Fruit Sparkling Chia Seed Drink. Vegan. Gluten free.

If you follow me on Insta-stories or my snapchat (kneadtocook), you know I’ve been seeing a registered dietician for the past several months.  She has been changing my view on food, macro nutrients, when and how to eat and fuel all my fitness activities.  My biggest change or revelation is increasing my plant based fats.  Adding tons of them to my diet.  I’ll admit, before now I’ve been fat phobic but after crazy results, dropping 10 lbs., I’m embracing this new eating style.

So increasing fats? Why?  Well the fat myth after much research has been debunked.  Clean and healthy fats, like chia, hemp, avocado, nuts, seeds are good for your hormonal balance, don’t spike insulin levels like sugars do, keep you satiated longer, hair and nails beautiful etc.  This summer I went super low fat and my hair, skin and hormones were a mess…. needless to say I’m enjoying the fats lately.

So I do eat more fats, and less calories.  Fats take longer to break down in your body and require much more energy – hello increased metabolism.  A great resource is Eat Fat, Get Thin by Dr. Mark Hyman.  Other benefits to eating this way… well paired up with my intermittent fasting – eating more fats allows me to exhaust my glycogen stores much faster and burn fat for energy on my runs/cross training/lifting days.  We all have infinite fat stores so we won’t ever bonk while working out.  Becoming fat adaptive has allowed me, with the right fuel, to run 17 milers with no gels, Gu’s or any other carb fuel.

So I created this festive drink to keep you powered up right through the holidays and beyond.  Takes a few minutes to make and you can sub whatever juice you love.  I teamed two of my favorites in this recipe.  Plus, these are super hydrating and great post sweaty workout. Hope you give this one a try.
Ingredients:

4 tablespoons of chia (black or white)
3/4 cup of juice (I used coconut pom)
1/2 cup of still or sparkling water
1 lemon or lime, juiced (I used a Meyer Lemon)

Method:

Into a tall glass add all of your ingredients and stir well.  Let that sit for 20-30 minutes (chilled or at room temperature).  Stir again and then enjoy!

With my husband on the west coast all week my workouts and times have been quite thrown off… like Tuesday’s run at 3:45a.  Here’s my recap:

Sunday: 10 outdoor miles at 8:58 pace (my fastest run post surgery)
Monday: 1h 15m weight lifting upper body/legs/core
Tuesday: 8 outdoor miles
Wednesday: Rest day – 5.25 mile walk with a friend.
Thursday: 12 outdoor miles (step down week for mileage)

That’s a wrap! oxo

 

 

— Knead to Cook