How to Eat a Variety of Exciting Plant-Based Foods to Keep Your Energy Up

What This Vegan Ate While Training for a Marathon Part 7

Okay, this week was not my finest. I ate a lot of these chocolate chunk walnut cookies. The perils of being a food blogger. Thankfully I worked off every calorie and then some, but (there’s always a but) the sugar made me tired. How do I know it was the cookies? Because I don’t consume a lot of sugar, unless it comes from whole foods, like fruit, and there was no other reason for me to feel as lethargic as I did. I got enough sleep, I ate well, aside from my cookie consumption, and I maintained my hydration. What else could it have been?

Lesson learned.

Now that I got that off of my chest, let’s get to what I ate one day this week.

Breakfast

Being the creature of habit that I am, I began my day with lemon water and coffee with almond milk. Then I had a banana and a cookie and headed out the door for a six mile run.

After my run I had a glass of water and a blueberry, spinach, pineapple, hemp seed, and protein powder smoothie.

About an hour later I ate a bowl of oatmeal with fruit and pumpkin seeds.

Lunch

I had a giant baked sweet potato with salt and pepper and a bowl of zoodles with spicy green sauce. It’s so awesome being able to run out to my garden and pick the ingredients whenever I get the craving for this dish, which is a lot! Get the recipe for the sauce here.  Of course I had a big glass of water, and another cookie.

Afternoon Snack

A bowl of blackberries and strawberries, a cookie, and a glass of water.

Dinner

I made a spicy black bean burger (recipe coming soon), roasted potatoes with rosemary, corn on the cob, a glass of white wine, and a glass of water. I also had a cookie for dessert.

How Much Protein Can You Get From a Plant-Based Diet?

From my calculations I consumed approximately 72 grams of protein on this day. That’s much more than the recommended daily allowance of 46 grams for the average sedentary woman and 56 grams for the average sedentary man. Click here to learn more, and please ignore the photo of the chef; sadly, it reflects the nature of the world we live in.

I’m not anywhere near sedentary, I do much more than the average woman who takes a spin or HIIT class three times a week. And let me just say, props to you for doing that, because before I started training for the marathon that was me, and that’s what fitness looks like! Because I’m so physically active I need more protein, and as you can see, I got enough. Best of all, every gram of protein came from a clean, healthy, no heart and bowel clogging source.

My activity for the week:

Friday – 2 hours of doubles tennis and upper body workout, plus a 2 mile dog walk.

Saturday – 14 mile run and a 2 mile dog walk.

Sunday – 2 mile dog walk.

Monday – 2 hours of doubles tennis and a 2 hour singles tennis match, plus a 2 mile dog walk.

Tuesday – 6.4 mile run and a 2 mile dog walk.

Wednesday – 6 mile run and a 1 mile dog walk.

Thursday – 6.5 mile run and a 1 mile dog walk.

Friday – 2 hours of doubles tennis and a 1 mile dog walk.

Chicago is under an extreme heat warning so I cut back on the length of dog walks. Instead of taking them for one two mile walk I took them for a half mile walk in the morning and a half mile walk in the evening. They didn’t seem to mind.

Total miles run: 32.9 miles

Total miles walked: 13 miles

Total hours of tennis played: 8 hours

Have a wonderful weekend and be safe! ♥