My wife and step-daughter are vegetarians. I’m a meat-eater. A co-worker of mine (also a meat-eater) told me about the movie “forks over Knives”,so I bought the book and read it while I’m on vacation in Cancun. It makes sense, but not sure how much is propaganda. In the last 3 months, I’ve lost my mother and a friend to cancer. If eating a vegetarian diet is a healthier way to eat and can minimize many health risks than a current american diet, how does a long course ( 1/2 and full tri) athlete do this? Are there any good books or websites for info specifically for endurance events? What would be a general eating plan (before/during/after training). What about race day nutrition? I’m not trying to start a debate as to what is better, just get pointed in a better direction so that read and research and I can make up my own conclusion as if this will work for me or not. Thanks in advance, Rick
I am 95% vegetarian. I’m a moral leper, or I’d be 100%. 
FWIW, I’m not sure the health benefits of being a strict vegetarian are that great. The biggest threat to Americans is inactivity, IMHO. Heavy reliance on fast food, fried meats, red meat, and eating little fish is probably close to the top as well. I can’t see not drinking fat free milk, low fat cheese, an occasional egg as being particularly important. If you are eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, getting some protein from vegetable sources (beans, nuts, soy), and avoiding fried foods, excessive salt and sugar, and are getting plenty of exercise, then the rest is probably up to your genes. Talk to your parents…if they are still alive!
I think Essylstein and Campbell are doing good work, and are nudging, hopefully, Americans towards healthier food choices. I’m not sure that going “cold turkey”, so to speak, on the butter, meat, eggs, milk is going to make a big difference. My cholesterol is very low, my bodyfat is low, I can run a 25 minute 5K at almost 70 (quit laughing!), and can still cut my own grass. I drink about 3 cups of low fat milk a week, and probably eat one egg a week. I don’t eat PORK and almost no red meat. If you have a family history of heart disease or have a “dark past” of smoking, poor eating, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle, then the work of E and C, above, might prove much more beneficial.
-Robert
Theres loads of points of views, ive heard some people say that they have been less prone to stomach problems when veggie. I’ve been one for 10 years and not had any problems. I was worried i was low in iron but I’d not long done a marathon and the doc said if you can do that youre pretty healthy.
The problem with this sort of debate is it often seems to get the backs of some meat eaters who seem unable to just take a live and let live view, maybe they like this better not alive and it ends up in some massive debate. I think personally I coldn;t kill an animal so I won;t eat one just because someone else does it for me. I have a pretty ok diet, too much booze and too much sugar but I’ve done ironman marathons and lots of events as a veg and had no problems, carb loading is easy as I eat loads of pasta anyway!
Be prepared for alot of this…
In reality I’ve been a vegetarian for about 4 years now, raced two ironmans and a bunch of halfs (personally my favorite distance). Haven’t had any problems. If you talked to me before I became a vegetarian I would’ve never said I’d be a vegetarian, now it feels natural.
The only specific dietary stuff I can think of offhand is that to get a ‘complete’ profile of amino acids from protein the sources need to be varied since your not eating meat (which already has complete proteins). Your body can synthesize them given the basic components. Just make sure to mix up protein sources a bit and it will happen naturally as long as being vegetarian doesn’t mean living off of french fries and pb&j. Also B12 is only (naturally) found in animals, although now most milks are fortified with it so thats not much of an issue.
Theres loads of points of views, ive heard some people say that they have been less prone to stomach problems when veggie. I’ve been one for 10 years and not had any problems. I was worried i was low in iron but I’d not long done a marathon and the doc said if you can do that youre pretty healthy.
The problem with this sort of debate is it often seems to get the backs of some meat eaters who seem unable to just take a live and let live view, maybe they like this better not alive and it ends up in some massive debate. I think personally I coldn;t kill an animal so I won;t eat one just because someone else does it for me. I have a pretty ok diet, too much booze and too much sugar but I’ve done ironman marathons and lots of events as a veg and had no problems, carb loading is easy as I eat loads of pasta anyway!
I assume you are talking about the numerous “documentaries” touting the evil, immoral practice of going veggie? Or maybe the group PETA (People for the Eating of Tasty Animals) whose mission is to protect poor helpless tofu? Or those meat people who lie and say so and so IM athlete only eats steak?
What about race day nutrition?
Do you usually have hot dogs for breakfast or something?
.
ok, to be helpful
12 yrs of vegetarianism (I’m 24
book - Monique Ryan - sports nutrition for endurance athletes
good overall resource, does talk about vegetarianism
.
give me a break. just do it.
any, I mean, ANY, change of habit takes time, 3-6 weeks. if you have willpower (being a triathlete I hope you do) should take you less.
I’ve been a vegetarian occasionally going vegan for years, never felt better. you WILL get all the nutrients you need from food, just eat fruits/veggies/salad. do not fry anything, and do not take supplements. if you eat right you will get everything from food. soy milk/yogurt. I can hear the excuse now, “oh I dont like soy”. like I said 3-6 weeks.
I didn’t notice any change in my endurance mediocrity when I married a vegetarian and never had meat in my house any more.
The problem with this sort of debate is it often seems to get the backs of some meat eaters who seem unable to just take a live and let live view
give me a break. just do it.
any, I mean, ANY, change of habit takes time, 3-6 weeks. if you have willpower (being a triathlete I hope you do) should take you less.
I’ve been a vegetarian occasionally going vegan for years, never felt better. you WILL get all the nutrients you need from food, just eat fruits/veggies/salad. do not fry anything, and do not take supplements. if you eat right you will get everything from food. soy milk/yogurt. I can hear the excuse now, “oh I dont like soy”. like I said 3-6 weeks.
Been vegetarian for three years ( I do eat local eggs from a friend’s farm and supplement with egg white protien ) and have also eliminated wheat and dairy…works very well for me… on the advice of the Naturalpath I’ve been going to. Knowing and working with several local family farms has helped me to understand more about food and how it is produced.
SP
thanks for the replies. Besides the nutrition for the endurance athlete book, are there some others? I’m returning from vacation and will be going to the book store soon. I’m not concerned about what people say about my eating habits (if they don’t like it, they can go screw themselves), most people think I’m crazy because I swim, bike, run. I say I’m invetsing in my retirement. If I’m doing long course tri’s when I retire, I’ll be ok. As far as vegan/vegetarian, maybe I’ll just say I’m eating a more plant-based diet. That should work for awhile.
Vegetarian for 17 years, 3 Ironmans and multiple ultra marathons here.
I’ve never had a nutrition problem. Protein sources aren’t hard to find. Beans, grains, soy, nuts, whey, dairy if you are eating dairy. People will bring up B12 but I’ve had that tested specifically and it came back normal. I had my ferritin level checked and it was borderline so I supplemented for a couple months and it came back to normal. That was my bad for letting my diet go downhill. It also isn’t unusual for women and endurance athletes in general.
It isn’t nearly as hard as people think. There are many options for veg in grocery stores now. If you have a Whole Foods nearby that will be nirvana.
The only time I’ve had a hard time getting good food in restaurants is in Penticton (probably because everyone I was with was carnivors) and traveling in New England. I’m sure there are many other places are the same. You can almost always get a salad, pasta or pizza. I will bring food with me if I know I’m in a meat and potatoes area.
The most curious thing I’ve found is everyone else worries about what I’m eating more than I do. At meals with others it becomes a topic of conversation and I won’t have brough it up for discussion. Really strange.
One of the most popular books about being veg and an endurance athlete is Thrive by Brendan Brazier. I found it to be too much of a push to buy his product but the protien powder is really popular amongst veg athletes. Also do a search on Scott Jurek. He has written articles about being veg and he’s won Western States 7 times. Lisa Dorfman wrote a Vegetarian Sports Nutrition book that is pretty good.
Give it a try. It sounds like it won’t be a tough switch since your house already has 2 of them.
Google Rich Roll. Vegan, ultra-athlete.
FWIW I was a lacto-ovo vegetarian for 3 years and pescatarian for another year until Nov. of last year. I never had issues training or racing on either diet, and really the only change I noticed was that my digestive tract seemed to get “bogged down” a lot less. I had bloodwork done in November and my B12 and Iron levels were well within normal ranges, so I think the risk of iron deficient anemia or b12 deficiency is highly over-emphasized. It also really depends how far you’re taking it. If you’re going full vegan you may need to be more careful with making sure you’re getting all the nutrients you need. People have competed at every level of sport on vegan and vegetarian diets.
thanks for the replies. Besides the nutrition for the endurance athlete book, are there some others? I’m returning from vacation and will be going to the book store soon. I’m not concerned about what people say about my eating habits (if they don’t like it, they can go screw themselves), most people think I’m crazy because I swim, bike, run. I say I’m invetsing in my retirement. If I’m doing long course tri’s when I retire, I’ll be ok. As far as vegan/vegetarian, maybe I’ll just say I’m eating a more plant-based diet. That should work for awhile.
Honestly, if you don’t want to deal with people bugging you about it this is probably a good idea. Just don’t say anything at all. That was the thing that annoyed me most when I was vegetarian. Every time I went out to lunch with people it was always “can you eat here?”, “what are you going to eat?”, etc etc. I thought it would go away after a while, but it was a topic of conversation at every single work lunch for 4 years. It was really annoying.
I am not a vegetarian as I love cooking in a kitchen and avoiding meat is just too boring for me.
But full time job + full time IM training means its simply easier to avoid meat in training weeks, especially if I have to go running.
I can’t have meat during hard training weeks until after all training is over for the day. I fart while swimming and feel bloated and during running my stomach gives me sour hickups. Same happens during running with fibre intense foods if had too close to said workouts.
I do need proteins though for muscles rebuilds, so I just shake it in in forms of Whey and Cassein powder usually in 5050 mix in a pure smoothie mix with a little milk in for creamyness. Superb post workout shake and it will become my stable breakfast during this autumn as I will put all my runs in the mornings and try and do short bike stuff in the mornings as well on trainer. Swimming in the evening cause the pool is crowded in the morning and being with customers at work, I was once called the Chlorine Consultant so I stopped entirely with morning swims on work days XD
As for Vegan, I HAVE tried. Couldn’t do it. Too much hassle, too much disgusting replica-food, like Tempeh from very “questionable” sources and in general it turned my life into a pseudo Asian-food hell and I missed all the dairy products so much I gave up.
I believe Vegetarianism is cool and all, but at times I still wan’t to make a roast with reduced sauce of the meat juice and veggies till its a glace and drool can be thickened with cream and served…oh my. But never during training periods, no time and no lust for it.
I think the risk of iron deficient anemia or b12 deficiency is highly over-emphasized.
Correct; a true dietary deficiency of B12 (no underlying bowel or autoimmune disease) is very, very rare.
On a first date last year I found out the girl was a Vegan. That was our last date.
On a first date last year I found out the girl was a Vegan. That was our last date.
You sure showed her, forums poster “guppie58”