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Vegan recipes for runners: The best vegan cookbooks

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Are you taking part in Veganuary this year? The good news is that there are lots of vegan recipes for runners out there to make your Veganuary that much easier.

Veganuary started in 2014 and has since inspired and motivated more than half a million people in 178 countries worldwide to try a plant-based diet. 

With there being ever more awareness of climate change, the environment and what the meat industry is doing to our planet, more and more people are choosing to take up veganism as a way of life.

When it comes to fitness and nutrition, there is a lot of confusing and contradicting information out there. 

Veggie and vegan nutrition has come a long way in the last 10 years, with more and more athletes choosing a plant-based diet over meat, resources and recipe books are slowly becoming more and more plentiful. 

So I thought I’d take this opportunity to write about some of my favourite vegan cookbooks in the hope that they may inspire you to opt for a more plant-based diet.

A little note to say that I am a vegetarian. I am yet to go fully vegan but it is something that I am working my way towards slowly but surely! I like to experiment with vegan recipes now and again.

vegan recipes for runners

The Vegetarian Athlete’s Cookbook: More Than 100 Delicious Recipes for Active Living

Written by bestselling author and nutritionist Anita Bean, this book is packed full of delicious and easy to make recipes – many of which are suitable for vegans. 

I love this book because it includes lots of practical and no nonsense advice at the start of the book on being a vegetarian or vegan athlete. 

Anita is keen to stress that although vegetarian and vegan has its challenges, it is possible to eat healthily and reach your fitness goals without eating meat. 

When I started adopting a vegetarian diet, I was worried that I wouldn’t eat enough to fuel my running. 

At the start of the book, Anita explains some key concepts when it comes to proper nutrition and how as a vegetarian or vegan you can still get the same vitamins and minerals on a plant-based diet. 

The book has over 100 fast, healthy, tasty vegetarian and vegan recipes for breakfast, main meals, desserts, snacks and shakes – and all featuring full nutritional analysis – so you have lots to choose from.

The No Meat Athlete Cookbook

Written by the founder of the No Meat athlete movement Matt Frazier, this book features 150 vegan recipes that are affordable and quick to make, even on your busy days. 

It includes breakfast and main meal recipes, as well as ideas for natural sports drinks, snacks and treats.

There are also meal planning guides, nutritional information and recipes that you can adapt depending on your own preferences. 

vegan recipes for runners

Rachel Ama’s Vegan Eats: Tasty plant-based recipes for every day

I love this book because it includes lots of vibrant, quick and easy and flavoursome recipes. 

Rachel creates vegan alternatives to West Caribbean and African-inspired dishes like fritters and her delicious plantain burger. 

So if you’re someone who likes their food packed full of flavour, then this is the vegan cookbook for you.

Many of the recipes are great for pre-run fuel and include supermarket-friendly ingredients. There’s nothing worse than finding a cookbook that includes complex and hard to find ingredients. I need my food fast!

I also love Rachel’s YouTube channel where she shares recipes and tips and advice on eating a plant-based diet.

Five Ingredient Vegan: 100 simple, fast, modern recipes

I’m very much a person that wants to spend as little time as possible in the kitchen when it comes to making my meals.

As I explained above, I cannot stand books that have loads of hard to find ingredients, so I was excited to start using this book.

It has beautiful photography and the recipes are laid out really well which makes reading it a treat. 

This is the fourth book from award-winning cook, writer and cookery tutor Katy Beskow and uses a really simple format – each recipe requires just five ingredients. 

This book really does show you that vegan cooking does not have to be complicated. 

vegan recipes for runners

BOSH! Healthy Vegan: Over 80 brand-new recipes with less fat, less sugar and more taste

This book includes lots of vegan recipes with a healthier focus, along with advice on sleep, movement, relaxing and wellbeing which I really enjoyed. 

Although this book’s focus isn’t weight loss, it includes lots of recipes to help you reduce fat, increase your protein intake, build muscle and generally be a bit healthier.

Protein for runners is already a much debated topic, so the fact that this book explains how to get your protein intake on a vegan diet is really useful.

The section on balancing your meals is really useful, and it provides advice on where to get all your essential nutrients from as a vegan.

Caroline Geoghegan
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