Nothing really to blog about. I'm injury free and running. 

I had a goal of 2000 miles this year, I was behind, but figured out a plan to get there. Well that all fell apart with Christmas. The stress of entertaining, cleaning up after, and dealing with other people's sleep schedules hit me full force the other day. I've had a fever for two days and have been unable to sleep. Obviously I'm not running either. With just 40 miles to go I was sidelined by this sickness. I was disappointed at first but not much I can do if I get sick. I would've been angry if it was due to other people's inflexibility, something I deal with often. I guess I'll just need to go for a bigger goal next year! 

I hit an all time high for weekly mileage about a week ago. I managed 80 miles which I was pretty proud of. Keep in mind I have two kids, whom I'm basically tied to, a wife who doesn't run, and I work. Very happy with making that happen. 

Been hitting the calisthenics fairly hard, well at least until I got sick. I managed to blast out 62 push ups in a minute, not too bad for a 41 year old! I enjoy the strength work and I know it's probably the best thing I can be doing as I get older. 

JKD has been humming along, although the academy closes over Christmas. Four guys just got their Phase 10 (black belt) certification and it sounds like there will be a monthly black specific class which should be cool, excited for that. 

Anyway, yeah I'm still here. No photos lately because I run when it's dark for the most part! Figured I'd better post something! 

What do you eat?

I stopped eating meat and dairy products about a year and a half ago. The reason was purely for my health. Despite being insanely healthy I could never shift my high cholesterol. At my 40 year check up here in the UK they suggested drugs despite weighing 140 pounds at 5' 7" and living an extremely active healthy lifestyle. I knew there was a better option. After a conversation with a friend the one thing I'd never tried was a plant based diet. I dropped meat and dairy for 6 months and had my blood checked. My cholesterol had been reduced by 1/3! I was sold. Since then I have eaten meat and/or dairy maybe 6 or 8 times in the past 2 years. 

People always wonder what I eat, well here's what I ate today, and what I eat most days:

Breakfast:

Overnight oats made with almond milk, with a couple tablespoons of chia seeds and a handful of berries.

Vitamins: iron, B12, D3

Two slices of toast with dairy free butter spread.

Coffee.

Lunch:

Avocado sandwich: two slices of bread, 1/2 avocado, mustard, tomato slices, spinach, pickles

Big bag of vegetables: carrots, peppers, radishes, cucumber, celery, etc.

Apple, banana

Smoothie: pint and a half of water, banana, 1/2 avocado, 1/2 fresh beet, ton o' kale, handful of frozen mango, pineapple, berries. I'll sometimes eat spinach instead of kale. I try to eat this blended salad every day and usually eat a pint as a late breakfast, a pint on the drive to work, and a pint on my drive home from work. Blending allows me to eat a lot more greens and also is easier on my digestive tract, i.e. no farts! I'll sometimes add hemp seeds, chia seeds, flaxseeds, out of date vegetables and  fruit, basically whatever is around too just not to waste food. It may look nasty but is delicious! 

Snack:

Peanut butter and jam sandwich, more coffee, orange, apple, couple ginger cookies

Dinner:

Piece of toast with butter before Jeet Kune Do. I also ate the carrots and sprouts leftover from the kids' dinner.

Baked potato with garbanzo and black beans, sea salt and yeast flakes on top after JKD.

Random handfuls of Brazil nuts, cashews, etc.

And that's about it. I only drink water and coffee. Pretty simple. Main rules besides no meat or dairy are to eat things as non-processed as possible. The cool thing about eating non-processed? I can eat as much as I want and not worry about overeating.