Sports nutritionists insist on the importance of protein in the diets of athletes. However, many athletes are vegetarians: How can you balance your meals and eat a variety of foods that are adapted to your nutritional needs? With these recipe ideas specifically planned for the whole day, you can easily create gourmet vegetarian menus adapted to your energy expenditure.
The breakfast of a vegetarian athlete
The most important meal of the day, especially for an athlete; breakfast, serves as fuel to provide energy to the body after a few hours of fasting. Here are some ideas to create an energetic and varied vegetarian breakfast:
- 1 cup of green tea + 2 slices of wholemeal bread + 1 kiwi + 1 egg + almonds.
- 1 cup of green tea + oatmeal + 2 clementines + 1 yoghurt + hazelnuts.
- 1 cup of green tea + muesli + 1 orange + 1 cottage cheese + pine nuts.
Tip:
From time to time, you can also treat yourself to homemade smoothies, mixing non-dairy milk and fresh fruit. Add a few seeds, dried fruits and cereals and you’ll have a complete gourmet breakfast, ideal to eat well on days when you are in a hurry.
3 vegetarian menu ideas for an athlete’s lunch
At lunchtime, choose filling foods, but not too heavy so as not to slow down digestion. Combine starchy foods with fresh vegetables and plan a starter as well as a dairy product and/or dessert. The following 3 vegetarian menus contain all the necessary nutritional elements to avoid hunger in the afternoon:
- 1 avocado + mushroom pasta + 1 Greek yoghurt with pieces of seasonal fruit.
- 1 lentil salad + quinoa + small vegetables (sweet potato, carrots, aubergine, etc.) + cottage cheese in agave syrup.
- 1 salad of spinach leaves + rice + Indian-style peppers with coconut milk and spices + 1 yoghurt + 1 fruit salad.
Tip:
To balance your vegetarian menus, why not include seafood in your recipes? Seaweeds are extremely rich in nutrients: Spirulina, wakame, nori, sea lettuce, and so on. You can easily find original and tasty recipes to include in your meals!
Which vegetarian recipes should you choose for an athlete’s dinner?
In the evening, your priority is to eat a light meal in order to sleep well. Your vegetarian dinner will consist of a portion of starchy food, vegetables and a dessert in the form of a dairy product and/or fruit. You can include protein-rich foods, such as tofu, especially after a workout session, in order to enhance muscle recovery:
- Rice + stuffed aubergine with peppers, pine nuts and shallots + rice with coconut milk.
- Fried noodles with vegetables and tofu + cottage cheese with a coulis of berries.
- 1 pan-fried sweet potato with bulgur + 1 yoghurt with raisins.
Remember to accompany these healthy eating habits with sufficient hydration, by drinking water before you get thirsty throughout the day.
Optimising one’s diet when one is a vegetarian athlete involves combining protein-rich foods of plant origin with starchy foods with a low glycemic index as well as fruits and vegetables, in order to provide the body with the nutrients it needs according to the energy expenditure of the day.
Many top athletes are vegetarians: Specific nutritional diets exist to make their daily life easier. If in doubt, ask a nutritionist or follow the advice of sports coaches who specialise in nutrition. By varying your diet, you will quickly find the balance that suits you while discovering tasty recipes from all over the world.
Tip:
Full of health benefits, beansprouts are highly nutritious and richer in vitamins and micronutrients than conventional beans: Vary your menus by including sprouted parsley, cabbage, radish, mung bean or chickpeas.
Check out our Health & Fitness page for more advice.