Monday, June 25, 2007

videos: vegan & vegetarian athletes

this is a follow-up on my post of videos on nutrition for athletes (ref: videos: nutrition for athletes).

some of my friends in athletics are either vegan or vegetarian. in some ways, it puts them at a disadvantage relative to other athletes, particularly in terms of locating sources of protein and useful oils & fats--i mean, a disadvantage in the sense that they have to put in extra work to learn where they can get the daily amount of each required for an active athlete (it's not something most people are taught in the course of growing up). in other ways, however, it actually puts them at an advantage in the sense that vegan and vegetarian diets eliminate a lot of the junk food that surprisingly permeates so many athlete diets.

i wrote in my previous post on nutrition that you'd be surprised at how poor the diets of most athletes are. part of it is laziness, part of it is arrogance, part of it is random paroxysms of disciplinary breakdown, and part of it is just self-indulgence and self-reward for perceived (or even real) sufferings and deprivations of training and racing. regardless, i commented then that my personal experience has been that the people you would most commonly associate with good nutrition are often the people with the worst nutrition altogether.

i am not vegan, nor am i vegetarian. i love meat. LOVE meat. meeeeeeeaaaaaaat!!! mmmmmmmmmmmm!!! yummy!!!

but i have to admit, i do respect my vegan and vegetarian friends. not just because of the adherence to their personal convictions, and not just because they are holding themselves to a diet much more innocuous to the planet than mine, but also because they are maintaining a nutrition regimen far more in keeping with the ideals of what constitutes healthy eating.

good for them...now let me have my elk meat and buffalo steak in peace--and can you pass the A1 steak sauce while you're at it? thanks. that's lovely.

but in support of my vegan & vegetarian athlete friends, i present 2 Youtube videos about vegan & vegetarian athletes (so that you know you're not alone):
note: observe carl lewis' comments about the nutrition of his athlete friends. you can see that he saw/sees the same thing i do: athletes tend to have the worst nutrition.

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