Monkey Poop

A friend of mine, a hardcore cyclist and fellow nutrition nut, introduced me to his homemade granola/energy bars a couple of years ago that he would make to fuel himself for long bike rides.  He passed along his recipe to me a while back, but I never tried making them myself due to laziness and the abundance of readily available energy bars at the grocery.  Nadya and I planned a 26ish mile mountain bike ride at Mohican State Park the other weekend, and since we are now trying to eliminate processed foods, most grains, and other "bad" stuff from our diets, I decided to try making these energy bars to replace the sugary crap that we would usually take along with us for fuel.

First let's talk about this new diet that we are now trying to follow.  When we were in Rifle this past summer, Nadya and I met a very cool couple that climbed ridiculously strong and were on a diet that consisted of a ton of protein and vegetables, some fruit, and no grains or processed junk.  They were on the Paleo diet.  I've heard about the diet before and looked into it a little bit back when I did some research into Crossfit, but never really got into it.  I always thought that the amount of climbing, running, and exercise that we do requires more carbs than going Paleo would allow for.  After talking to our new friends about this diet, I came to realize that maybe Paleo and climbing do work as they have reported that it has helped them to climb stronger and with fewer injuries.  And of course Nadya wants to do whatever she can to climb better, but she also wants to improve in running too, which requires a little more carbs.  So, Nadya and I are now both on a pseudo-paleo diet.  It's hard for only one person in a relationship to follow a certain diet so I guess I'm doing it too.  And, if it forces me to eat cleaner and healthier and helps me to climb stronger and run faster, then why not give it a shot?

So like I said earlier, we aren't going to be hardcore Paleo.  We are just trying to eliminate processed foods, most grains, lower our sugar intake, eat more healthy fats, eat more veggies, and eat more meat (mmmmmm meat).  I guess we are just trying to eat cleaner more than anything else.  We still eat oatmeal before our races, long training runs, and hard mountain bike rides and I still eat it most mornings for breakfast.  We still drink our yummy chocolate milk for post-workout recovery or treat ourselves to a donut from nearby DK Diner (because they are oh so good) and we still love our dark chocolate.  So yeah.  We like our occassional cheats.  My mom grew up on a sugar plantation, so I guess it's in my blood.  Oh well.  But as long as it is in moderation, right?  Maybe?

So far we haven't found the transition into this new diet to be that difficult although maybe that's because we aren't in it 100%.  Limiting grains was a little tough at first, but we never ate that much to begin with, especially in comparison to the amount that many other athletes eat.  We try to keep our carb intake below 150 grams (I almost always go above that.  Oops.) and we try to eat most of our carbs before or after workouts for fuel or for recovery.  There are still some tweaks that we need to make.  Nadya needs more protein.  We both need to eat less sugar.  Etc.  Etc.  We're trying.

I guess we will see how this diet affects our performance.  Will we climb stronger?  Run faster?  We'll find out soon.  Will this diet even work if we aren't in it 100%?  Or do we need to completely eliminate all sugars and grains in order for this to be effective?  Arghhh.  Too many questions.  We've tried many things in the past.  I hope this is the one.

So the energy bars I made are packed with almonds, walnuts, pecans, peanut butter, oats, grape nuts, dark chocolate chips, dried dates, honey, and molasses.  They are definitely not Paleo, but great for energy with the same amount of calories as a ClifBar and half the size.  They are dense.  Not for snacking, that's for sure.  But they are goooood.  Money Poop.  I think that's a good name for them.  Maybe I'll try to make some granola too without the oats and grape nuts and chocolate and try to keep the sugars to a minimum.  Just a bunch of nuts.  I can call those Monkey Nuts.  I actually saw someone selling granola at the farmer's market the other weekend.  Five bucks for 3-4 oz of granola.  Are you serious!?  I just ate the samples.  Maybe I can sell my own...



Packed full of calories!  Definitely not for snacking!