Welcome to The Globe’s new series, What’s In My Cart?, where we’re asking Canadians how they stock their kitchens.
Illustration by The Globe and Mail
Barry Travnicek has become a bit of a hometown celebrity. After more than 30 years participating in the annual MS Bike event, he reached his lifetime goal of raising $1-million to help fight multiple sclerosis last year. In this year’s event, Travnicek, from Dorchester, Ont., will be riding from Grand Bend to London, along with more than 600 other participants. It will be Travnicek’s 34th time participating in the 150-kilometre bike ride, which happens over two days in July.
“My first year I thought I could just jump on a bike and go. About half way through, I was in pain,” says Travnicek. “I learned the hard way that you need to train.”
At 66, Travnicek tries to stay fit throughout the year, but his training for the ride – a 35- to 50-km ride a few days a week – ramps up every May.
With that amount of activity, his nutrition is paramount. The weeks leading up to the ride, he ups his carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables. Protein, which he mostly gets in the form of eggs, pork loin and chicken breast, helps him recover between stints. While his wife does not participate in the ride, Travnicek says they tend to share the same meals and grocery shop together. Here’s how he navigates the store.
How I save: The biggest way I save is by buying fruits and vegetables that are on sale at local farmers’ markets. Fruits and vegetables that are in-season are typically cheaper. It’s also a great way to get a variety of fruit and vegetables in your diet, instead of just buying what you like.
How I splurge: Now and again I splurge on some steaks. Beef tenderloin is my guilty meat.
The eating habit that’s hardest to keep up: Cooking in general is hard to keep up with. I try to resist the urge to eat already-prepared foods. I try to boil some eggs ahead of time, or make homemade energy balls, with peanut butter, honey, almonds and oats, instead of buying cereal bars, which can have ingredient lists you can barely read.
How I’ve changed my diet recently: I switched to all-natural peanut butter. It doesn’t have the added sugar or oil. It’s really paid dividends since I switched. While I’m training for the big ride, I eat more peanut butter. It’s high in fat, which I feel gives me some energy throughout my training.
Five items always in my cart:
- Peanut butter – Kraft, only peanuts, smooth all-natural peanut butter – $7.99: Peanut butter has always been a staple in my diet. I was the tallest of seven children and my mom used to joke it was the peanut butter that made me tall. I still enjoy it on toast for breakfast or throughout the day.
- Oats – Red Mill, organic rolled oats – $8.47: I eat it for breakfast with fruit pretty often. It’s also a staple ingredient in my energy balls.
- Brown rice – Minute Rice, organic whole grain brown rice – $5.25: In those months that I’m cycling, and especially training for the big event, I eat rice about three to four days a week, maybe more. It’s important to get carbohydrates for energy, and rice is probably my favourite.
- Protein powder – North Coast Naturals 680 grams – $44.99: This lasts me about a month. I have a protein shake about three to four times a week, each scoop has about 24 grams of protein, so it’s a more convenient way to get that after a workout. I use it to replace other protein options.
- Bananas – $1.49 a pound: Bananas are typically easy to find year-round. I eat about three to five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. I lose a lot of liquid while training, so fruit is a good way for me to restore my energy levels, with the natural sugars. I’ll also have fruit with a bit of whipped cream on top as a dessert.
This interview has been condensed and edited.