When my husband decided to join me in my plant-based lifestyle, his family and friends were concerned. Darren runs about 25 miles a week and a lot more during marathon training. He is 6’1, 165 pounds and can easily burn over 2,000 calories on a long run. People wondered how he could possibly get the calories he needs to maintain this level of exercise. And to be honest, I was a little concerned as well, especially because he was going ALL-IN on a healthy lifestyle, eating salads for dinner every night.
Wanting to ensure he was getting proper nutrition and hoping to put his family at-ease, I tracked everything he ate in a typical day. I was shocked to learn he was eating almost 3,500 calories per day!
In this article, I’ll share what he ate in a typical day during his training for the Revel Rockies Marathon. (Note: Darren likes his dairy milk, but you could substitute a plant-based milk for similar caloric values. Almost all of these ingredients are organic.)
Breakfast (5:30 am)
- Coffee (black)
- 1 cup steel cut oats (300 calories)
- 1 cup 1% milk (86 calories)
- 1 cup orange juice (111 calories)
Snack (7:00 am)
- 2 cups 1% Milk (172 calories)
- 2 scoops pea protein (120 calories)
Snack (10:00 am)
- Homemade Green Energy Bites (250 calories)
Recipe: Green Energy Bites Recipe (adapted from the cookbook “The No Meat Athlete”)
- 1.5 cups pitted dates, soaked in hot water for 5 minutes and drained
- 1/2 cup hemp seeds
- 1/2 cup roasted, unsalted cashews
- 1/4 cup cacao powder
- 2 tablespoons spirulina powder
Blend all ingredients together and press one layer into a glass baking dish. Dust with 1/4 cup tapioca flour (to keep it from sticking together). Place wax paper on top and press another layer topped with tapioca flour. Cut into pieces.
Lunch (Noon)
- Sweet Potato Tempe Mushroom Wrap (750 calories)
- 1 cup Nonfat Greek Yogurt (120 calories)
- 1/3 cup Blueberries, Blackberries, or Raspberries (~20 calories)
Recipe: Sweet Potato Mushroom Wrap (adapted from the cookbook “The No Meat Athlete”)
Sweet Potato Spread
- 4 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed and cooked
- 1 jar roasted red bell peppers, roughly chopped
- 4 tbsp tahini
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 tbsp minced garlic
- 3 tsp coriander
- 3 tsp curry powder
- Pepper to taste
- 3 oz water
Blend together. (5 servings)
Tempeh Mushroom Spread
- 8 oz baby bella mushrooms
- 8 oz tempeh
- 3 tbsp hemp seeds
- 3 tbsp lions mane extract
- 3 scoops naked pea protein powder
Blend together. (5 servings)
Putting Together the Wrap
Spread the sweet potato and mushroom mixtures on an extra large tortilla. Add 1 cup fresh kale. Fold into a wrap.
Snack (4:30 pm)
- Smoothie (522 calories)
Recipe: Smoothie
- 2 cups 1% Milk (172 calories)
- 1 cup frozen blueberries (100 calories)
- 2 scoops pea protein
- 1/8 cup cashews
- 1 tbsp cacao powder
Dinner (6:30 pm)
- Nutrition-Packed Salad (1,100 calories)
- Beet Juice (50 calories)
Recipe: Nutrition-Packed Salad
- 3 cups half and half spring mix/spinach
- 1/4 cup strawberries
- 1/8 cup walnuts
- 2 tbsp hemp seeds
- 2 oz goat cheese
- 4 tbsp olive oil
Total Daily Calories = ~3,300
Final Thoughts
Nutrition for runners is critical for performance. Being a plant-based runner just takes a little extra effort and creativity. If you are looking to add some extra calories for your training, you might consider tossing some extra pea protein and hemp seeds into the things you normally eat/drink. These are very nutrient-dense foods, meaning you don’t have to eat a lot of it for the calories and nutrition benefits.
Since Darren has been eating a plant-based diet, he has PR’d in multiple marathons, continued lifting weights three times a week, and is the healthiest he’s been in his life at the age of 50 (with the six-pack abs to prove it!). Darren’s diet and physical accomplishments prove that you CAN be an elite athlete on a plant-based diet. For more reading on this topic, we recommend the No Meat Athlete blog and cookbook by Matt Frazier, Stephanie Romaine, and Rich Roll, as well as the memoir by Rich Roll, Finding Ultra.
