Hello everyone, my name is Gavin Hodges, I am an adult with PKU in Ireland. I am writing this blog to show that taking part in Triathlon’s is possible while being on a low protein diet.
It was based in Lough Key Forest Park, county Roscommon.
The race consisted of
Firstly, I knew it was important to be hydrated so I used my Vitaflo 1 litre bottle to measure my liquid intake leading up to the event in particular Friday and Saturday prior and then Sunday, the day of the event. I consumed 2 litres each day along with the other fluids I would take on a daily basis, including my PKU sphere shake and cups of coffee.
On Saturday, the evening before the race I made myself a sphere smoothie which consisted of one PKU Sphere 15g vanilla sachet, 1 banana and a 250ml carton of ProZero milk into a blender.
“It’s also important to ensure you have sufficient energy and slow release carbohydrates”. Keeping that in mind Saturday night, for dinner I made a vegetable curry with Mevalia rice.
I don’t usually eat breakfast but leading up to the event I have started to eat in the mornings. It was important that I had a meal before the race so I had a bowl of low protein cereal for breakfast on the morning of the race.
“When I arrived at the event I had a banana and a Mevalia fruit bar approximately 90 minutes before the event to maintain my energy levels". I think the fruit bars are a fantastic race snack and so handy to carry in your pocket, especially on the cycle which was my main opportunity to refuel and rehydrate.
Post race, travelling home I had some Mevalia chocolate chip cookies, again I needed low to no exchange foods to replenish my calorie burn from the race. The workout on my smart watch said that I burned off over 900 calories.
MY KEY TIPS:
If you haven’t done so already, why not register for the Vitafriends Explorers Club – an education programme for families managing PKU in the early years.
It’s packed full of recipes to help with the introduction of solid foods!
FIND OUT MORE
It’s said that an average of one in ten thousand babies are born with the rare genetic condition, phenylketonuria (PKU). That’s the equivalent of just nine people in a full capacity Wembley crowd. Yet, despite extreme rarity, and against huge odds, my newly wedded wife, Nichola, and I - both diagnosed at birth - recently celebrated an ‘all PKU’ marriage. Now, with our big day existing only in our memories, these are our tips for organising a PKU wedding:
PKU explore™
PKU squeezie™
PKU cooler®
PKU express®
PKU express™ plus
PKU air®
PKU sphere®
PKU sphere® liquid
ProZero™
Vitabite™
Mini Crackers
Mevalia Pane Casereccio
Mevalia Ciabattine
Mevalia Pan Carre
Mevalia Bread Mix
Mevalia Penne
Mevalia Fusilli
Mevalia Spaghetti
Mevalia Cookies
Mevalia Frollini
Mevalia Fruit Bars
Mevalia Chocotino
Mevalia Ditali
Mevalia Rice
