first post... just looking for a little advice

[dimtim]

Hey I am looking into eating healthier and becoming a vegetarian, and I'm just looking for a few tips on eating. I am a serious tennis player, and I need a lot of energy, and I'm just wondering what the keys are to having and sustaining large amounts of energy. Like should I be eating a lot of protein, or a certain vitamin? I also do weight lifting, so I need to balance that in my diet. I'm really in the dark about nutrition, but my "just eat what's in the fridge" attitude has started to hurt my very active lifestyle, and I often find myself without energy. Any of you guys that could give me some pointers on high-energy nutrition or recommend any outside sources to help me get started that would be awesome.

Tim

[Jennifer89]

Hello! I do not do any sports this year, but last year I did fencing, wich is a very high energy sport, and it takes much more energy then tennis and other general activities. I'm a vegan.

I forget what it was called, but I do remember buying some vegan chocalot and banana squares from the health food stores bulk section. They kept me going all night.

In order to keep my mind clear and my body from being drianed during debate, I eat Luna bars. These ARE for women, but I have heard of many man eating them as well. They taste awsome, and defently give you the boost that you nead while doing anything that may tire you out (yes, debate makes you extremely tired, people who only enter once at tournaments are completely drained and drop at the end of it (7 pm, for teens who are use to staying up till 12 pm) and I almost always double enter, so I do nead the energy)

[meatless]

The key is complex carbohydrates. Carbs are what give us energy, so if energy is what you're looking for then carbs are for you. This includes things like whole grains (wheat, quinoa, spelt- pasta, breads, cereals, pitas, bagels, wraps), rice, beans, lentils, legumes etc.

Of course you also need protein, which can be found in all of the above, as well as nuts, seeds, soy (tofu, tempeh, soy milk), faux meats, seitan (wheat gluten) etc.

You also should aim to eat at least five servings of fruit/vegetables per day, such as greens (collard, spinach, kale, chard, bok choy), broccoli, bell peppers, carrots, sweet potatoes/potatoes, zucchini, peas, tomatoes, etc. Usually the greener a veggie the better. ;)

There's really no lightening rod single answer to good nutrition, it's about eating a diet full of nutrient dense, energy yielding foods. You should consider purchasing and reading from cover to cover "Becoming Vegan" or "Becoming Vegetarian" by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina. I found it helped me immensely.

[RunsWithFoxes]

One option is to see if your local library has a copy of the latest edition of Krause's "Food, Nutrition, and Diet Therapy", a standard reference for dietitians, or you can order it from amazon.com for a pricy $90. Read the basic biochemistry sections, and the sections on sports nutrition. At over 1300 pages, there's a lot of good stuff there!

There are also books dedicated solely to sports nutrition out there, but with the incredible amount of nutritional misinformation floating around, you'd better be careful. It's sounds to me like you would be better served by basic biochemical / nutritional knowledge than anecdotal "rules of thumb" of doubtful validity.

The simple answer to your question is that your body burns carbs for energy (or fat converted to carbs, or (rarely) protein converted to carbs. So, your investigation should start there. Note that there are world-class vegan athletes out there, so you can excel on a veg*n diet.

[dimtim]

Hey thanks a lot for the advice. I will apply all of these.

[vcherneva]

May be you can try some of the menus posted in my blog.
Go to My Yahoo and search "Vegan Recipes for one".
Unfortunately I cannot give you a direct link, because I'm here
new like you=
Enjoy!

[RunsWithFoxes]

An earlier edition of the Krause book carried a nice section on vegetarianism. However, Ms. Krause died, and the editors of the latest edition must be "establishment" dietitians directly or indirectly funded by the meat/dairy industries because they've deleted the veggie section and now the only reference to vegetarianism implies that it's a mental illness that teenage girls are susceptible of contracting. :furious: In my mind, this is not necessarily a bad thing. At least you can be assured that the editors don't have a veggie agenda where they are trying to twist nutritional facts to fit an idealized, preconceived notion of what the world should be like. Good luck and happy reading! :hamster:

[carrot]

high-energy nutrition
Tim

Nuts are good for that. And porridge/muesli for breakfast.

[VeganForHealth]

For an active aerobic sport like Tennis, only 10% of your calories should be of protein. The rest should be complex carbs. (Veggies and Grain.)

People over-eat protein, because they can get away with it and not gain weight, by ideally weight should be managed loosely with portion control.

[meatless]

:rolleyes:

I'd rather read what a vegetarian nutritionist has to say about nutrition than a "conventional" nutritionist who has been brainwashed by the establishment to promote the standard north american diet.

[RunsWithFoxes]

:rolleyes:

I'd rather read what a vegetarian nutritionist has to say about nutrition than a "conventional" nutritionist who has been brainwashed by the establishment to promote the standard north american diet.

Basic human biochemistry should be veggie/carnie neutral, and the book does a good job in this area. The book is actually 99% agenda free - it just summarizes the latest research in the area of nutrition. There are plenty of other books which can provide an exclusively veggie viewpoint on this subject. In an area as complex and contentious as nutrition, sampling multiple viewpoints is a good idea :nana: