The Nourish dietitians recently attended the 2016 SCAN (Sports, Cardiovascular, and Wellness Nutrition) Symposium in Portland, Oregon. The speakers included a variety of health, exercise, and behavioral specialists including dietitians, researchers, food scientists, exercise specialists, and professional athletes, among others. The focus this year was on sustainable health, performance, and practice, and what better place to learn about sustainability than Portland!
Here are a few highlights from our trip:
Fitness Fun
Ambrose “Amby” Burfoot is a lifetime runner, best known for winning the 1968 Boston Marathon. Today, at the age of 70, he continues to run marathons and is the editor for Runner’s World magazine. He was a speaker at the conference, and was not only inspirational, but also hilariously entertaining.
We were invited to join Amby in a 6am 4- mile run in downtown Portland! It was quite challenging to keep pace with him, but we were determined to take a winning picture with him at the end. He chatted along the way and it was quite obvious that running is what he was born to do, and is part of his every day routine.
Amby is a vegetarian athlete, and admits to being ‘the perfect runner…with the not-so-perfect diet’. He shared that he once ate a jar of apple butter before a race (which didn’t fare so well for him), and that ice cream was his favorite post-run meal. His diet has since transformed over the years and he is fueling with more high-quality protein like salmon and eggs, as well as and complex carbs and less processed snack foods.
Foodie Finds
Portland is a foodie’s paradise! Aside from the plethora of microbreweries and steak houses downtown, there were quite a few hidden gems worth mentioning:
Al-Amir Lebanese Restaurant: traditional Middle Eastern cuisine prepared with locally grown ingredients. We had a group of 10+ and had the option of ordering ‘family style’, which was a great idea since we like to try a little bit of everything. The best part is that we didn’t have to make any decisions, our waiter ordered for us: hummus with pita, stuffed grape leaves, roasted veggies and potatoes, grilled chicken, shrimp and lamb kabobs, and falafel. We also had the pleasure of being entertained by a belly dancer after our delicious meal.
Urban Farmer Bar at The Nines Hotel: happy hour cocktails on the 8th floor atrium of a gorgeous hotel.
Andina: Peruvian cuisine in an upscale yet inviting space with live Latin-inspired music. Eats included a variety of tapas including ceviche with avocado, potatoes and yucca, stuffed peppers, and meat empanadas. Drinks were traditional caipririnhas and wine. Sooo good.
Luc Lac: Vietnamese favorites in a super popular (busy) spot. Dishes included peanut curry stir fry with chicken, veggies, and rice, spring rolls for sharing, and sugar cane shrimp with veggies and rice. We really had trouble deciding what to order because everyone’s food around us looked so appetizing. This is a great spot to check out for a really satisfying and quick meal.
As you can see, we had a blast venturing around Portland and can’t wait for next year’s SCAN conference. We will be posting a series of blog posts about various SCAN topics, so stay tuned for the latest information on sports nutrition and how to build a winning relationship with food and exercise!
