?What did Brendan do with the Avocado?? + VEGA Giveaway!!

GUYS!!  BRENDAN BRAZIER’S ON MY BLOG!!!!

Well, sort of, anyway.

Most of you know that I got to interrogate the beautiful (can I say that? I just did!) Brendan Brazier a couple of weeks ago, while he was down here at the Fiddleheads Health and Nutrition Store (incidentally, my lovely employer) in Kitchener.   To make the experience even more memorable, there was actually quite a story involved in how I rallied up all my friends to come with me and how they accidentally learned way more about plant-based whole foods nutrition than they ever wanted to…  But for today, I’ll keep the focus on Brendan.

Now, when I first told my friend Josh excitedly about my interview, his immediate response after perusing Brazier’s site was : “Oh yeah, he looks like the perfect poster boy for vegan athleticism.”

In many ways, this is true: Brendan is a professional vegan triathlete, creator of the award-winning VEGA whole foods nutritional supplements line, author of Canadian best-seller The Thrive Diet, and more recently, has become implicated in issues surrounding food sustainability.  To be frank, the boy has some stellar credits to his name.

But while I was doing my preparatory research for the Big Interview (which, to some of you, might not seem that big–trust me, it was Big to me), I realized something important: Brazier is just a normal guy.  Yes, he is incredible in the many regards as listed above.  Yes, he is tall and his mere presence in a room, although decked out simply in plain jeans and his black Chuck Taylors, makes many a girl’s heart beat terribly fast.  Yet what I discovered, both in my research and in my meeting of him in person, was that by far my favourite aspect of Brazier is his honesty.  He is, in the best possible sense, remarkably unsensational.

The challenge then became: how should I interview him? Brendan has been interviewed countless times from the perspectives of a vegan, of a VEGA fan, of an athlete, and sometimes–perhaps more commonly–as all of the above.   For my chat, I wanted to cover all the important bases (nutrition, diet, fitness), but I also wanted to pick his brain from the perspective of a university student.  The result?  An article in the Imprint, and this here lovely video below.  Without further ado, I present to you,  “A Chat with Brendan Brazier”:

(But what I really want to know is: what did he do with the avocado? Did he eat it with a spoon?  Late-night snack? Post-workout fuel?  On a sandwich?  Did he completely forget about it?  Hello?  Brendan?  Curious minds would like to know.)

Now, as you know, Brendan is the ingenious mastermind behind VEGA formulations.  If you’re a faithful VEGA products fan, you might have heard about their latest addition to the family–that’s VEGA’s new Shake & Go Smoothie!  If not, here’s an excerpt from the exclusive VEGA community “sneak peek” blog post:

Shake & Go Smoothie was designed to allow you to make nutritious choices even while on the go. It provides you with the host of nutritional benefits you are used to from Vega, in the most convenient and tasty form yet! It?s something that you can grab on your way out the door, at the office to avoid that mid-afternoon crash or give to your child before soccer practice that is super nutritious, tastes great and is easy to prepare. Just add to water, shake and go! You can mix it ANYWHERE!

With just one serving of Shake & Go Smoothie, you get:

Four amazingly delectable flavours will be available: Vanilla Almondilla, Bodacious Berry, Tropical Tango and Choc-a-lot.

Although VEGA Shake & Go is so new that it has yet to appear on the shelves of most health food stores, now’s your chance to win your very own package!!  I want to thank Krystal, over at Sequel Naturals: this lovely lady was not only a major help in facilitating my interview with Brendan, but on behalf of Sequel, has also agreed to sponsor the “(Incr)edible VEGA Giveaway “ !  Two lucky people will win their very own VEGA Shake & Go Smoothie, in the flavour of their choice!

I consider this giveaway a celebration of all that Brendan Brazier represents–whole-body health: mental and physical strength–and an earnest thank-you to all of my current readers, as well as an encouragement to any new readers, for sharing this lovely space in the blogosphere with me.  To enter, the rules are simple:

Hooray for delicious, nutritious, and easy-to-make smoothies on the go!! Winners will be announced May 31.

OK guys, that’s it.  Is there a smoother way to start your long weekend?

-aletheia zoe