a lazy man's training diet

when i got home last night i sent the jolly moroccan photos of all the foodstuffs i have and an explanation of my routine. he's decided to try vegan but i had to explain to him that just cutting out non-vegan foods is NOT healthy. we'll see how he handles my take on things. in case you're interested i'm posting it here, and because i might want to look back on this list one day in the unforeseeable future.

if you have any comments, criticisms, questions or suggestions, leave a comment :)

• progressive vegessentials as a breakfast shake. this has almost all of the stuff you need for the day. vega also makes one, vega one, but most of us prefer the taste of progressive
• fruit. kiwis are very healthy, and bananas and apples are an easy source of important stuff.
• there’re plenty of tasty breads with all sorts of grains and seeds. avoid breads with sugar (country harvest, for example) and keep in mind that the whole gluten-free thing is utter bullshit.
• hummus. and peanut butter. they're both good for putting on the bread when you want to snack. although if you want to lose weight, choose the hummus and leave the peanut butter alone.
• milled / ground flax seed. flax is VERY important. not a lot - just a spoon a day - but it's very important, especially if you stop eating fish (it's a great omega-3 source). The “milled” or "ground" part is important, our bodies don't digest whole flax seeds.
• commensal's frozen meals. about 20g of protein in the chinese stir-fry and thai delight (the mexican three-bean chilli’s good too), they're vegan and they taste good. they have other options, but they're not as high in protein and they use tofu. you don't want to eat a lot of tofu because you get soya in almost everything and more than five servings a day is bad.
• trail mix - in particular, joe's indulgence mix. there're many different kinds. as long as there are plenty of nuts it's good: all nuts are healthy and will make you burn fat even when you're not moving. even peanuts, which are technically not nuts - go figure.
• vega sport: great-tasting protein shake with all the amino acids (not the same as a breakfast shake!). if you're eating everything else on this list you probably won't need this, but for days when you're really training hard it's a good idea.
• vitamin B12 supplements. SUPER important. if you don't take any your brain will start doing strange things. taking 1000mcg per day sublingually is the quickest, cheapest, easiest way to get it. preferably methylcobalamin, but b12 is b12.
• vega protein bars, or clif builder bars if vega’s aren’t available. an enjoyable way to inject 15-20g of protein on the run.

and then there's the main meal, which should include vegetables and protein. i usually steam greens like bok choy, broccoli, spring onion) and add some color like tomatoes, pickled onions and peppers, and olives, then add tofu or beans. don’t forget, salt is important if you’re not consuming animal products.

and, because i'm a junk-food addict, a fair amount of dark (70%) chocolate, wasabi peas, skittles and kettle chips (it's disturbing how many brands of chips have milk products in them).

primary source: nutritionfacts.org. because science.