus on the good stuff. What does that mean? There are all kinds of ways to eat healthy. The biggest thing my diet lacks is structure. Aside from my diet, there are some improvements I could make to my lifestyle in general to facilitate the improvement of myself. With that in mind, I'm going to do this for the next 9 days as my #i8this challenge:

1. Log my meals!
2. Quit blowing off morning workouts on days when I should do them.
3. Drink at least one extra bottle/glass of water in the morning and one in the afternoon.
4. Never go more than one day without eating dark leafy greens.
5. Get at least six hours of sleep every night. Eight is even better.

Some of this is easy. Some will require more discipline. I'm already doing all of these things sometimes--I'm just not doing them consistently.

Four months of vegan diet and counting

Back in January, I attended a triathlon camp in College Station with some fellow athletes I hold in high regard and some others who I had not previously met.  Don't be offended, guys.  Looking back, I hold you all in high regard now.  One of the guest athletes is a guy by the name of Rich Roll, who is a two-time Ultraman finisher and finished in 6th place last November.  The guy is an incredible athlete and one of the things that intrigued me about him was the fact that he turned his sedentary life around and his biggest tool has been switching to a 100% plant-based diet.  He has become a major advocate for a healthy and active vegan lifestyle and I continue to draw a lot of inspiration from his journey.

At that time, I was already eating a very healthy diet, at least by American standards (which might not be saying much) and I had gone vegetarian for a short period in the past just to see what all the fuss was about, but I had never approached it with any structure.  After spending the weekend with Rich and the other athletes, I decided it was time to give this a try.

My wife was up for the challenge as well and we got a few good cookbooks and went to town.  Over the course of the next 3+ months leading up to today, I have learned a lot about nutrition and food.  I have started making some bizarre concoctions in my Vitamix blender and taking the time to learn about the benefits of various foods like flax seed, hemp oil, quinoa, kale, almond milk, lentils, sprouted grains, etc.

It also gave me a better appreciation for making my own food from its component parts as opposed to just going out and buying the same thing off the shelf.  There's a lot of crap out there, even in "healthy" foods and a lot of it simply cannot be avoided because of preservatives added to improve shelf life.

My first big test of the new diet was about two weeks in when I ran the Rocky Raccoon 50-mile race knowing that I would not be sampling most of the incredible food they had at the aid stations.  I planned my own supplements and nutrition and the plan went off perfectly.  I set a new PR and was never hurting for food or energy.

It's been a lot of fun figuring out the journey that leads up to this race and beyond.  It's also been a lot of fun to watch my fellow triathletes learn and improve their own diets, just as I am doing.  I don't consider myself a vegan even though I eat a vegan diet.

The big test will be in about a week and a half when I race the Lone Star 70.3 triathlon knowing that these last three months of training have been done with only plant-based fuel and a hell of a lot of hours of training.  I have lofty goals and I aim to meet them.

We shall see...