Vegetarian on the run

For the past 26 years, I have hated two things: vegetables and running. Ok, hate is a strong word, let me rephrase. I have not preferred vegetables and running. It's not that I never ate veggies or ran, I just never chose to do either unless my mom put veggies on my plate for dinner, or a P.E. coach made us run laps around the track. As an adult, the extent of my vegetable eating was salads, and the extent of my running was like 5 minutes on the treadmill at the gym to warm up to do other excercises that didn't involve running. I've had so many friends who just LOVED to run, and I never understood the addiction, because all I ever got was a cramp in my side whenever I would try.

But now, I have become two things I never imagined myself becoming: a vegetarian and a runner.

The vegetarian thing had been stirring in me for a while. Even in middle school, I remember one day telling my mom, "I'm no longer eating red meat." I don't know where that came from, but it lasted about 6 months before I gave in again to Chik-fa-la's and hot dogs. Then earlier this year I met another Jacksonville photographer, Darice Michelle, who told me she was a vegan.

"I don't know how you do it!" I said to Darice. "I could never give up meat or dairy."

"That's what I used to think too, you'd be surprised once you set your mind to something," Darice responded.

Even though we didn't go deep into it then, I did take notice how tiny Darice was with a beautiful figure and thought "Ah ha, that must be how she stays so skinny after having two kids! Maybe I should give the vegetarian thing a try."

So I did. For two weeks. My motivation was obviously wrong, so it didn't last. I did though pick her brain at a later time to find out more behind her motivation for the whole vegan lifestyle. And though I wasn't ready at the time, her words and reasonings kept replaying in my head considering it all.

Then this time last month, I randomly watched the movie "Fast Food Nation". Let's just say it was a huge wake up call. Not only does it document how most of the meat we eat has traces of animal poop in it, but at the end, it showed a detailed gory bloody visual of the torture cows are put through in the killing process. All I could think about is someone doing that to my poor Rhett, or the momma duck I've made friends with, and something inside of me finally clicked. I haven't eaten meat or fish or anything living since.

But what's cool is that, I don't feel deprived like I've "given up" something. Instead I've been discovering all the awesomely yummy vegetables and fruits I always ignored before, and my tastebuds have totally shifted. I've even started COOKING all these delicious veggie dinners... hey, that's a big deal for me to whip out the pots and pans.

I can't quite give up chocolate, so I haven't quite gone vegan like Darice, which means no dairy or eggs, but I'm trying slowly to make that adjustment by choosing soymilk instead of regular milk, for example, which is surprisingly VERY yummy! It's been fun to discover the wealth of other alternative products like veggie sausage patties which I'm now addicted to and actually taste better and are less greasy than regular sausage patties.

Anyways, I'm not one to preach about what's right and wrong, but I just simply wanted to share how empowering it's been to make this lifestyle change and know that I'm making healthy choices. It's nice for once to not feel like I have to "watch I eat" but instead enjoy eating what I know is good for me. And as a result, I've been fitting back into pants that were too small, with out even trying.

Also, one of my brides recommended a good book to read if you are thinking of doing the vegetarian/vegan thing. It's called "Skinny Bitch." I just picked it up yesterday and already read half of it. It's really good!

(Any other vegetarians out there???? I'd love to hear if you are!)

So with the healthy eating, I became inspired to start working out again. Earlier this year I had tried to go back to the gym, which lasted for a few weeks, but it became so boring and monotonous, that I just stopped going all together. So one day in my car, I was cruising down this new road they opened up near my place that now completes a circle and clocked the distance which equaled 4 miles. Next thing I know, I'm putting on my tennis shoes and hooking Rhett up on a leash and off we go. Again, big deal for me, because I never run, let alone run OUTSIDE where it's humid and there are bugs and dirt. (This coming from the girl who doesn't even like to walk on grass!)

But it has been so exhilarating and for the first time ever I'm enjoying working out. And I love the fresh air how it clears my mind from all the work related stress. And I love spending that time with Rhett racing him in between his stops at fire hydrants. I always feels so connected to God too in nature, so I get a lot of good prayer time in on the runs. I almost crave it now! And it's been cool to see my body condition itself going from mostly walking with a few sprints here and there, to now mostly jogging with a few walks here and there.

(I've even found a lot of good potential spots along the route that I would LOVE to "trash the dress" with future brides!)

Then like I wrote in my last blog post, I saw my friend Jill Higgins started a "photographers on the run" challenge with the new iPod and Nike shoes dealio. Today was my first day running with my new get up, and I was excited to see I've almost caught up to Jill in one run than she has in all of her runs so far. ha ha

I posted a thing to the right of my blog for the challenge we have going on with other photographers, so if you are a runner too, we'd love to have you in on the challenge! (And you don't have to be a photographer, it's open to anyone!)

Here's a graph of my first run from synching my iPod to the Nikeplus.com site that keeps a record of your progress.



On a closing note, the other thing I never imagined myself being was a wedding photographer.... but as one of my favorite quotes says:

"Lift up your eyes... Your heavenly Father is waiting to bless you in ways you never imagined." ~Janette Ore

All I can say is, thank goodness He knows better than we do! When we finally let go and let Him have control, that's where we find our greatest joys in life!

Happy 4th of July everyone!