Ruth Morley

Ever since I was in my 20’s, I have enjoyed moving my body outdoors. To sum up what I have done in the past 45 years, I began with running, and gradually added in cycling, swimming, Pilates and yoga. With multiple marathons, triathlons, and cross-country cycling journeys under my belt, hiking and long distance backpacking began insisting on my attention when I was in my 50’s, when we lived near the French Alps. At that point, I began my long distance hiking/backpacking “career,” first with the 1500 mile European trail called the GR5, and later the 2200 mile Appalachian Trail.

 With all those fitness pursuits and a lean frame, you’d think I’d have stellar heart health. Not so. In my 30’s, I learned that my total cholesterol was in the 250’s. With my family members dying of heart attacks, this was of concern to me. I followed the American Heart Association’s suggestions of eating more skin-free chicken breast, but to no avail. I peeked into Dr. Dean Ornish’s first book about eating heart-healthy, but his diet looked way too stringent for my liking, so I just continued what I was doing, assuming my fitness pursuits were keeping me heart-attack safe. Meanwhile, my pre-diabetes was moving in the wrong direction, my hypothyroidism now required more medications, my osteopenia had moved into osteoporosis and chronic aches and pains plagued me, especially in the lower back and hips. However, I continued on with my pursuits, despite how my body felt. I assumed everyone else had multiple conditions and also hurt.

The cholesterol kept creeping up towards 300 as I continued my long-distance running and cycling. I used more and more olive oil, the “healthy oil,” and ate lots of grass-fed beef and salmon. I also continued backpacking. To my great distress, I had to get off the Appalachian Trail just 200 miles from it at its northern terminus, due to two pelvic stress fractures. I wallowed in my misery on the sofa, searching online for some magic foods that would help heal bones quickly. Turning to Netflix for entertainment and perhaps some help, I clicked on the documentary, The Gameschangers, and thus instantly changed my own game overnight. It all suddenly made sense to me that eating a whole food plant-based diet could provide optimal nutrition for the human body, as exemplified by the world class athletes in the documentary. Within two weeks of leaving all animal products behind, including dairy and eggs, I realized that my aches and pains had disappeared. My hips and back no longer ached. Within the first two months, my cholesterol dropped 100 points from its highest level, my prediabetes reversed itself completely, and one thyroid med was removed and the other reduced. And how exciting to find that my libido was returning. We both were thrilled by that!

As I explored this new world, I found many more great documentaries, most notably Forks Over Knives, with its great website with recipes, success stories and more. I continued my education by completing T. Colin Campbells’ Plant-Based Nutrition course through Cornell, reading numerous books and websites and listening daily to podcasts mostly on YouTube, such as Chef AJ, PCRM’s Exam Room and Rip Esselstyn’s Plantstrong.S I learned more and more about how to alter my food and cooking, and how to live what is basically a counter-cultural life in a world full of disease, pain and obesity, surrounded constantly by unhealthy food.

After discovering Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr.’s book, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, I knew I needed to follow Dr. Esselstyn’s way of eating, because of the exceptional results his patients had. This plan includes a multitude of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and beans/legumes, and is “SOS-free”, leaving behind added salt, oil, sugar and naturally high fat foods, such as nuts, avocados, olives, soy products. This made all the difference. I found I had much more energy and jumped out of bed each morning, rather than limping gingerly down the hall to the bathroom. More interesting benefits continued to pop up. I had quicker recovery from exercise, the canker sores that had plagued me continually ended completely. My eyesight greatly improved, no longer needing glasses for distance, only readers occasionally. My osteoporosis stopped its descent, with thanks to a form of yoga for osteoporosis I follow nearly every day by Dr. Loren Fischman. All amazing!

So…I wanted to finish my final 200 miles of the Appalachian Trail. I had dehydrated all my food for the previous 1900 miles, since I was already eating gluten-free and what I thought was a healthy diet: Paleo, heavy on meat, olive oil, veggies and fruit, no grains, no legumes. I quickly learned how to dehydrate my new dishes (curries, tomato-based, sauces, etc) and snacks (fruit mixes, veggie/chickpea trail mix), oatmeal cookies (oats, pureed bananas, shredded zucchini and carrots, sometimes minced beets), and more. All so delicious! My husband continued sending my food packs every 4-5 days to designated hostels, hotels, or General Delivery at post offices along the trail. I also had the great joy of him finishing the final difficult 100 miles in Maine with me. Could I get any more support than that? Nope.

More trails have been covered the past three years. I have now completed just over half of Ohio’s 1400 mile Buckeye Trail, which roughly follows the perimenter of our state. This trail is a multi-year project for me, doing it in 4-7 day segments when the weather is good. I got rained on enough when on the Appalachian Trail, thank you.

Earlier this year, I began my first of four Januarys in which I intend to traverse the length of Florida via the 1100 mile Florida National Scenic Trail and the 100 mile Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail. And in late July of this year, I will begin my 480 mile thru-hike through the Rockies on the Colorado Trail.

I’m now 70 and in my fourth year of this wonderful way of eating, I had the great fortune that, right from the beginning, my husband joined me in this as a way of support. When he too lost his aches and pains and felt like an athlete again, he joined in long-term, easily losing about 20 pounds and improving his performance in triathlons.

I know that I’m very fortunate that this way of eating has brought so much success to me. I now feel 20 years younger and am so grateful that I can continue to pursue my very active outdoor pursuits. I did all my previous adventures despite how my body felt. I now am able to continue BECAUSE of how it feels. It took awhile to learn how to eat this way, but I’ve now settled into it for the rest of my life. It helps greatly having support groups on Facebook such as Plant-Based Healthy Cinncinnati, 100% Esselstyn Nutrition Forum, Dehydrating Your Own Backpacking Food and Vegan Hikers and Backpackers.

If you would like to read or hear more about my adventures and how I prepare my trail food, please feel free to check out my blog at thetrek.co/author/ruth-morley, my fledgling FB page, Heart-Healthy Hiking, and my appearances on the YouTube channels of Chef AJ, Rip Esselstyn’s Plantstrong, and Julie Gayheart’s Section Hiker, episode 153.

You are also welcome to contact me at morleyruth@hotmail.com or visit my Facebook group Heart Healthy Hiking!

Thank you for your interest and good luck in your health journey. Remember, health results from healthful living. Your body is never not looking. Treat it well.