We vegans tend to talk about our food and nutrition a lot, whether by our own interest or in answering
the frequent questions we receive about where we get x, y, or z nutrients. And athletes tend
to be obsessed with talking about nutrition and macros and all that. So vegan athletes
can be a force to be reckoned with. But do any do us really know what we’re talking
about? Well you can be sure my guest today does. Not only is he vegan and an athlete-
actually an ultra-athlete, but to top it off, he’s a Registered Dietitian.
Hi it’s Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome to another vegan nugget. Matt Ruscigno is
a Registered Dietitian- one of the only professional nutrition credentials available, a vegan of
19 years, endurance ultra-athlete busting out marathons, iron-man triathlons, 200+ mile
cycling events and 24 hour races…cause that’s not a big deal… a blogger, co-author of No
Meat Athlete, and Appetite for Reduction. And co-creator of the online vegan athlete
web series Strongest Hearts, which makes the best videos on vegan athletes….
On top of all of that, Matt is down-to-earth, laid back, and always happy to help educate, and
had a cat visitor during our interview, which is by far the most impressive credential.
With all of this nutritional know-how and hands-on athletic experience, I just had to
ask him: what do you eat in a day?
Matt, I want to thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to be on the channel.
I’m honored to be here. Thank you for having me.
You’re an ultra athlete and could you, and a vegan, so could you tell us a little
bit about your journey to this point. When and how did you go vegan and a little bit
about your athletic background?
Sure. I went vegan when I was 17 years old which is now 19 years ago this month. (???)
And here is my kitty...it's perfect.
And I was very influenced by sort of punk rock music in the mid-90’s, hardcore,
like a lot of people have, were influenced. And then it came time for to me pick what
I wanted to study in college, and I picked nutrition just because of veganism. And so,
that’s how I became a registered dietitian. And then I became interested in athletic stuff
when, after I rode cross country. After I graduated, I rode from Huntington Beach, CA to
back home Pennsylvania and then I moved to California for grad school, and kind of
got into cycling a bit. I grew up riding BMX and skateboarding, and doing those sorts of things.
I mean the registered dietitian, for people who aren’t familiar, can you say
what kind of...how many years of study that entails?
Sure. So, you have to have a dietetics or nutrition degree which is a 4 year degree.
And then you have to do an internship that’s about a year. And then doing the clinical,
and the food service, and the counseling, and the out-patient. And then you have to
take an examine just like a nurse. Then you have to continue your education just like
nurses and doctors have to do. And most, many registered dietitians, more than half also
have a masters degree, which is what I did as well. I studied public health nutrition.
And so, that’s quite a big difference compared to a nutritionist where most people have only
taken an online class or maybe have done nothing except read blogs, and then decided that they like it.
So, could you tell me what exactly, for those people who don’t know which I’m
pretty ignorant when it comes to serious athletics. What exactly is an ultra athlete or what is
the...what does that really entail?
Got it. So for running, they say it’s anything longer than a marathon would be an
ultra run. So, anything longer than a 26.2 mile distance would be an ultra. And then,
for cycling it’s not quite as clear. Some people say anything longer than a century.
Some people say anything that’s a double century which is 200 miles or more, you know,
in one go, and that would sort of define ultra cycling. For triathlon people look at ironman,
you know, which is your 2 ½ mile swim, 112 mile bike, then a full 26.2 mile run afterwards,
and that the longest traditional triathlon. You definitely have double ironmans and triple
ironmans, but that’s a very small subset.
So, can you give us an idea of what you eat in a day which I know is probably
a complicated question for someone who does such a variety of athletic pursuits. But,
in the best way that you can, speak of it to what you eat in a typical day and when you’re training?
It’s interesting because I’m definitely in a (???), as far as being a dietitian I’m
not super numbers focused, and I’m not super obsessive. No offense to other dietitians
but a lot of those folks come from a very rigid background and hard sciences came really
naturally to them. To me, I’m more of a bigger picture, conceptual person, and my
diet reflects that. And even...I feel a little weird even being called an athlete because
I never really identified in that world, like I didn’t want to do jock stuff. You know,
I was real hesitant to do ironman because honestly, I didn’t want to be around those folks.
Which that shouldn’t keep anyone from doing it. But to actually answer your
question. For me, I cook a lot because I, when I can because my work is so flexible.
I love to make tofu scramble in the morning. I do lots of veggies. I’ll do corn tortillas
or whole wheat bread. For lunch I’m a big fan of just eating leftovers whether when
I’m on the road or I’m at home. And then my dinner, really the two things I make most
often are stir fry. Just you know, I love broccoli and purple cabbage, and some sort
of green whether it’s arugula or kale. And then some protein, some tofu in there, some
tempeh, maybe eat a little bit of fake meat, I’m not totally opposed to that. And then
burritos right? I live in California. So, that rice, beans, salsa, guacamole, some veggies,
all that. And wrap it up in a wholly tortilla really makes a great meal for an athlete or anyone.
So, I know you said that you don’t worry about numbers so much. Do you have any
concept of the macro, everyone talks about macros and you’re an athlete, or do you
just kind of more go with intuition?
You know, I mean after studying nutrition for 7 years I think I have an intuition about
it...and I can gauge it pretty well, and I know a lot of athletes really fixate on these
macros. And, there’s a lot of variants between individuals, and between, within our own bodies
depending on how well trained we are, our stress levels. All sorts of things affect
our calorie needs and how these protein, carbohydrate, and fat is assimilated when we eat it. And
so, I don’t think most people need to be as hung up as they are on exact numbers.
Just having a good general idea how much carbohydrate and protein is inserted in things. And watching
how you feel to know if you’re getting enough calories or not.
I don’t know how active you were athletically before you became vegan. If you
were, did you see any pronounced difference when you made the switch?
It was hard to tell because I was 17 years old so. And my life changed a lot because
I went off to college not long after I went vegan, but I’ve always had sort of a different
build. I was never scrawny and I’m still not a scrawny person, you know. People say
to me ‘oh, I can’t believe you’re actually vegan because you’re not scrawny and you
don’t talk about it all the time’. And so, my body type has stayed the same, and
my energy levels have stayed the same. And early on when I started doing actual ‘athletic
events’, I felt it very important to represent veganism, and I never felt that I had any
limitations as far as my training goes. A lot of people eat plant based foods when they’re
training whether they think about it or not. They’re eating bananas. They’re eating
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They’re eating pasta with tomato sauce and some veggies.
These are vegan foods that most athletes eat.
Are there any events or anything that you have coming up?
Yes, I’m speaking at the Mad City Vegan Fest which is the Madison, WI Veg Fest
at the end of the month; June 27th. I’m really excited about it. They seem really
well organized. It seems like a big, fun event. So, that’s something that I have coming up.
For people who want to be able to follow your work or get in touch with you because
I know that you offer a variety of services. Can you tell them where to find you, and then
if you want to also, what it is that you do offer?
So, were talking about Strongest Hearts which is strongesthearts.org. All of our videos
are there. My personal website is: truelovehealth.com, which is still more blog than professional
but the stuff that I do do is on there. I offer private consulting. I do a lot of public
speaking, it’s probably my favorite thing to do. Veg Fest. I do stuff with groups. And...
...that I’m always looking for new opportunities to do, and speak to people, and especially
non-vegans. I love going and bringing this message to people, and saying, ‘Hey look,
here’s the evidence, and there’s lots of other reasons to eat fewer animals, so
here’s how we can do it.’ You know, I love bringing that message to people in a
fun way that’s easy to digest; no pun intended. And then, all the social media is just my
name ‘Matt Ruscigno’. Instagram, Twitter, all of that stuff. I travel a lot and I love
food. Yeah, that’s kind of a rambling ending but yeah, I love people to follow me, and
keep in touch, and let me know what they’re up to as well.
Alright well, Matt I just want to thank you again for taking time out of your schedule
to be with us and for sharing your knowledge.
Yeah absolutely, and thank you for having me. It was great to talk with you. I love
talking about all this stuff and thank you for all the work that you do.
I hope you enjoyed hearing from Matt on this. Stay tuned to the series for more with him
on optimal athletic performance via sound nutrition and some of the most inspiring vegan
athletes he’s worked with.
Now, I’d love to hear your thoughts? Did you enjoy Matt’s more laid-back approach to
nutrition? Let me know in the comments.
If you enjoyed this nutritional wallop of a nugget, give this video a big thumbs up and
share it around to show that sound nutrition doesn’t have to be brain surgery. If you’re
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Now go live vegan, settle down about your nutrition, and I’ll see you soon.
This is the best interview ever now officially because of the cat. What’s his or her name?
This is Odin. She is Odin
She is adorable.
A very cute, adopted cat.