EXPERIMENT
It all started withe the book „Eat and Run” by Scott Jurek. Rich Roll added some more in his book „Finding Ultra”. They both described how the resignation of the meat had a positive effect on their mood, but primarily on athletic performance. They claimed that they feel lighter, can train harder and the body regenerates faster. I was fascinated by these stories, the more that both are the genuine strength machines. If a plant-based diet works for them, there has to be something in it.
I decided to conduct such an experiment on myself. Vegetarianism wasn’t entirely new for me, as in high school I had an episode with it. But then I was too young and lacked basic knowledge – it all ended after a year, when i started having problems with my hair and nails (lack of proper vitamins).
This time I was a few years older, could take care of my own diet and had a lot more knowledge about nutrition. What I had to learn was a completely new cuisine. I opened up to a whole range of new products and flavors that were previously completely unknown to me. More or less exotic fruits and vegetables, various types of groats and rice, as well as a whole bunch of legumes, which I had never previously used. I got to know Pad thai and thai curry, Egyptian hummus, Indian palak paneer, vegan substitutes type like tofu, tempeh, seitan, and many other dishes I had never even heard of before.
And now the most interesting – the effects. I obviously can’t measure and provide the results with any comparable data, only basing on my feelings. The most spectacular was the recovery time. After changing from „red to green”, suddenly I found that overstrains that previously required a week’s break in training, now disappear after 2 days. As a result, I didn’t have to take any breaks, thus my training became finally regular. The results occurred almost instantly. I have to agree with Jurek and Roll that on a plant-based diet you feel much lighter – there is no feeling of food retention and you hit the top gear. Energy is inexhaustible!
And so it is up till now…
VEGE MYTHS
There are many myths about vegetarianism and many people fear it like the fire. Moreover, in every conversation I repeatedly hear the same questions or „advice” for the sake of my health. When I tell someone that I don’t eat meat (and even more, I practice running), there magically appears the following series of questions:
…BUT YOU EAT FISH, RIGHT?
It’s probably the first question that a person asks me hearing that I don’t eat meat. People: fish-is-also-meat. It has a bit different structure (less protein, different type of fat), but it still is… a skeletal muscle recognized as fit for human consumption, together with the adjacent tissues… (according to the official definition). I treat seafood the same. The fact that some person recognized „officially” that this or that is not meat (eg. Catholicism while fasting allows eating fish – hence probably our Catholic country so popular is the belief that fish is vegetarian), objectively changes nothing. At some point the beaver was also considered „fish”…
So… no, I don’t eat fish ;-)
…BUT YOU’LL BE VERY WEAK…
Yeah, that’s the second obligatory question, asked interchangeably with another below. The fact that I am slim stems from the fact that I run a lot and I’m active, not that I don’t eat meat … Frankly, since I’ve given up meat, I have to watch myself a lot harder not to overdo the calories in meals. You’ll ask, „how is it?” Well, the exchange in food type was 1:1 – instead of meat on the plate appeared legumes, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, etc. Unfortunately, these things contain less protein than meat, but much more carbs. The result is that the I bathe in energy (carbohydrates are the main fuel for our body), but I still need a proper amount of protein in my diet. It’s easy to find (see below), but you need to eat a little more plants to get enough of protein.
The best proof I’m not „empty” is that I still run all the Ultramarathons nobody puts me on a drip-feed afterwards, don’t they? ;-)
…WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR PROTEIN FROM…
That’s precisely this question that falls interchangeably with the above. There is a weird belief that the protein can be found ONLY in meat. And if you look closely at the product labels, it turns out that actually everything contains protein. There is 10% protein in a stupid wheat flour!
For vegetarians the main source of protein are mainly legumes (soybeans, chickpeas, peas, lentils, etc.), in which the protein is highly digestible. We then have nuts, vegetables and fruits, and whole bunch of substitutes produced specifically for vegans, e.g. tofu, tempeh, seitan, vegetable milk and yoghurt, etc.
I sometimes hear the argument that it is not a complete white. Yes, each protein is composed of various aminoacids and not every product has their full set. Nevertheless, the two wisely combined products will give us everything we need and you don’t have to be very knowledgeable here – our culinary tradition takes care of it for us. Whole grains combined with legumes (e.g. rice with beans – have you heard of such a meal?) often closes the case.
…YOU SURELY DON’T WALK OUT OF THE KITCHEN…
The belief that you have to spend a lot more time to prepare a vegetarian meal is just as wrong as the one that protein cen be only found in meat. It arises primarily from our habit to meat dishes. At some point, we’re not able to imagine a meal without meat, so it seems to us that it’s a lot of toil to find a proper replacement.
It’s wrong. I agree that at the beginning you have to use your brain a bit, or ask uncle google for help, but after a brief introduction to alternatives it proves to be just the opposite. Dishes based on vegetables are often prepared a lot faster than meat, if only for the fact that vegetables require shorter processing than meat. Most can be eaten raw anyway.
If I did not like to cook, I could be spending 2-3 times less time in the kitchen than before, with all the fuss with meat. Fortunately, I love to cook, bake and meddle with various new recipes and I gladly spend hours in the kitchen.
…SURELY YOU SPEND A LOT ON FOOD…
Absolutely not! Mainly because together with the decision to switch to vegetarianism came greater awareness and knowledge about nutrition. I began to choose better products – ie. whole grain rice, groats, pasta and bread, etc. Moreover, fruits and vegetables contain more fiber – all that satisfies hunger better, while containing many more vitamins and trace elements. As a result, I spend less cash!
Of course, everything depends – you can go to the store and put all the most expensive vegan products in your basket. But on the other hand, you can also pay through the nose for a decent beef, can’t you?
MY GREEN FUEL
How does my diet look like and what do I run on? Above all, I stick to what I write on my page – I eat regularly – 5 meals a day. Basically my diet is dominated by groats, rice, pasta (all whole grain) and oatmeals, along with fruits or vegetables in virtually every meal. I don’t drink up my calories – I do drink a lot of tea (including herbal ones) and mainly black coffee – unsweetened of course(I unlearned myself and now I can’t imagine killing the taste of good coffee or tea with sugar). Proteins I get from the legumes and nuts – here I also find a wealth of healthy fats.
It is a little different before, after and during the workout. That’s a good time for simple carbs. Before a short training a banana or good energy smoothie is enough. Before longrun or a race I make myself a semolina or cornmeal porridge – it’s a fine-grained groats with high glycemic index – providing a quick energy but not burdening the stomach. After a workout it looks about the same, but ingredients in my smoothie change to get a bit more protein, cornmeal is replaced with full oats (eg. a typical oatmeal) or a french toast. After a long trail run I try to watch a good, regenerative diet a bit longer – then come into play my favorite cream soups (full of vitamins, easily digestible and less greasy) and foods tat improve immunity. During training I drink only water. With long races and occupations I add some isotonics, sometimes coffee and tea (usually during spring or autumn season, when you need to warm up). If I’m taking food with me, it’s „Bakalland Ba” muesli bars – these are enough, I don’t need any special products (occasionally I grab some sports bar refreshment point during the race). If I need more calories, I take tortillas or pancakes spread with peanut butter or hummus, depending on whether I want i sour or sweet. Sometimes a need comes over and I take a bun with margarine and cheese or a good jam.
WELL-KNOWN VEGETARIAN/VEGAN ATHLETES
There are more vegetarian/vegan athletes than you think. I would like, however, to cite only a few of those that have scrolled through my life and had an impact on where I am now.
Scott Jurek – ultramarathon legend. American of Polish descent. He has victories in the most famous hardcore ultramarathons in the world, for example Hardrock Hundred, Badwater Ultramarathon, spartathlon, Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run. After reading his book „Eat and Run” I made the decision to switch to vegetarianism.
Rich Roll – well known triathlete (although it’s an understatement). The man who, at the age of 40, an obese alcoholic with the threat of heart attack, turned into a real sports machine. He is best known from participating in Ultraman World Championships (10 km swim, 420 km bike, 84 km run). His book „Finding Ultra” was the ultimate motivator to experiment with vegetarianism.
Marcin Świerc – My idol (and coeval)! Polish ultra runner. He graduated from the Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy in Opole and the School of Physiotherapy, PZLA coach. The member of a Polish national team in trail running and gold medalist in the Polish mountain long-distance run. I often see him at the start or at the finish line (when running a longer distance and I managed to finish my short route earlier ;-))
Oktawia Nowacka – Poland pentathloner, bronze medalist of the 2016 Olympic Games, World Cup winner and medalist of the European and Polish Championship.
Patrick Baboumian – Armenian-German strongman, a psychologist and former bodybuilder. His stature proves that plants can also help building concrete muscles.
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