Fishetarians?

my new diet (no wheat/gluten) is working really well. my stomach and day to day digestion feels better than ever, my workouts and races are going great... and best of all I am getting faster! over the last 10 days I have also cut out lactose and all dairy... with a slight slip up this past sunday with some cheese on my salad and some fro-yo for dessert. i really haven't noticed any changes since cutting out the lactose/dairy so I don't think I am going to stick to it. I already ate it in moderation and pretty much just ate greek yogurt, good cheeses (feta, bleu, gorgonzola, goat), and some frozen yogurt. so i will probably add these back into my diet but keep it in moderation as i have in the past.

i used to eat a lot of chicken, more red meat, and fish maybe once a week. that's really not the case these days and it was not a conscious change. over the course of the last year our consumption chicken and red meat consumption has decreased dramatically and our intake of fish has increased. don't get me wrong i still like chicken and love a great steak and burger. we just love fish. we make it in a bunch of different ways, there are loads of health benefits, and for me it seems fish and eggs are the easily digested animal proteins.

i would say an avg week of dinners would break down like this:
fish 4-5 days
chicken 1-2 days
eggs 1-2 days
red meat - once every other week

obviously that's more than 7 days but it changes week to week and again it's not conscious it's just what we like to eat.

some examples from last week:

Grilled yellow fin tuna & shrimp rice (brown) bowl/plate.


rimels makes a killer rice bowl that comes with great fish, wok'd veggies, and brown rice. so i decided to make it at home but grill the veggies on the grill instead. I also tried some some thing new with the purple cabbage. i halved, then quartered the half, and then wrapped the eight slices in foil with a little salt and pepper and put it on the grill. it come out perfect along with everything else.

ingredients:
yellow fin tuna
jumbo shrimp
red & yellow bell pepper
purple cabbage
broccoli
button mushrooms
zucchini
squash
red onion
brown rice w/ seaweed (didn't really like the seaweed)

Ahi Tuna Nicoise Salad


Beth made me this rad salad for dinner. so good.

ingredients:
seared ahi tuna
mixed greens
hard boiled eggs
green beans
kalamata olives
red potatoes
tomatoes
red onions

grilled salmon, veggies, and cold beet & tomato salad. no description necessary.

cold quinoa and grilled vegetable chopped salad

staying away from gluten and wheat hasn't been that hard... and beth has been helping a lot making some killer food. i have been sticking with a lot of the sweet potatoes (I prefer the "oranger ones) and quinoa. most people don't know difference between yams and sweet potatos... this article clears things up. either way... or whatever you call them they are awesome and a great source of CHO.


ok... so the recipe. this week beth made me a killer dinner. we had grilled yellow tail, a pickled cucumber and red onion salad, and cold quinoa and grilled vegetable chopped salad. great food. no wheat or gluten.

here's the recipe for the cold quinoa and grilled vegetable chopped salad from beth:

4 servings quinoa (cook according to box)
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 small red onion
3 zucchini
olive oile
balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper

put veggies on grill and grill a few (4?) minutes on each side. if you don't have a grill, you can roast them at 400 degrees for probably about 25 minutes.
mix veggies and quinoa. drizzle several tablespoons good balsamic vinegar (if you have balsamic syrup this works really well, its like a thick balsamic), and a little bit of olive oil. add lots of salt and pepper. put in refrigerator and chill at least 2 hours. YUM!

major changes....

with everything going on with me, doing a lot of research, and consulting with my doctor i have made some pretty significant changes in my daily diet. prior to getting diagnosed with anemia due to low iron, b12, and folate (vitamin deficient) I was eating very healthy, following a pretty "primal/paleo" diet, but in retrospect wasn't eating enough to support my training workload. i was still kind of curios as to why i had low iron, b12, and folate. I eat quite a bit of iron in red meat, spinach, and veggies. I take a multivitamin and i also take a b12/folic acid supplement to aid with revovery... and the levels were all still really low.

my doctor wanted me to start eating more... both carbs and protein. so i did. I started incorporating a lot more sprouted wheat bread, wheat tortillas, wheat english muffins and rice into my diet. i was eating this stuff before but a lot less frequently and only in small amounts. i started getting some vicisous, daily stomach aches.... more than usual. I have dealt with stomach issues for years but never really did anything about it because i thought it was just how my body worked, but with all the added wheat products they were getting way worse.

so after reading up on food allergies and symptoms i found some interesting information. one thing that stuck out was that a lot of people with celiacs or a gluten intolerance can suffer from vitamin deficiency form of anemia ( low iron, b12, and folate), which is what i was suffering from. this is due to your intestines being inflamed/unhealthy and unable to absorb nutrients. so after doing even more research and talking with my doctor for the hundredth time (she loves me! haha) we decided to eliminate gluten/wheat from my diet and schedule some allergy testing.

as of right now I am about 4 weeks into a gluten/wheat free diet and will be getting a full spectrum of allergy tests later this month. avoiding gluten has actually been very easy for me. there are tons option out there and it was pretty fun hitting the stores in search for some new foods. i will be honest though... i have been drinking beer occasionally, but thankfully it hasn't been affecting my gut. i even bought some gluten free beers. their not bad but c'mon... they are no san diego style IPA!

i immediately noticed changes when i eliminated the gluten/wheat a couple of weeks ago. no late day bloating, gas, or stomach aches... i mean none and after dealing with this on a pretty much daily basis for years I was kind of taken back. like it was too good to be true. beth is probably as stoked as i am because I am not stinking up the house daily/nightly (sorry... but it's true), my energy levels are way up, my recovery from work outs is going better than it has in months, but i still have my fingers crossed.

i am hoping i found one of the causes of what let me to my delpleted/overtrained state. only time will tell.. and the allergy tests hopefully will also shed some light.

I don't think i have celiacs, but i think there is a possibility i could have gluten intolerance and maybe a wheat allergy.

so my plan to start posting more on Vo2 Maxxed with what i am doing with my diet, what i am doing for nutrition before, during, and after training while avoiding gluten/wheat. some of it's going to be tough but i have no problem being a picky eater... i have been for years!

there will still be plenty of orginial style Vo2 Maxxed recipes but just without the gluten/wheat (for now).

I have also found a lot of good information regarding anit-inflammatory diets that I am finding very interesting. check out the links below.

http://blog.firstendurance.com/2009/06/anti-inflammatory-foods/
http://www.velonews.com/article/91925

Nuttzo Omege 3 Multi-Nut Butter

i usually don't like to post the same information on the Vo2 Maxxed that I do on my racing and training blog but I think this is worthy and is relevant to both. check it out...

a couple month's i came across a new product at jimbo's: Nuttzo. it's a an omega 3 multi-nut butter made from valencia peanuts, cashews, almonds, hazelnuts, brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, and flax seeds. i was way into it after one taste... same with beth. anybody who knows us knows we like our nut butters. we ALWAYS have at least 3 to 4 jars in our fridge, it's usually a couple different kinds almond butter, peanut butter, and recently sunflower seed butter. so Nuttzo was perfect!

after trying Nuttzo I found out it was local company and got in contact with the owner, Danielle (in the video below). I told how much we liked Nutzzo and how I had been using it my pre/post race meals and snacks... it's awesome right out of the jar. We worked out a sponsorship agreement and I couldn't be more stoked. So beth and I will be fueling with and representing Nutzzo out at the races this year.

Check out the Nuttzo site for more information and also check out the incredible things they are doing with The Project Left Behind Foundation. Danielle's off to Nepal next week!

Nuttzo on a banana before the the Santa Barbara Bike Fest XC race.
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Enough is Enough...

i am well aware we have totally dropped the ball on this blog, but it's all beth's fault! ok... not really, but we have both been really busy and just updating our other blogs has taken what free time we have. that's going to change.

i am about to change my diet pretty drastically in an attempt to pack on some muscle and get bigger/strong/faster. the way i have been eating is just not working anymore. my staples will still be there and i'll keep it as primal as possible but I need more calories from both protein and carbs if I am going to make this happen. the bottom line is i am too skinny and have hit a pretty big plateau in my training... and it's not for lack of doing the work. i think it is largely do to my diet. yeah it's healthy, probably too healthy, and not enough calories. i want to go faster!

luckily i have an awesome FW who is going to help and my homeboy Denner has offered up tons of advice... that dude know's how to eat and go fast! So updates will be coming... a lot more often.

one sidenote. my homeboy Donald has started a food blog. check it out: Chew' Ur Food

just to hold you over... if anybody still reads/subscribes to this... here are some photos of recent meals to hold you over until i drop a real post. really nothing new and beth always gets on me for posting the same photos... but it's what we eat. the weather has been great and i have be grilling it up at least 4 nights a week... i love it!

grilled tri-tip, shrimp, veggies, and bread


stuffed beef burger (blue cheese & sun dried tomatoes) on a gilled portabello mushroom, sweet potato fries, and grilled mexican zucchini


scallops with mango salsa


kale!


bbq chicken tenders and more grilled veggies


grilled chicken sausage, buffalo burger, and mushrooms


plated with some grilled/steamed (in foil on the grill) brussel sprouts and broccoli


my favorite way to cook brussel sprouts and broccoli... on the grill. no clean up.

Jaakko's Oat Power Cookies.

Here's a guest post from out Favorite Finnish triathlete, Jaakko Hiekkarana. He races and trains in some pretty harsh conditions but has more dedication and desire than most. I am trying to get him out to California for a training camp... and to introduce him to some of the ladies!

Here's the recipe straight from Jaakko in Finland (check out original post on his blog):

G'day!

Ok here's a quick recipe for making your own powercookies. These are great for snacks, training nutrition or in-hurry breakfast with some fruit to go with.

ingredients for 15 cookies:

- 7-8dl oats
- 2 tbls sugar-free cocoa powder
- 1 scoop whey protein
- 1 egg
- 2dl water

Mix all of the above in a bowl. Preheat the oven to 225C. Shape the mass in to cookies on a sheet. Put it in to the oven for 7-8 minutes and Voilà! Delicious, energious, healthy, easy and cheap. You can add sugar if you want more sweetness but that'd somewhat lessen the health-factor.

Mexican Chicken and Veggie Stoup

That's right I said "stoup"... lame. I'm a kook. As much as I think Rachel Ray is annoying I don't think there anything else to call this. It heartier than a soup, but not as this as stew. So there you have it.... Stoup(id)

Beth and I recently bought a crock pot and this was my second attempt at using it. My first attempt came out OK. It was a Chicken and Veggie soup. A slow cooker/crock pot is perfect for us with how busy we are. Just throw all the ingredients in the pot before we leave the house in the morning, set it low... and BAM... dinner is ready and waiting after a long day of work and training. No cooking.

Like I said, my first concoction came out just OK. I made a couple of bad vegetable choice (broccoli & Brussels sprouts) that did not hold up well in the slow cooking process. The rest of the veggies (carrots, sweet potato, celery, onion) and the chicken came out well, but the bad veggies kind of killed it.

So this time I was a little smarter and decided to mexi-fy (sweet word... I'm sure it's in the dictionary) it. So here's the recipe.

1 sweet potato, rough chopped
6 celery stalks, rough chopped
1 Huge sweet onion, rough chopped
2 parsnips. rough chopped
4 large carrots, rough chopped
4 small red potatoes, quartered
3 6oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut in 1 inch cubes
4 cloves garlic, slliced
2 basil leaves
1 can enchilada sauce
1 can smoked, diced green chilies
6 cups of chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste.

I chopped all the veggies and chicken up the night before so the morning was easy. All of this was thrown into the crock pot in the morning after getting off the bike and heading out the door to work. I set it on low for 7 hours and once the cooking time expires it switches to "keep warm" mode for up to 4 more hours. Perfect.

Beth and I both ran with the lululemon run and when we got home dinner was already ready already. sweet.

I topped it with organic, baked yellow corn tortilla chips, avocado, hot sauce, and some sour cream.

It was good and hit the spot.... but still not great. There was something missing. I could have seasoned it a little better. Maybe some cumin or chili powder, ot added some stewed tomatoes... not sure. Any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Next week I'll give the crock pot another go. This time I am thinking beef stew.... or come kind of seafood stew.... or carnitas. We'll see.

8oz Burger Bar

This will be the first resaurant review here on Vo2 Maxxed. It's something I have been meaning to do for quite some time just never have. So here it goes.

It's now secret that I am huge fan of Mexican food, and in particular, healthy burritos usually filled with grilled fish and veggies... and plenty of guac. A close second for me is a good burger. When I say a good burger I mean quality meat (it can be chicken or turkey too) and these I am always on the lookout for grass-fed/organic options.

This weekend I was up in Los Angeles hanging out with my sister and I was looking for new restaurant to try. She first suggest Tart, which looks good, but I wanted an epic burger. So I discovered 8oz Burger Bar and all it took was one look at the menu and I was in... and what sealed the deal it that they have Green Flash West Coast IPA on draft. I just posted on my beer blog a couple of weeks ago that this could be my new favorite beer. So I was stoked.

Green Flash West Coast IPA


The menu is simple. You basically just pick your burger and then can pick from a bunch of killer toppings. I ordered their signature "8oz" and my sister ordered the "Melrose".

Here's the description of the burgers from the site:

"The 8oz" signature burther, as well as the "Melrose", are made using only humanly raised, hormone-free Blank Angus sirloin, short rib, and chuck. Meat is ground in-house then aged in a Himalayan salt-tiled meat locker before being grilled on live oak.

I got mine with lettuce, pickle, 80z special sauce, and balsamic grilled red onions. I also got a side of their sweet potato chips and heirloom tomato ketchup.

My sister got her "Melrose" as is which comes with wild baby arugula, garlic roasted tomatoes, and red onion marmalade with a side of roasted baby broccoli.

The crazy cocktail my sister got.


Our food was awesome. It's definitely one the best burgers I have ever had... if the not the best. I can't wait to go back and try some more of their epic food and beers.

Blue corn encrusted Mahi Mahi

This was a bit of an experiment. Last week I pan fried some breaded Tilapia fillets and they came out great. Since those came out so well I want to try another "crust" and make if more of a Mexican meal.


So I breaded Mahi Mahi with baked blue corn tortillas.



Step 1: Making the "crust"

Baked chips in food processor with a couple tablespoons of Panko bread crumbs. In the mix I also added some cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder.

Breading the fish. Simple. I beat one egg and put the chip mixture on a plate. I just dipped the fish in the egg, shook of the the extra, and pressed in the chip mix to cover.




Cooking the fish. Heat a pan over medium heat and throw them in. Cook them until they are done. About 4 min a side.




To go along with the fish I made a healthy tartar sauce.

1 cup fage greek yogurt
2 tbsp lite mayo
2 tbsp lite sour cream
1 tbsp diced capers
2 tbsp dill relish
juice of half of a lemon
salt & pepper to taste
Tapatio (mexian hot sauce) to taste


All of it came out really good. I topped it with some southwest salsa and had some steamed veggies on the side.

Chicken & Veggie Tortilla Soup - Perfected!

First of all... as always... we have been slacking on the food blog front. But we now have some new motivation. Our friend Ryan and his girlfriend Angie just started a killer new blog: Primal Fusion. They are already making us look bad and have posted some really good stuff. Check it out.

For my birthday dinner Beth cooked me one of my favorite meals... Chicken Tortilla Soup. She has made it for me a handful of times and each time it's been a bit different, but always very good. We order chicken tortilla soup when we go out to eat to try find the right combo of spice, veggies, and chicken with out it being to heavy (creamy).

El Caribe probably has our favorite version so we have been wanting to duplicate it.... and even make it better. Well... Beth nailed and made me hands down the best Chicken and Veggie Tortilla soup I have ever had. It was probably the best soup I have ever had.

Beth doing work in her new killer sweat suit.


Here's how it went down.

• 1 pound shredded, cooked chicken
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, mashed
• 1 can of diced tomatoes with jalepeno's
• 1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 Green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 zucchini, sliced
• 2 celery stocks, chopped
  
• 2 large carrots, sliced
  
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Everything but the chicken was cooked in one pot. Just chuck all the veggies in the pot and let them cook a bit and then add the Chicken broth. After the vegetables are almost done throw in the chicken. We used organic, free-range chicken breast from traders that we steamed in steamer bags and the she shredded it. They came out perfect.

Once the chicken is shredded throw it in the pot and let if cook for a while so everything is cooked through. Turn down the heat and let all the flavor combine.


I was responsible for making the guac.

• 2 avocados
• 1 tbsp Cilantro, chopped
• juice of one lime
• sea salt and black pepper to taste
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 small heirloom tomatoes, diced
  
• 2 tbsp of greek yogurt (makes is creamy and works well in the soup)

For the tortillas we used our favorite corn tortillas from La Fe. The La Fe Tortilla Factory is local and they make killer tortillas with very few ingredients. All the package lists are corn, water, lime juice, and salt. You can't beat that. We put the tortillas in the toaster oven to get them crispy and then broke them up into chips of the soup... and some extra for the guacamole.

That's it. It was awesome.