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Showing posts from December 14, 2014

Fueling the vegetarian endurance athlete - Part 2!

Thank you  Girls Gone Strong  for letting me share my thoughts on fueling the vegetarian endurance athlete.  As a 22-year vegetarian and 9x Ironman finisher, I had so much to say on this topic so we decided to make it a two part series and finish with a Q&A on the Girls Gone Strong Facebook page!                                                                              To read the articles:  Part 1  &  Part 2  Q&A Q: On Tuesday, in this article  you gave some guidelines   for protein, carb, and fat requirements for female endurance athletes. Do the numbers look different for women who mostly strength train, and whose goals are strength-based?    If so, how do they differ?   A: Thanks for asking   !  The main focus of fueling an endurance athlete is ensuring that glycogen stores are not the limited as we want to keep our bodies energized for the long haul. I am a firm believer that endurance athletes need a healthy amount of fat in the diet to s

12 reasons why you shouldn't diet

Have you found yourself (for non clinical reasons) recently eliminating food sources or food groups titled dairy, sugar, grains, gluten, refined foods, carbs or un-natural in an effort to eat more “clean” or because those foods are bad? It’s ok to have good intentions with diet changes as you want to better understand what foods work best for your body in motion but extreme dietary shifts in eating patterns are one of the most common red flag signs that you may be developing (or furthering) your unhealthy relationship with food and your body. Sure, improvements in any area of life require attention and perhaps some degree of obsession but when your eating/food thoughts and habits are all-consuming and have taken over your life, it’s time to re-evaluate your relationship with food. If you are a performance-driven athlete, keep in mind that rule-based eating does not take into account your personal needs, your performance goals, your periodized training plan, your lif

Fueling the Vegetarian Endurance Athlete

Fueled by plants   With so much information on healthy eating, sport nutrition and dieting, I really enjoy writing about topics that I know a lot about from first-hand experience. When   Girls Gone Strong   approached me to write an article about fueling the vegetarian endurance athlete, I was super excited about the opportunity to introduce others to my plant strong lifestyle.  As a 22-year vegetarian and 9x Ironman finisher, I think it is safe to say that my diet is not a temporary fad and perhaps I know a thing or two about fueling the plant-strong athlete.  I hope you find that my   article   is an informative way to help you understand how to eat to be a healthy endurance athlete and how to do so, if you choose vegetarianism. This article  is not persuading you to become a vegetarian athlete to boost performance, nor is it telling you that your health and performance will automatically improve should you choose to remove meat from your diet.

Coconut pancakes with fruit topping

Coconut pancakes with fruit topping 1/3 cup coconut flour 1 tbsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp salt 4 eggs (2 whites, 2 whole) 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp milk (I used reduced fat organic milk but you can use almond milk) Seasonal fruit - I used raspberries and bananas Extra crunch - chopped nuts/seeds (I used  Veronica's Health Crunch Olive oil for cooking Maple syrup Serves 6-8 pancakes 1. Mix together the first 3 ingredients in medium size bowl.  2. In small bowl mix together milk and eggs.  3. Add the wet to the dry and whisk together (you need to use a whisk not a fork) until no clumps remain. If batter is too thick, add a little water or more milk. It shouldn't be runny off the whisk but should be a slow continuous drip.  4. On a medium size skillet on medium heat, lightly coat the bottom of your pan with olive oil.  5. Place ~1/4 cup batter to form a pancake, gently smooth out the pancake with the back of a spoon to make it a little thinner.  6. Cook for 2