Tag: The Thrive Diet

Making my own sport things, Vega style

1 Comment

You know what, this whole Being Healthy thing is actually quite easy. Ha! I can say this now coming from a place where I feel confident in my training, settled in my work routine (for now) and my fridge is stock with nothing my Thrive Diet approved ingredients. But I have yet to purchase a food processor, so making a lot of the recipes I want to where completely eliminated for my first attempt of making Thrive Diet things. With my first long run with the Running Room a few Sundays ago (remember back to training week #5) I wanted to be ready. I needed to show everyone I will be well hydrated, I need something to carry my gels in, and above all that I needed my confidence and that feeling of being ready to run. I’m not going to lie 19k with these runners had me rather nervous.

So after finishing the Thrive Diet from cover to cover I flagged all the things I want to make – basically everything – but to start it all off I thought a pre workout energy drink would be easy enough. Not only do I still need a good processor I am also still lacking a few key ingredients ie. hemp, hemp oil, chia seeds etc. Again, my options were limited. But! I settled on making the Mint Carob Sport Drink. It was weird at fist, but after refrigerating it for a day it got better with time. For the following days I drank a bit of this before each run and I felt great.

The Mint Carob Sport Drink. It was weird at first, but got better with time.

The Mint Carob Sport Drink. It was weird at first, but got better.

For my during activity fuel I made the Coconut Carob Gel with protein – these do not require a food processor, you can use a blender! Perfect. I do have a blender. These looked like sludge. I didn’t have them right away (Brendan swears they are best served fresh) but I wasn’t running for a few days. I kept them in the fridge and boy when I finally took it out on a test run it was so yummy! Proof you can’t base a book by it’s cover (or in this case gels on how they look). I love dates and the bit of chocolaty sweetness from the carob bits was delicious.

Coconut Carob Gel with Protein (the protein is hemp protein). These look awful I know.

Coconut Carob Gel with Protein (the protein is hemp protein). These look awful I know.

And last but not least I attempted a different smoothie – I’ve been stuck on the Vega One (natural flavor) and adding a half a banana, water, ice, some almond milk, and a scoop of almond/peanut butter for days – for the “drink a nutritious smoothie each day”. I actually took a break for like a week because I was having this way too much. So finally I broke the habit and made the Chocolate Almond Smoothie. It was an excellent choice.

And I drank all of it!

Have you attempted making your own drinks and things? Or have an amazing smoothie recipe I need to try? Tell me about it!

Distance Learning Project #3: Be Healthy

5 Comments
Coconut Carob gel with protein. Yummy!

Coconut Carob gel with protein. Yummy!

For my Moksha Teacher Training Be Healthy project I have decided to incorporate a new found life goal with a new-found determination to be a healthier all-around more fit person. How appropriate for my Be Healthy project, right? I also love blogging about all the things I’m doing.

So if you don’t know by now, I am training to run a marathon (the County Marathon in Prince Edward County on October 6, 2013 to be exact). And while I train and run, and train and recover, and run more but really, really far I will be incorporating elements of The Thrive Diet into my everyday life. Over the next two months, plus however many weeks I have from now until my race, I will commit to Being Healthy in the from of actual physical fitness and by adapting a healthy way of training. Hopefully I will find the perfect balance between the two to share with you all. That is the plan at least!

So why the Thrive Diet? The Thrive Diet author, founder of Vega and a super human Triathlete, Brendan Brazier, is super knowledgeable in the art of food and proper training. I have been a fan of his since my first Vega experience. I can’t help but be attracted to individuals who are out to make the world a better place, with such determination and stride – it kills me! I want to be like Brendan, and the many people like him out there in the world, who have found something they absolutely love and have made it their livelihood. I’m still searching for my thing, but I do feel as though I’m making some progress. I’m also struck by the amount of information and knowledge Brendan has about whole foods and fitness. Who better to copy than a professional Ironman? When I picked up the Thrive Diet for the first time I was hooked (again a big thank you to Morgan and living in LA). And so I decided right then and there this would be my training bible. Already a vegetarian this diet would be perfect for me to explore.

0625031202

What we eat goes hand in hand with how we perform – which makes complete sense. The Thrive Diet breaks it all down in a simple and easy read, but the best part is the entire book includes recipes for pre and post-workout meals, energy gels, sports drinks and so much more! My plan is to make and consume all these things as I train for my marathon. The Thrive Diet – a diet revolved around only plant based foods – is also equipped with a full 12 week meal program making it that much easier to consume only plant stuff. As Brendan outlines in his book, it’s not for everyone (and that is important to keep in mind) and adapting to the Thrive Diet takes time and it should be done in moderation for best results. I will, slowly, over the course of my training and beyond, integrate his meals into my regime with a focus primarily on two of Brendan’s general principles: eat a big green salad everyday and drink a nutritious smoothie everyday. There are six principles in all which I will work up to, gradually. This is one thing I can’t jump full on into. Just yet that is. As mentioned before the main goal will be achieving proper hydration, fueling my body properly, and getting the necessary recovery needed to perform my very best!

This after all will be my first marathon ever. I want to make sure I do it right! Here goes nothing.