Seven Days of Thriving

I've recently read the Thrive Diet by Brandan Brazier, a book about eating pattern of a vegan Ironman triathlete. He promotes highly alkaline and alkaline-forming diet and the concept of net-gain (the energy obtained from food VS the energy expended during digestion process). Even if one is not interested in veganism this book is definitely worth reading. The second half of the book is a 12-week meal plan, in case you actually decide to try it, and specific recipes. Ranging from the instructional material on sprouting beans and quinoa, to making energy bars and smoothies (with sprouted quinoa in them, yes. Well, in some of them) it gives plenty of room for experimentation.

So far I've discovered that...
...ginger in smoothies taste like arse (I love it in all other forms... ginger, not arse. Also no idea how the latter tastes, so will assume like ginger in smoothies), but lettuce blends into them just fine.
...during sprouting things quadruple in volume; a 2-litre jar of sprouts is the evidence.
...sprouted white navy beans can cause indigestion (tested on two people - myself and a co-worker). The word in town is that adzuki beans are the way to go.
...in the face-off between the mix blueberry energy bars and the food processor bit of the immersion blender the bars win (my roommate is going to be mad, it was her blender). Truth to say the blender is fine, but the food processor container is kaput.
...sprouted quinoa is the bomb, just rinse well before eating it.

I'm happily eating yoghurt amidst this whole sprouting madness, since I'm not in a rush to go vegan (been there, done that). However shedding eggs and milk was not a problem, Thrive provides readily available alternatives.

So far I've lost 5lbs, which I'm rather unhappy about - my 5'9" x 145lbs constitution is not exactly where I want to be (I'm a very physically active guy, so building muscle mass is my current quest). However as long as my strength-to-weight ration improves I call it a win. That the Spartan Race on June 10th will show; but that is another story entirely...