I thought I would start this blog with a picture of a non-alcoholic
beer (technically 0.5%) that I drank a few days ago. I had been for a long run
that day – 10 miles plus – and had consumed a Lucozade isotonic sports drink,
which has been marketed to us as the best thing we can drink whilst exercising.
So you can imagine my surprise when I saw the words on the beer bottle stating
that the drink was: “isotonic, vitamin- rich [and] reduced calories”. To be
honest with you I didn’t really know what isotonic meant in relation to a
drink. Apparently it means a drink containing a similar concentration of salts
and sugars as the human body (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_drink).
Even then my definition only comes from Wikipedia, so please feel free to tell
me what your definition is and where you got it from. I could accept that my
alcohol free beer had a reduced number of calories, but questioned whether it
really contained any vitamins. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw this: http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=263042455.
It really got me thinking about what we actually define as ‘healthy’,
in terms of what we eat and drink. It seems more and more companies are positioning
their food/ drink brands from something that you enjoy, to something that is
good for you and will enhance your life; the beer above being a good example.
We are approaching the end of the first month of 2015 and already I feel like I
have been mentally battered to death with books like: 5 Weeks to Sugar Free and The High Fat Diet. I’m not even
going to mention the celebrity in the first book, because I fear that would be
giving them even more coverage. I have nothing against books that espouse helping
people manage their weight or understand what they are eating, but there does
need to be a balance. For instance, whether the first book intends to or not
with its celebrity endorsement; people will subconsciously look at the book and
think I could be like that person. This is unfair for the average person like
you or me, as we may not have the time (or the money?) to afford a personal
trainer/ nutritionist. In my opinion celebrities provide an unrealistic
expectation and image of how we should look- I believe this is unfair. Both
books also seem to imply that sugar is bad. Processed sugar is definitely a
huge problem for modern day society, but you cannot lump all types of sugar
into something to be avoided. What about the naturally occurring sugars in
fruit? Or stevia?
These types of sugar are not our enemies. Surely the better thing to do, rather
than advocating the extreme act of avoidance, would be to understand what
sugars to have and what to avoid. I don’t want to venture too far into what
people should or should not be eating, as I have no qualifications in this
area. I will simply refer you to the UK government’s website on eating and
living well: http://www.nhs.uk/Change4Life/Pages/why-change-for-life.aspx.
What I really want to talk about is my experience with changing my
nutritional intake from a meat based to a predominantly vegetarian diet –since
1st January 2015- and the benefits I found from doing this. There
were three key reasons for doing this. I had read Scott Jurek’s Eat & Run and Rich Roll’s Finding Ultra; both advocated a plant
based diet being able to increase recovery as well as performance. Additionally
friends and family had provided me with even more literature on how to switch
to a plant-based diet in terms of training and preparing meals (this will be
discussed below in the links I have listed). Finally over the Christmas
holidays in a discussion with friends; an observation arose about how the
‘Western world (e.g. USA, EU, Canada, Australia, etc.)’ was trying to starve
itself to stay thin and the ‘Developing world (e.g. Afghanistan, Niger, North
Korea, etc.)’ were struggling to feed themselves. In my eyes the world should
not be caught between such extremes. In the UK we have a schizophrenic
relationship with food; in one moment over indulging in processed foods and
then the next going on dieting binges to counter act the excesses of eating
(usually after Christmas!). I think we have become arrogant in the Western
World about what our technology can solve. Take a protein powder to bulk, have
a breakfast biscuit instead of an apple or a bowl porridge. It seems we have
become removed from food in its natural state, e.g. food like kale or spinach,
and more interested in using artificial supplements to tackle certain health
issues- that arose in the first place because of a deficiency in our diet.
On a national level there seems to be worrying signs about nutrition
and society. People are becoming increasingly obese in the UK.
Besides the immediate effects on society, of people having lower energy levels
and in some cases not being able to go to work, we do not yet know the long term
effects or costs of being an obese nation. The most worrying thing I see on a
daily basis, especially in children, is the consumption of energy drinks. Not
only is the reliance on caffeine dangerous, but the huge amount of processed
sugar in these drinks is something that I view as unhealthy and could be dangerous
to long-term health. I have no evidence for this, but I bet if you ask most
people if they wanted to be healthy the answer would be yes. If this is true
then I think it is important to look at people’s attitudes towards food, what
their understanding is of different types of food and how they go about
applying that knowledge. This is why I wanted to move away from my usual
meat-based diet, because if I am going to write a post like this, then I at
least need to show that I have tried to change the way I view and use my food.
I also think that there is a debate to be had about food resources and the way
we eat having a significant impact on the environment. I do not have the
evidence to come to a firm conclusion about how or in what way food consumption
should be structured to suit the environment, but it is an idea we should be
thinking about on a personal level and it would be great to hear what you
think.
Before I begin on telling you about my own views of moving to a
different diet. There are a few things I should warn you about when changing to
any specific dietary intake. You should be prepared to experiment; recipes will
not be exactly right the first time- I am still perfecting the consistency of
my hummus. You need to find what meals suit you, for instance if you are
limited on time then a vegetable stir-fry will be a good option. Your food bill
will fluctuate, as you decide on what you do and don’t need in your cupboard (I
have included a website below that allows people to cook a variety of meals on
a tight budget). Eventually you will find that you start to stockpile food once
you have found the right ingredients and this is when you can start saving
money (another good way to save money is to buy key ingredients in bulk). Also
be careful about switching your diet before a big race/ run, as your body may
react differently to what you expect. The key rule is experiment with your food
for fuelling runs well before the big race day.
From my own perspective I have been off meat for nearly a monthly
(excluding two one-off events). I have noticed some significant improvements in
my running and this is without even excluding eggs/ fish. Varying on a daily basis
between a vegetarian/ vegan diet has not only helped me lose weight, but also
proven to be a really good fuelling strategy for my training for the Brighton
Marathon. Bear in mind that I am now training around five days a week- ranging
from long runs, tempo runs and weight training. In terms of energy levels the
diet has proven pretty effective as well; as part of the diet I have given up
coffee, because of its large highs and lows, and this has further aided my
training. One particular vegan meal that I enjoyed was banana cream dessert,
shown in the picture below; this consisted of banana blended in a food
processor with goji berries and cocoa. This was just one instance where being
open minded about my fuel sources has led to being able to take on new, healthy
as well as tasty food. This would be my message to anyone looking to expand
their diet; ultimately to keep an open mind as well as being willing to
experiment with different fuelling strategies for running. From my journey so
far with nutrition I have come up with a rough diagram, that to me illustrates
getting the right nutrition for the activities you want to do and how important
it is in helping you achieve a goal.
I have read his first book, the famous Thrive
Diet. Brendan combines his athletic insights into race preparation and
training, with how to eat as well as to begin living on a plant-based
lifestyle. I have used the tips and recipes in this book to great effect. If
you want to expand your diet beyond eating meat and fuel yourself efficiently;
this book is for you!
Rich Roll’s awe-inspiring Finding
Ultra book is for anyone who is having a tough time in life, made mistakes
that they wish they could take back and essentially wants to find a way to make
themselves a better person. I really can’t recommend this book enough! Rich’s
podcast and website also contain loads of interesting information on sport and
pursuing a plant based diet.
Really useful blog on everything to do with running from a plant-based
perspective. I especially liked Matt Frazier’s post on how to qualify
for the Boston Marathon- as it is always great to get advice from someone
who has been there and done it. Frazier has a refreshing humility to how he
describes his running and training, despite having qualified for Boston and run
ultra marathons.
I think this is a really interesting blog because it is someone who has
switched to plant-based diet because of health problems. Ella’s story is moving,
not just because she embarks on a nutritional journey that helps cure her
ailments, but also because she wants to share her recipes with us as well as
her positivity! I have tried her recipes and can definitely vouch for the Ultimate
Energy Bites, as being a key race snack for long training runs.
In these times of economic uncertainty and restricted budgets this is a
brilliant website to use. I have tried one of
the recipes so far and it was great. Very useful if you want to cook a
healthy and cheap meal.
BBC Horizon special on how we struggle to lose weight or stick to
particular diets. It analyses our emotional and physical attributes to
understand our desire to eat. Gives a different perspective on why we want to
eat and how in turn that makes us eat. Is a key source/ reason for why I
criticised the diet books mentioned at the beginning of my post.
This link below contains a whole variety of podcasts that maybe
interesting for you. It contains loads of interesting topics on nutrition,
meditation, inspiration and running. I hope it is of some use:
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