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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