Cha Cha Cha Chia ... And Not the Presidential Kind, The Kind For Runners

Chia seeds... you love them or you hate them. Or you grab a fun loving Chia Pet and grow it because it's hysterical and weird. However I am going to share with you how I got started with chia seeds because it's a great story.

So I have a friend that is very much like myself... total multipassionista. She went through this phase where she was all into HIIT kids cardio where you would go out in the front yard and play tag with your kids for twenty minutes and that was cardio. When her kids were little it was a great idea. Even better when you add water into the mix on a hot, hot day!

This was when she was leaning slowly into a more paleo sort of idea of eating. She also really wanted to run and got the book "Born To Run". The Tarahumara diet is described in some small detail in the book, with repeated mention of two staple items including pinole and chia seeds.

So of course she started making chia seed drinks for energy. I thought... she's crazy. I often think my good friend, Heidi, is crazy before she makes an amazing breakthrough. I am pretty sure she feels exactly the same about me. I think it's why we've been good friends for over a decade.

So the Tarhumara diet included this drink called the iskiate, which is simply water mixed with chia seeds. This combination was thought to give them endurance and hydration for their long journey of running from village to village. And seven years later I have to say I do love the Mamma Chia drinks, but not the $3/pop that it costs to buy it. So I want to share with you my healthy version, costs about a $1 and is my secret energy drink during my workouts. And for your kids, just replacing the sugary/corn syrup laden sports drinks and giving them a natural sports drink that's healthy and costs less (one serving is about 1/2 the cost of the sports drink) is a win win for any parent that I know. As part of efforts to fight our nation's childhood obesity epidemic, the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that kids stick to drinking water, but especially now with the Olympics and Ad placement ... our kids are going to see more and more sports drinks. And they just aren't the best solution.

There was a study done called the 'Omega 3 Chia seed loading as a means of carbohydrate loading' that has shown a combination of half/half Gatorade and chia seeds works just as well as plain Gatorade for training sessions lasting longer than 90 minutes. Yet it offers a larger nutritional boost due to the reduction of sugar and increase of omega-3s. So I thought why wouldn't I just cut the Gatorade out of the solution and use what has to be the best vegan hydration mix out there. I love it, my daughter loves it without the chia seeds, and it's good for us as well!

Paleo Vegeo Chia Seed Workout Drink: 

Just 1 Weight Watchers Smart Point and really filling!!