Everything You Need to Know About My New Book, ‘The Plant-Based Athlete’ (In Stores June 15th)

By: Matt Frazier

As I boarded the plane from Charlotte to Los Angeles, I still couldn’t shake the nervousness that I had felt all week.

The Rich Roll Podcast!?

I had been a guest back in 2013 when my first book came out, Episode 54. But this — Episode Six-hundred-something, of a podcast that even my neighbors now know about — was different.

I mean, before Matthew Walker (the sleep guru) was on a few weeks ago, the last “Matt” to be a guest on the show was freaking Matthew McConaughey!

To try to relax and prepare, I pulled out my uncorrected proof copy of our new book, The Plant-Based Athlete; it and its topic — plant-based fitness and sports — was largely what we’d be talking about with Rich.

But as I read it, something strange happened.

I’d seen these words in different forms a dozen times throughout the writing, editing, and proofreading process. So many times that they had almost lost their meaning.

But this time, as I read the book in its near-final form, the words hit me differently.

And the nervousness, the imposter syndrome, the “I don’t belong here” insecurity… it all melted away.

This book is really, really good. For so many people, this is going to be the one that changes everything. And this is my chance to share it.

To be nervous was selfish. My focus shifted away from myself, towards all the people this book could help, and I realized that this was exactly what I was supposed to be doing.

(The episode, by the way, should be out around the release date of the book, June 15th.)

I’m extremely proud of this book. And I’m so excited to share it with you.

What Makes ‘The Plant-Based Athlete’ Different from Anything I’ve Done Before

Look, I know it’s easy to say your own is work is good. I thought my previous two books were good, too, and I’m grateful that so many readers agree — together my books have 4.5+ star ratings from well over a thousand reviewers.

But this one feels so different from those. Different from my co-author Robert Cheeke’s books, too.

And, really, different from ANY plant-based fitness book about any ONE person’s individual approach.

Because The Plant-Based Athlete isn’t about any one person — or any one approach — in particular.

In the past decade, an unprecedented number of elite athletes have turned to plant-based diets — for performance reasons.

The Plant-Based Athlete is about ALL of their approaches, no matter their sport, their gender, or their body type.

It’s about examining what elite plant-based athletes do — over 60 professionals, Olympic medalists, and other athletes at the top of their sports who choose plant-based diets that contributed to this book — that makes them so successful.

Just a few of the athletes who contributed their stories and ideas to The Plant-Based Athlete:

• Scott Jurek, ultrarunner, 7-time Western States 100 Champion
• Meagan Duhamel, 2-time world champion and Olympic gold medalist, figure skating
• Darcy Gaechter, the first and only woman to kayak the Amazon River from source to sea
• Rich Roll, ultra-distance triathlete
• David Carter, NFL defensive end
• James Wilks, UFC champion fighter, mixed martial artist
• Vanessa Espinoza, 3-time Colorado Golden Glove State champion
• Dotsie Bausch, Olympic silver-medalist in track cycling
• Rip Esselstyn, professional triathlete and world record holder in swimming

In the book, we distill all these unique approaches down to the common themes — while also sharing the specifics and details of many individuals’ approaches, including their daily meal plans and recipes — so that YOU can apply it to your own plant-based nutrition strategy.

To perform better, recover faster, and be able to keep it up for more years than most of us ever thought possible.

What’s Inside ‘The Plant-Based Athlete’

You mean other than a still-digesting Buddha bowl and trillions of beneficial gut bacteria?  

Sorry, couldn’t help it. 😉

Stupid jokes notwithstanding, The Plant-Based Athlete is a grown-up version of my previous work. I turned 40 this past year, and my perspective has broadened so much over the past decade. These days, I spend more energy on my vegan athlete kids’ diets, training, and mindsets than I do my own.

Robert and I have been at this vegan fitness game for a combined 35 years, and we wanted this book to reflect the wisdom we’ve earned and the relationships we’ve built during that time, to put together the comprehensive, authoritative guide to plant-based performance that, up until now, has been missing from this movement.

It’s a hardcover book, my first. You’ll note also that the name doesn’t rhyme, and there’s no cartoon carrot. That’s how you know I mean business.

Here’s a look at the table of contents:

In other words, you’ll find:

• A look at the elite athletes putting plant-based fitness on the map
• Five in-depth chapters on nutrition, built around nutrient- and calorie-density, and balancing performance with long-term health
• One chapter specifically about recovery (the real reason plant-based diets work so well for athletes)
• A chapter on putting it all together, with two meal-plan frameworks (muscle gain and fat loss) to help you
• A chapter on mindset — the secret weapon for me, Robert, and so many of the athletes we interviewed
• My favorite part: “A Day in the Life” of 25 top plant-based athletes, where they share exactly what they eat and when, plus how they train and how they recover
• 60 plant-based performance recipes (from the athletes themselves!)

In the episode we recorded for his podcast, Rich Roll called The Plant-Based Athlete a “manual for how to be a plant-based athlete.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Along with Rich, many of the biggest names in plant-based nutrition have given their support and endorsements to the project — you can see them all on our book page.

And of course, the foreword was written by Dr. Michael Greger of nutritionfacts.org — a hero of mine and so many for his evidence-based, non-dogmatic approach to sharing the plant-based message.

Who ‘The Plant-Based Athlete’ Is Really For

For years, I’ve battled the “but I’m not an athlete” concern from new NMA readers.

Yes, you are. If you play a sport recreationally, you’re an athlete. If you go to the gym a few times a week, you’re an athlete. If you run to stay in shape, you’re an athlete.

If you do any of those things, then compared to the vast majority of people, you’re an athlete. Embrace it.

But you don’t have to be an athlete like the ones in the book (that’s why they’re IN the book). Although The Plant-Based Athlete draws from the nutritional approaches of truly top-level athletes, I wouldn’t say it’s really FOR elites or pros (although it could help any who want to give plant-based a try).

It’s really for everybody else. Everybody (like me) who has sensed that plants can help them perform better, but wants to shortcut the process of trial and error by learning exactly what the best in the world do.

And don’t think you need to be 100 percent vegan to read it and benefit. For 12 years, I’ve made sure that No Meat Athlete was the most welcoming platform it could possibly be — meeting new readers where they are, without any agenda to get them somewhere they don’t want to be.

I aim to provide to tools to help you eat the diet you want to, and The Plant-Based Athlete does it better than anything else I’ve written. The more plants, the better (and your body will thank you), but I love that the term “plant-based” can be interpreted to mean what you want it to. I believe that flexibility will grow this movement far faster than rigidity will, and ultimately, that’s my mission.

Get a Free Training Plan or Meal Plan ($27 Value) when You Pre-Order ‘The Plant-Based Athlete’

The Plant-Based Athlete comes out in three weeks — June 15, 2021. It’ll be available in stores everywhere, and online, in hardcover and ebook formats.

But I don’t want you to wait until then to get it.

I know, I know… I’m not typically one to order a book before it comes out, either, preferring the instant gratification of downloading it immediately. But if this sounds like you, and you’ve appreciated the work NMA has done over the years, then I’m asking you to please consider making an exception in this case. (And I’ve got a way to help with the instant gratification bit, which I’ll get to in a minute.)

For this book to really make the impact on our culture that I know it can, I’m absolutely counting on the support of the No Meat Athlete community, and specifically on generating a whole lot of pre-orders.

Basically, strong pre-sale numbers make bookstores notice, so that they want to stock (and restock) the book.

If we don’t get them, the risk is that bookstores won’t be prepared, and they’ll run out of copies when lots of media (like our Rich Roll Podcast episode) comes out around the on-sale date.

And then instead of being the book that launches the plant-based diet into the mainstream fitness conversation, The Plant-Based Athlete fizzles out, and we think about what might have been.

Sigh.

So that’s why, if you think you’ll purchase the book when it comes out, I’d really appreciate it if you’d consider pre-ordering today.

To help you with that decision, I want to add another bonus on top of the four (yes, four!) that you already get. I’ll have those ready by the day the book comes out, but in the meantime, I also want to give you one of our best products right away.

When you pre-order The Plant-Based Athlete between now and Wednesday of next week (June 2), I’ll also send you a link to a form where you can choose among nine of our best and most popular No Meat Athlete Academy modules:

• Vegan Strength Blueprint
• Plant-Based Body Transformation
• 5K Race Kit
• Half Marathon Roadmap
• Ultramarathon Roadmap
• 7-Day Kickstart Meal Plan
• Plant-Based Nutrition for Kids
• The Yoga Kit
• 30-Day Meditation Challenge
• Wake Up: 31 Days and Actions to take Charge of Your Life

Each of these modules costs $27 normally, but whichever one you choose is yours free as a thank-you for pre-ordering this week. (And of course if you’ve already pre-ordered and forwarded along your receipt, I’ll be in touch soon about how to claim your free Academy module.)

You’ll be able to get in right away, as soon as we send you the link. (Which might take a few hours if we’re swamped, but won’t take much longer than that.)

The Plant-Based Athlete is loaded with nutrition advice. Your free Academy module will give you the plan you need to pair with it to tackle a specific goal — whether it’s a half marathon, an ultramarathon, a strength goal, a body transformation, a yoga or meditation practice, or a rock-solid mindset.

So that’s it. I hope you’ll consider supporting me, Robert, and all of the vegan athletes who contributed to this book, the first of its kind in a movement whose time has come.

Click here to learn more about The Plant-Based Athlete, and read what so many leaders in the plant-based movement have said about it, as well as all the great bonuses you’ll get (including immediate access to the Academy module of your choice) when you pre-order.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you.