No-one is More Surprised Than Me: How I Overhauled My Diet and Shaved Almost 12 Minutes Off My 5K Time!

In 2018, I had 6 chest infections. At the time it was as if one just carried right on into another and I spent the year with a painfully tight chest, a raw throat and aching ribs from a cough that wracked my body. When a dust storm descended on Cyprus, I really struggled and ended up on a nebuliser.

It’s always been my weak spot. As a child I had every allergy test and examination out there plus an op to remove my tonsils and adenoids. No-one ever found anything. And I guess it can’t be really serious as here I still am at the age of 58 and still trying to avoid anyone with the merest hint of a cold.

During 2018 I’d started really getting into running and the chest issues were really p*****g me off by constantly messing with my training. I was never once race ready. I came so close to giving up. As I left my docs office one day clutching yet another prescription for antibiotics he said “Try giving up dairy. There’s no proven link but no harm giving it a try”. I knew that dairy had been blamed for causing thickened mucus and I certainly had a lot of that.

Three other things happened around the same time.

• I had the good fortune to chat to a professional athlete and he told me that the thing that makes the biggest difference to running performance is hydration. “If you’re poorly hydrated, forget it”. As someone who finds it a big struggle to drink enough, I was determined to find a way to consistently up my water intake.

• Shortly after, I went to stay with one of my daughters for a few days and we ate vegan food the whole time. She’s a great cook and there are also some seriously good vegan restaurants near where she lives in Bristol. The food was truly amazing. Honestly, I was stunned. I’m not a big foodie but here I was blown away by this awesome food. And-I realised-all those fruits and veggies would be a great way to get even more water into me.

• The other thing that happened was I had an online consultation with an experienced running coach. Amongst other things I was bemoaning the fact that during every run I seemed to run out of energy so quickly; I struggled with my breathing and could hardly pick up my legs. I’d put it down to my age and the menopause but other people around me of similar age were definitely managing better. Her top recommendation was “eat more protein”.

So here I was faced with this bunch of dietary advice-I could either make a big effort to change or keep on struggling with my chest and my running until I inevitably gave it up. I lay in bed and mulled it over. I worked out a plan. I decided to commit; this time I would follow it and keep at it long enough to see if it made a difference (which is where I usually fall flat).

So… in early 2019 it was the water intake I addressed first. Each morning I began filling 4 x 500ml bottles and lining them up in the kitchen. I didn’t allow myself to go to bed that evening until they were drained. I also bought a really big mug and started to build a habit of drinking lots of hot water with a slice of both lemon and root ginger throughout the day.

The dairy went next. I ditched cheese (vegan cheese is dire) and worked my way through all the nut milks to add to my coffee but they were grim. I gritted my teeth and swapped to drinking black coffee which took me a couple of months to accept but now it’s fine. I loved oats made with almond milk so that was an easy switch. I’m happy with dairy free yoghurt. Starbucks almond milk hot chocolate is delish!

I hate tracking my food intake but I did reluctantly decide to start by adding up my protein for a week and I’m glad I did. I was really shocked at how low it was-only 20g some days when my doc had suggested I shoot for around 90g. My whole diet was nearly all carbs.

I started eating more beans, pulses and lentils plus much more fruit and veg though at first although I ditched meat I still ate fish as I was a bit unsure of my ability to get enough protein. I made everything from scratch and didn’t buy processed vegan food.

I found that getting enough plant based protein wasn’t too difficult except that it was just So Much Food to get through every day. So I bought a tub of protein powder to make daily shakes and with each scoop containing 20g of protein that helped a lot with upping my quantities.

My fave shake:

• 300ml almond milk

• One chopped, frozen banana

• One scoop vegan protein powder

• Big handful mixed frozen berries

(contains approx 23g protein)

One day I was scrolling online through articles about protein and one of them caught my eye:

Did you know that consuming insufficient protein will badly affect your immune system?

No, I didn’t! To me, protein was all about building and muscle repair. Well that was the real clincher that convinced me to experiment with raising my protein intake. I would try anything to reduce the constant chest infections.

I don’t consciously add up my protein but I just make sure I get some with every meal and snack. And if I’m not sure I just grab a big scoop of peanut butter and eat it straight from the spoon. At first it’s all such a faff but honestly you soon get to roughly know the protein content of things and the majority of recipes have it worked out for you anyway. I try to get around 25g with each meal then add a shake like the one above.

It took me a while to really get rocking with all this and I caved completely during a few weeks spent in France with all that cheese and wine. But over the last 4 months I feel I’ve nailed it. At the time of writing I have been…

• 4 months plant based

• 4 months dairy free

• 4 months increased protein

• 4 months 2+ litres water per day

So have I noticed any changes?

I’m gobsmacked.

In 2019 I Had ONE Chest Infection

It was a really bad attack of influenza and bronchitis but I’d only recently ditched the dairy so wasn’t too disheartened as I knew I’d have to persevere much longer if I was to see any improvement.

My Running Has Improved Beyond My Wildest Dreams

Before whenever I ran, my chest was always semi congested. I didn’t actually realise by how much until one day it wasn’t! I’m so stunned by this new ‘lightness’ in my chest and can barely describe it to you. The other day I ran 18K with no trouble at all. I won’t say it was easy as I don’t think running is ever that. But I was so full of energy. I’m training for a 50K in July-I entered it fully prepared that I might pick up a DNF but now I’m actually starting to believe I can do it.

And-JOY-I have finally pulled off my first sub 30 minute 5K! I’ve knocked a whopping 12 minutes of my time in just a few months.

I always imagined I’d leap around like a crazy thing when (and if) I finally achieved this. But in fact when I hit the stop button on my watch I just stood there in silence, open mouthed and disbelieving. I made my way slowly back to my car and sat there for almost 10 minutes as the incredible realisation dawned that everything I’d been doing was actually working. And in a far bigger way than I could’ve ever imagined.

I Can Tell That I’m So Much More Hydrated

How..? Actually in the oddest ways! I had a big scar across my right knee due to a running fall and…it’s almost disappeared. How can that be?! No idea, but it has.

My Hair Is Much Softer And Shinier

My Wrinkles Are Plumping Out! (Noooo I’m a true Wrinkly!!)

Here are some no make up, unchanged pics. I haven’t got the greatest ‘before’ ones to show you as I didn’t know I’d be writing this post when I started! Hope you can make out the change despite the sunglasses.

The lines on my face are much less deep, especially the ‘elevens’ between the eyes which I HATE.

My Gastritis Has Not Reared It’s Head

I have suffered on and off with a slight inflammation of my stomach lining which manifests as an uncomfortable gnawing, burning sensation. For the moment, it’s lying low…

My Scalp Is Calm…

For many years I’ve experienced the most intensely itchy scalp. It’s been diagnosed as scalp psoriasis and flares up on the right side of my head, just above my ear. I’d put it down to running in the heat wearing a cap and also because my hair does get absolutely drenched in sweat with every run (I have friends who’s hair is still bone dry regardless of the run length or intensity!) I haven’t had a flare up for months and for that I’m super grateful.

My Tastes Are Changing

I’m writing this sitting on a flight and the crew are just about to come round with the food trolley. They’ve popped some cheese toasties in the oven and the smell is wafting round the cabin. I used to love cheese toasties but sitting here I don’t fancy one at all. There’s a falafel and houmous wrap on the menu made with a beetroot tortilla and stuffed with veggies. I’d honestly rather have that. I’m as shocked as you! I used to read about people who’d say “Gimme a big green salad over a chocolate custard donut anyday” and I’d think “yeah, yeah…” But it happens! I even had a nut roast on Christmas Day. I’m doing Dry January as well and didn’t think about alcohol on the flight until I opened the food leaflet and saw it all listed there. Another first for me!

I Am Losing Weight

I can’t tell you how much as I refuse to weigh myself (haven’t done so for 20+ years) but my clothes are getting looser and my friends are beginning to notice.

I obviously changed quite a few things at once during 2019 so can’t be sure what has had the greatest impact or even if everything is coincidental! All I know is if my chest infections are way down, my running is way up and I feel great-I’m sticking with it! I also can’t promise you’ll get the same results. One thing to remember is that my diet was pretty poor before-loaded with sugar and carbs and low on protein, fruit and veggies.

To give you a rough idea:

Before

Lunch: Cheese sandwich plus donut

Dinner: Pizza and something chocolatey

After

Breakfast: Porridge with almond milk, chia and flaxseeds, peanut butter and chopped banana

Lunch: Soup and a big salad with lots of greens

Dinner: Veggie curry, tagine or chilli

I could talk forever about all this. You can tell that I’m thrilled to bits. If you have any questions after reading this then please do put them in the comments below and I promise to answer each one. I’ve also built up quite a bank now of go-to recipes (plus 5 vegan cakes that I often make) so just shout if you’re interested!

I’ll keep on blogging about anything else I discover and also about my ultra training 🙂