Since I am getting inspiration for my blog from ultra-runner, Scott Jurek, I figured I’d share some of his insight on a plant-based diet. A quick disclaimer- while Scott is quite happy drinking green smoothies every morning (with barley grass, spinach, kale, and spirulina) I like to make my concoctions slightly more edible (at least in regard to my taste buds). Scott, while training for his races, can also eat up to 6,000 calories a day. I, on the other hand, am quite content with 2,000 or so (maybe 3,000 if I had a track workout, or a particularly stressful day). What Scott and I have in common, however, is our plant based diet. I have been a vegetarian for a few years and feel my best when I’m eating a whole food, plant-based diet (while I could stick to bagels and ice cream, I try and have most of my meals made up of fruit, whole grains, and veggies).

I have found that the most important part of this diet is finding the right foods to fill you up. While it does feel great to eat such a clean diet, most of these foods have significantly less calories than processed foods. So when an apple, cheerios, and a salad aren’t a big enough lunch to prepare me for a 4-5 mile run after school (cross country practice), its easy to buy a pop tart or some cookies at the school store to keep me feeling full until practice. A big piece of advice I have taken from Scott Jurek is to incorporate a lot of healthy fats into my diet. These bulk up any meager snack and keep me feeling full and energized. So instead of using cookies or pop tarts as a per-workout snack, I try and pack a better snack that’s easy to make.

One of my favorite recipes for a quick, yummy, and healthy snack is my homemade granola bar recipe. These “No Bake Energy Bites” came from Gimmesomeoven.com and I am forever grateful. These bars have oats, coconut, peanut butter, and honey. The oats, complex carbs, provide long lasting energy, and the peanut butter provides protein for quick recovery. The recipe also includes optional ingredients for extra healthy fats. If the peanut butter doesn’t have enough fat for you, you can add chia seeds or ground flax seeds (this sounds pretty close to Scott’s inedible concoction I mentioned earlier, but trust me, these bars can still taste just as good with these added seeds).

https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/no-bake-energy-bites/

These bites look quite scrumptious in the photos above, but I have found that if I double the recipe and squish the bars into a small pan, they stay together a lot better and are a larger serving (after you chill the bars in the pan, you cut them into small rectangles- just don’t forget to line the pan with parchment paper!).

Hi guys! I just wanted to introduce you to my new blog, and explain my idea for its theme. I have been reading the book Eat and Run by Scott Jurek, where he describes how he races (he runs ultra marathons) and how he uses his nutrition to optimize his performance. Since this book has been quite interesting, and inspiring, I thought I would write a bit about my take on a healthy, active lifestyle.

I believe that exercise is a helpful tool for relieving stress, increasing the “happy chemicals” in the brain, and maintaining a balanced life. My exercise of focus is running. For instance, I just joined the cross country team, which I really enjoy, and I’ve been on the track and field team since 8th grade.

While exercise is extremely important, good nutrition is also vital. In my coming blog posts I hope to dive deeper into the science behind running (its stress relieving properties and how this works on a cellular level) and how proper nutrition can optimize these effects.