Ok so where do you get your carbs? Fruit and veg. Fruit especially has all the carbs you’ll ever need to live and thrive as an athlete. As well as healthy amounts of fat and protein. Vegetables have plenty of the micronutrients you’ll need, but there aren’t enough calories in fruit are there?

How many do you need? Depending on my training in a day I can easily consume up to 3000 calories of nutrient dense whole healthy life-giving foods. Very different to the life-taking nutrient empty processed foods that most people eat. Fair enough but I know that you need meat for protein, you can’t live without meat. Even if it is horse.

Really? All plant based foods contain protein. Don’t believe the hype – we do not need anywhere near the amount of protein that we eat. Ok I realise that we are not the same as other animals but just think about the largest and strongest animals on the planet for a minute. Yes, they are vegetarian!

Wow, ok, so you’ve got me thinking now – what are the benefits of a plant based diet? Optimum health, not just for sport but for life. Yes, lots of people live a long time with an unhealthy lifestyle including junk food, smoking and alcohol. But do you simply want to survive or do you want to THRIVE? Most people these days just take a long time to die and don’t make the most of their potential to be strong and energetic centenarians. Plant based diets have been proven to reduce the risk of western diseases such as cancer and heart disease.

But RAW! I still can’t get over that you eat RAW food! So think about all the food that you can eat raw – tonnes of delicious fruit and veg can be eaten raw. The foods that you can’t eat raw from the plant probably shouldn’t be eaten! Add some nuts and seeds and you can create all kinds of amazing meals. Just like anything else, change can be difficult and doesn’t happen overnight but if you want the best for your health then adjust what you eat from processed foods where you have no idea what is actually in the ‘food’ to whole foods that you recognise and can pronounce the name!

But as an athlete don’t you need supplements? Again, don’t believe the hype! Clever marketing has us believe that we can’t run around the corner without popping a chemical gel beforehand and then downing a recovery shake immediately afterwards. How on earth did we survive before processed supplements? How did cavemen cope? Fresh, raw, healthy food! Fruit is nature’s energy provider – some even come in their own bio-degradable wrapper, like a banana! Try this for size – soak some dates in water overnight, blend until smooth then fill some mini zip lock sachets and hey presto, high performance gel!

Does it really work? Personally I never promote anything with first being my own guinea pig. Before coaching barefoot running I spent two years making sure that it was the real deal. Same with RAW food – I am training for the the summer triathlon season and I’m putting in some good miles, all fuelled by raw energy. So yes I can safely say that it works. Energy levels are high and recovery is insane. But, as with barefoot running, don’t leap in until you have all the facts – there’s a right way and plenty of wrong ways. The reason for most RAW failures is not eating enough – there are no counting calories, apart from making sure that you have eaten plenty! This is not a temporary restrictive fat loss diet. This is a lifestyle change that will result in a lean and energy packed body that will thrive for a lifetime.

For more information on the raw food diet click here

Where do I sign up?!

Jonno Gibbins – RAW Vegan Athlete