Pam Boteler is a Champion Athlete - Canoeist Height 5' 10" - Age 43 - Birth Date May 20, 1968 Pam follows the Simple, Garden/Raw Food Diet  Pam: "I eat a plant based diet" Website http://www.justcanoeit.com/Content/pamboteler.asp  Interview  - "Precision Nutrition" - October 22, 2009 www.precisionnutrition.com/pam-boteler-interview How do you meet the demands of your sport with your diet? When I eat plant-based, I can get the calories I need in a manner that is digested and absorbed quickly. I can use the energy quickly and it doesn’t weigh me down. The food I eat is hydrating. Athletes need to stay hydrated. Processed foods are not hydrating. The last thing I want is to rob Peter to pay Paul by relying on quick sources of energy that don’t actually nourish or hydrate me. To fuel my workouts, fruit is #1 — it has the right nutrition and type of energy. Once you look at the biology of it, the source of fuel becomes kind of a no-brainer. A pile of bananas, a watermelon, grapes, coconut water, mangoes, these are great things to get me through a workout, and they’re friendly to my digestive system. Fruit smoothies are ideal. Or “mono-meals”: for example, I’ll just grab a watermelon and scoop out of it like a bowl. (During the summer, after Saturday workouts, I typically have 4-5 little kids coming up to me asking for pieces of watermelon or cantaloupe!) Then greens and vegetables. I really love banana smoothies with coconut water or just plain water and maybe some ice for thickness. Later in the day, green smoothies are a treat (e.g., bananas, kale and coconut water). Blending the greens helps you increase your greens consumption (which needs to be high on a raw vegan diet). This is simple and uncomplicated.   If it becomes complicated, it’s because I made it complicated! I don’t want an inflamed bowel and trashed adrenal glands. I want to take as good care of my body as people take of their car. People spend more time worrying about what they feed their dog, really. How did you become a raw vegan? For me, it wasn’t just a dietary change. It was a personal transformation. Change doesn’t happen until it’s more painful not to change, and/or that the change is so profound, the results are so profound, that going back is not an option. I used to be just in pain avoidance mode, trying to find ways not to feel pain. Now, I’m gravitating to something — towards thriving and optimal health. For me, there is no going back to eating meat. I don’t want a plate of pasta, I don’t want a plate of pancakes with a side of hash browns. About 8 years ago I was in a relationship with someone who was very well informed about nutrition. At that time, I’d had irritable bowel syndrome problems for almost 15 years and was still struggling with an eating disorder (for almost 2 decades). He took me down a path of various cleansing protocols and dietary changes.  The most significant dietary change at the time was to give up cereal (for breakfast and dinner), pasta, muffins, bagels and almost all breads. These were very addictive for me and I finally figured out how addictive when I eliminated them (and then later tried them again!). My “aha” moment was listening to the audiobook “Milk: The Deadly Poison” by Robert Cohen in late 2005, then researching dairy more thoroughly. (See All About Milk for more.) I was stunned at what I read, but then did my own experiments on myself eliminating dairy, one step at a time. Dairy was always paired with cereals and other processed/grain products and in protein powders). This experiment was life-altering. It was the beginning of the next major phase of personal transformation. For me, eating plant-based and raw is not about an identity. I never pursued, and still do not pursue, a label. I was, and still am, razor focused on health and feeling my best, so I can be my best in everything I do. Thus I pursue a “path” or a lifestyle to get to this objective. Right now, a diet composed largely of as many whole, fresh, ripe, raw, and preferably organic fruits and vegetables as I can helps me achieve this.  I prefer to say “I eat a plant-based diet." "