Well, I’m halfway through my food adventure and 100% decaffeinated. The latter, in and of itself, is a very BIG deal. I LOVE my coffee. Although I was completely overwhelmed with a whole lot of foods, spices, and such that I’d never heard of, at this halfway point, I’m getting more comfortable with it.
I started out small. I inserted quinoa into my menus adding soaked nuts, bananas, raisins, and a touch of cinnamon for breakfast. Lunch may have been quinoa or brown rice with nuts, avocado chunks, a sprinkle of cayenne pepper with some steamed vegetables (sweet potatoes, broccoli, red cabbage). It was all good, things were moving along nicely, but I needed to change it up a bit.
After scanning the recipes, I choose one that jumped out at me in the beginning: Monkey Love Smoothie. It’s a concoction of sorts on a base of bananas, almond butter, and almond milk, all spiced up nicely. Delicious!
At dinner, I played around with miso paste, coconut oil, and dark green leafy’s that I often pass on by in the grocery store. Yummy!
The hardest part about this whole thing is having to cook two meals. As you know, football practice gets me home at nearly 8pm. I scramble to get food on the table for YaYa already. Having to prepare an additional meal for me, no matter how simple, is challenging. This was the main reason I clung to quinoa. I drop the next day’s servings into the rice cooker the night before, and add the extra ingredients according to what I feel my body wants at the moment — and what I have on hand. It’s kind of a half-baked approach to this thing but it’s gotten me this far.
The good thing is, I feel fantastic. After a brief period of feeling slightly sluggish, I am now feeling energized and clear headed. The timing is great. I’m entering my weekend feeling pretty awesome and, amazingly, a few pounds lighter. Ready to conquer the longest of my training rides. With an open mind, I plan to roll out equipped with a mix of my old and new food worlds and see what makes me feel the best. I don’t want to send my body into shock from either approach to fueling this ride. It’ll be working hard enough.
Bill Reisinger says
Wishing you good fortune for your ride.