Hi, it's me! Sorry for the absence. I've got lots of food photos to catch up on from the past few weeks (still behind in posting), but I'll get back to random meal posts later. Tonight and for the next few posts, I want to talk about Phil Maffetone's Two-Week Test. But let me back up first.
This week, I started the "Run Free" program from Born to Run 2, the training guide follow-up to Christopher McDougall's wildly popular Born to Run book. The new guide includes a training plan to help runners work on form, foot strike, cadence, and transitioning to minimalist shoes. Don't worry; I'm not going full-on barefoot running! But I am transitioning from Hokas to zero-drop Altras. But you're not here for running nerdery. You're here for food.
Well, the first two weeks of this run program includes Phil Maffetone's Two-Week Test, a carb elimination diet to test your body for tolerance to various types of carbs (beans, grains, breads, fruits, etc.). I love carbs, and they're vitally important for fuel for both life and running. So this is not "cutting carbs" keto weight loss B.S. It's just an elimination diet for two weeks while your runs are short, and then you add the carbs back in one at a time and see how your gut tolerates each one. I love a good food experiment, and I think this stuff is fun.
So what can I eat? Vegetables (except corn and potatoes), all coconut products, nuts, seeds, avocados, oils, red wine, spirits, coffee, tea. The two-week test was designed with meat eaters in mind, and they get all the meats, too. So I've decided I can have low-carb, high-protein meats, like Beyond Burgers. And on Maffetone's website, he recommends hemp and pea protein for vegans on the test. So I'm having lots of Complement Protein to meet my protein needs.
So far, it's not so bad. Here's what I ate on Monday. I started my morning with Vegan Bulletproof Coffee with coconut oil and ashwaganda and a handful of mixed nuts before my run.
Afterward, I had a protein shake. And lunch was a Big Ass Salad larger than my head (topped with cashew ranch and half a giant avocado).
I had another protein shake in the afternoon after my gym session. And my dinner was Zoodles with Carrot Top Pesto from the Born to Run 2 book (it has lots of vegan recipes, though not all fit into the two-week test).
One thing I'm finding is that the foods I'm eating are not dissimilar to what you'd eat on a raw food vegan diet. But I can have cooked things.
On Tuesday, I had more mixed nuts before my run (no bulletproof coffee) and another post-run protein shake. Morning snack was Raw Flax Crackers and Wholly Guacamole. I made a big batch of flax crackers to munch on during this thing.
I had more mixed nuts in the afternoon. Nuts are my life my right now! I'm trying to eat lots of fat. And dinner was a Veggie Curry with Coconut Milk over Cauliflower Rice with Fenugreek Sprouts. It was really good, but it would have been tastier with basmati rice and chapati. Ha!
I had another protein shake after an evening workout. I'll probably have two protein shakes a day on this. I'm usually blending the powder with almonds, flax seeds, and sometimes coconut oil. But other times, it's just powder and water. Plant milks (and any dairy products) aren't allowed on the test. Except canned coconut milk, but that would get pricy fast, so I'm saving that for meals.
I'll check in throughout theses two weeks with more meals and updates on how I'm feeling. Am I ready for carbs? Yes!! But it's only two weeks!
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