Real World, Real Veggie Challenge Winner

This has been a fun diversion on my blog. No real talk of triathlon, I hope you all survived without your fix. So I've been eating "clean" and "kind" since December 1st (not my terms). Clean as in with the season, organically, and without any added sugars. "Kind" as in no critters...except fungus, and bacteria, I've been devouring those. This was really just an experiment. Since I didn't have to worry about adverse training effects, I've been having fun cooking new things. I am trained in traditional French cooking. I've taken years of cooking classes, so it's been really interesting to see how the vegans get it done. I dig it, I dig how fresh and upfront my veggies taste now. My food feels more alive than usual. I had an interesting thing happen this weekend. Kinda scary actually.

So, Saturday I had some butter, and I had flour, and I had some cheese. I haven't been trying to be gluten free or anything, but as a result of what I "have" been eating...I haven't really had gluten since I started. So I munched some breadsticks at our apartment holiday party, they were good, they had butter on them, and parmesan, and they were warm, and really yummy. I came home with a pretty bad headache and went right to bed.

Yesterday I went for a long slow run with friends and then afterwards I had a Mediterranean veggie sandwich from Panera, on Panera bread, with Feta cheese, again, some of the first wheat/dairy in several weeks. For dinner we had a little Ironman party and Troy made home made bread for the occasion. I had some, it was good. We also had pasta as the main dish, with a fresh veggie sauce and a big salad. For dessert I had two of these little cookies that Michelle made. They were very tasty.

Then we sat down to watch the Ironman. In the middle I got up and my head hurt really bad. Raging head ache. It's so rare that I get a headache. After the Ironman was over I couldn't even drive home, so Troy had to drive. When we got home I ran some warm water over my head and then I lost it. The worst headache I have ever had. It took me 10 minutes to go the 8 steps from the bathtub to bed. I laid on the floor of my closet groaning for some time. I thought my head was going to explode.

What have I done to myself? This is what I was thinking while I was laying on my closet floor, curled into a little ball. I love the way I feel eating clean, but oh my goodness. I think the eggs, cheese, gluten, and added sugar in the cookies over the past 24 hours added up to make me uber uber ill. I don't even know what to think of it all. My natural question is "Is it worth the awesome side effects of going clean if you are going to pay big time if you eat unclean"?

I don't even know, but what I do know is that I woke up this morning and immediately downed a ton of blended veggies and fruit. I'm almost afraid of eating something unhealthy, I don't want to feel like that again.

So there you go, for what it's worth. I feel a bit of a conundrum.

Therefore, let's give away some Justin's Nut Butter. It's Monday, and today Megan and I picked the winner of the Real World Real Veggie Challenge (or whatever it's called). It was hard to pick but we went with Kara. She really took the challenge and ran with it. She's made some great recipes and put up with some negative press. CONGRATULATIONS Kara, get me your address please!

And by the way, what is up with how sensitive people are around food? Nobody seems to have any problems with my triathlon lifestyle, but the minute I bring up food (even as an experiment), I start getting hate mail. I find it odd how judgmental people can be about what others choose to put in their mouth. I don't eat to make a statement, I eat to fill my tummy. Some people do, and I'm cool with that, but I just find it interesting how people jump to conclusions. I know there are serious issues surrounding food, but really there are serious issues surrounding EVERYTHING. I'm not ready to step on any pedestals, and that's just my personal stance. I'm glad others do, because it helps me inform myself when I am researching. Wow, heated stuff!

Now back to the previous scheduled programming...triathlon!