[georgefran]

Hi.

Just wondering if there are any other serious vegan athletes out there....

As far as athletics go, I am a rock climber and am pretty serious about my sport and nutrtion.

Its been my experience that most veg/vegans tend to lack balance and fullness in their diet and that's what leads to that stereotypical paleness and gauntness....(an unfair generality, of course)

Are there any other serious vegan athletes out there with whom I can exchange training info?

Thanks so much,

G

 

[Oatmeal]

Hi georgefran,

that's one hell of a pic in the gallery!

Well I'm not a 'serious' athlete in fact i'm quite silly in most of what i'm doing, but i am very much interested in health and nutrition. I do work out almost every day with weights and jog. And i used to be a swimmer though i gave up coached workouts years ago. But currently i'm not into competitive sports if that's what you mean. I just enjoy getting myself to sweat every day, so to speak.

So i don't know if i can "help" or so, but i'm interested in what you have to say

Oh yes and i'm vegan (looking into 'going raw').

BTW, what do you mean with balance and fullness in the diet? I too think that many vegans have quite bad diets (of course NOBODY on this message board, hehe), i.e. not nearly reaching the full potential of vegan nutrition.

So i guess i'm just curious, that's why i'm replying...

 

[GhostUser]

Hi G

I posted the marathon information and got a lot of interesting information back from VB'ers! I think I understand what you are asking - you want to know a way to maintain a training diet - not just eating for every day.

I teach 6 exercise classes a week, I am training for a half marathon in August and one in January. Also - I have decided to do a fitness competition in November. The fitness competition is comprised of a swimsuit round (GROSS - I hate it so much - but I am an athlete and I am there for the points); running on a 150-180 yard obstacle course; fitness skills (box jumps; bench press and shuttle run); and a fitness routine. So......I consider myself pretty athletic.

So far I have gotten some great info......lots and lots of nuts! I also have bought a juicer and juice fruit and veggies. I am also trying to eat at least 5-6 times a day. I use a soy shake for between meals and I can add it to my juice. If you are on the go a lot or are training a lot - you can add some bars if you are getting too full to eat. But I eat brown rice, tufu, whole wheat pasta, etc. You want to eat whole grains - as they are slowly released into your system (the sugars in them) and the extra bonus is they can keep you full a little longer.

And just for an added boost - if you are really training hard for an event - you may just want to add an extra multi vitamin and I use flaxseed and evening primrose oil to help maintain good fats in my body and keep my joints lubricated (I'm old - I get sore and stay that way sometimes).

Hope this helps!

 

[TreeManEarthSteward]

George Fran, Oatmeal AND newbie Smaurer!!!

hello!!!

It is very relevant George AND VITAL of course that you should happen to mention diet... In particular because sometimes my diet

goes crashing and it spoils my fitness and readiness for being fit for fitness if you see what I mean, & thereby comes back around

to what I put in my body to make that "cycle of fitness" work....

and trying to sustain energy isn't always easy as a vegan if your

diet is stringent like mine.

I will also add, although a keen/fervent fitness fan, I would still like to be something rather more serious than I am, but I always have in mind to gain prime targets and achievements in the world of fitness seeking as much total dedication as I can channel and commit myself to it and health generally, but if ever I fall short of targets or anything its not due to any lack of intention for being serious, but more to do with diet... and granted having a social impetus might be what I am needing to, in helping to boost my moralle as here at VB!

(and www.veganrepresent.com lets not forget too).

Another MAJOR forum, a great source & place to meet people!!

 

[blueserendipity]

while i'm not a seriously athlete (or any kind of athlete at the moment) but i'm looking to really increase my cardio work, and would appreciate any extra dietary related vegan advice too.

 

[Strix]

I run quite a bit. The best diet -- I've found -- consists of lots and lots of grains. I felt, looked, and ran my best when I ate at least 10-13 servings per day. Major energy! And my performance was really great. Sounds like a lot, but not really -- a serving is only a quarter cup. I mix grains and add tons of spices to vary the flavor and throw in lots of vegetables too. My favorite is a medely of quinoa, amaranth, and brown rice. I also eat (well, I'm supposed to!) seaweed everyday mixed in with the grains. They contain lots of minerals which are depleted with heavy exercise.

 

[epski]

Let's keep this information coming. I think this is a valuable topic not just for athletes, but for all vegans. I think I have a fairly healthy diet, but I don't dissect it the way I do when I'm in a more competitive situation.

I've done some climbing myself, but never over 5.9. I checked out that pic in the photo album. Very cool. Where is that climb?

 

[epski]

Out of curiosity, I did a Google search for you, and here's some of the many interesting pages that came up (I only went through the first 10 pages of a search on "vegan athletes"):

http://www.andrews.edu/NUFS/vegathletes.htm

http://www.brendanbrazier.com/concerns.html

http://www.google.com/url?sa=U&start...r_01.PDF&e=747

http://www.google.com/url?sa=U&start...er21.pdf&e=747

http://veggie.org/msg-boards/sports2...ardindex.shtml

http://www.vancourier.com/114201/news/114101nn8.html

http://www.teampeta.com/TeamPeta.htm

Books that include significant coverage of nutrition for veg*n ahtletes:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...339985-5378330

 

[Oatmeal]

As i mentioned above, i'm looking into the raw diet. one proponent of the (raw) vegan diet for athletes is dr. Doug Graham.

http://www.doctorgraham.cc

He has several articles on his website, mostly about nutrition for vegan athletes.

He basically advocates a raw monodiet of fruits and veggies, some nuts. His diet is different from most raw diets in that it shoots for an 80/10/10 (percent of calories from carbs, protein, fat) - most raw diets are much higher on fat b/c avocado, nuts, oils...

BTW - to stir things up a bit - he is also against the consumption of grains. He wrote a book called "Grain Damage". I haven't read it yet though...

Without grains, to get 80/10/10 you have to eat a LOT of fruit... He maintains that complex carbs (as found in grains) are NOT the best source of carbs. The best source is the simple carbs in fruit.

BTW, "Dr D" is also the moderator of the raw forum at vegsource.com, so there you can get a glimpse of what this diet looks like in practice.

 

[epski]

I've always found "raw" a fascinating idea. I'll have to look into that more. A friend of mine is predominantly raw, and we're supposed to have dinner with him and his wife. Maybe we can have a raw dinner party at his place.

 

[georgefran]

Thanks for all the great info guys...I'll check all those sites out...now for responses:

To oatmeal: by balance and fullness I mean complete. Like having rice and beans to complete your protein, and not eating too many (non-sweet) potatoes or other highly glycemic foods, stuff like that.

To epski: that climb is called "Predator" a 5.13b at Rumney, NH. a beautiful crag...and many thanks for the links.

 

[epski]

Quote:

Originally posted by georgefran

To epski: that climb is called "Predator" a 5.13b at Rumney, NH. a beautiful crag...and many thanks for the links.

You're welcome. I'll have to get out to New England to try the climbing out there next time I'm in climbing form again.