I’m, like, sort of a blender master
I haven’t given up on solid foods completely, yet. When there’s a lot to do in a day, and a lot of calories to ingest without junk food, there’s nothing like a good blender to get the job done. I take that back. There’s nothing like a VITAMIX 5200 to get the job done. Yes, I got mine just last week after much anticipation and it is very much living up to my rather high expectations. It has quickly become an essential road trip product, having logged two states in its first week out of the box. I think it is really looking forward to spending time in Colorado next month..
A big part of training a lot is eating a lot. That may sound great but it can really be something of a chore. Running on a belly full of solid anything can be uncomfortable and after a workout I’m usually more nauseous than hungry. If I’m not eating much before running and not eating much after running, there is a near certainty that I will lose weight. This is a problem, assuming I would like to maintain enough muscle to be able to still support my bones and organs and hair and stuff.
What I can do, however, is drink my calories. That, for many of you, makes sense. Just slam a few beers before the run and a few more after the run. That might, in fact, help me get the calories I need but there are a couple of problems with the plan. First, I kind of need things like protein and iron and the alphabet of vitamins, many of which aren’t found in barley and hops, even when fermented. Second, my still-fully-coherent tolerance level for beer is between 8 and 23 ounces and something close to full coherence is helpful for someone who gets lost in the woods at least 3 times a week.
From as far back as my high school weight-lifting days, I’ve been able to choke down the better part of a blender full of whatever can be liquefied. With the Vitamix, just about anything that goes in can be fined ground beyond recognition – and with a little added liquid, drinkable. My two “meals” so far today were quick, easy, super healthy, and helped me completely avoid any temptation to masticate:
Breakfast: low fat vanilla yogurt, coconut milk, strawberries (with stems), blueberries, kale, spinach, a carrot, broccoli, whey powder, ground flax seed, and ice.
Lunch/post-run recovery: coconut milk, orange juice, strawberries (more stems!, a peach, spinach, a carrot, broccoli, whey powder, and ice.
If it can be cut by knife, the Vitamix can blend it. And, if it can’t be cut by a knife, the Vitamix can probably blend it. If nothing else, I’m doing a hell of a job preparing my body and mind for a broken jaw sometime down the line.
I was going to carefully assemble the horn-o’-plenty of smoothie ingredients into a single photo so you can see just how green my greens are, and maybe even catch a glimpse of my strawberry stems. But my iPhone decided it absolutely MUST be restored to factory settings – technological adventures ahead, for sure – so my camera isn’t currently available. If you are curious as to what my counter top looks like these days, take a picture of the supplements aisles at Whole Foods and superimpose it over one from a farmer’s market. That’s about right.
Now, for something that has nothing to do with anything: my favorite urinals in all of Scotland, and maybe the world…
Kind of Like Fun 
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