Extraordinary Health Magazine EHMagazine Vol 37 | Page 41

he said. “Even in those early training days I was very
committed to my training and preparation, as well as my
workout cuisine.”
Chara was very stubborn with working out, despite people in his
ear encouraging him to take days off. For Chara, the challenging
life of a dedicated athlete has never seemed like something to
dread, but a joyful experience.
“I was made for this and I was always going to do the same thing,
grinding and grinding and grinding,” he said. “There are sports
centers and training facilities and everything you need, including
personal trainers and data and strategies, but through old school
workouts, I’ve been able to develop my body to be very strong
and durable.”
Photography Courtesy of Maddie Meyer, Getty Images
Chara isn’t a fan of the word ‘diet’ and it’s a fitting misnomer.
He’s quick to suggest a change to that terminology to healthy
eating plan instead. “You can make and prepare so much of a variety of food and it’s
a lot of fun to explore it,” he said. “At times you feel like, here we
go, it’s oatmeal again, but you can make it as boring as you want
or make it as exciting as you want by switching fruit or flavors or
combinations with seeds and nuts.”
“People think when they use the word ‘diet’ about someone
taking away food, that they’ll be starving and very limited
and isolated, but it really should only be used for very specific
treatment or cases where there are allergies or reactions,” said
Chara. “It’s more about what you put into your body, you get out
of it, such as less inflammation, faster results, good mood and
being emotionally in balance.” As he says on his popular Instagram feed, “No shortcuts.
No excuses. No BS.” In essence, you either want extraordinary
health, or you don’t. He gave up meat and dairy a couple of
years ago, though he does eat fish once in a while. It has helped
eliminate the dread of all athletes—inflammation.
Instead of eating foods that create problems, Chara loves food
that is light and filling, with high nutritional value and that is
helpful in anti-aging and longevity. To be the Big Z requires a lot
of eating, so he never suffers from a feeling of deprivation.
“I eat breakfast, a snack, protein shakes and lunch, a snack again
and a little something before dinner, then dinner and an after-
dinner snack,” Chara said. “I stick with a plant-based eating plan
and refrain from dairy and meat.”
Chara supplements his meal plan with an arsenal of Garden of
Life® products that help support his health goals.
“To answer which Garden of Life products I use,
I could almost say all of them—I use a lot of
products because they are pure and 100 percent
what they are supposed to be,” said Chara, who
counts vitamins, protein shakes and antioxidants
among his favorites. “I love the mykind Organics
B12 organic spray and Vitamin C spray for
immune health, CoQ10, mykind Organics Golden
Milk for recovery before bed, mykind Organics
Turmeric, and Raw Organic Protein & Greens.”
Chara is an advocate of eating foods that are not hard to digest.
While the common complaint he hears from new plant-based
eaters is boredom, Chara has an answer for that.
“I didn’t start the plant-based eating until I was 40, but up until
then I was still eating healthy,” said Chara. “The difference I feel
now is I recover faster, feel better and have less inflammation,
plus with working out, I have better performance and also these
choices are really good for environment.”
Chara is a true inspiration to people of all shapes, heights and
ages. When an errant puck broke his jaw earlier this year, in true
Zdeno Chara fashion, he says he healed faster thanks to how he
eats and pushes through challenges. His toughness is legendary
and his attitude nothing short of winning.
“When you eat right and then add bad things, they will block the
absorption of vitamins and proteins and what happens at that
point is a big fight inside your body, so you are basically canceling
out all the good things you eat when you do that to yourself,” he
said. “And we are giving ourselves so much less than we should
get because much of what we eat is so driven economically and
so addicting.”
Chara is a big proponent of clean eating, fresh produce and
sustainable goods. He shares his inspiring workouts, eating
and supplement suggestions on his Instagram feed with
images that must be seen to be believed, like working out in
his native Eastern Europe.
“I like to share about hockey, promote healthy living, motivate
people and inspire people,” said Chara. “In showing how I live, be
humble and be myself, just a regular guy, I hope to help others as
much as I can.”
Follow Chara @zeechara33
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