This post comes to us from professional snowboardersChanelle Sladics andKjersti Buaas!
Being a professional athlete requires you to be on top of your health, both physically and mentally. You are constantly on the move, traveling from one competition to another and training hard which builds up lactic acid in the body. If you get sick or injured, you simply can’t perform and what’s fun about sitting on the the sidelines? It’s not only professionalathletes that need their health to perform, allhumans benefit from energy, clarity,flexibility andstrength.
It is human nature to thrive, so how do we find that health and vitality? Lets start with food, because you are what you eat!
Even though we both grew up on opposite sides of the globe (California and Norway), neither of us knew much about the benefits of eating fresh, plant-based food —the word organic and superfood didn’t even exist in our vocabularies. As we both bloomed into professional snowboarders, most sports nutritionists told us to make sure we had enough protein, fat and carbs in our diets, but nobody spoke about the differences betweeneating conventional versus organic or raw versus cooked food, nor was the word“superfood” ever even mentioned. Manynutritionists — especially back then — overlook the source of the nutrients our body seeks to thrive! The foodsystem hasdramaticallychanged over the past 50 years andcontaminated plants, seeds and animals play a large role in thediseases, poor health and mood swings that many of us suffer from. Being a four time Olympian, I (Kjersti) have seen firsthand that the athletes are being fed things like fast food, fried chicken and sugar-laden sodas, all foods that eventually create an acidic environment in our bodies and disable us fromperforming at our peak.Looking back, I was often sick or had a stuffy nose and wasconstantly running on low energy. To my surprise I was still able toachieve so much, yet I was nowhere near mypotential. I am confident that the food I eat and the lifestyle I live today is the biggest reason I can still fly over 75-foot jumps at 33 years young.
Chanelle had some outside influences teaching and guiding her and she passed that education onto me. Fooddocumentaries are a great way to dive in! We both love Food Matter, Food Inc. and Hungry for Change, to name a few. Once we discovered the power of food and itsability to elevate our performance and lives we started to dig deeper, educating ourselves,growing our own food or sourcing it as local and asfresh as possible. Using food as our medicine andalways reading our food labels,we developed a deep connection and passion for food and health and our lives have never been the same!
So what does “eating healthy” really mean?
We like to say that healthy eating is conscious eating. Knowing the value and benefits of organic, local farming, the power of “raw food” and how best to give our body the nutrients it needs to recover from our dailyactivities and thrive!Learning that the way we eat matters for us, the planet, and future generations. Cutting down on eating meat makesfor a more balanced eco system inside and outside our bodies. By supporting organic farming we keep the harmful chemicals out of the air, the soil, the water, and our bodies as there are no hidden toxins to run from, not to mention howdelicious food is again? Have you noticed how conventional tomatoes just taste like water? Nutrients = flavor.Support organic, support local, its a win win! Before we dive into some of ourfavorite daily superfood smoothies, here is taste of what we talked about:
WHY ORGANIC?
- Taste
- Keeps chemicals out of air, soil, water + our bodies
- No hidden toxins
- Saves the bees
- Supports clean water
- Supports life, keeps the eco-system thriving
- Happy environment for farmers + animals
- Supports future generations
- Builds stronger soil over time vs. contaminating it
- MORE NUTRIENTS! This is what our bodies seek when food enters our stomach.
- Educate yourself, don’t be the experiment! No-GMO!
WHY RAW?
- Raw food (118”F and below)= living food = more nutrients.At that 119”F and above the natural enzymes in food are completely destroyed. Enzymes are essential, especially for digestion.
WHY SO MANY VEGGIES?
- Test your body’s PH level, it’s likely you are not alkaline enough, an acidic body attracts sickness like a magnet. Stress, artificial sweeteners, carbonated soft drinks, coffee, meat, fish poultry, eggs, grains, and legumes (and more) create acid in the body. If you are looking to seek alkaline food options, here are some leads: Lemons, leafy greens, fruits, most living unprocessed food. Wondering what foods arealkalineoracidic?
RECIPES
CHANELLE’S VEGAN SUPERFOOD GREEN GODDESS SMOOTHIE
Apple juice (organic unfiltered, noaddedsugar) for smoothie base
Amazing Grass Organic RAW PRESERVE Veggie Powder (contains twenty five billion probiotics per serving. Packed with whole organicsuper foods, likechlorella,spirulina, maca and more! Here is aLINKto all of the ingredients.
Hemp Seeds * a rare balance of omega 3,6,9fatty acids* Fun Fact: fat content helps deliver nutrients to the cells in your body
Fresh greens
Fresh strawberries
Turmeric powder – powerful anti-inflamatory
Combine all ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth. Serve immediately.
Let the “Green Goddess” awake you from your morning drowsiness and open up to shine throughout the day. Packed with superfoods like chia seeds, hemp seeds and spirulina, this smoothie will hit the spot. The fresh strawberries and unfiltered apple juice provides for a smooth, semi-sweet taste. A great asset to boosting youralkalinity and balancing your PH.
This smoothie can be used both as an energy and mood booster or forwellbeing rejuvenation after a training session. The maca root is known to help balance our hormones,especiallyour adrenals which arecommonly overused in sports, high performing jobs, andstressfulsituations. Packed with antioxidants from raw cacao and purple berries, this smoothie gives your body a highly resistant environment towards free radicals.Attention: You might just fall a little in LOVE after consumption as it tastes like heaven.
KJERSTI’S PURPS POWERVEGAN SUPERFOOD SMOOTHIE
Pomegranate juice (organic, not from concentrate, no added sugar) for smoothie base
PURPS (PURPLE LIFE FORMULAMangosteen, Maqui Berry, Acai Berry, Blueberry, Grape, Blackberry).Check out thisLINKto all of the ingredients. * Fun Fact:Antioxidants protect our cells from free radicals.
RAW Organic Fairtrade Cacao from the Raw Chocolate Co.LINKto more superfood goodies.
Maca powder
Chia seeds
Fresh greens
Fresh wild blueberries
Combine all ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth. Serve immediately.
SERVE IN OURSIMPLYSTRAWS A-MASON +REUSABLE GLASSSTRAW
Get the look: Marrakesh Dress, Ella Hat, Washed Drippy Tunic, Matador Hat, Collective Charm Pendant
More healthy recipe ideas from BLDG 25
Photographed by Luke Gottlieb, check him out on Instagram and take a look at his website!
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Check out Simply Straws!
