Seven Summits Body – Fitness and Training

Tag: nutrition

  • Protein Oatmeal Recipe DIY

    I’ve been eating this for quite some time, and have shared my protein oatmeal recipe with several of my friends and those I consult as a trainer. In fact, this recipe is one of the primary reasons that I use the protein that I do – BSN SYNTHA-6 Protein Powder. When you mix most protein powders into something hot, like this protein oatmeal recipe they tend to coagulate. The protein gels up like cooking an egg white and the taste is usually awful. The BSN proteins seem to tolerate the heat better. Just be sure not to actually boil it. I’ll explain the sequence I use below.

    Protein Oatmeal Recipe Ingredients:

    • 100 Calories Oats (rolled, cut, crushed, instant, whatever)
    • 100 Calories BSN Protein (vanilla, strawberry, ?)
    • 50 Calories raisins (craisins, dried fruit bits)
    • Dash of Cinnamon
    Protein Oatmeal Recipe Ingredients on the counter
    Protein Oatmeal Recipe Ingredients on the counter

    I’m using an electric kettle for the relative speed and efficiency in boiling a cup of water. You’ll see in the photo I also have a ceramic bowl and hidden is a small round plastic plate that I’ll use as a cover. Off to the side is my battery powered gram scale.

    To weigh out my portions I need to know how much 100 calories is for each of the ingredients. I’m going to suggest my Online 100 Calorie Portion Food Calculator [HERE]. I read the backs of each of the packages to get the information on a serving size in grams, and how many calories that is. Plug that into the calculator and you get the grams in a 100 calorie portion. That’s a lot of raisins so I cut that in half for a 50 calorie portion.

    The above gallery shows the results of calculating a 100 calorie portion for each of the ingredients in my protein oatmeal recipe. Note that as I stipulate in my manual “The 100 Calorie Diet Plan” always round down if fat loss is your goal. Check it out [HERE] if you’re curious.

    After turning on the kettle to boil, I weighed out the raisins and oatmeal into the ceramic bowl and then the BSN protein into a small plastic cup. Be sure to zero your scale between items if you’re weighing more than one and don’t make mistakes. It’s hard to separate out some ingredients if you’re weighing them all together. Sprinkle cinnamon on top of the uncooked oats. I like to have the flavor cooked in but some people might prefer to add it in on top afterward.

    The gallery above shows this portion of the process up to when I pour the boiling water on top. Add in about a cup of water, to taste, allowing for the oats and raisins to absorb some and swell up. Make sure there is enough water to stir in the protein. Put a plastic plate on top to allow the hot water to steam the oats and raisins and “cook” them through.

    Let it steam through for a few minutes. Three to five minutes should do it. Take the improvised lid off and stir in the 100 calories of BSN protein. I prefer vanilla in this protein oatmeal recipe, but I have tried and liked strawberry too. In my opinion chocolate doesn’t taste all that good in oatmeal, but you might like it. When it’s all creamy and smooth start eating.

    Results of the protein oatmeal recipe - great tasting 250 calorie meal
    Results of the protein oatmeal recipe – great tasting 250 calorie meal

    Experiment if you like to create your own protein oatmeal recipe. Post pics and instructions on my Facebook Page and let’s share these great tasting, low sugar, balanced meals that totally fit in with a food portion control system.

  • Vegetarian Differences in Practice

    Vegetarian differences vary a bit between many people who call themselves vegetarian. There are those who eat their diets based on moral or philosophical reasons. There are those that eat based on health concerns. Some have obvious allergies or react badly to different foods. There are those that eat according to religious ideologies. There are a few technical terms for the vegetarian differences if you want to go look them up. There are lacto and ovo and pesco etc. etc. etc.

    Vegetarian Differences might be as colorful as this bowl of goodness
    Vegetarian Differences might be as colorful as this bowl of goodness

    If you go to the message boards and other places where people can leave comments you’ll find quite a few opinions about vegetarian differences. One problem you might find is a certain level of elitism and snobbery. I’ve posted before here about how unhelpful such attitudes are EXAMPLE POST. I’d like to offer only positive, helpful suggestions if at all possible. Please remember that if you feel the need to comment below.

    First of all, let’s separate ourselves from the typical “Western Diet” where breakfast might be a half dozen eggs and as many or more slices of bacon. Add in pancakes slathered with butter and fake maple syrup. Have a mid-morning snack of a Canadian bacon and egg biscuit. Have a lunch of fast-food quad cheese burger with fries deep-fried in non-transfat lard. Dinner could be a steak, or pot roast, or ham. I’m sure you get the idea there.

    My opinion is that anything you can do to break free of the traditional American eating pattern is great. Many people who don’t eat “normally” do consider themselves vegetarian. That’s what leads to some of the conflict between the different types of vegetarians.

    Vegetarian Differences Outlined:

    • You eat nothing but plant materials
    • Above and honey
    • Above and dairy
    • Above and eggs
    • Above and fish
    • Above and poultry
    • Above and the very rare occasional mammalian meat

    I’ll also mention a couple of the more extreme examples:

    • You eat nothing but plant materials that killed themselves by jumping off the mother plant
    • You eat nothing but plant materials that involved no level of human or animal slavery

    So as you can see there are quite a few vegetarian differences to explore on your way to fitness and health. I myself make no level of judgement, and consider that anyone eating a balanced healthy diet with the intent of continuous improvement is just awesome and needs to be encouraged. Taunts of “you’re not a real vegetarian” are not helpful. If you have an agenda in promoting any of the vegetarian differences in the above bullet-points, then relax and slowly encourage your friends. Don’t shut them down with strong opinions stated in a way they can only accept as rude.

    Vegetarian Differences: a blender full of fruit gracing the cover of my diet plan book
    Vegetarian Differences: a blender full of fruit gracing the cover of my diet plan book

    In my book The 100 Calorie Diet Plan [MORE INFO] I explain my plan with encouragement to reduce your reliance on meat products. Getting a lot of your calories from meat within a portion control system can be difficult. How do you feel? Have you tried it? How did it work for you? Let me know…

  • 80 calories of frozen veggies

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    This is what 80 calories of frozen mixed veggies looks like. Add in 8 oz. of chicken breast for a 300 calorie meal that’s pretty good and good for you. I like Fajita Seasoning on it in the steamer.

  • Hobbies, Trolls, and Goals

    I use my Facebook Page to comment at Active.com on some of the really interesting articles there. Sometimes agree, sometimes disagree, sometimes pointing out a simple addition or omission – nothing really serious mind you. Mostly this puts the article on my Facebook Page, so those subscribing (by Liking) my page can view some info I feel might be relevant to their training or goals.

    Ice Tool Chin-ups for Sports Specificity
    Ice Tool Chin-ups for Sports Specificity

    Now and then, I get some replies, and sometimes it’s from the author thanking me for commenting, liking the article, or whatnot. Now and then it’s one of my Facebook family, showing support for “what I said”. And now and then, it’s some oddball hobbyist or troll spewing. One of my previous favorites was for a comment I made on a nutrition article authored by a registered dietician. I said something to the effect of “I agree that you need to properly hydrate while endurance training.”

    Hobbyists

    In reply to this comment someone said quite rudely, in Brit Slang style, that the author was ill educated and clueless. Since it’s a Facebook post I went and checked, and sure enough, they were a first semester student in a nutrition associate degree program. Confirmation bias – the unsupported belief that your chosen path is the correct one. Since they had just started their first semester I doubted they knew the topic as well as the author. As well, they were pretentious in their poor tv-inspired use of the Mother Tongue, since they were born and raised in like Kansas.

    Recently I got it on another nutrition article, this one I think was on the addition of legumes to the diet as a protein, carb, and fiber source. I mentioned that I highly recommend the addition of canned black beans to anyone I consult. A Facebook user ranted that cans were evil and toxic and should never be used. I normally do not feed the troll on these, because it’s useless. Feeding the troll would be replying with anything, since there is already a quick and easy way to suck you into their vortex of nonsense.

    Lunch in Russia
    Meal after the Qualifier for Elbrus Race 2010. Great combo there of Russian food.

    “Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.” – Mark Twain

    Let’s run through it quick:

    1) cans have chemicals
    a: alright then bags
    2) bags have chemicals
    a: alright then, canvas sacks
    3) canvas sacks have chemicals
    a: alright then, right from the hands of the farmer
    4) the farmer’s hands are coated in 2,4-D/MCPP
    ARGH!

    So not much point in that progression, right? So this one person has a hobby of thinking the stuff they are learning in their associate degree program first three weeks supersedes the article information from the registered dietitian. Another hobby is related to chemicals in food. I’ve had people with other various hobbies post their trolls about meat, fish, veggies, grains, you name it. The funniest perhaps was a trainer with outstanding credentials getting down on my claim that a plane is a virtual construction of geometry and that it was physically impossible to exercise in a single plane of motion, even on a machine.

    Explore your dietary options and be flexible
    There is always more than one way to get your food in. Choose what works for you.

    Trolls Vs. Goals

    The sad thing is that while the hobbyists were feeding their egos, and trying to get me wrapped up in an argument I could not possibly win, there was actual true collateral damage. Yes. Innocent bystanders, people who are looking for the secret to fat loss, weight management, body composition improvement, how to just freaking do it. Falling by the wayside over some silly little inconsequential comment from a Facebook Troll.

    In the case of the canned beans, you have someone who leads a relatively busy life, a normal life, and you say to them:

    “Go to the store and get a dozen cans of black beans. Have half a can a day with your evening meal.”

    Nutrition - meal at the top of Half Dome in Yosemite
    FullStrength is an excellent meal replacement – great at the top of Half Dome in Yosemite

    Simple, easy, empowering. But then if you toss in a can poison chemical hobby:

    “So get some dry beans. Soak them for 12 hours, rinsing in clear cold water 4 times. Place them in a large pot on the stove and bring to a simmer over the course of the next hour. Lower the temperature until the water just barely swirls around the beans, and cook them like that for 6 hours, stirring every 15 minutes. Then remove from heat and pour cold water in until the water is cold. Let stand for 1 hour. Place on the stove and bring to a rolling boil for 1 hour stirring constantly. Now your beans are done. Eat and enjoy.”

    Kids will love to exercise if you start them early
    Is it ever too young to start training seriously?

    Anyone besides me have a life? I thought so. So while people are trying to roll forward toward making serious empowering changes in their lives, we have these Trolls tossing sticks in the wheels bringing them to a dead stop. I don’t think they consider this cruel side effect to stoking their egos. Maybe I’m naive though, and maybe these hobbyists really are the alleged obese blobs with their butts firmly welded to their chairs in their mom’s basement, as legend goes, and since they can’t get out and do it, they will fight tooth and nail with the only weapon available to them to prevent you from doing it too. I sure hope not. Wow. That’s really really sad.

    So you, don’t do it either. Don’t post negative hobby-related stuff. If someone posts an article about grains being healthy, don’t go off on your gluten issues. Obviously anyone with gluten issues would know enough to take the article with a grain of salt. You probably don’t have to educate them. That’s just an example, but I think you get what I mean. I do understand that many of these what I refer to as “hobbies” are serious and real to you, and many have valid data to support them, but your mission could cause major damage and this is not the right time or place to spread the word.

    Also, if you’re on the receiving end. Don’t quit your program because someone says cans or bags, or something will kill you. Be smart. Life is a compromise all around, and if a can of beans saves you two days in the kitchen while you should be out making money or playing with your kids, then by all means, get the freaking can and enjoy the denial the rest of the civilized world enjoys about can poisons.

    Set your goals, make progress, everything in its own time. Baby steps. Hope that helps.

    Buffest Skater Ever - Angie Miske
    Wife Angie – really buff for a skater, due to a great diet and hard training

  • Healthy Food – Eat Like a Bodybuilder

    This is an example of my recovery evening meal the day after a 10 mile training run on the trails in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah County. I ran a connector of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail near the power towers on the bench below Mount Timpanogos yesterday. Today I had mostly protein shakes during the day, and a massage to work out my IT Band issues, and tonight I’m having steamed chicken breast strips with steamed broccoli and steamed cauliflower.

    steamed chicken and veggies
    Steamed Chicken Broccoli and Cauliflower – Bodybuilding Diet Staples

    This is actually quite similar to the types of meals bodybuilders eat to rebuild muscle after their intense training. Though if they’re large enough, they’d have it 3 or 4 times a day, and usually with whole breasts, rather than “tenders”. I normally don’t eat very much meat, and when I do, it’s generally chicken or shrimp or salmon. The non-mammalian meats. That’s just me. My body just kind of tells me when it’s time, based on various recovery and health issues, so I have something as clean as I can normally (unless I just got back from a week-long or longer expedition – then I’ll be a bit more liberal in my choices) to help rebuild my body.

  • Protein goes mainstream

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