I am trying to eat better (and more plant protein) in 2023.
By better I mean by being more intentional about what I put in my body. Overall I eat pretty clean but I do have those days, weeks when I just get by toast, red wine, and chips.
There was a time when I used to spend Sundays food prepping for the week. Now that I live so close to the mountains, I don’t want to waste my weekend in the kitchen. But I know that is silly so I have made adjustments where I do my food planning on part of the weekend and on Mondays.
So far, so good.
A big part of my strategy is to track my macronutrients to make healthier choices. I have never tracked calories or taken much interest in the amount of protein or carbs in a dish. I always felt I was doing pretty good because I wasn’t eating anything with a face on it. (Disclaimer: In the first 15+ years of not eating animals, I ate a junk food veg diet. Hello nachos and beer! )
I even have a plant-based nutrition certificate from T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies. So I should know what to do .. but knowing and actually doing can be challenging especially when you are an emotional eater using food to suppress emotions and to avoid feeling anything.
I started cooking again in the kitchen – experimenting with new recipes and just having fun. I love cooking and sharing my creations with my friends and co-workers.
A big part of my fuelling overall is to add more protein. I have been asked so many times over the years about where I get my protein that I just tune out and mumble something about my broccoli. I know that I get “enough” protein in my plant-based diet to function properly. No protein-deficiency here. (The question you should be asking is … where do you get your fibre?)
I am adding more protein to help recover better from my runs/strength training and build muscle this year. I am using MyFitnessPal to loosely track my protein intake. (I am sad to “learn” that peanut butter is so high in fat and calories. I am not 100 per cent sure this realization will force me to stop dipping bananas into my peanut butter whenever I get snacky. Stay tuned.)
Some of my favourite protein-rich sources are: homemade seitan, tofu, lentils, hemp seeds and more. I have been having a lot of fun lately trying to perfect my seitan recipes. I stared following Natalie Matthews, a vegan bodybuilder on YouTube. She has a lot of great tips and recipes for adding plant protein to your diet.
Fuelling is so important for runners – not just the nutrition aspect – it’s what keeps us going on a long effort and helps us recover and bounce back after a run. I encourage you to take a look at what you are putting in your body and see if you can make a tweak here or there to make you feel better.
Did you make any nutritional goals in 2023? Where do you get your fiber? I would love to hear from you in the comments below.