After a month of eating raw food and running I went to the doctor and got some tests done. My blood tests are almost perfect (the exception is my LDL cholesterol is 108 and for Diabetics should be under 100, for a non-diabetic under 160 is acceptable). Previously when I got my macro/micro albumin checked my levels of protein in my urine were in the 600's. Values like that are considered macro albumin (from what I gather under 300 is micro).
Micro or macro albumin in the urine means that the kidneys are spilling protein into the urine because they are over worked and have leaks (this is a very basic description, if you want to know more the wonderful world of the internet will give you hundreds of websites). Having this in your urine means your kidneys are in early stages of kidney failure. My values two months ago were in the 600s and rising. Since going raw and running daily they have dropped down to 313! I am excited to see how they will continue to drop (and if they don't it will be a different hurdle to conquer).
I just also finished an amazing book called "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall. It was absolutely amazing and inspiring. On my two runs that I have done since reading the book I have switched to minimal running shoes and already notice that my knees don't hurt anymore when I run. I have also noticed that smiling while I run makes me not only run faster, but farther and with less effort. So far I have been running with Lauren which has been great because we push each other, but tomorrow I am running alone and will see how much I can push myself.
The past month has not been the easiest, but the rewards of what I am doing are making it all worth it. I didn't expect to see such amazing results in such a short time.
Anyone want to run the Disneyland Half Marathon with my in the beginning of September?
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Don't tell me I can't
In my research and doctor appointments I have found many people who believe that humans can't survive off of raw vegan food, that meat is required to live. There are people who also say that a Type 1 Diabetic can't truly compete in a half marathon or marathon. The word can't is thrown around so much when it comes to Diabetes and trying new and holistic approaches to fixing the poor health my lifestyle for the last 15 years has put me into.
When I read that a Type 1 Diabetic "can't" compete in a marathon it makes me more determined to not only run a marathon but to start getting competitive about it. Sure I have a long way to go, but in three weeks of training (two of which I took off because I was sick) my changes in diet and lifestyle have allowed me to accomplish running a mile and a quarter without stopping and without dying. It felt amazing to hear the voice of my NikePlus app tell me that I have completed a mile and in new record time. Can't is a word no longer in my vocabulary.
Running a marathon is a lot different then running a mile, but with enough dedication and belief in myself I will do it within the next year and 3 months. It is amazing the amount of research I have been doing on health, nutrition, and exercise. There is so much misinformation out there about what we should eat and how far we can push ourselves when it comes to an exercise like running. I chose to believe the route of natural and holistic nutrition and the belief that we are in fact "Born to Run" (a book my mom told me about that I began to research and am already obsessed with.
So far I have decided that I am going to stick with my raw vegan diet because it makes me feel amazing and is having an amazing impact on my blood sugar and control levels (not perfect yet, but much better then they were a few months ago). I have also decided that I am going to get some minimal/barefoot running shoes (inspired by the Tarahumara Indians who can run over 200 miles in two days barefoot!!!). The word can't will no longer be in my vocabulary. Where there is will there is a way. Sure I will be careful and the steps to accomplishing my goals may not come as easily as they would to a non-diabetic, but I never said that I wanted to have things be easier.
When I read that a Type 1 Diabetic "can't" compete in a marathon it makes me more determined to not only run a marathon but to start getting competitive about it. Sure I have a long way to go, but in three weeks of training (two of which I took off because I was sick) my changes in diet and lifestyle have allowed me to accomplish running a mile and a quarter without stopping and without dying. It felt amazing to hear the voice of my NikePlus app tell me that I have completed a mile and in new record time. Can't is a word no longer in my vocabulary.
Running a marathon is a lot different then running a mile, but with enough dedication and belief in myself I will do it within the next year and 3 months. It is amazing the amount of research I have been doing on health, nutrition, and exercise. There is so much misinformation out there about what we should eat and how far we can push ourselves when it comes to an exercise like running. I chose to believe the route of natural and holistic nutrition and the belief that we are in fact "Born to Run" (a book my mom told me about that I began to research and am already obsessed with.
So far I have decided that I am going to stick with my raw vegan diet because it makes me feel amazing and is having an amazing impact on my blood sugar and control levels (not perfect yet, but much better then they were a few months ago). I have also decided that I am going to get some minimal/barefoot running shoes (inspired by the Tarahumara Indians who can run over 200 miles in two days barefoot!!!). The word can't will no longer be in my vocabulary. Where there is will there is a way. Sure I will be careful and the steps to accomplishing my goals may not come as easily as they would to a non-diabetic, but I never said that I wanted to have things be easier.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
It's Getting Easier
It feels nice to say that Raw Vegan is a lifestyle that is become easy and second nature to me. The only time I have not eaten Raw I still ate Vegan and it was in Disneyland. They didn't have a completely raw salad so I got a salad that had a few grilled veggies on it. It's okay not to be 100% raw 100% of the time, although it is the goal. I would say a better goal for me this year is 99% raw.
I had a doctors appointment this past Friday and am waiting to get some blood tests back as well as to hear if my kidneys are doing better. I don't expect things to be perfect, that takes time. You can't reverse 15 years of bad habits in three weeks, but those three weeks are definitely helping.
The past two weeks I have had this residual cough from being sick and a not so great work schedule that has allowed me to become lazy with my running. As I was thinking about the reasons that I didn't run these past two weeks I also realized that I was just making excuses. I am going to form a habit of getting up at 7 am everyday (even my weekend) and either running, walking, or reading. Today is day one of my new schedule. I will say that it's not pleasant waking up at 7, but it is actually a lot easier than I anticipated.
Raw vegan eating has become easy for me so my next challenges will be my new schedule and running regularly again. I have also been looking at going back to school for Nutrition, since I already own so many books on nutrition and study it personally.
Self improvement is not easy and it takes a lot of determination, but it's worth it.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Ten in Ten
The past ten days have been both wonderful and difficult. Getting up every morning before work to go run is not easy. The first step out the door is always the most difficult, but I find once I pass that hurdle the rest goes by relatively quickly. I can't say that I enjoy pushing myself during these runs or hikes, but afterwards is where the reward of feeling amazing kicks in.
Today I went to the doctor's for a check up/ education. My diabetic educator said that I was following the proper steps to proper health. I also found out that in the last ten days I have lost ten pounds, which is always welcome news.
After my appointment, my friend Christopher and I went to Disneyland. Disneyland on a raw diet is actually doable... Disneyland as a vegan is probably even easier. I went to the store and brought some raw meals and snacks with me. I had planned to buy fruit from Disney when we were there, but we weren't there long enough for me to need that kind of refueling. It definitely takes some planning ahead and I am now making up for a lack of greens at home eating a beautiful and giant salad.
Anything is possible if you set your mind to it. It isn't always easy but it is very worth it. The amount of happiness and energy I have felt in the last ten days is all I need to keep going. The bonus is the support from my family, friends, and coworkers.
Speaking of which, one of my coworkers Jess was inspired both by my blog and a very good documentary "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" to try juicing raw fruits and veggies for a few days. I am super proud of her for at least giving it a try. Taking that first step of deciding to do something that, in my opinion, is so healthy and great for you is very courageous.
I say take the first step. No matter how small or large that step may be it will make an impact on your life.
Today I went to the doctor's for a check up/ education. My diabetic educator said that I was following the proper steps to proper health. I also found out that in the last ten days I have lost ten pounds, which is always welcome news.
After my appointment, my friend Christopher and I went to Disneyland. Disneyland on a raw diet is actually doable... Disneyland as a vegan is probably even easier. I went to the store and brought some raw meals and snacks with me. I had planned to buy fruit from Disney when we were there, but we weren't there long enough for me to need that kind of refueling. It definitely takes some planning ahead and I am now making up for a lack of greens at home eating a beautiful and giant salad.
Anything is possible if you set your mind to it. It isn't always easy but it is very worth it. The amount of happiness and energy I have felt in the last ten days is all I need to keep going. The bonus is the support from my family, friends, and coworkers.
Speaking of which, one of my coworkers Jess was inspired both by my blog and a very good documentary "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" to try juicing raw fruits and veggies for a few days. I am super proud of her for at least giving it a try. Taking that first step of deciding to do something that, in my opinion, is so healthy and great for you is very courageous.
I say take the first step. No matter how small or large that step may be it will make an impact on your life.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Change is not Easy
Today marks the first week of change. So far things have gone amazingly and the change has been quite easy, which means I was waiting for the day that things would get a little more difficult. Today marks that day. Things weren't horribly hard, but I will say that cooked food smelled especially delicious. I think part of the reason for the difficulty was that I took today off from running/hiking.
Every program for fitness tells you to take a day off to recover. While I think this is good advice I also don't think I am going to stick to it, at least not quite as literally as I did. Rest meant I didn't go for a walk or run or hike. I think I am going to at least walk on my days off. Starting my day without any form of exercise put me back into old habits of sleeping in later then necessary and watching TV. I look forward to getting up early and running.
Although things got a little difficult with food cravings I stuck with raw foods and still had a lovely day. I have noticed that even if I eat raw food energy bars that don't have added sugars or a lot of sweets in them they make my blood sugar go up, so I will stick to non dehydrated food for the time being. The exception to this will of course be when I treat myself to Cafe Gratitude and get one of their delicious deserts.
On a more specific health note, my insulin intake is again dropping daily. I take almost no Apidra (short acting insulin) and my Lantus (long acting) is dropping daily. The more I read my Anatomy and Physiology book as well as my nutrition books I realize how having large doses of insulin is not a great thing in the long run, so the more my insulin levels lower the more relief I feel.
Change is not easy, but it's worth it.
Every program for fitness tells you to take a day off to recover. While I think this is good advice I also don't think I am going to stick to it, at least not quite as literally as I did. Rest meant I didn't go for a walk or run or hike. I think I am going to at least walk on my days off. Starting my day without any form of exercise put me back into old habits of sleeping in later then necessary and watching TV. I look forward to getting up early and running.
Although things got a little difficult with food cravings I stuck with raw foods and still had a lovely day. I have noticed that even if I eat raw food energy bars that don't have added sugars or a lot of sweets in them they make my blood sugar go up, so I will stick to non dehydrated food for the time being. The exception to this will of course be when I treat myself to Cafe Gratitude and get one of their delicious deserts.
On a more specific health note, my insulin intake is again dropping daily. I take almost no Apidra (short acting insulin) and my Lantus (long acting) is dropping daily. The more I read my Anatomy and Physiology book as well as my nutrition books I realize how having large doses of insulin is not a great thing in the long run, so the more my insulin levels lower the more relief I feel.
Change is not easy, but it's worth it.
Friday, January 6, 2012
6 Wonderful Days of Change
It's been the first week of raw food eating and running/hiking. So far everything feels amazing. I have done raw before, but have never felt this great this fast. I think some of the reasons this time feels different are because I am exercising everyday, I am not going through detox because I prepared the last two months for this, and I am also not making salad dressing with olive oil.
Exercising daily has been something quite fun for me. I used to dread doing anything that would make my heart rate go up, but now it is how I start my day. During the runs I am pushing myself just past my comfort zone, but not too far. The last thing that I want to have happen is that I over do it and stop running, or stop enjoying my runs. The running training I have starts fairly slow, so I am following those guidelines and not trying to over do it. Right now it is between 2-3 miles daily, which for a beginning runner is just right.
The past few months I have been eating more and more salads and raw food for meals. December was a vegetarian eating month with 80% of my meals being raw. Doing this has allowed for me to skip the horrible detox symptoms, which in my opinion are the reason most people feel that the raw food diet is deficient. Depending on what your health is and past eating habits prior to going raw there will be different levels of detox. In the book I am currently reading (and highly recommend) "Eat to Live" by Joel Fuhrman M.D. he says, "In order to detoxify, you need to feel worse, not better; then after the withdrawal symptoms are completed, you will truly become well." By adding greens into my diet and letting them take over the majority of my diet I have been able to skip the hardcore detox.
When you are overweight and in the process of trying to be healthy, adding a ton of salad dressing to your completely raw salads doesn't exactly help. Olive oil is great for someone who is at their ideal weight for their body type, but I am not. During the process of becoming healthy and finding my body's ideal weight I have decided to use only a teaspoon of flax seed oil(if any) with my dressing. Mostly I use apple cider vinegar and garlic for dressing. It is simple but I enjoy it. By cutting out the olive oil from my diet I have found the smell of cooked foods much easier to handle.
Today was the sixth day of my new years journey. I feel proud of myself so I rewarded myself with some food from the amazing Cafe Gratitude here in LA. I highly recommend it, especially if you want to reward yourself for a healthy week of amazingness.
Exercising daily has been something quite fun for me. I used to dread doing anything that would make my heart rate go up, but now it is how I start my day. During the runs I am pushing myself just past my comfort zone, but not too far. The last thing that I want to have happen is that I over do it and stop running, or stop enjoying my runs. The running training I have starts fairly slow, so I am following those guidelines and not trying to over do it. Right now it is between 2-3 miles daily, which for a beginning runner is just right.
The past few months I have been eating more and more salads and raw food for meals. December was a vegetarian eating month with 80% of my meals being raw. Doing this has allowed for me to skip the horrible detox symptoms, which in my opinion are the reason most people feel that the raw food diet is deficient. Depending on what your health is and past eating habits prior to going raw there will be different levels of detox. In the book I am currently reading (and highly recommend) "Eat to Live" by Joel Fuhrman M.D. he says, "In order to detoxify, you need to feel worse, not better; then after the withdrawal symptoms are completed, you will truly become well." By adding greens into my diet and letting them take over the majority of my diet I have been able to skip the hardcore detox.
When you are overweight and in the process of trying to be healthy, adding a ton of salad dressing to your completely raw salads doesn't exactly help. Olive oil is great for someone who is at their ideal weight for their body type, but I am not. During the process of becoming healthy and finding my body's ideal weight I have decided to use only a teaspoon of flax seed oil(if any) with my dressing. Mostly I use apple cider vinegar and garlic for dressing. It is simple but I enjoy it. By cutting out the olive oil from my diet I have found the smell of cooked foods much easier to handle.
Today was the sixth day of my new years journey. I feel proud of myself so I rewarded myself with some food from the amazing Cafe Gratitude here in LA. I highly recommend it, especially if you want to reward yourself for a healthy week of amazingness.
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