Both Timothy Ferris and Chad Waterbury have recommended black beans for the fiber and protein content. Cruciferous veggies are also highly recommended. A few weeks ago I started experimenting with combining all this into a tomato soup for convenience. The result is below:
For one serving (my serving anyway):
steam ahead for about 5 minutes:
· handful chopped whole broccoli
· handful chopped whole cauliflower
(I think the stems are rich in nutrients and flavor)
combine in a microwave dish with
· 1/2 can Tomato Bisque soup
· 1/2 can black beans
sprinkle on top a little
· taco seasoning
microwave for 1 to 1-1/2 minute, stirring about halfway
Chad Waterbury gave a great workshop on training and nutrition with a ton of great ideas and thought-provoking concepts at this event at Staley Performance Institute in Phoenix Arizona. I have a lot of really cool ideas to experiment with and report in later blog posts. Thanks everyone.
I developed my Breakfast Shake recipe while Training for the Elbrus Race (a mountain running race in Russia) 2010. I typically train for a couple hours in the morning on an empty stomach (my morning workout supplement drinks have little to no calories). I feel that breakfast shakes are the perfect way to replenish the nutrients burned during my exercise, and prepares me for the day.
I blend it all up for a few seconds (pour while blender is on for less lumpy results). Awesome start to the day. I believe that if you make the change to breakfast shakes as your post-workout meal you’ll probably feel a boost in energy and motivation, and highly recommend you do not add a bunch of high-fructose fruit and other sweeteners, which could leave you feeling bloated and lethargic over the course of the day.
Breakfast Shake ready to drink
Breakfast shakes with more carbs
Some people would need additional carbs in their breakfast shakes, either because they’re training very hard (more than 2 hours per day) or doing massive weight training (splits or some type of strongman or powerlifting regimen). Sometimes you’re just starting out and need a transition from your standard American breakfast. I think for those people, you could add a banana, or handful of raspberries to your breakfast shakes and be fine. There is a lot of talk lately about cherries, but I haven’t had a chance to explore that.
Add some raspberries to your breakfast shakes for a little sweetness
The type of protein you use in your breakfast shakes can make a big difference too. I rotate around a bit depending on my phase of training. If I’m going low carb I prefer the BSN Syntha6. If I’m training fairly hard and need a little more balanced nutrition I go with FullStrength. If I’m training very very hard, especially if I’m doing two or more hours of cardio in a day, I like to include a Mass Gainer protein mix, with a lot of additional ingredients like fiber and slow release complex carbs.
Blend your breakfast shakes to a smooth consistency, even with the addition of fruit or fiber blends
Sadly, the yogurt you buy in the store is mostly some form of sugar, sometimes a lot of fat, and pretty processed. If you look at the nutrition information, it’s really just a snack, probably a bit healthier than a candy bar, but if you want the most bang for your caloric “buck” so to speak, you can do better.
Chocolate protein and plain nonfat yogurt
My favorite recipe for a high protein low fat low sugar “snack” with probiotics is:
6-8 oz fat-free plain yogurt
1 scoop/serving dry protein shake mix powder
stir well and chow down
I prefer BSN Syntha-6 Protein Powder because it mixes quite well at a variety of temperatures, and pretty much always tastes good, imho.
I usually use vanilla, chocolate, chocolate-mint, or strawberry. Add cinnamon to the vanilla for a treat that’s reputed to help moderate blood sugar and digestion. Very rarely I’ll add some banana slices. I’ve never tried it frozen, but it sounds interesting.
Do your tummy a favor and enjoy a treat that’s good for you.
Protein Yogurt with Raspberries = 225 calories
100 Calories of non-fat plain yogurt
100 Calories of protein powder (BSN)
25 calories fresh raspberries
Different fruit has different caloric densities. 25 calories of raspberries is quite a handful and any more would overwhelm the bowl I mixed it in. If you use other fruits it might change the calories.
I used the 100 calorie calculator [HERE] to determine how to weigh out my portions. During my transformation from just under 240 pounds to 180 pounds I spent quite a bit of time weighing my food portions and keeping a food journal. I wrote about it [HERE] if you want to know more.
100 Calories of Fat Free Plain Yogurt
100 calories of BSN Syntha-6 is 23.5 grams so 23 gm.
Raspberry nutrition label
I needed 188 grams of non-fat plain yogurt, 23 grams of vanilla protein powder, and 59 grams of fresh raspberries. I calculated the raspberries in my head. 123 grams is a lot of raspberries, at 52 calories. Half would be 61.5 grams and 26 calories. I think 59 grams for 25 calories is about right for the size of my bowl.
100 calories of Fat Free Plain Yogurt weighed out
BSN Protein 100 calorie portion weighed out
25 calories of fresh raspberries weighed out
Stir the protein in, then the raspberries
I put the yogurt into the bowl, and stirred in the protein. The fresh raspberries are a little on the delicate side so I didn’t want to be stirring vigorously once I added them. It’s really that simple to make a really healthy high protein low calorie alternative to the pre-packaged yogurts that have 1/3 the protein or less and lots of added sugars, some hidden quite well on the labels.
Protein Yogurt with fresh raspberries. Eat it up!
Try your hand at making your own favorite flavors and post pics and recipes on my Facebook page to share with my followers there. We’d love to see what you have.
People often ask me about healthy eating, and I mention several different options. Sometimes people balk about the expense, or time, or inconvenience. It’s hard to find a way to explain to them that it’s actually way less expensive, way more convenient, and way more green than their normal eating patterns.
Last time I was driving home from skating at the rink and encountered the usual Provo/Orem lunch rush traffic, it hit me. like a brick in the face. These people were all sitting in traffic, spending their lunch hours idling at stop lights, heading to some fast food destination, to grab lunch, and hurry back to their office, most likely eating at the stoplights on the return trip.
Tomato soup, hard boiled eggs and banana – a green healthy lunch
Wow. Talk about stress. Talk about wasted time. wasted resources. wasted health. How long would it take to toss a few boiled eggs in a bag with a bagel and cheese, a handful of sprouts and some carrot sticks? Really? compared to sitting at 6 stop lights on the way to the grease pit? If you add up all the hours spent in one week in the mad dash to grab a burger or taco, add up all the stomach acid from the stress of it all, and the antacids you’re more likely to take later as a result, and the gas and wear and tear on your vehicle, and the carbon footprint of all that idling, you’re so far in debt, you may never escape and become free.
On the other hand, you can boil up eggs before the week, make a pot of chili and containerate it ahead, bag up some carrot slices. Even if it took a whole hour, that’s less time than the 5x/week fast food driving. You might have to toss some containers in the dishwasher, or rinse out some bags to reuse – but that’s less stress on the environment than the car creates, and only a few seconds of your time each day.
So do it. Do it now. Baby steps. Take food you like maybe one or two days a week. I think rather quickly you’ll find yourself enjoying the relaxed atmosphere, the extra time to play, read a book, or talk to your coworkers. Eventually you can become free, do your health a big favor, save money and time, and do something good for the environment. Think what would happen if everyone did it 😀
I prefer to sneak up on healthy eating whenever possible. This is one of the best ways I know.
because it mixes quite well at a variety of temperatures, and pretty much always tastes good, imho.
