The long, wonderful days spent at the Main Street Vegan Academy are wearing me down, in a good way! Each morning I’m getting up oh-so-early so that I can do work for my “day job” – then I spend 10 – 11 hours in the academy. On the train ride home, and a couple of hours before bed, I’m back to work. I’m loving every minute of it.

The topics covered yesterday ranged from working with overweight and food addicted clients to vegan nutrition to helping clients shop for compassionate clothing. There are so many things worth sharing but, since I haven’t had time to work out this week, I feel compelled to share some nutrition tidbits for the vegan athlete. Marty Davey, RD, was our nutrition instructor and she shared the following on the needs of athlete clients:

Gatorade is simply not necessary for workouts under 90 minutes.

Eat a high-protein meal within an hour of an endurance workout (over 90 minutes), such as a tofu scramble or a bean burrito.

Water, oranges and pretzels will give you all the electrolytes that you need. (If you have a child on a sports team jump up at a parent meeting and suggest that these foods be offered at the end of games or practices.)

Personally, I cannot stand drinks like Gatorade because, along with electrolytes, they are packed with sugar. I prefer plain old water for shorter workouts and, for longer workouts, I cut concentrated juice (100% real juice) with water, or opt for coconut water with lemon or lime. (It’s hot, hot, hot in metro-NY – and probably where many of you are – as I write this so regardless of your workout, do HYDRATE!)

In the afternoon we went on a field trip to Brooklyn (and back to the lower East side of Manhattan) to check out compassionate clothing options (part of being a vegan lifestyle coach is to educate clients on living a compassionate lifestyle – it’s not just about the food). While in Brooklyn we hit up Foodswings for what ended up being my dinner.

A $3 veggie slider, a $2.50 vegan drumstick with BBQ sauce, and

a $4 vegan vanilla milkshake.

Why don’t I live in Brooklyn?

I’m going to close with some advice that we have now heard from three instructors during the training. It’s about vegan perfection. Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart, owner of Vaute Couture, which we visited in Brooklyn,

suggested that when we work with clients we focus on 90%. Many new vegans think they have to be perfect. If they spend 90% of their time eating vegan and making compassionate decisions for animals, it’s far better, in the long run, than someone who is “perfectly vegan” for a few months – and then becomes an ex-vegan. I have been surprised, and delighted, to hear this shared opinion from the range of academy instructors (nutrition, animal rights, and fashion). What do you think?

Catch up on my experience with the Main Street Vegan Academy!