Eating "Right"

The ski bum diet is an interesting thing. Most people think of outdoorsy folks as being better eaters than the average joe, opting for healthier alternatives; being "green", possibly in more ways than one.

Oh how wrong those naive laypeople are.

Not about one of the "green" aspects, though that doesn't apply to all of us. But when it comes to eating well, I don't really know any diehard skier that does. During my first week as an instructor I was told by a grizzled vet (or a three year vet in her 20s, it's hard to keep these things straight) about how she loved winter because she could eat as badly as she wanted since she was actively on snow every day. If we're being totally honest my first thought was 'score!' since there were some deliciously greasy grill sammiches available in the cafeteria and I had an employee discount burning a hole in my Big Sky issued DNA snowpants.

I've never had the best daily dietary habits. Sugar addiction, Diet Coke obsession, and a huge fan of red meat, I was pretty much the poster child for bad eating decisions. But I'd never been overweight; toned was far from a descriptor I'd use for myself, but I fit in a healthy category. Since moving away from Bozeman I've kicked the diet coke habit, decreased the amount of candy I eat, and stopped eating red meat on a regular basis (but that's probably due to the fact it's expensive and I live with a vegetarian). So why do I say ski bums eat unhealthily?

Well, we just went shopping for Skication: Spring 2013 (you thought I'd stop using my stupid name? You were wrong) and. . . wow. It's actually one of the healthier food excursions I'd gone on with my ski buddies (only one was present, but just consider them a single entity in this case), which is so very sad. We picked up the normal sammich fixin's: tomato, lettuce, meats and cheeses, and bread. And I'd already had some fruit and a pack of beef jerky (the latter being a roadtrip necessity). But it was all over when we hit the cookie aisle. I think we have 3 packages of cookies, a giant thing of goldfish, and I know there is a stack of chocolate in my fridge to be packed along as well. Now I'm not complaining, because this all sounds freaking awesome and we're going to earn it by skiing (and partying) hard for at least 4 consecutive days. It is pretty excessive though. And it's not the worst we've eaten as a group. I guess active people like us compensate BY being active, but mountain bikers and runners and the like seem to make better food choices on a whole both when they're participating in their chose activity and in day-to-day life.

Just more proof that skiers are a different breed. Embrace it.