The Endurance Diet by Matt Fitzgerald

Author:Matt Fitzgerald
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780738218984
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Published: 2016-10-12T00:00:00+00:00

7 Habit 5: Eat Individually

A WELCOME MAT POSITIONED OUTSIDE THE FRONT ENTRANCE OF THE PAINTBOX Lodge in Canmore, Alberta, Canada, identifies the establishment as “Olympian-Owned.” The Olympians it refers to are Sara Renner and Thomas Grandi, who opened the lodge in 2010 after retiring from their respective sports. Renner, a cross-country skier, won a world championships bronze medal for Canada in the individual sprint in 2005 and an Olympic silver medal in the team sprint in 2006. Grandi, who is Renner’s husband, represented his native Italy in the giant slalom and slalom ski events at the Salt Lake City Games in 2002 and the Turin Games in 2006.

I checked into the Paintbox Lodge on a mild May afternoon in 2015. Renner has described the lodge’s interior design aesthetic as “rustic meets modern,” and I found this description to be accurate enough, except that the rustic and modern elements do not actually meet. The lobby and guest rooms are entirely rustic: wool carpets underfoot, exposed beams above, and pinewood walls decorated with local artwork all around. Only the kitchen is modern: clean white cabinetry, bright red splash tiles, and stainless steel Miele appliances. Although the Paintbox Lodge has just five guestrooms, the kitchen is outfitted for industrial use because it serves not only to feed guests but also as a venue for cooking classes.

Sara Renner and Thomas Grandi—Renner especially—are really into food and healthy eating. Over coffee, Renner explained to me that when she was a child her parents owned a backcountry guest lodge in western Alberta where all of the meals were made fresh from local ingredients. Renner herself was cooking by age seven. After leaving home as a teenager to ski professionally, she had no difficulty in feeding herself according to the same high standards of quality and taste she had become accustomed to. Renner believes that the same diet that fueled her to success in international racing is good for everyone. In fact, one of the cooking classes taught at Paintbox is called “Eat Like an Olympian.” The instructor is Marcel Holzherr, who also serves as the chef for the Canadian national cross-country and alpine ski teams.

The class has been a hit among Canmore locals and visitors, and it has been a transformative experience for some. One of Holzherr’s early students was Andrew Nickerson, head of Canmore’s tourism board. In the four months after he took the class, Nickerson lost 35 pounds. He did so without conscious intent and without thinking of himself as “going on a diet.” He just started cooking like Holzherr. A nonexerciser at the time he took the class, Nickerson felt so much more energetic after he changed his diet that he started walking to work every day.

In a phone conversation, I asked Holzherr what it means to eat like an Olympian. I knew the answer already, but I was gratified nevertheless when he described what I call the Endurance Diet. Holzherr believes in a well-rounded diet that includes all of the natural food types.

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