Don't Skimp On the Meat

- and I mean that in two ways.

1) I'm a firm believer in the power of animal protein - specifically of the red variety and especially for athletes. I went vegetarian for a while mainly because it was cheaper and I thought it would be healthier. I did see an improvement in my riding for a while and I did feel healthier... but then I hit a ceiling in my performance, and it wasn't until I started craving hamburgers after races that I realized something was missing. 

    Once I introduced red meat back into my diet (two or three times a week) my recovery improved significantly both during workouts and from day to day. In addition, I felt just as healthy as long the meat was in moderation (...not so much in Germany when it was sausages and schnitzels every day).

    Now don't get me wrong, I've seen Fast Food Nation and I'm not proud of the 42 degrees of separation between me and my meal, but urban living doesn't provide me with an opportunity to honorably hunt my own meal or otherwise raise a herd. Which brings me to...

2) Go big when purchasing the protein. Sure, a cut of beef from a place like Whole Foods may cost two hours wages for some of us - but if it's just two of three times a week it's worth it.  Yes, there are lots of feel-good and healthy reasons to drop the extra dough (vegetarian-fed, free-range, humanely treated, no hormones...), but there is one undeniable reason - flavor. Consider the extra money spent as a guarantee of good taste. As long as you don't overdo it on the seasonings it's failry impossible to screw up a good piece of meat... and even if you don't use any seasonings at all, it'll still be pretty good. It's tough to say that about any other form of protein.

Although the Sugar Glyder recently referenced my daily cup-of-raw-oats habit (and sometimes twice a day), it's all for naught without the beef.

Bon Appetit.