Fuel for going Primal.....
So if you can't eat gels, GUs, sugary sports drinks, energy bars, highly processed chocolate, flapjacks, jelly beans etc then what can you eat to fuel your long runs (+30 miles). In theory you don't need to eat at all as your body adapts on the Paleo/primal diet to become the ultimate fat burning machine. And certainly you can eat WAY less than someone relying on a carb loading and topping up strategy. However this is no reason not to reward yourself on a run with a little primal treat to keep the fires burning brightly.
And to do this I found a great recipe on the interweb which I've slightly adapted - So I give you Ultra Disco Stu's Primal Energy Bars:
Ingredients:
2 cups raw almonds (skin on)
1/2 cup ground flax seeds
1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup sultanas
1/4 cup dried blueberries
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/3 cup almond butter
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. sea salt
3 tbsp. honey or maple syrup
4 ounces of crushed dark chocolate (go for highest % coco you can get - 85% is perfect!)
Instructions:
Wizz the almonds, seeds, dried fruit, and coconut in the food processor until they are coarsely ground. Add almond butter, salt and mix. In a small saucepan, melt coconut oil over low heat until it becomes liquid. Stir in honey/maple syrup and vanilla extract. Combine the melted coconut oil with the nuts and fruit, and then add the dark chocolate chunks last working with a few pulses in the food processor until it forms a coarse moist mixture.
Spoon the mixture into the 8 x 8 inch baking dish, letting it chill for 1 hour in the refrigerator. Easy!! Cut into bars, then wrap individual bars in greaseproof paper. Store in fridge for weeks! Yields about 16 bars but can easily reduce or increase quanitities to make more or less.
ENJOY!!
I'm not a Paleo diet follower but they look dam fine regardless. I think I can feel a little kitchen time coming on. Cheers for that :)
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