UN urges global move to meat and dairy-free diet

An interesting article I randomly found......"A global shift towards a vegan diet is vital to save the world from hunger, fuel poverty and the worst impacts of climate change, a UN report said today." click here.

Alo Awaken and Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter

Two (vegan) products that I've happily discovered.

Alo Awaken: A mix of water, aloe vera juice and pulp, wheat grass and NATURAL sugar....Ever since I discovered aloe juices I've been a huge fan of the taste and aloe vera pulp. However, most products have too many artificial ingredients and unnatural versions of sugar sources (inverted sugar, high fructose corn syrup etc). I love wheatgrass shots but often am too cheap to order them at shops or buy a juicer. The two together equal my new favorite non-tea drink. And yay for a real sugar ingredient i.e. cane sugar. So far I've only seen this brand at Whole Foods, $5 for 51 oz. (* * * * *)



Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter, is a vegan and less sugary version of Nutella. Having not purchased Nutella since college I didn't realize there is milk in it. However, Justin's version is mostly organic with ingredients like real sugar :) cocoa and palm fruit oil. One serving of Nutella has 21g of sugar while Justin's has 7g. And if you're wondering, Justin's variety IS still just as good (* * * * *). It's semi-expensive $10 for 16 oz although I purchased a jar on sale for $8 at whole foods yesterday.

2011 Marathon??

I have secretly wanted to complete a marathon ever since I knew what they were. However in the last 6+ years I've been afraid my bad knees would suffer and training for one would do permanent damage. So I settled for running half marathons (13.1 miles of sane fun) and 10-mile races.

Then I read "Born to Run" and discovered the art of forefoot running (read about my findings here). And I've noticed that my knee pain is almost non-existent. I still can't run for longer than 3-4 miles in my vibrams but it's helped me none the less. So now I'm inspired!

I want to do a less sane race, I want to run until I feel I can't run any longer and then run some more. I want to test myself....I want to run a marathon.

2011? My preference would be to run the NYC marathon since I live there. But it's so hard to get into. I've applied for the lottery and will find out in the spring. I was thinking about doing NYRR's 9+1 program but that would mean delaying the marathon until 2012. Now I'm looking into doing the Mohawk Hudson River Marathon in Albany, NY. Anyone ever run this one? ~~Update: I am going to run the Steamtown Marathon in PA~~

Requests:

• Any good training programs, inspiring running books/quotes?
• Recommendations for a NYC marathon substitution? I would prefer the cheapest option (i.e. I won't be paying for a flight + hotel to do the Las Vegas marathon for example)

Labels and other ramblings

Last week a friend compared vegans to Hezbollah. His joke was about how militant and extreme vegans are. I defended vegans at the time. Though the joking comparison is still too harsh, recent comments instantly reminded me of it.....let me explain...

When I first started this blog (in Feb 2010) it was to talk about my journey as a vegan. The more and more information I read, the more I was motivated to cut remaining animals products from my life. I would say over the past 9 months I’ve been 99% vegan. Mainly a trip to the UK where I had to eat catered food at a business trip caused me to eat non-vegan items.

It was surprising to me that the blog entry that received the most feedback is one where I discussed eating fish last month. Even more surprising is the overwhelming feedback that I can no longer call myself a vegan because of one month out of 9. I guess this is a demonstration of the extreme militant characteristics my friend was talking about. It made me think of all other words/identity/label that people all over the world wouldn’t be able to use if the same thing applied…..What about someone from a certain religion who generally believes but has one month of doubt? Who decides if that person can or cannot call themselves Christian/Buddhist/Muslim/Jew/Baha'i etc?....I'm a Baha'i. Baha'i law says not to drink alcohol. However, if I ever found out a Baha'i friend was drinking I would never tell that person they can't call themselves a Baha'i.

I understand that vegans/vegetarians do not eat fish. I understand the arguments against the eating/killing of fish. What I do not understand is the intense response about me and my struggle as a vegan. If you do not want me to call myself vegan because 1 out of 9 months I ate fish, don’t call me a vegan. However, I can call myself whatever I choose. If you disagree, don’t read my blog. If you do want to read my thoughts on vegan foods, running and trying to lead a pure life then by all means continue to read.