Keeping energised throughout Veganuary in Lockdown

GB Marathon & Ultra Distance Runner and Revvies ambassador, Samantha Amend, offers her top nutrition tips to for Brits to combat lethargy and get to grips with their health.

The rise of veganism in the UK has been nothing short of meteoric, with more and more people getting behind Veganuary every year. Organisers of the plant-based event are expecting more than 500,000 Brits to take part this month, an increase of 100,000 participants on the numbers registered last year. As Brits continue to embrace new health kicks in the wake of the Covid pandemic and national lockdowns, it is more essential than ever that the nation makes the important strides to ensure that the foods they consume also help to combat the lethargy epidemic that is being experienced.

New nationally representative research conducted by Revvies, has found that 37% of Brits claim their energy levels are the lowest they have ever been as we enter the new year, with a third of Brits saying that working from home again has made them more lethargic than ever. 

Key Statistics:

• 37% of Brits say that their energy levels are the lowest they have ever been
• 37% of Brits say that working from home has made them the most lethargic and tired they have ever been
• 23% of Brits claim that their normal methods of replenishing their energy levels take too much time or cost too much money to be realistic (meditation, spas, exercise, supplements)
• 18% of Brits avoid caffeinated drinks as they upset their stomach

Finding the ways to maintain a new healthy lifestyle is now proving more difficult than ever, with the UK under lockdown and motivation at an all-time low. Now, Brits throughout the country are looking for ways to re-energise and motivate themselves to start the year off right, and now face the challenge of rebuilding their energy levels, fighting fatigue and combat this epidemic of exhaustion in hopes of leading a healthy life in 2021. 

As a seasoned professional athlete, and committed vegan,Samantha Amend, GB Marathon & Ultra Distance Runner and Revvies ambassador, has offered her top 3 tips to get to grips with your new year’s health kick:

1) Preparation

Change the shopping list and research before recipes and what you can get locally. Take a look on facebook vegan sites and also Veganuary sites. Work towards the time you have to cook and around your planned working day.

2) Keep IT Simple

Don’t try to go for lengthy cooking projects, grow and adapt slowly, master and then expand. Read products in the supermarket and once tried to replicate without the additives and make fresh.  Also look to reduce the amount of meat per week if you do not feel you can do it all in one go.

3) Eat What You Enjoy

It’s a known fact that you are likely to stick with a “change” if you enjoy the taste rather than eating it based on being deemed as good for you. They say a habit takes a month to change and become a full lifestyle change, hence the quote “change a habit of a lifetime.

Samantha Amend: 

“Up to a lead of a race I will up my carbohydrates and ensure the fluid intake is good.  I find that post race I become very dehydrated. General plan is “eat well” all the time and then increase calories and also make sure during the race every hour you take carbohydrates, fluid and a strategy.  

“I have taken regular advice and built up knowledge on good sources of food over the years learning from fatigue or signs I am lacking something. It’s especially key if you’re starting to increase your running distance/time/speed which will impact recovery with poor nutrition.

“Some example foods I will take during a race will be Fodmap related (do not aggravate the gut) which wasn’t always the case but recommended through a Revvies nutritionist. Then I would have a mix of bananas (potassium), Huma gels (vegan), and Tailwind for fluid which is also vegan.  Not forgetting my regular use of Revvies Energy Strips every 4 hours on a 24hr race and for e.g. a marathon 1 before the start and 1 during”

Samantha Amend