Getting Stronger and Faster with Plants

I continue to be amazed by really quick recovery times and getting stronger and faster.

I'm still not getting under 8 minutes a mile on a 10-miler, but I'm :14 per mile faster than last weekend's 10 mile run … AND my average heart rate is down slightly despite the quicker pace - suggesting my cardio continues to improve.

I'm also lifting a whole lot heavier weights than I did in January - despite shedding the weight of a small person. That should help alleviate the fears of some of my well-meaning friends who have contacted me to say they are concerned I'm losing a bunch of muscle through my plant-based lifestyle.

Of course, some of the best news (to me - beyond the weight itself) is that my BP is WAY down from the 169/110 that it was this time last year. Within 3 weeks of switching to a fully plant-based diet, it was already in the pre-hypertensive range and since July - it's been strongly in the normal to great range.

Genetics loads the gun, but lifestyle pulls the trigger!

This is so important to me because blood pressure is an indicator of so many other looming chronic conditions that could really keep me from being able to actively and enthusiastically pursue what God has for me over the time He has remaining for me this side of heaven. There will be grand babies to hold and play with, my lady to love, students to teach, many people to serve and care for … and special missions He has for me I'm sure!

A couple years ago, I felt somewhat imprisoned by my genetic pool … Like I was destined to have certain hereditary conditions. Please be encouraged, that is SO not true. You can change your fuel and let the miraculous self-healing body that God designed do its thing. Many chronic conditions that the medical establishment used to consider permanent are reversible including two of the top leading causes of premature death - Type 2 Diabetes and heart disease.

But, you have to focus on true health, not just reducing excess pounds (which is merely a symptom of malnutrition). ANY diet that provides a caloric deficit can be effective in temporary weight/fat reduction. Only plant-based eating has been medically proven to improve longevity and reduce the prevalence of chronic diseases which are plaguing our society. Only plant-based eating can prevent cases of thin, seemingly healthy individuals having strokes and heart attacks.

Our health and our time are the two greatest assets that we control. When I started seeing my taking care of myself as a stewardship thing, I was able to make the real efforts to change.