Does An Extra Active Lifestyle REQUIRE A Healthier Diet?

Last night I had an interesting conversation with Motozo. That man always surprises me. His logic is sometimes so far away from mine. That's a good thing though. It makes life interesting when we disagree on things :)

Our disagreement was on who needs and doesn't really need a so called "healthy diet".

I really think its important for everyone to eat well, regardless of their activity level and age. There are basic things people can do to improve their diet. The obvious, of course, to eat more (organic) fresh vegetables and fruits. Eat foods in their natural form, so bye bye processed foods! Minimize the amount of sugar in the diet and drink lots of purified water. Drink alcohol and caffeine in moderate amounts and be a healthy (free range etc) consumer when it comes to meat (if you are meat eater).

Motozo agrees that healthy eating is good, but active people, (ie: hardcore athletes) require more nutrition over the less active folks. He used a car as an example. A expensive car needs premium fuel to run efficiently; where-else a cheaper car can get away with regular fuel. 
Now, intellectually, I do understand what he's getting at, but I had to totally disagree with him! Inactive people should be just as careful about what they consume because if they 1. don't exercise and 2. are eating crap.....well, that's just a recipe for disaster! Hello physical problems that are bound to result from this sort of lifestyle.
I personally don't think we can compare our bodies with cars. A car can't magically change into a better car by just putting better fuel in it. But our bodies can do amazing things if we put healthy stuff in it. I've heard so many wonderful stories of how people have transformed themselves from JUST changing their eating habits. Some people get cured of chronic illness after switching to a raw food diet or cutting meat out. Diseases/health issues are quite often directly linked to what we eat.

Our bodies are amazing things and will respond to how we treat it. We only have one body so I think its important and worth a little time and effort to give it healthy food regardless if we aren't active.

That's my 2 cents anyway. Unfortunately, we had this conversation right before falling asleep, so Motozo practically fell asleep as I gave my opinionated speech. Bless him! haha

It would be interesting to hear others opinion on this. Is it more important for an active person to eat healthier over less active folks?

Speaking of healthy, I made a fabulous veggie burger the other day. Poof that it was as good as I claim; Motozo came home a few moments before I pulled them out of the oven and he immediately said "Smells GOOOOD! What are you making?" Being that he does not say that often (does not say much for my cooking ha) I took it as a real compliment :)

Yep, its red! Beet baby beet! 

 

Adapted the recipe from Healthy Vegan Recipes

• 1 beet
• 1 carrot
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp Italian herbs
• 1.5 cups cooked amaranth 
• salt for taste

1. In a food processor I minced the beet, carrot, garlic clove, herbs and salt.

2. In a large bowl I mixed the minced vegetables and cooked amaranth. Formed them into small burgers and cooked in the oven at 176 C for 40mins.

Before putting them into the oven. 

I should have taken them out earlier as a they ended up a little too crispy on the outside. But they still tasted fab! Lots of flavor and crunch from the amaranth. Vegan and Gluten free! YUM!