Thriving

Hey another Saturday- that means resting, pottering in the kitchen, buying food and supplies, cleaning the house and soaking nuts and sprouts etc.

It also means carbo loading for a big run tomorrow.

I have just read Brendan Braziers “Thrive” vegan athletes diet book and although a lot of the stuff in it is what I either already did before going vegan or now do, there are a whole lot of distinctions that I think will make a huge difference to my performance and recovery.

I have great recovery.  My trainer and I often think I wont be able to move the next day and yet I end up barely stiff so I must be doing something right.

I have always believed that the ‘food pyramid’ was completely off- honestly, grains at the bottom? I havent really eaten bread in 18 months and have been so much healthier for it.  Ditto pasta which I view as wall paper paste, cake, rice and most of what passes for staple food.

The bottom of my food pyramid has been cruciferous vegetables for quite some time.  My perfect breakfast was steamed Brussel sprouts and balsamic vinegar… I know, weird but so yummy.

Anything the rest of the family put on rice or pasta I put on fresh baby spinach or cabbage.  My other fav meal was omelettes and veges on a bed of greens.

So my new animal product free diet involves substituting seeds and nuts for meat, eggs and cheese- no problem really.

Brendan’s book has some great recipes that involve soaked nuts and seeds and has lots of information on acidity and alkalinity which is very important in terms of recovery and performance.   It has specific recipes for post workout drinks and explains the science behind the ratios.  It even has recipes for sports gels so must get myself a gel pouch to carry some in.

I think I might have even got M to come over to the ‘dark’ side.  He rides for several hours at a go and at his top speed most of the time. I made him scrambled eggs on essene bread and a green smoothie (chocolate and spirulina and spinach) for lunch and his dinner was home made wheat free flat breads with falafels and various salady fillings.

I had left over pizza and salad with avocado. I am going to eat a lot of tahini balls later on with a nice cup of rooibos tea.

I also spent some time boosting the muesli that the rest of the family eats with puffed amaranth, dates, LSA, and dried fruit. Haha, they will never notice… damn it they will eat healthy food.

Wish me luck for tomorrow I run 28km… slowly but still, it’s a long way. It always freaks me out before I do it and then when I get back it seems like the most normal thing in the world.  Each week I run 1 km more than the last… I am running the NY marathon in November so should be in great shape by then.  Next week I will be starting a 10 week training program to step up my running speed so I have speed and distance- yeah baby, I want it all.

see ya

Day 27

Today was another hot day and we had to do a quick trip to the vege shop for supplies before it got really cookin’.

I filled the freezer with slices  of pineapple which were fab when the temperature didnt get below  25 degrees Celsius  in the evening.

I had another coffee today which I know isnt raw but I found a beautiful organic fair trade one that totally blows my hair back so had it with stevia and almond milk.

The rest of todays food was fruit, smoothies, salad and oh thats it… and frozen fruit.

I still have some raw sprouted humus that I made the other day and it is spicy and delicious and a great accompaniment to cucumber and carrot.  Hot days call for simple food and lots of water.
That’s it for today… I am hoping my “Thrive” vegan athlete book arrives soon so I have some new recipes.  I have been checking out Brendan Brazier online and he seems pretty cool. I am interested to see his approach as I have a specific dietary requirement being a long distance runner and if I mess up my nutrition things get bad quickly.

Tomorrow is supposed to be hotter than today… oh joy