Nutrition. The theory is actually as simple as it is logical: anyone who wants to make muscles stronger must ensure that they have enough fuel and can recover properly. If you don’t throw in enough, not enough will come out. And the quality determines speed and strength. Just like a car.

But barely two weeks on the road I can actually no longer see grilled eggplant, kidney bean chickpea, mackerel or avocado. The training schedule is very doable, the mandatory rest days are also quite manageable, but getting rid of 2,600 kcal on ‘clean food’ turns out to be a tough challenge. Now I am a huge fan of tasty and healthy food, so the prospect of almost 1.5 being able to eat twice as much as the average person sounded tempting. In addition, my current diet was already quite ‘clean’. But when it comes to optimal balancing, it is not about what is tasty or what you feel like, it is really only about getting the right ‘macronutrients’; proteins, carbohydrates and fats.

And all that in the right proportions. And if you also have no gluten, no dairy, If you want to eat as little meat as possible, but want to eat it organically, it is almost rocket science. I now know that of those 2,600 kcal, ideally 30% comes from protein, 40% from carbohydrates and 40% from fat. And that they have to be divided over the day in reasonably equal blocks (5 to 6). I know that my protein intake per day should be around 120 grams and that I want to get as little as possible from the largest protein source; meat. In comparison, 1 egg contains only 6 grams of protein. And eating 20 eggs a day is not only unhealthy, it is also the death blow to your social life.

So I’m looking for alternatives. I don’t get carbohydrates – nice and easy – from rice or pasta, but mainly from oatmeal and vegetables; at least 500 grams per day. But vegetables are not enough. No, legumes should be included. And many! Already saturated? Too bad, because avocados are fat and extremely filling, but ALWAYS good. So I can really go through everything, even through your breakfast, I now know, but then we are not there yet. Not an athlete who does not live on a supplement or two. So there is whey for muscle building in my kitchen, some magnesium for muscle recovery and a multi-vitamin because you never know what micronutrients you are missing. And then also omega-3 because they say that’s really good, a bone formula that keeps my bones healthy and glucosamine that says it does the same for my cartilage.

Now I’m dizzy, I’m living in a constant state of nausea and spend more hours in the kitchen than ever before. But my bright spot every day is my piece of dark chocolate. Because that is allowed, I think. There is always something to celebrate; half a pistol.