The self-propelled enthusiast's "deep purple" - smooth, delicious, powerful!

Some raw material for high-quality fuel - and a great "kickstart".

One thing we haven't talked much about in this blog is food and nutrition - something we think is pretty essential for those who love self-propelled activities such as kayaking and running. We don't pretend to be experts on this subject, but we know what works for us.

For most of the past thirty years, we've enjoyed a plant-based diet. (Yep, even the years with the Canadian Forces.) There has been the occasional foray into dairy and when we first moved out to Vancouver Island, we were tempted by the occasional treat from our local waters. Nowadays however, most everything we eat is...plant-based. In the past few years, there has been a significant amount of attention given to this way of eating thanks to individuals such as Canadian triathlete Brendan Brazier, ultramarathoner Scott Jurek, and ultra-athlete Rich Roll. As well as being outstanding athletes, these individuals are widely recognized for their knowledge of plant-based nutrition.

But it really boils down to what works for you. Our own personal experience is that this way of eating is a lot of fun, incredibly tasty, nutritionally sound and it provides more than adequate "fuel" for us to pursue the activities we love so much - kayaking and running. We're both in our early sixties, and quite frankly, we feel as good as we did when we were 40 - and a heck of a lot better than we felt when we were 30!

Plant-based foods provide a huge amount of nutrition and, contrary to what some may think, all the protein you could ever want. Our experience has been that the body processes this kind of food with ease and we are able to avoid all the usual "bad guys" - saturated fats, cholesterol, additives etc.

Most mornings and often at lunch time, we'll make a smoothie - no one drink is ever the same because you can experiment endlessly. This morning, with our usual porridge, we made a delicious drink with all the ingredients in the picture above. It was awesome - so good, in fact, that we made another at lunch time.

Ingredients:
1 glass of water
2 large swiss chard leaves
Dish of blueberries 
Handful of parsley
1 banana
1 lemon, freshly squeezed
2 tablespoons of hemp protein
2 tablespoons of chia (for protein)
Squeeze of lime (We just had the concentrate but fresh is best.)
Some ginger (We just had dried in the pantry.)
Serves 2.

Blend it all up, pour, add some ice - perfect. For those who may like it a little sweeter, which can make a difference, add a little agave or maple syrup. You'll feel energized, fuelled and hydrated - an awesome start before launching the kayak or leaving the trail-head. By the way, and this may be of special interest to paddlers who are reluctant to drink too many fluids when facing several hours in dry suits / wet suits - this is a drink that seems happy to stay with you.

So good...we made another one!

And so launching the kayaks, is exactly what we're going to do!

Have a safe and fun August long weekend, everyone.

Duncan.


PS I think I may have convinced Joan to contribute some thoughts on this subject in future posts - after all, she comes up with all the tasty meals! :)