Meat Murderer

Ladies and gentlemen, I have some news. Many of you already know this from Facebook, but you're going to hear about it again anyway.

Hello, my name is Beckey, and I ate hot dogs on Monday. And some meat-like substance in a cheeseball today. And I'll be eating at Five Guys Burgers & Fries on Tuesday.

That's right. After nearly 5 months, I have abandoned the vegetarian-ish lifestyle (pesco-vegetarian, if you want to get specific -- I ate fish and dairy products -- there's your word of the day).

Before I get into the whys of my decision, I'd like to share this comment string from Facebook because it still makes me laugh.

Me: I did it. I had hot dogs. Nearly 5 months down the drain.

E.O-S.: you broke your vegetarian diet on a hot dog?! mine was pepperoni pizza :) i couldn't resist it any longer.

L.E.: Hahahahaha mine was bacon!

Pork seems to be the common vegetarian diet murderer. Odd.

So yeah, I guess I can close that chapter in my life, at least for now. I hate that 5 months doesn't seem like a long time, but I can truly say that I gave it one heck of a go. I did a good job. I just ... got tired of it.

Vegetarian food suited me well for a while. I like vegetables. I only feel strongly about one or three meat dishes. And I was on a change kick.

Well, beans get old, I'm over change, and those one or three meat dishes were making appearances in my dreams (hot dogs, pepperoni, hamburgers, bacon). Plus I found that I was more prone to junk food cravings that I've ever been. Not cool.

I struggled with the decision for a few weeks and battled mostly with the not-so-pretty images of the meat industry. And the meat industry ickyness still weighs heavily on my conscious, but I don't feel there's much I can do about it. Even grain-fed, cage-free chicken has problems. I'm not getting into it right now, nor do I want to get into heated discussions about it, but know that I'm okay with my decision and I do feel that I gave it plenty of thought.

I've also decided to be picky about meat and not just eat it because it's in front of me. It should be something I really, really love. Something that's "worth it." For example, I don't see myself sitting down to a steak dinner anytime soon, or eating pork chops or pork roast -- all things I didn't like much to begin with. No, no. Instead, I'll save my meat dishes for quality items, like buffalo wings, bacon, burnt hot dogs, really good burgers, and Italian subs at Penn Station. High class, no?

So, that's that. I know a handfull of vegetarians that have been doing it successfully for a long time, and who never see themselves looking back. But I know more people who have given it a really, really good try and have given up at some point. Those people, as well as my happily-carnivore friends, are not by any means bad people because of their meat-eating habits. I never have and never will think of those meat-eaters badly for the diet decision they have made. Therefore, I refuse to think of myself as a bad person for murdering innocent animals for the sake of a bacon fix. Humph. (It's worth noting that my vegetarian friends don't think badly of carnivores either.)

So, moving on ...

I have a big day coming up this weekend! The Redlegs Run for Home 5K is SATURDAY! EEEEK! I'm more excited than scared, but I'm still a little scared. Mostly I just can't wait for it to be over. To prep for the run (and for reasons surrounding a family situation), I took this week off.

I did run on Sunday, though. It was so incredibly hot at 10 a.m. that the run was a bit of a loss. The best part is that I finally got to run with my bestie, Jeff. He was kind enough to stick with me for the first lap and a little more before taking off to get a good 10-minute run in. This is the first time I've run with someone who's ahead of me in the game since my freshman year of college. He was kind enough to let me lead and set the pace; I felt supported by having him just hover next to me the whole time. I'm not sure if I did better, worse, or the same with the company. I did enjoy it, though, so thanks for joining me Jeff!

Oh, and I successfully ran for a good 3:45 before stopping, which is a new record for me. Yay! After that, it was all bad. Hot, hot, hot!

Okay, one excessively long post down, and it's time to hit the road. Please check back this weekend for an update on my first 5K!

May The Fourth ... Be With You

Sorry, I had to go there. Can I tell you how long it took me to figure out why I kept seeing "May the Fourth be With You" everywhere? Oh, from about 9:30 a.m., when my favorite daily blog, Cake Wrecks, gets posted until around 3:30 p.m. "Who decided it was Star Wars Day, why is it today, and why are people posting this like they have a lisp?" Clearly I'm a huge follower of Star Wars, seeing as how I've never seen any of the movies. It's the one with the guy with the pointy ears, right? Ooooh, just kidding.

Well, the Force must have been with me today, on May fourth, because I just had an excellent run. WOOHOO! "Holidaaaaay. Celebraaaaate." (Name that movie for 10 points.) I just knew I would be rewarded for my two lunchless days of work and missing all the beautiful weather we've been having. My time has come.

I ran at Veterans Park again today. I shy away from this one because I think the total track is just a hair over one mile, and I'm afraid to disappoint myself when I don't finish two laps in the same amount of time that I finish at Juilfs. Oh well, today I went for it anyway because I didn't want to run hills. And I'm glad I went. I got to see the only flying animal I really like: ducks. "Quack, quack, quack, Mr. Ducksworth."

Here are some shots of Veterans, because my pal, Rob, told me I should post pictures. (Hi Rob!)

Such a pretty day!

One of these days I'll ask some paparazzi to get a shot of me dying/running. I promise.

Anyway, not only did I finish in a spot that was farther than I did previously, I extended one of my runs with very little suffering AND added two mini runs during my cool-down. I don't know people, but I think I may only have another week or two left before I can try to bump up to Week 3. YIKES! Now that's frightening!

Frankly, I'm shocked I did so well. I haven't run for an entire week. How does that work out for you? Do you run better after a little break or when you keep a steady every-other-day-ish workout schedule?

Oh, and I need a little info from my veg head friends. I'm getting kind of peeved with people that ask about my protein needs. The Skinny Bitch writers stand pretty firm by saying we don't need nearly as much protein as Americans generally eat. Thoughts? How much protein do you eat? Do you feel like you have to pay special attention to it? How do you ward off protein-questioning skeptics?

Next run should be Thursday since most of my schedule fluctuations have been taken care of. Fingers crossed.

I'll leave you with this photo:

I had to primer the walls in the bedroom of my old apartment.
So, I took the opportunity to do a little branding. Silly, but fun.

Vegetarian Woes: I WANT MEAT!

So, like any proud round girl, one of my favorite televisions shows is on the Food Network: Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.

Guy Fieri, my hero. Along with Anthony Bourdain, of course.

Anyway, I watched an episode this weekend for the first time in ages, and it was hard. There was meat. Juicy, saucy meat ... on bread ... with stuff on it. Drooool.

Needless to say, this weekend was rough. I've encountered just a few of these rough days so far in my adventures in vegetarianism, and yikes, what a challenge! In fact, this weekend was so difficult for me, I started worrying about my ability to keep this up. Can I stay a vegetarian? And, if not, how long should I do it? Should I set a goal for myself? The lamest part is that I do still eat meat -- it's called fish. Fish is not a hamburger. Fish is not a hot dog. Fish is NOT boneless buffalo wings. And meatless pepperoni is not pepperoni. (Surely someone has simply added pepperoni spices to some soy protein, WITHOUT the nasty fake meat flavor and liquid smoke I hate so much. Blech!)

Sadly, I haven't talked to my doctor about this diet decision yet, and I'm curious about what she'll say. Surely she'll just be glad I'm paying attention to what I'm eating at all. I'm paying attention to how much protein I'm digesting, but am I paying enough attention?

Just some (vegetarian) food for thought. I'll post more later on this topic. But now, I must move my crap from one apartment to the next. Toodles!

In the Beginning ...

Well, this is it. I think it’s time to start the blog that I’ve been waiting to write. I’ve been itching to get myself established in the blogging world for some time now, but haven’t found the topic that would be worthy of my time and yours. But I think this is it.

With that, welcome to my blog, More to Love Running.

My name is Beckey and I recently started running. What’s the big deal, right? There are running blogs spattered all over the Internet, few of them more special than the next. The big deal this: I’m what MySpace flippantly refers to as “more to love,” or what the fashion world calls “plus sized,” or what old ladies in this country call big boned, heavy set or plump. Meat on the bones, junk in the trunk, squishy, fluffy, stout. My doctor calls it “obese.” Ick! Sounds horrifying. Whatever you want to call it, the truth is I’m fat, and how often do you see fat people running, enjoying it and sticking to it.

I haven’t decided how much information to disclose at this point, mostly because I’m embarrassed. The only people in the world who truly know my stats are my doctors, my former trainers, people who are really good at guessing and me. I will say this much, though: I’ll be 30 years old in 18 months and I don’t want to enter a new decade the way I am now. I’m 5’10” and, as I said before, medically obese (Blech! Yuck! Boo!), but I “carry it well.” I’m not a full-blown couch potato. I love being active; I just don’t do it as much as I should. I also love food and eat more of it than I should. I’m knowledgeable about nutrition and enjoy healthy foods, but I like the bad stuff too. Sound familiar?

Here comes the tricky part. I’m not one to set hard, fast goals for myself. Never in a million years would I say, “I want to lose X pounds by X date.” It’s not my style. I don’t like to set myself up for failure. However, I did recently commit to one extreme diet change and started enjoying a form of strenuous exercise.

Hello. I’m Beckey. I’m a vegetarian and I just fell in love with running.

“Hi, Beckey!” Go ahead and clap if you want.

Thank you, thank you. Okay, whew. That was tough.

This being the first installment of a blog that will hopefully live long and prosper, I don’t want to go spouting off into too much detail. I have a huge list of topics I would like to explore and I’ll save them for later. I do feel there are a few things to say right off the bat.

First, allow me to define a few key terms as they will be used in this blog from this point forward:

• Vegetarian – I eat fish, I avoid milk and eggs, and I’m suffering with a decision about cheese
• “Running” – Used lightly to refer to the earth-pounding mini-strides I take in VERY short doses between long stretches of walking and wheezing like a freight train

Also, I’ll probably refer to these two things frequently, but here’s what you need to know:

• The Couch to 5K Running Program (C25K) – This is it, folks. This is the genius step-up running program that started the mania. I’ve been following the plan for a little over a month now and I’m doing well. Yes, I stretched the first week into a first month, but I’m moving at my own pace and the future is bright.
• Skinny Bitch – I got this book for Christmas this year and it’s a big reason I decided to become a vegetarian. It’s not the sole reason, and I’m certainly not following the authors’ suggestions rigidly, but it’s been a great resource so far.

Finally, I’m sarcastic. I don’t know how much more I need to justify that, but consider yourself forewarned.

That’s it for now, folks. I appreciate your time and I look forward to sharing my journey with you! Please check back soon.