Vegan MoFo
Reason Number 22: Read this post for some insight. (Girls, this one is for you.)
I ran six miles today. It took me an hour and eight minutes. Not light speed, but good, for my age. I know all the competitive types are saying, "I can do it in 50 minutes." Whatever. Lance Armstrong said it was a great workout through my new Nike+Ipod gadget I bought this weekend. (Lance, for gosh sake--he is on this program--those crazy Apple folks! Who knew?) Anyhow, I needed the run. Plus, I have a fundraiser run coming up that I really want to participate in: Sweat-4-Pets--see that cute picture on the t-shirt? Why the HRT question--well for starters, let me me be honest. I am in middle age. By middle, I don't mean thirty-something (though I did love that show and so wished I were thirty something when it aired). I am the generation that everyone is worried about in this crazy health care debate--or should I say, that WE are worried about because, godforbid should we get sick and need tendin' to! For women, this time in life is riddled with outcomes so varied and so chaotic that it sometimes feels as if we are living our teens, twenties and beyond all in the course of one day! Seriously. So, last night, I read an article in More magazine (there that should offer a hint) about HRT or Hormone Replacement Therapy. Should You, Shouldn't You? For me this is not the question. The question is: now what? As in, okay, so that was an awful moment, minute, hour, day, night, week, month (take your pick)--and I ask: Now what? Why bring this up? One of the reasons for my vegan lifestyle (besides my compassion for animals) is directly related to being "of age"--that is, of an age where you are not as invincible as you were even two years ago--yes, the change is that fast. I am lucky so far. I began to speculate on the matter of food intake correlation with mood several years ago because I was very sick in my twenties and thirties with a taboo illness folks don't like to talk about much. So, in facing my own personal battles with my mind and body, it was clear I had to take more control of my own health. There was no magic bullet with meds for moods. Period. Trust me, I've tried. What works for me may not work for anyone else. But you have to know your body like you know your own home. I mean, seriously, take a deep look into the heart of who you are. I did and what I found was that if I were going to be able to sanely arrive at the point I am today (well, maybe some would question the sane part), it would require some due diligence on my part to do so through diet and plenty of exercise. Enter vegan choices. Enter an ongoing appointment with my running shoes. Enter Middle Age. As for the hormone replacement question--no thanks. Not yet. (I never say never.) I just feel lucky to still be able to carry my body along for runs like I had today--in the rain, in the cold (hey, I wasn't the only one out there--I passed four other runners!). Running. Being vegan. It's all good.
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