Add vegetables: opt for fresh or sautéed vegetables. Peppers and onions that are quickly sautéed make a great fajita-style bowl, while spinach, arugula, and romaine can add a nice crunch.

Cucumbers, tomatoes, and bell peppers are also nice additions. Add crunch, zest, and fun: Some fun topping ideas can include chopped nuts, crushed tortilla chips, avocado slices or guacamole, pickled jalapeños, and cheese or vegan cheese.

Make your side dressing: A small container with salsa or their topping of choice can be stored separately to prevent everything from becoming soggy. In fact, a gluten-free athlete in the house can actually be a benefit because it forces you to get a bit more creative with vegetables and alternatives to bread and pasta.

Ziesmer recommends:. Rather than constantly trying to replace dairy, soy, and gluten with processed options like vegan cheese or gluten-free pasta, opt for simple whole foods and meals that skip those ingredients altogether when possible. Making your own allergen-free options, like a gluten-free granola, not only avoids added sugars and processing, it also allows you to create combinations that your athlete will love.

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Previous Next. View Larger Image. Coconut Yogurt Parfait Layer yogurt-berries-granola-yogurt-berries-granola into a bowl or glass for breakfast, or into a container for your athlete to bring to school for a quick lunch. Ziesmer recommends: Grilled chicken with plain Italian seasoning and salt and pepper with roasted broccoli and a baked potato the potato and broccoli can be chopped, sprinkled with olive oil, and wrapped in foil, then tossed on the grill for a meal that requires almost no cleanup Gluten-free spaghetti with meat sauce just hold the parmesan!

Breakfast for dinner with a veggie scramble. First, chop up a potato or sweet potato and put into a covered pan on medium with some olive oil and a bit of water to create steam for faster cooking.

Then, chop up the veggies that are wilting away in your fridge—things like peppers, spinach, onions, zucchini—and once the potatoes have started to soften up, add the veggies to the pan. Once the vegetables are soft and wilted, crack eggs over top and scramble as needed. Scoop onto plates and season with salt, pepper, and maybe a bit of chili or oregano for a small kick.

Takeaway Rather than constantly trying to replace dairy, soy, and gluten with processed options like vegan cheese or gluten-free pasta, opt for simple whole foods and meals that skip those ingredients altogether when possible. Performance Anxiety.

Bullying Prevention. Thanks, Matt! That suggestion is fantastic. Looking forward to learning more. Also, check our Mike Wardian as another vegetarian endurance athlete. Your foods list looks very similar to what I prefer to eat. I do have a bit more low fat organic dairy, organic cage free locally sourced eggs, and processed soy in my diet.

Those foods are still in my diet since my husband is not a vegetarian and they keep him more satisfied eating a vegetarian diet. Cooking with some of those foods keeps him from eating meat except on holidays. I used to eat a lot of that stuff when I first became a vegetarian 18 years ago, but slowly over time transitioned to a more vegan diet.

I think the title is Mexican vegetarian chili with rice. It does look good! that list there that you have? thats MY list… :O i am pleased as punch too since i came up with my list all on my own!!!! well from reading a lot of blogs, but eventually it came down to exactly what you wrote.

i am anxiously awaiting my No Meat Athlete shirt 🙁. But I survived 8 years of competitive h. But I agree with others who commented — you have to find what works for you. And I have to say…for some people, that means eating meat. Thanks for such a great breakdown!!

Good points, Lauren. Great article! I am also of the opinion that we need far less protein than is being touted out there, provided of course that we consume high quality carbs and not junk.

Matt, a thought-provoking post. After years of steadily decreasing meat consumption resulting from healthy diet concerns, I went vegetarian late last year. At that time, I could no longer reconcile meat consumption with my views on the environment and humane treatment of animals.

Shortly after going vegetarian, I started training for my first marathon, which I completed on May 1. Training on a vegetarian diet, my running was stronger than ever, and my pace improved by 1 to 2 minutes per mile.

The trend has continued in my post-marathon training. I attributed the improvements mostly to the training program itself, partially to increased cross-training, core and upper body work, and partially to a little extra weight loss during peak training mileage.

It very well may be that the vegetarian diet itself was also a major contributor to the improved performance. At the very least, it has been totally compatible with building strength and endurance! Hey Vern, thanks for sharing your story. Not so different from mine, except that I was already a runner.

And I became so much stronger as a runner after I became vegetarian. Glad to see you have a blog to help spread the word! Fitness Model Competition I am entering 1 possibly 2 fitness model competitions this Oct 23rd or Nov 6th and am going to enter as a Vegan.

I will keep you posted on my progress and my workouts — lots of weight training and endurance cardio. Wish me luck! Matt- I love your blog! I am also a vegan runner.

I was a runner before I was vegan but I think the 2 go perfectly hand in hand. I am also a blogger, residing in San Diego. Where do you live? Thanks for all you do!! Love your blog. I am new to the world of vegan and running. Hi I am a football player and I want to eat more vegetarian meals. I am concerned about lower protein amounts in my foods.

This article will help me to know that it is possible. Do you have some tips for this? possible vegetables that help facilitate this better. Hershel Walker is vegetarian now, right? And hemp is good for smoothies and energy bar recipes.

lots of helpful tips. I think for the most part i eat well balanced meals of course without meat. I am working on cutting out the cheese and eggs though. The last time i attemped that it was cold-turkey and very hard.

Now that i have more control over things i think i can do it. Thanks for the post! Hi Matt! I have been reading your blogs for a few months and they are so encouraging. So I have been on vegan diets off and on and he mentioned your blog and I instantly became a fan.

I find it hard to live without my precious dairy, but I finally stopped eating meat. I have been feeling so much more energetic and I have just been feeling so good.

I now view food in a totally different light. Keep up the good work and keep those blogs coming! The problem that I am having is that I am seriously disorganized and desperately need comprehensive, step by step daily balanced meal plans breakfast, lunch and dinner on the same page s that will fit a large family budget.

Through much research, I am learning that an alkaline diet is the healthiest type of diet. I also know that even good fats are not good for you when they are over-consumed — yet there is a huge emphasis on the fattier foods in the rew cookbooks that I have purchased thus far.

Your help in this matter would be tremendously appreciated! I need a diet that will not only help our weight to balance out properly, but give me and my family the athletic stamina and endurance we need. I also need one that contains recipes for making your own protein powders if those are necessary for athletes.

Can you please help me or at direct me to someone who can? She makes her hubby protein powders. Hi Matt, I became a vegetarian when I joined the Seventh Day Adventist church but have never found website like this. Amazing meals. Thank you so much.

What is the dish that is up at the top with the garbanzo beans, Spanish rice, jalapenos, pintos, and guacamole?

One of our Doctors at the Loma Linda Hospital is a vegan and still performing surgery at age 93!! Thanks hope to hear from you. I have been a vegetarian for 17 years and I ran my first half and full marathons this last year all on vegie power.

I eat most of the things on your list of course. Heavy into bean and rice combos while training to ensure complete proteins. I also love fat free cottage cheese. Are there any supplements that people would suggest as vegetarians? Great post!

I have essentially been a vegatarian while saying I was a pescatararian for about 2 yrs. Now am pretty much vegatararian. I still eat sashimi tuna a couple of times per wk but really tiny amounts. I am running faster than ever and mt new love is vegan thumbprint cookies- weekend treat and unsweetened chocolate almond milk.

Emma my baby dog is not happy!!! This site totally saved me! NMA rocks :. I was just curious: what is the name of the dish in the photograph at the top, and do you have a recipe for it? It looks gorgeous! Thanks 🙂. Hey guys im a long distance trail runner and I just recently went vegan.

I eat very very healthy and get my proteins from soy and beans and humus mostly so im not sure where I am going wrong. Any ideas?? I like your non-preachy flexible approach. For me, cutting out dairy made a bigger positive change than cutting out meat. I call it a flexitarian approach, and I see it as a do-able road to veganism in the near future.

Thanks for a great web site. would someone please help me!!!!!! The way I did it was gradually. The main thing is to switch how you approach food. Even a slight shift towards a healthier diet is a step in the right direction.

I started by making my diet more healthy: Lower my intake of corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, and other processed ingredients. Then I lowered my meat intake to one meal a day, then a few times a week. I removed all pork from my diet at first. I eat almost no red meat. I still eat chicken and fish every now and then, and because I eat chicken so rarely, I opt for the more expensive, but real meat from the whole foods market.

I take a multivitamin to boost my B12, calcium, etc. I notified my doctor of my dietary switch so he can monitor my health. Where am I now? I am buying less from the standard chain supermarkets. Buying more healthy choices from the whole foods markets and farmers markets.

Down the road, I may cut out all meat, all supermarket food, all processed food. I just need to move myself towards those goals. I read more about diets and food.

There is a lot of misinformation on the Internet and in books. Use your best judgment, and stay in tuned with your body to know what seems right for you. I loved this—especially the part about how much to eat. No one ever listens. Another great post Matt, it can be frustrating trying to explain it to doubters that you can run and lift weights well on a meat free diet and take it to vegan also - the mainstream is very much controlled by upbringing and perceived ideas that straying from the norm creates fear and insecurlty in some people.

Cheers, ZAC. and most important, how can I keep myself healthy and strong? No meat or dairy or eggs and ZERO issues with energy at all.

Fruit, veges, some grains usually wholemeal bread occas, quinoa, cous cous, nuts and seeds, i still use caffeine also , i use non gmo soymilk YES i was once ANTI soy- but with further research am not convinced its a problem in moderation on healthy people at all. I use oat milk occas, rice milk, almond milk whatever floats ur non dairy boat :P.

Keeping strong is a case of getting enough CALORIES and exrecise for your given desires. I have a sub 4hr MARATHON in 12days and can stil lbench Enjoy the journey 🙂.

Hi Matt, love your site. I was just wondering whether you recommend protein shakes for that extra protein boost? There is a lot of information about the what, and almost none about the how much???

I think you should be more specific about the amount of every food group, mainly the fats and carbs. So im trying to go vegetarian purely bc I believe animal crultey is the most evil thing possible. But I run cross country and play lacrosse. Will drinking whey protein with soy milk every time I go to the gym going to get me the same workout as when I was a meat lover???

Any tips on this? Much appreciated 🙂. I get my protein from avocados, nuts, broccoli, kale, etc. Most plant food contains protein, and all have fiber unless it has been processed out , so I lose nothing nutritionally, environmentally, compassionately from avoiding animal-based food.

This site has been such a huge help!! I am not a runner but I am a competitive roller derby player who wanted to give up meat a few months ago. I have learned so much here. I have been a meat free athlete for 3 months now and I feel GREAT!! I feel light on my skates and have plenty of energy to get through all my team practices.

As a vegetarian I would say that the staple foods are definitely things I keep, especially quinoa. I love it. I prefer to eat that over rice and I feel as though it works the same as rice and it taste so much better. I like to cook it with vegetable broth instead of water because it adds a lot more flavor to the grain.

Hi there, I have on the contrary very different experience… I was very devoted vegetraian for many years even vegan at some point and eventually I started to eat meat due to poor endurance, constant fatigue, low iron… etc… I noticed massive difference in my performance, increased endurance in sports and quicker recovery after sport, improved skin and generally increased feeling of wellbeing.

If I do not eat meat for few days even though I still have plenty of protein from nuts, and milk, eggs etc I tend to get very sore afer any physical activity, get muscle pains and fatigue… for me eating meat was a return to health. Having said that I am not a massive meat eater and I still get a lot of my protein from vegetarian resources.

Why I am saying all that is to emphasise that we are all different and our bodies react differently to various diets so diet which is great for some, is not that great for others.

could someone tell me why soy should be limited? Is there something bad about soy, like high fat in relation to other protein sources? or is it a gmo thing? What should i eat….. and the main thing is that i am a pure vegetarian and also a state level athlete.

Hi there I am just wondering if this can be done gluten free as well, the food regime I mean of course. I am still working out whats gluten free and whats not at the present, cheers thankyou. I become a much better cyclists after switching to a plant based diet. People still ask strange question when you tell them you ride km and you are a vegan, but somehow more and more of them are taking a keen interest.

Be the change and all that. Thanks a lot for your article. Thank you. Way late to the party, but a fellow blogger sent this article to me recently. Great post. Best, Jane.

Hi Matt. As usual all your content is awesome, and stands the tests of real life. have never felt better, nor looked better or back. thanks for the magnificent content as usual, and for being an inspiration for my ongoing unbelievable life change, and probably for many others as well.

com Thanks again for your content and approach. would love to see all of you there. I have turned vegetarian in last few years out of choice- to lead a more healthy life.

My ability to be fit, recover from fatigue, happiness in life has only been better. Hi, Great site. Have tou any advice? All the best JRusso from Portugal. With staple foods, high-protein vegetarian foods, nutrient … […].

Great, straightforward article. I would add that blue-green algaes like spirulina and chlorella are also excellent sources of plant-based protein. Thanks for sharing! I try to limit our soy intake and we also try to maintain a dairy-free diet. Your resource has been such a huge help to us!

I have switched to a vegetarian diet after having some intestinal issues over the past six months. For a long time, I was considered about effects that switching over would have on my body. I have always been athletically inclined, but lately, I have found myself getting tired after running or lifting weights.

It looks like I need more protein in my diet. Thank you so much for keeping up this incredible website full of great resources. I really appreciate website like these and i will always share it around so others can be more informed.

What are the best items you recommend for high protein? you have rightly pointed out that it is effort intensive but I have failed to replace my meat with anything substantial even after repeated efforts.

I have turned vegetarian in last few years out of choice and I am very happy now ,Now I can feel the change I recommended my sister also to follow this 🙂. I hate how everyone believes you simply NEED to eat meat in order to be an athlete.

There are plenty of options that allow you to get the protein you need without eating animals. This sure is a great read and comes at a time when diversification on the source of proteins is very important.

We are now in the know. Thanks for sharing. I was also an athlete in the past, I was sometimes vegetarian, which is great if athletes know vegetarianism properly, so this article will be very helpful for them. I am thankful I found this, I go back and forth on a vegetarian diet; my hardest problem is at some point I just start eating sugary items, candy, cakes, and I think to myself this is less healthy than putting meat back into my diet and taking sugar out.