Diary of a Vegan Althete

Brick Session

Zoe — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:37:04 +0000

Tonight was my first brick session in the gym after an interrupted start to Triathlon training. I felt strong and took it steady. 30 mins on the bike on a hill setting then 20mins on the treadmill at 11kph.

My fitness seems to be increasing much quicker since my cleanse and I generally have more energy during the day waking earlier and staying up later. I have modified my diet and made it more alkaline, reducing grains to 10% of one meal, I’ve also replaced raisins with Goji Berries and stopped eating dates.

The alkaline theory says that the body runs on electricity not calories! Live raw, green foods have a higher electrical charge than an energy bar! Have you ever thought about cycling with a cucumber instead of an energy bar?

Pain Killers or Performance Killers?

Zoe — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 20:49:03 +0000

Many triathletes take anti-inflammatory medication such as Ibuprofen, during a race, believing it will get them through the event, easing the ‘normal’ pain felt during a race.

This practice may actually be detrimental to performance. A study found triathletes taking ibuprofen showed signs of kidney impairment, bacteria in the blood and higher levels of tissue inflammation.

The perceived pain and soreness levels felt by the non-users and ibuprofen users was found to be the same!

Anti-inflammatory medication was also found to slow the healing process of muscles, tendons, ligaments and bones. They inhibit the production of prostaglandins that are involved in pain and also in the creation of collagen needed for tissue repair.

Will you think twice before popping a pain killer?

Back on form!

Zoe — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:23:09 +0000

After 2 weeks off; One week of jet lag and laid up for a week with a kidney infection, which gave me chance to cleanse my body.

Today was my first day back to in the gym! I really feel like I’ve lost some cardio fitness, my legs felt grate, my chest tight. I’m easing myself in gently and only did a 20min run on the treadmill. I hope I have enough time over winter to be on form for my first triathlon next summer! My illness has given me even more incentive to look after my body and stick to a highly alkaline diet to keep the muscles healthy and lactic acid free, supplementing the diet with alkalising supplements including doc brocs, pHour salts and Terra phirma clay.

Treating a water infection (without antibiotics)!

Zoe — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:34:42 +0000

I’m currently laid up in bed with a water infection. I returned from an intensive course in Florida a week ago and through myself straight into work, made a lot of changes in my life, including emotional ones and my body seems to be having a bit of a protest.

My beliefs about antibiotics have changed since studying Dr Robert Young’s ‘New Biology’. He has studied pleomorphism; where cells can adapt and morph according to their environment. Healthy blood has a slightly alkaline pH of 7.36. Our negative emotions and our western diet produce excess acidity; acidic blood can cause our own blood cells to morph into bacteria, yeast or fungus! Sounds crazy but I belief it is true and there is plenty of evidence to back this theory.

Therefore, if an acidic environment creates the dis-ease, an alkaline environment can cure it. This also means we need to take responsibility for the dis-ease and not be victim to a ‘germ’ we though attacked us. The have been times today where I have almost given into the pain and gone to the GP for that magic pill, however knowing this will be antibiotics I’ve decided to practice what I preach (having never been ill for the 2 years I’ve been on an alkaline diet, this feels like a real test).

Why not antibiotics? It is a myth that antibiotics kill bacteria, they just change it into another form; yeast or fungus. Ever had thrush after a course of antibiotics and wondered why?

Taking this all in board the best treatment is to give my body a rest and alkalise m blood as much as possible so the bacteria cannot survive. This has been a good excuse for me to cleanse and rest my body, I’m not eating solid foods, instead living on large quantities of fresh vegetable juices and highly alkalising supplements; Doc Brocs power plants, Terra pHirma clay, and pHour Salts. I’m getting plenty of rest and have been mediating to address the emotion side of di-sease. Hopefully I’ll return stronger than ever ready to resume triathlon training again!

Maintaining a healthy Vegan Diet on Holiday

Zoe — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:11:03 +0000

Holidays can prove a challenge for anyone following a diet. I’m currently in Florida for 2 weeks on a training course. Here the Americans are big meat eaters. They don’t seem to understand the concept of vegetarianism. Therefore to be a vegan requires you to be resourceful. Finding a good supermarket with fresh vegetables, nuts and seeds. When eating out you may have to be inventive don’t be afraid to change dishes, take meat out add things on. For example, last night there was a spinach salad on the menu with raspberry’s and cheese, therefore, I asked the waiter for the salad without cheese and to replace it with Avocado and olive instead.

My diet whilst in Florida, has consisted of fruit and vegetable smoothies for breakfast, brought from the supermarket, lunch is usually avocado, hummus, tomato, cucumber, celery and for dinner I eat out and usually have a salad. I brought supplements with me, my green drinks and oil capsules.

Vegan Triathlete Diet Improved

Zoe — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:19:24 +0000

	Drinks & supplements	Food Overview
Breakfast	3/4 litre of Dr Brocs Power plants with baking soda Supplements: Borage oil capsule & vitamin B12 capsule	Fruit & Vegetable smoothie
Snack	¾ litre of water with baking soda Peppermint tea	Almonds, Brazil nuts, Walnuts Dates, Raisons, Figs
Lunch	Peppermint tea	Salad: Lettuce, Cucumber, Tomato Sugar snap peas, Peppers Onion, Mixed Sprouts (chickpea, aduki beans, lentil) Quiona or amaranth Olive oil, udos choice oil Salt & pepper Hommus, ground flax
Snack	¾ litre water with baking soda Peppermint tea	Banana or apple or raw food bar Another vegetable juice with a green drink if I’ve done a hard exercise.
Dinner	Herbal tea ¾ litre of greens with baking soda before bed	Vege curries, stir frys, chillis, salads Quinoa Rice Brown Rice noodles

Triathlon Training Log – Week 7

Zoe — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:57:22 +0000

Exercise Log – Week Beginning 12^th October 2009
	Event	Distance	Time
Mon	Swim	56 lengths	43mins
Tues	Rest
Weds	Gym	Cross trainer Treadmill interval session Core Strength exercises Stretches	30min 15min
Thurs	Rest
Fri	Swim	60 lengths (float work) 20 arms only 10 kicking 10 arms 10 kicking 10 front crawl	1 hour
Sat	Cycle	7 miles (windy)	32 miles
Sun	Cycle	26 miles	1 hour 42 min

Essential Fatty Acids (omega 3 & 6) Essential for Athletes!

Zoe — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:31:39 +0000

These essential fatty acids are needed for Energy production and Lactic Acid removal.

Fatty Acids actually neutralise dietary acids and lactic acid. They are also;

Build cell walls
Support White Blood Cells
Lubricate Joints
Insulate the body
Hold moisture in the skin
Improve brain function
Improve circulation
Support cell growth and generation (essential for recovery between training sessions
Lowers risk of heart attacks and strokes
Lowers Cholesterol
Are needed for weight loss
Lower cancer risk

These fatty acids really are essential!!

So where do we get them from a healthy, non animal source?

The best source of Omega 3 is EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) which can be found in:

Flaxseed (Flaxseed can be eaten as oil, added to salad dressings or ground into a powder great for sprinkling on salads and porridge oats.
Hemp (Hemp oil can also be added to salads)
Walnut

Omega 6s (LA, CLA and GLA)

These are also good acid neutralisers and good to burn for energy.

They help you burn off unwanted body fat

They also lower blood pressure, cholesterol, risk of heart attack, stroke and obesity.

They also help prevent arthritis, relieve PMT and improve skin, hair and nails!

Therefore, as well as being full of energy your skin will glow and radiate!

The 2 key omega 6s are LA (linoleic acid) and (GLA) gammalinolenic acid.

LA is found in sesame, walnut, pumpkin, flax and hemp – seeds, nuts and oils

GLA is found in sunflower, evening primrose, blackcurrant and borage oils.

How I get my Essential Oils:

I add ground flaxseeds to m daily salad

I also add an omega oil to my salad dressing that contains: pumpkin, hemp, sesame, flax and evening primrose oils.

and in addition I supplement it with a capsule of Borage (Starflower) oil.

Healthy Avocado & Banana Smoothie

Zoe — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:20:16 +0000

Ingredients:

1 Banana peeled

1 Avocado peeled and de-stoned

1 Apple

1/3 Cumber

A few lettuce leaves

2 Celery Stalks

Handful of Spinach

Equipment:

Juicer

Hand held blender or smoothie maker.

Instructions:

Place the spinach, avocado & banana into the blender

Juice the celery, apple, cucumber, lettuce and pour into blender

Blend all together and enjoy!

This makes a lovely, sweet, energising smoothie, great for breakfast or before exercise.

Avocados are a superfood containing necessary minerals like potassium, calcium, vitamin C and K, folic acid, copper and sodium. Avocados are high in essential oils vital for burning fat to energy and great skin! They are also a good source of plant protein.

Sugar free nutrition bar

Zoe — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 08:00:27 +0000

Not only am I a vegan athlete I am also sugar free. The latest nutritional theories and research I have been reading are finding that our bodies run on electricity (electrolytes) not sugar! Sugar gives us a false high which then results in a huge low afterwards giving our body an energy debt it needs to recover from, slowing exercise recovery.

The longer it takes to recover the longer we need to rest between training. The less rest we need the more we can train and the fitter become. Brendan Brazier, Vegan Iron Man Triathlete explains this well in his book The Thrive Diet, in the chapter on stress.

So what do we eat during exercise?

Raw, Sugar Free, Natural, Energy Bars

There are now sugar free bars readily available in health food shops and some supermarkets, the best ones I have tried are; Nakd and Trek, these bars are fantastic, reasonably priced, great tasting and sugar free nutrtion bars. I use them as energy bars during and after a long bike ride.

Brendan Brazier has created his own natural, raw, sugar free energy bars called Vega whole food energy bar. These are more pricey but when you check out there highly nutritious ingredients you can see why.

The cheaper alternative is to make your own. There are plenty of recipes for these in Brendan’s book, The Thrive Diet.

Some of the natural ingredientts in Brendan’s reciepes include:

Dates

Raisins

Almonds

Blueberries

Flaxseed

Hemp Protein

Quinoa

Amaranth

Sunflower seeds

I ensure I eat plenty of these in my diet, when I get in from training I often make a bowl of raw oats, dates raisins, almonds, ground flaxseeds, sunflower and pumpkins seeds with water. The first 45 mins after exercise is the window of oppertunity to restock the muscles with energy. I also have a glass of greens after a training session.