Brendan Brazier, creator of VEGA

A few weeks back I was at Whole Foods doing my weekly shopping, listening to the new Antlers album, spacing out. You know, my usual shopping mode, when I chanced on "Thrive, the Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life." If there is anything I want to perform in life, it it definitely optimal. I was drawn to the book because of two things, the word Vegan and a bicyclist on the cover. Being a bike riding Vegan I was more than sure this book was going to "speak to my soul," as my friend Althea refers to anything she purchases. It was a mere 15 dollars, and as far as anything being bought in Whole Foods for under 20 I felt like it was a steal!

The past few weeks I have toyed around with some of the recipes, the first being the only dessert recipe in the book. It figures the cupcake queen would make dessert first, right? The recipe was for a raw banana pie, and it was more than delicious! The pie was rich and the slices a little heavy, which is great because I did not go back for seconds and my waistline thanked me later. The pie is made with bananas, pear, ginger, sunflower seeds, hemp protein powder and more yummy ingredients I happen to always have on hand. I will definitely make this again, and soon!

The next recipe I tried out was for a cucumber pesto salad with a tomato basil dressing, Need I say more? This salad had me craving greens all week. The dressing was to live for and the flavors of everything were so complex (mind you the recipes are fairly simple) that one's palate could point out every ingredient, as if one were tasting wine. The subtle notes of the agave, the bold flavor of heirloom tomatoes and the fresh taste of basil made store bought dressings less than little to be desired.

If you haven't noticed yet, I have a crush on this book, and I suggest to anyone who likes their veggies to pick this baby up! I have now made the pizzas and veggie burgers in Thrive and I have even done the lemon-lime sport drink or my last bike riding adventure, and I cannot wait to try more.


Spicy Black-Eyed Pea Quinoa Pizza

The whole reason I have started typing this post was because last night, I met Brendan Brazier: Ironman triathlete, Vegan and all around nice guy. He gave a lecture for his latest book "Thrive Fitness, the Vegan Based Training Program for Maximum Strength, Health and Fitness." He gave a very interesting and informative lecture. It is now that I see, chances are, my body is producing the "stress hormone" (as noted in his book) Cortisol. The Cortisol in your body attributes to lack of sleep, weight gain and many other very unattractive things. I notice that I can sleep eight hours and still be groggy all day, that even when eating healthy I have not lost the weight I feel like I should be losing. My sister says, "You are skinny, you don't need to lose weight," but sister, my body is not performing optimally. (:


that's me on the left

After having witnessed Brendan in real life, listened to his personal stories, an seen the outcome I am more than interested in his diet, (mostly raw foods) his Vega supplement powder, energy drinks and bars. Sigh, I think I am in love, with Vega that is! I am drinking the Vanilla Chai Vega supplement (surprisingly not bad) as I type this. I won it in a drawing at the lecture last night. Gooooo me! I have bid farewell to my morning cup o' joe and now am starting my days off on a happier and most definitely healthier path.



Thanks Brendan!
www.BrendanBrazier.com