I have always had a love for running and fitness.  When I turned 40 I wanted to run a full marathon.  I tried this same goal when I was 30, but ended up walk/running the whole due to an injury,  being told I would never run a marathon without surgery.  Well I accomplished the Marathon last year, (without surgery 😉 and set up a new goal to focus on my nutrition.  I wanted to get a better understanding  of how our diet affects us.  I have been trying a Vegetarian diet since December to explore new territory.

I saw the documentary “Forks over Knives” in Novemeber as part of my research in nutrition and made the change immediately.  Food is considered medicine for the body.  I always thought easily of food as fuel, but to think of food as medicine has really had an impact for me.  With that decision made I easily cut out all soda and fast food.  I focused on finding new recipes to add more veggies in my diet.  I have found that I enjoy the search for new ideas of things to eat and with omitting meat,  I have had to gain a new understanding of which vegetables have protein in them.

I have noticed  an increase in my energy level during the day.  I have lost the 2-3 pm drag I would encounter every day.  Now I use that time to go for a walk before the kids come home.  I am enjoying it for now, but I feel its the focus on how to eat that is really the enjoyment for me.  I set out to just try it for a month to see what changes I would see and  I am going to continue and experiment with it in more depth.

Dolores Palmer