Vega Breakfast Challenge.

Have you read Thrive by Brendan Brazier? I read it a while ago and picked up several good tips and suggestions for dietary changes. Some of them I've made, some of them I haven't but I did find Brazier's story -- how his performance (he's an Ironman) improved after he became a vegan and eating whole foods -- quite interesting.

I try to eat whole foods as much as possible and in the past year or so I've tried to cut down on meat and increase my fruits and veggies. I've been eating a lot of chia seeds, ground flax meal and chlorella, all with the hope that they will support my overall health as well as my running performance.

So what does any of this have to do with anything? Well, I was recently invited to try the Vega Complete Whole Food Health Optimizer, which is part of the Vega product line that Brendan Brazier founded. I was sent some samples of the supplement and information about and a link to the Vega Breakfast Challenge.

On the Breakfast Challenge page, you can compare your current breakfast with the nutritional profile of the Whole Food Health Optimizer.

Yeah, I guess my breakfast isn't quite as healthful as I thought.

It's not bad but it pales in comparison to the Whole Food Health Optimizer. Which is a bummer because I really thought my breakfast was healthy. Pretty much every day I have a smoothie made from plain organic yogurt, unsweetened frozen strawberries, unsweetened frozen blueberries, a banana and either some flaxmeal, chia seeds or chlorella. Take a look at how my breakfast stacks up against the Vega WFHO:

I have to say that think that some of the levels might be a little off -- my flaxmeal claims to contain 2400mg of Omega-3, for example, and the calculator puts my breakfast at zero. Also, I wasn't able to put in an amount less than one cup for my banana and I usually use about a half cup.

Regardless, the calculator shows how many more nutrients I could be getting if I used the Vega WFHO. And I'm all about getting more nutrients. So, maybe Vega will be my new friend. We'll see!

You can check out your breakfast by visiting the Vega Breakfast Challenge page HERE. It's pretty cool to look at the comparison. You can also learn more about Vega and Brendan Brazier at the main Vega site HERE and follow Vega on Twitter HERE. Even if you are not planning to become a vegan or adopt the total Vega way of eating, there are tons of resources on the Vega site. And one last thing: If you "like" Vega on Facebook (HERE) you can enter to win a trip to Hollywood to meet Brendan later this month! How awesome would that be? Very awesome, no doubt.

So, good luck and have fun with the calculator!

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After a T-O-U-G-H run of 9 miles yesterday I'm hoping for a more comfortable run this evening. Fingers crossed.

Have a good day!

~ Felice


Review disclaimer: I was sent four samples of the Vega WFHO to sample. I was not otherwise compensated and the opinions expressed are entirely my own.