So you want to be a Vegan (athlete)...

I have been thinking lately about putting together a comprehensive post on nutritional needs of the athlete and how it relates to being a vegan. There are so many myths that are continually perpetuated in advertising and at the gym/online forums etc that I think there are some people that may hurt themselves trying to make this leap all at once without some nutrition 101. I have no formal degree in nutrition, I have taken college level courses on the subject however I am a sponge for the subject and have a great understanding of the physiology of the human body and how it functions (I am a nurse or murse as my friends would call it). This upcoming post is needed with Veganism coming into the mainstream much more and people seeing you don't have to have dread locks to want to eat with compassion.

I have witnessed one friend who is very athletic decide one day they wanted to be Vegan and then utterly fail at the attempt with results of not feeling 'right' and being told she wasn't getting enough protein in her diet etc. To be a Vegan is not to be a part of a fad or at least it should not be, if you want to be a Vegan just for health reasons you are bound and set for failure. Being a Vegan because it is the compassionate and common sense way to approach life as a lifestyle is a lasting support mechanism to help you through the hard times when you are put under peer pressure or you are having a rough day. The health benefits and the notion that it is a secret weapon by endurance athletes is simply a fantastic side effect!

More to come. In the time I have switched from voracious omnivore to plant based I have seen an INSANE improvement in my feeling of wellness, my alertness and my performance. My standalone 5k time has went from 24 and change to 21:12 in less than a year! and that is only on two and a half months of run training because I tore my L peroneal tendon last Fall. I expect to be sub 20 this summer.