Raw Food Athletes

Comment by Cranky Goat on September 3, 2009 at 3:16pm

I am certainly not an "athlete" from a competative sense - but my wife and I are very active outdoors, often mountain hiking and cross country running. We are both leaning towards a vegetarian / vegan diet and want to educate ourselves more on the Raw Vegan lifestyle. Hope you don't mind me joining in, even though I will likely be more of a listening than a contributor here.

Comment by Sarah Hauch on September 3, 2009 at 4:21pm

What to eat before a workout depends on what kind of workout you're doing. If it's high intensity you'll want a higher proportion of carbs. Bananas provide both glucose (quick release energy) and frucose (longer lasting). You'll still want a little fat and protein. I use coconut water in a pre-workout smoothie for added hydration. Digestive enzymes have been shown to decrease injury time and are used by many Olympic athletes.
Liquid meals (especially raw ones) are easy to digest and give your body a whack of nutrients. Eat about an hour or so before working out to allow your body to digest it.

Dates are also a fabulous pre-workout food.

Comment by Ted Carr on September 11, 2009 at 9:47am

I get a lot of my info on this sort of thing from Brendan's videos, but I also do a lot of my own research with this sort of thing @ the library...

For me, before a run, I'll have a piece of whole wheat toast, a glass of water, a banana, an apple, and then wait an hour before drinking my vega sport. After drinking vega sport I do my warm up, then I go for my run. During the run I'll eat a couple dates and raisins and drink coconut water.

Before I swim, I'll drink a half serving of vega whole food health optimizer with some spirulina pills 2 hours before hand when I first wake up, then I'll eat either half a whole wheat bagel or a couple plain pieces of whole wheat toast. 15-20min later I'll eat a banana. 30 min after that I'll drink my vega sport and head to the pool. After my warmup in the pool, the vega sport seems to kick in and I really get in the zone :) During the swim I just drink water, and sometimes bring a packet of Gu energy...

My biking workout is pretty much the same, although I tend to eat more dates and raisins when I bike...The vega sport is a must! Biking on a trainer gets boring and I find the sport helps me focus.

For recovery, I'll always eat a piece of fruit first, then two or three spoonfuls of hemp seed after that. I will usually have a pre-blended "green shake" made up. It consists of: lettuce, kale, spinach, blueberrys, strawberrys, agave nectar, and a little ground flax seed. I find this shake helps speed up my recovery. Before bed I will have another half serving of vega whole food health optimizer and 3 table spoons of hemp seeds.I find if I don't eat protein before bed, I wake up feeling a lot more tired...

Hope this helps...

Comment by Sarah Hauch on September 13, 2009 at 2:53pm

Sounds like quite the meal plan. Good for you Ted. I just wonder how your body handles with the food combining (fruit after your bagel). Some people handle it better than others do. I know for me this combination equals digestive distress which leads to poor performance. If I am eating sprouted grains I typically leave about 2 hours after eating fruit.
Banana's are a great combo of fructose and glucose to keep you fueled. Throw it in with your whole foods optimizer and you're set.
Consuming dates and raisins during your workouts is a great idea. I usually do blender fruit in water. Not enough carbohydrates during long workouts can lead to even higher outputs of cortisol. I find the maca in Vega also combats cortisol quite well.

How is the training going Ted??

Comment by Mark Trevis on September 25, 2009 at 12:03pm

I am beginning my planning to start training to do ultra marathons. Anyone have any suggestions re: raw food diet and training for that??

Comment by Betsy Bailey on September 26, 2009 at 3:55am

I've been dabbling in a raw diet for the past year or so. I did 100% raw (with Vega Whole Food Optimizer as well) for the month of last January, during my volleyball season, and I though I didn't experience and increase in energy or better sleep like some people do, I didn't have any muscle soreness, even after a really intense match. However, about a month after I added in some whole grain bread and some other cooked things again (always vegan), I pulled my quad (not very seriously, but I was out for one match). Not sure if there is a correlation or not. Anyway, I'm pretty convinced that 100% raw is a great way to be, but I get really bored after a while, because I'm not very creative in the kitchen and tend to eat only fruit and salads. That's what I eat mostly anyway, but usually I crave some sort of grain once in a while like rice or quinoa. Anyone have any tips on how to not get bored on a 100% raw diet (without creating eloborate, time-consuming recipes)?

Comment by Lily-Anna on September 26, 2009 at 10:16am

You need the right tools to go raw: a vitamix blender, dehydrator and some great raw cook books! I am a busy busy girl and I need it to fit my lifestyle and not cost me too much. Ani Phyo is a great author- her books are really good for beginners and the recipes are amazing! Also you don't even need a dehydrator to use 90% of her book- but if you are going to commit, I say do it all the way and arm yourself with the tools to succeed. I am hooked! Good luck .

Comment by JLA on October 3, 2009 at 7:04am

Does anyone have a blog or any recommendations? I have decided to start one of my own and am trying to look for ways to get some traffic up (although I've only posted once!)...wondering if you wanted to do some 'swapping' or sharing?! Thanks.

Comment by Jacqueline Park on October 26, 2009 at 6:45pm

Hi all! I am hoping to get some great info and insight from everyone into becoming a 100% raw athlete - - about 25% of my diet is still not raw -- I find it hardest in the winter and not too keen on giving up yogurt. Any tips on 'warming' raw foods?

Comment by John Stewart on October 26, 2009 at 7:04pm

I can pretty much pull a 16 hour day every day with my great winter Vega Smoothie that includes; Blueberries, Bananas, Coconut Milk - I need all the fat I can get, and it tastes better than whale blubber in the winter, and of Course Vega. I pretty much eat all day long - the more active I am the more I eat. I also get 6 colonic treatments a year and man alive your energy really spikes after one! One of my favorite snacks are Sugar Snap Peas!

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