We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Fitness Magazine here on FitSugar!

Ironman triathlete and ultramarathoner Brendan Brazier realized early on in his career that diet would play a big role in his overall performance. “Longer events really level the athletic playing field. It becomes more about training and the speed of recovery than about natural ability,” Brazier says. “Nutrition allows you to train harder and recover faster.”

The refined white starches he had added to his diet to make up for the carbohydrates he was burning weren’t increasing his energy levels as much as he had hoped. After extensive research, Brazier found that about 80 percent of recovery is linked to good nutrition. “Eating more doesn’t always mean more energy. You can be overfed while being undernourished,” he says.

Brazier eased into a whole food-based, vegan diet heavy on healthy whole grains (amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat), plant proteins (hemp, pea, rice), and dark leafy greens. Besides increasing his rate of recovery, he discovered that this eating plan of frequent, small meals helped him be more productive and sleep better.

“Look at Google. They were trying to decrease the amount of sick days their staff members were taking, so they put in cafés with healthy food. Since everything was free, employees would graze throughout the day. There was no midafternoon crash, and many people were more productive and took fewer sick days,” Brazier explains.

Today, Brazier enjoys fitness recreationally and advises professional athletes about nutrition (Montell Owens, a Jacksonville Jaguar Pro Bowler, and Simon Whitfield, an Olympic triathlete, among others). He guest-lectures at Cornell University, has written three books, most recently Thrive Foods, and just launched Thrive Foods Direct meal-delivery service.

We couldn’t wait for the meals to hit our doorstep, so we asked Brendan to share one of his favorite recipes. Keep reading to learn how to make his superpowered pizza.

More from Fitness Magazine:

How to Rewind Your Health History

Go Green! Springy Superfoods to Add to Your Diet

Reboot Your Metabolism

Source: brendanbrazier.com

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