Recent Food Journeys
Vegan Triathlete
http://vegantriathlete.com
http://vegantriathlete.com/2019/03/recent-food-journeys/
Food, nutrition, raw food
Crystal Clarke
On this blog I’ve mostly focused on my training, injuries and races. Recently, though, I’ve been very focused on my most recent food journey and I’d like to share my thoughts, feelings, and research. I’m also into training these days, but food is my focus.
My friends and family know that I often go on, what I like to call, “food journeys.” I’ve done fasts, gone sugar-free, cleanses, and fermenting. One that I’ve wanted to go on for YEARS is being raw vegan. I even wrote a blog post about it in 2007! [Side note: Looking that up was a journey in itself! I’ve been doing this blog since 2006! That blows my mind.]
For some reason around mid-February, I just decided, with no real thought or plan, to eat all raw. I was sick of cooking and figuring out full meals. It seemed so much easier to just cut up a ton of veggies and eat nuts and seeds than to create a meal. The journey wasn’t clear, nor did it have an end goal.
So I started making dressings and eating a LOT of nuts and seeds. Plus, I slowly transitioned out of eating bread. That wasn’t really planned. The way that started was that I had started making my own almond milk because I didn’t want all the carageenan and preservatives that go into processed non-dairy milks. I’ve already been very concerned about the preservatives in tortilla wraps (seriously, check out those ingredients!). So now it’s not just about raw, it’s about taking out processed foods. That’s how I decided to take out breads.
Currently, I’m about 90% raw. I’m also not limiting myself to be raw forever or constantly. I haven’t had many days that I’m at least 50% raw, but those were while I was in Mexico on vacation. I don’t want to restrict myself too much, but want to be conscious about eating as much raw food as possible.
Because I’m a diligent vegan, I’ve been doing a LOT of research about getting all of my protein and fats. Some of it has been pretty interesting, some of it is comical, and some of it has been enlightening.
Currently the most amazing discovery I’ve made is that seeds are amazing! I mean, I knew this. Everyone knows this. I just didn’t know to what extent seeds are amazing. Chia seeds have amazing nutritional properties and I’m incorporating them into my diet at least once a day. Pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds are also being incorporated into my diet.
Chia Seed Nutrition for 2 Tbsp (~ one-ounce, 28g):
Protein: 4g
Calcium: 18% RDI
Fat: 9g (5g are omega-3s)
Plus manganese, magnesium and phosphorus. I’ve seen different data regarding iron, so I’m not sure about that. Plus they have a crap-ton of fibre. Here is an article about how Chia seeds are awesome.
Pumpkin Seed Nutrition for 1/4 cup:
Protein: 9g
Fat: 15g (lots of Omega-6)
Iron: 28% RDI
Plus, there’s this:
Joy of Painting with Bob Ross
I feel like this food journey has just begun even though I’ve been in it for almost 2 months. I have a whole post started about the amount of protein in lettuce. It’s actually pretty amusing and might include a video. Stay tuned!
On this blog I’ve mostly focused on my training, injuries and races. Recently, though, I’ve been very focused on my most recent food journey and I’d like to share my thoughts, feelings, and research. I’m also into training these days, but food is my focus.
My friends and family know that I often go on, what I like to call, “food journeys.” I’ve done fasts, gone sugar-free, cleanses, and fermenting. One that I’ve wanted to go on for YEARS is being raw vegan. I even wrote a blog post about it in 2007! [Side note: Looking that up was a journey in itself! I’ve been doing this blog since 2006! That blows my mind.]
For some reason around mid-February, I just decided, with no real thought or plan, to eat all raw. I was sick of cooking and figuring out full meals. It seemed so much easier to just cut up a ton of veggies and eat nuts and seeds than to create a meal. The journey wasn’t clear, nor did it have an end goal.
So I started making dressings and eating a LOT of nuts and seeds. Plus, I slowly transitioned out of eating bread. That wasn’t really planned. The way that started was that I had started making my own almond milk because I didn’t want all the carageenan and preservatives that go into processed non-dairy milks. I’ve already been very concerned about the preservatives in tortilla wraps (seriously, check out those ingredients!). So now it’s not just about raw, it’s about taking out processed foods. That’s how I decided to take out breads.
Currently, I’m about 90% raw. I’m also not limiting myself to be raw forever or constantly. I haven’t had many days that I’m at least 50% raw, but those were while I was in Mexico on vacation. I don’t want to restrict myself too much, but want to be conscious about eating as much raw food as possible.
Because I’m a diligent vegan, I’ve been doing a LOT of research about getting all of my protein and fats. Some of it has been pretty interesting, some of it is comical, and some of it has been enlightening.
Currently the most amazing discovery I’ve made is that seeds are amazing! I mean, I knew this. Everyone knows this. I just didn’t know to what extent seeds are amazing. Chia seeds have amazing nutritional properties and I’m incorporating them into my diet at least once a day. Pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds are also being incorporated into my diet.
Chia Seed Nutrition for 2 Tbsp (~ one-ounce, 28g):
Protein: 4g
Calcium: 18% RDI
Fat: 9g (5g are omega-3s)
Plus manganese, magnesium and phosphorus. I’ve seen different data regarding iron, so I’m not sure about that. Plus they have a crap-ton of fibre. Here is an article about how Chia seeds are awesome.
Pumpkin Seed Nutrition for 1/4 cup:
Protein: 9g
Fat: 15g (lots of Omega-6)
Iron: 28% RDI
Plus, there’s this:
Joy of Painting with Bob Ross
I feel like this food journey has just begun even though I’ve been in it for almost 2 months. I have a whole post started about the amount of protein in lettuce. It’s actually pretty amusing and might include a video. Stay tuned!