Forks over Knives

I just finished watching Forks Over Knives (forksoverknives.com), a documentary about the amazing medical benefits of a plant based diet. The movie was completely inspiring, even as someone who is already sold on the idea. The whole foods aspect of a healthy diet is so, so important and one that I tend to sometimes neglect because, when busy, vegan processed 'junk' food sure comes in handy. But as a vegan and, dare I say, athlete- I should always be making time to fuel my body the correct way. Half-assed nutrition is not for marathoners! Besides, I suppose you could say bananas are pretty convenient. Oh yeah, and nuts. Perhaps apples. Even those tiny little carrots that come all washed in a bag. So, yeah, handy might be an excuse for eating stuff that feels good.

I can't even begin to discuss all of the poignant things I learned in this film. The most striking statistics are the ones that claim we could feed all of the starving people in the world with the grain that we feed cows to fatten them up for burgers. Seriously, people- we could solve world hunger. Not to even mention heal our bodies and the environment. And why don't we? Because we like our burgers and food and politics are so wrapped up together that it is a problem even my cashew puree 'mac and cheez' can't even sort it out.

I enjoyed seeing the athletes in the film and wish that there had been more footage to support the fact that people can be strong on plants. Mac Danzig and Rip Esselstyn are amazing and proof that vegans can be very manly indeed. The wimpy vegan should really be a stereotype of the past.

I hope that running this marathon will show people how damn healthy a plant- based diet is. In order to be the best advocate for that, I pledge to eat as healthy as possible so people can see how I thrive. I hope I can make 26.2 miles look easy...and sexy:)