Esther Zabala, 19 years old, a higher education student and athletics coach, practices athletics and has decided to opt for a vegetarian lifestyle.
She currently participates in athletics competitions. She has finished the La Copa cross-country races, where she placed third overall, except for the last race, in which she finished sixth; this means she was just one place away from qualifying for the Spanish Cross-Country Championships. She is now training for future outdoor championships.
-How long have you been in this sport?
Me inicie en atletismo con once años (en 2008) y llevo nueve años practicando este deporte.
-Did you often stand on the podium?
My first year I didn't compete or go to any cross-country races, much less track meets. In my second year I started competing in cross-country (long-distance races, about 5km and cross-country). I was very good at endurance, so I did well. I didn't make the podium, but I finished in the top ten and won a medal. Despite this, I didn't see myself as very fast and thought winning a cup or trophy was unattainable. In my third year, I started making podium finishes in cross-country races, always placing in the top three and winning a cup. I kept improving, but when I moved up a category it was also more complicated because the level of competition increased. I maintained my level, making podium finishes, and when the level was very high, I finished in the top ten and scored points for the Spanish Championship. As the athletics seasons went by, I also began to participate in indoor and outdoor track competitions, where I became the Aragon champion and made the podium numerous times. As I got older, I realized I had a lot of power, so I also started training for middle-distance events (800m-1500m). In these nine years, I haven't managed to qualify for a Spanish Championship, but I missed the qualifying time in the 800m by two seconds to go to the Spanish Track Championships, and I also missed 6th place by two seconds to qualify for the Spanish Cross Country Championships. Currently, due to my studies, I don't have as much time as I'd like to dedicate to this sport, and my race pace has dropped significantly, but I'm training as much as I can to get back to my previous level and overcome that two-second thorn in my side… because I believe I'm capable of improving that time if I put in the effort. Despite this break in cross country this season, I'm still making podium finishes; we've had six races, and I've finished third in all of them, so I can't complain.
-How did you become a vegetarian?
I've been a vegetarian for about two and a half years. At first, I wasn't very clear about what it entailed; it was simply because of the affection I had for animals, and I strayed from the diet quite a bit because I wasn't really aware of it. About six months into this, I started talking to a good friend about it (she was a vegetarian) and I began to understand many things; I learned that being vegetarian isn't just about refusing to eat meat; it's that so many products are tested on animals, and believe it or not, animals suffer through all those tests, which lack sensitivity and empathy. I saw videos of their suffering, both in slaughterhouses and when testing tobacco or cosmetics. I saw videos of Frank of the Jungle talking about animal rights. I heard a teacher say that we didn't come from monkeys, that we are monkeys, and that's when I understood that we are animals, both us and them. I saw their eyes clouded by the cruelty they were subjected to, I heard their cries, I saw them kicking and screaming, and I remembered that at school they told us, "From the cow comes milk, from the sheep comes wool, from the calf comes steak…" I also heard people bragging about their crocodile-skin bags, their "good" leather rugs. I saw fox tails hanging from car rearview mirrors. I saw bull heads hanging on a wall as trophies in movies… and when I They showed all those videos, those memories flashed through my mind like slides. My surroundings, from childhood, made me believe they were there to serve us. That day I understood that we are all equal, and it hurts—and I say this with tears in my eyes—that there are people who don't understand, who can't see animal abuse behind a circus act, behind that aquarium glass, behind those zoo bars…
I realized that sometimes we're not even aware of what it means to wear certain brands, what it means to visit the zoo… and most importantly, what it means to eat a beef steak, an egg, a quail… (and it's true that I'm vegetarian and not vegan, but I don't like eating animal products either because they also involve suffering, but I have a reason why I'm not vegan and I'll talk about it later). The thing is, I did more research on my own, and besides not wanting to participate in that suffering because my morals wouldn't allow it after finding all this out, I discovered that meat isn't even good for the human body, that the less the better. I confirmed that you can live without eating meat without any problems, and no, for all those who ask, I've never had to take pills as a supplement. What's more, I went to the doctor for tests before becoming vegetarian because I was getting dizzy, and everything was fine despite that dizziness. But the unsettling thing is that when I was vegetarian and went for tests to see how things were going… it turns out the results were much better, and the doctor told me I was perfect. Then I investigated and was shocked to find that it's healthier not to eat meat than to eat it, that it's healthier not to drink milk… but the thing is, people don't just eat meat, they abuse it. They eat it out of gluttony, for pleasure and not out of necessity, not for those proteins they talk about so much, no, they consume meat without thinking. Nor are they without brakes.
I realized I was blindfolded, and when my eyes were opened, I could no longer participate in all this cruelty. It's a moral issue: if we can live without harming others, let's live in harmony. If it's possible, why not? Of course, not everyone is equally sensitive to this issue. From that day on, I took it very seriously. It's necessary, it's a priority. We have to save them from the clutches of misunderstanding, the clutches of insensitivity, the clutches of selfishness.
-How has this diet affected your athletic performance?
When I became a vegetarian at home, they didn't accept it (I suppose this happens to more people because there are few well-informed and aware people; it's not the first or last time I've heard "my parents won't let me be a vegetarian"). In the end, we came to the conclusion that I should do whatever I wanted (thanks to my older cousin), and the only thing she told me was not to give up dairy too, that it wouldn't be good to do sports because by giving everything up at once I would lose a lot of muscle mass (and I listened to her, I believed her of course; she has a degree in biochemistry and I'm absolutely sure she knew what she was talking about).
Everything was going great for me. I ate five meals a day, researched and planned different "menus," went grocery shopping… and my athletic performance was fantastic. Plus, when I became vegetarian, I happened to be at a different athletics club and I improved tremendously. I was giving much more than I had been able to years before, reaching a little higher, and I felt incredibly strong. I didn't just feel it, I was strong; I could really feel it. That change was amazing. Unfortunately, I didn't go very far, but that's a personal matter. Without effort and sacrifice, it's impossible… but my point is that the vegetarian diet didn't affect me at all. Later, I started studying for a vocational qualification while I was also finishing high school. I would go to school at 8:30 and leave at 2:30, go home, and eat quickly because at 3:30 I had a class for my vocational qualification at a school in Zaragoza. I would arrive back in Utebo at 10:00 at night and go to the academy from 10:00 to 11:00. I would get home at 11:30, and despite not having eaten anything during the exhausting afternoon, I barely felt like having dinner. I was under a lot of stress, and I had less and less appetite and enthusiasm for things. On the days I didn't have vocational qualification classes in the afternoon, I had training in Zaragoza, and I would lose the whole afternoon again between going there, training, and coming back. So I realized I had to give something up to have time to study, and I left the club where I was doing so well. Since the idea of giving up athletics didn't cross my mind, I rejoined the club in Utebo, as I knew I would have more opportunities there. Time… and the truth is, not much… and not only that, but I left a place where I was happy and comfortable without wanting to, so I wasn't very motivated. On top of that, imagine saying goodbye to people you'd formed such strong bonds with… I wasn't even going to training sessions… Anyway, I went from eating five well-prepared meals to two a day, and I started losing the desire to cook and putting less and less effort into it… Being vegetarian involves sacrifice, it takes time, it requires planning, you calculate the variety of foods, the quantities you eat… and I loved doing it, but I wasn't doing well in high school, and seeing that I had given up so much without seeing results… was quite frustrating, and I started losing enthusiasm for everything I did, and in the end, I gave it all up halfway through… It turns out that with this lack of time, I was barely eating anymore… I lost five kilos, I didn't even realize it until suddenly a lot of people… They were saying things like, "Wow, you've lost so much weight!" "You should put on some weight!" "Your face looks so gaunt!" Honestly? It wasn't that bad, haha. It was noticeable, and it still is, but it wasn't that dramatic. What is true, though, is that after those comments I started to pay attention, and sure enough, I had lost weight. I weighed myself and I'd lost five kilos. Now I understood why I didn't look good in my jeans anymore. I also saw all the muscle mass I'd lost, and especially my strength. My workouts were much harder, and besides having been training less, I was weaker now.
In short, the vegetarian diet didn't affect my athletic performance at all. My hectic lifestyle didn't allow me to eat five meals a day, and I also had to sacrifice the sport I practiced. Losing five kilos and a lot of fitness wasn't a result of being vegetarian; it was a result of not doing things right, both in terms of preparing well-prepared meals and trying to do everything at once without having the time. I did manage to complete my coaching certification, and if I speak about this from my perspective as a coach, rather than from personal experience, I can tell you that you can be a vegetarian and an elite athlete perfectly well. Just as sports require consistency and dedication, it's simply a matter of organizing both your training and your diet. I'd also like to offer some advice. If you live with your parents, it's complicated because if you're not the one providing the money, doing the shopping, and cooking, everything gets more difficult. If you're capable of handling all of this, go for it! Remember that you need to be well-informed to ensure you have a good variety of foods and enough time to manage everything. Nutrition isn't something to take lightly; you need to eat certain meals each day and consume different types of food. Being vegetarian means paying close attention to what you're doing, at least at the beginning when you're still inexperienced and don't know what you can eat. We are what we eat. First, do your research, and then get started. Make sure you do everything correctly to avoid any problems like the ones I've had. And if you're an athlete, you need to know what kind of food you need depending on the events you're doing, the number of training days, and what kind of cycle you're in. If you don't quite understand this, it's simple (for example, we all know that eating pasta before a competition is good). It's just a matter of doing some research to optimize your performance.
Thank you very much, best regards!