To celebrate National Vegetarian Week 2014, The Tofu Diaries has invited fellow bloggers to get involved and share! Today’s guest blog is from Ani who is going to share her story of how moving to a plant-based diet was the natural progression for her as a keen runner and the benefits she has felt since making this change. Ani also has a delicious Moroccan carrot and quinoa salad recipe for us!My name is Ani and I started Miles for Thought over a year ago.  My blog is an attempt to document my life as I strive to live a healthy and balanced life through the wild ride that is college.

Here is my story:

Throughout high school, I played soccer and lacrosse and was always active.  This being said, I always hated running.  Weird I know looking back… but running was always a punishment; for example, “oh you want to walk back into formation?  Go run 3 miles.”  Without the motivation of a team in college, exercise severely fell to the wayside.  It wasn’t until the spring of my freshman year that I decided to get back into shape.

Running became the perfect option.  All you need is a good pair of shoes and you’re off.  At first, I just ran whenever I felt like it and for however long I felt like it.  This has gradually transformed into higher mileage, faster times, and a detailed running log that keeps track of my training.  It was a tough beginning, but slowly a mile run became two, which became three and four, ultimately leading to many races including a marathon.  Not only did running become a way to exercise, but it became an escape from the stress which inspired the name of this blog.

As I got more into running, it was a natural progression to get serious about what I ate.  It did not make sense to me to put in the work and effort to increase my mileage, only to throw it away in the form of artificial sweeteners and preservatives.  Shock of all shocks: college kid does not drink alcohol or indulge in 2am pizza runs.  Instead, I decided to focus on eating real, whole foods.

My journey to transitioning to a primarily plant-based diet was a slow one.  I grew up loving meat, so a juicy burger or medium-rare steak was often our family’s way of celebrating birthdays and big events.  My mom is a phenomenal cook and I never questioned what I was served.  Dinner was a meat, a starch, and a vegetable – typical American.

When I began running more seriously, I gave up red meat for health reasons.  It did not sit well in my stomach before runs and I always felt heavy when I ate a steak or a burger.

Last summer, I ate white meat once or twice a week and the rest of my meals were filled with seafood and legumes.  I felt so much better when I began cutting out more meat and was never left with a sinking feeling at the pit of my stomach.  Not only was my running performance improving, but I felt much better throughout the day and found myself with more energy.

When I moved back to school that year and my meals were fully in my control, I decided to go vegetarian.  It was only a few months in that I became more and more plant-based, cutting out eggs and dairy.

There are many different reasons why people decide to go vegetarian, vegan, or limit a certain type of food.  I made this decision for my health and the link that animal protein has to certain types of cancer and heart disease.  Now the reasoning behind my decision has grown – there are so many ethical reasons to maintain a plant-based diet.  Quite frankly, I cannot believe I did not do this sooner.  I do not preach to those that choose to eat meat – my brothers and dad are meat and potatoes people.  I have made my choice and I am excited to cook and experience delicious and satisfying meals that are plant-based.

Moroccan Carrot & Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

Spiced Quinoa

• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon ground paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Salad

• 5 medium carrots
• Juice of one lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons raisins or currants
• 1/4 cup toasted almonds, unsalted
• Large handful each fresh parsley and coriander