Tell us a little about yourself.
My name is Susan Lacke and I'm 29 years old (I plan on being 29 years old for the rest of my life, but until March of 2013, I really am 29!). Some people know me as the Resident Triathlete at No Meat Athlete or humor columnist for Competitor Magazine. I'm just someone who really, really, really likes to swim, bike, run, and eat.
What inspired you to begin writing for "No Meat Athlete"?
I became a vegetarian five years ago, and a runner almost four years ago. When I decided to start running, I had a friend who kept harping on me about how I would need to start eating meat. Armed with a laptop and extensive Googling skills, I found Matt's blog, No Meat Athlete. It was so helpful to find a resource for what I was trying to do – become a runner while still maintaining my vegetarian lifestyle.
After my first marathon, I included Matt on my race recap e-mail. He responded, asking if I'd be interested in writing a guest post for the site, and...well, the rest is history.
I stopped eating meat in 2007. After a dreadful year, which included job stress, a cross-country move, a divorce, a major health crisis, and my heaviest weight ever, things really felt like they were spiraling out of control. As a way of taking back my life, I accepted I couldn't control a lot of factors, but I could control what I put into my body. I made a conscious choice to eat healthy foods. At first, that didn't mean vegetarianism -- it just meant eliminating fried or overly processed foods. Then it evolved into not eating red meat. Then I cut out chicken. I ate fish for a little while...but eventually, I decided that I wanted to give vegetarianism a shot. I haven't looked back since.
Though I hate when people advertise a plant-based lifestyle as a weight-loss method, I must admit, I did lose weight. I also had a lot more energy, and that's what pushed me to start running.
By making these small changes to my lifestyle, I began to feel like I was getting some control back in my life. When I put my own health first, I was putting me first – something I hadn't done for a really long time.
What are some of the benefits of a plant-based diet?
I certainly don't want to sound evangelical or pushy in answering this, but there are a lot of benefits to a plant-based diet. Studies have shown that vegetarians have fewer health problems – better digestion, lower risk of diabetes, lower blood pressure, healthy cholesterol levels, lower risk of cancer, and increased lifespan. Certainly, vegetarianism isn't a silver bullet to health, especially if you have genetic or environmental factors coming into play. But it's still a pretty good ace up your sleeve.
Athletes who are vegetarians or vegans tend to have high levels of energy and recover quickly after hard workouts (essential, since I am active every day). Some athletes who experience asthma also state that a plant-based lifestyle decreases their symptoms.
Some people become vegetarians or vegans out of compassion for animals. Others do it to reduce their impact on the planet. Some do it as a way of preventing or reversing a medical condition (heart disease, for example). Some do it just because meat grosses them out. Some do it just because they're curious to see if they'd look or feel better. All of these are fine reasons to check out a plant-based lifestyle. And that, perhaps, is the biggest benefit of all – making a change for the better.
I try to incorporate a lot of variety into my diet. I love to cook, though I'm not always very good at it! My partner, Neil, is not a vegetarian, but still enjoys a lot of the same foods I do.
That said, there's a lot of different foods that rotate through our house, depending on the season and what kind of training we're doing. If you look in the fridge, you'll always see strawberries, blueberries, greens (kale and spinach are favorites), lentils, orange juice, peanut butter, eggs, and cupcakes. Yes, I said cupcakes.
Do you have any advice for people who want to stop consuming meat?
A plant-based diet is really not that different from a normal diet. The only notable difference, of course, is the meat. Just like a meat-eater can choose really healthy foods and really unhealthy foods, there's also a spectrum of "healthy" and "unhealthy" foods for vegetarians and vegans. I frequently see people declare themselves vegetarians, but then replace meat with cheese or highly-processed meat replacements and wonder why they gain weight. If you're gonna do a plant-based lifestyle, do it the healthy way.
Start small – maybe try vegetarianism for 1 week. If you like it, then shoot for 30 days; if you don't, then go ahead and buy that cheeseburger - no one's going to send you to your room if you don't eat your peas.
Search for recipes that appeal to you, and plan your meals. Learn to enjoy new foods (before I was a vegetarian, I had never eaten a sweet potato, cooked with fennel, or caramelized onions – now they're some of my favorite flavors!). And most importantly, have fun with it!
You have lots of experience with marathons and marathon training. Do you have any advice for someone who wants to start running?
With my work in the endurance sports community, I'm fortunate to have met a lot of wicked smart and talented runners and triathletes. All of them have said the same thing: When you first get started, running sucks. A lot.
Ease into it, though, and it doesn't suck as much. Don't go out and try to run a marathon right away, and don't worry about breaking land speed records just yet. Try jogging a few minutes without stopping. Take a walk break, and then jog a few more minutes. Do that run-walk alternation for 30 minutes, and you'll have a solid workout under your belt. With time and consistency, each day you gradually increase the run intervals and decrease the walk breaks within that 30 minute timeframe.
For more from Susan, visit http://www.nomeatathlete.com/ and like the blog's Facebook page!
