Category Archives: Diet
Low Carb Shepard’s Pie Recipe
As you’ve probably all now noticed…Ryan does a lot of the cooking. And he is superb at it (follows in his father’s footsteps…Yea…Just a little sucking up…)
You’ve also probably noticed…I’m obsessed with cauliflower! (Getting sick of me repeating that, huh?)
Combine those two things and you are bound to end up with one great meal! Which Ryan did indeed do this past weekend. He created the LOW CARB SHEPARD’S PIE!
If you double the recipe, you could easily make this dish tonight and have dinner or lunch for almost the rest of the week!
Casseroles like this are great if you don’t have the time to cook or simply don’t enjoy cooking each and every night.
I have lots of clients complain that eating well is so hard because they have to cook when they get home and are exhausted from a long day of work. But when you make a meal like this Shepard’s Pie on a Sunday or Monday, you end up with HEALTHY leftovers you can easily reheat when you get home late, tired and drained from work!
Healthy eating doesn’t have to be difficult or even extremely time-consuming. You just need to plan ahead a little.
So here is a great recipe to use when meal prepping for this week!
Low Carb Shepard’s Pie
Ingredients:
1lbs grass-fed ground beef
1/2 head cauliflower
2 tbsp pasture butter
2 oz Grass-fed Cheddar Cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup beef broth
Spices (Cumin, garlic) and Salt and Pepper to taste
Steam cauliflower in water until softened a bit. While cauliflower is steaming, heat a little oil in a skillet on medium-high heat.
Add beef and broth to skillet. Cook allowing the broth to reduce and the beef to brown.
Take steamed cauliflower and add to food processor with butter and egg.
Turn the broiler on your oven on low.
Once broth has reduced and beef is basically cooked through, add to a casserole dish. Place beef on bottom and then scoop cauliflower mash on top. Place in the oven under the broiler and allow the cauliflower mash to brown slightly.
Remove from oven and top with sliced/grated cheese and place back under broiler. Allow cheese to slightly brown and crisp up.
Then scoop out the shepard’s pie and enjoy! You can easily refrigerate the leftovers as the recipe above makes about 4 servings (although if you are Ryan and I on a Saturday afternoon after a morning fast and workout, you will eat the entire thing).
P.S. Posted this one for you *la. Just another meathead you are following on IG for meal prep ideas! 😛
Calorie and Carb Cycling – What does your body NEED?
I got into an interesting discussion last night with clients about diet and what they SHOULD be eating every day. Women especially seem to get very obsessed with restricting their calories when they are trying to lose weight.
My simple answer when they asked me what they should be eating and how many calories they needed was:
Your body’s needs change daily.
Different meals for different days.
They of course rolled their eyes at me and shook their heads because they knew I loved giving that very vague answer.
Some days you are super active and require more fuel while other days you aren’t as active and don’t need as much. Some days you are super hungry while other days you aren’t.
Yet so many people restrict their calories (and their carbs) to the exact same level each and every day.
And that maybe why they aren’t getting the results they want.
You need to fuel your body’s needs. And those needs aren’t the same day-to-day.
If you do an intense workout, YOU ARE GOING TO NEED TO EAT MORE. If you deprive yourself of food when your body needs it, you are going to hinder your progress – be it weight loss or strength gains.
Just like if you eat too much on days when you aren’t active you are going to hinder your progress.
Eat when you are HUNGRY.
People are often shocked when I say this, but…IF YOU AREN’T HUNGRY DON’T EAT! And if you are…THEN EAT!
There is really no most important meal or the day. If you aren’t hungry for breakfast, then don’t eat it!
And if you are hungry at 10 p.m., EAT!
You aren’t going to get fat just because you ate after a certain time of night. If your body needs the fuel, it will use it no matter when you eat. It isn’t like your metabolism decides to just shut off because it is 8 p.m.
Your body is pretty good at telling you what it needs.
You just need to learn how to listen because most people don’t really pay attention. They mistake boredom for hunger or even thirst for a need for food. They can also get caught up in thinking they need to eat every few hours or their metabolism will just shut off so they force down food even when their body isn’t really asking for it.
So how do you learn to listen to your body? How do you know when to cycle your calories and carbs?
HOW TO LISTEN TO YOUR BODY:
Think before you eat. It’s really that simple. For example….If you just ate like an hour ago (and it was a filling healthy lunch) and you are sitting at your computer doing some boring work and are struck by a desire to just eat, ask yourself, “Am I hungry or am I bored?” I’m guessing more often than you know, your answer will be BORED. Maybe try drinking some water before you dive in. Dehydration is also another common trigger of “hunger pangs.” And so is stress. Think before you eat.
While I know many people may be shocked by what I will say next….Fasting can be a great way to get in tune with your body. I’m not suggesting you start starving yourself, but occasional intermittent fasts can be a great way to realize how often you eat for reasons unrelated to hunger. I found I became way more in tune with my body when I did intermittent fasting.
I no longer NEED to eat at certain times. And some days I don’t eat till late in the afternoon while other days I need to eat something the second I get up.
The point is though that I can RESPOND to my body’s NEEDS. I don’t just have to eat because I’m conditioned to mentally want something at a certain time of day.
Another great way to get in tune with your body is to keep track of your diet, activity level, emotions and lifestyle.
I know this sounds super annoying, but it can be super helpful if you are really struggling to make a healthy lifestyle stick. There are going to be common trends. Emotions may trigger eating binges. Or you may find out that on certain days when you were more active and ate more carbs you had better results than on days when you worked out intensely yet forced yourself to continue to restrict your carb intake.
Tracking reveals patterns so that we aren’t just guessing at what is going on. Guessing generally leads to frustration and failure.
WHEN/HOW TO CARB AND CALORIE CYCLE:
To put it simply as I stated above – eat when you are hungry and listen to what your body craves.
If you don’t workout, your body won’t need the carbs and calories that it does on days when you do workout. And more intense workouts, especially cardio workouts that really deplete your glycogen stores, are going to require more carbs and more calories.
Respond to your activity level and what your body is craving. (And just because your body is craving carbs doesn’t mean you have to give in and go eat a bunch of crap. There are lots of ways to do a carb re-feed without eating unhealthily.)
Plan days of low carb (around 50 grams) for days when you don’t workout or workout lightly. If you have a super hard intense workout, don’t be afraid to up your carbs to even 200-300 grams. Keep the carbs healthy, but fuel the workout.
While you don’t want your carbs to be up at 200g every day (because if you need that many every day you are probably OVERTRAINING), having a few days where you do get up over 150g is ok and even go.
Also, play around with carb timing. Have some carb refeed days and then have some days where maybe you just have carbs AFTER your workout when your body will quickly grab them up to rebuild.
Generally I break down my diet into three days.
Low day – Around 50 grams of carbs, high fat, high protein.
Medium day – Around 100-120 grams of carbs, medium/low-fat, high protein
High day – Around 200-300 grams of carbs, low-fat, medium protein
This basic plan works for me and I always feel energized.
But there are lots of ways to carb cycle – you can do whole day refeeds or just specific meal refeeds after your workouts.
I must say that there are times where I fast, workout and then basically just have carbs after my workouts and that is my refeed for the day.
The point is to listen to your body and not be stuck believing that the only way to get results is to restrict your diet completely.
While low carb can be a great way to kick-start your diet and may even have help you have great success, you may just find that carb and calorie cycling is what you need to get over that last little hurdle. Sometimes a little more can be better when it comes to weight or fat loss.
And while I have no problems running a half marathon fasted and after a week of low carb, you may just find that your body requires MORE carbs to fuel your activity level and help you reach the strength and performance gains you desire.
Listen to your body and don’t be afraid to eat more calories or carbs especially when your body is asking for them! You may just find your goals are easy to reach when you aren’t so militant about restriction.
Dinner and Dessert – Cauliflower Fried Rice and Frozen Strawberry Merengue
Desserts are my weakness. But now I don’t eat them very often.
I have a piece of dark chocolate occasionally or some berries, maybe even with a little nut butter. But I never really try to make any “healthy” desserts. I save my cupcakes for cheat days thank you very much. If I want a cupcake, I want the REAL THING.
But the other day, one of Ryan’s students, who’s a chef, told him to try to make a frozen strawberry merengue since it would be healthy.
Of course it being summer and me loving frozen yogurt and ice cream, WE HAD TO TRY IT!
Frozen Strawberry Merengue
I will most definitely never be a food photographer.
Ingredients:
3 Egg whites
1/3 cup sliced Strawberries
Honey or sugar if you want (we did not include this)
Slice the strawberries up. While they will get sliced up and mashed further by the blender, you want them small enough to start.
Add egg whites and sliced strawberries to a standing mixer or bowl and blend. Keep mixing until stiff peaks form.
Scoop into a bowl and freeze. The frozen merengue comes out with a fluffy almost snow cone-ish icy texture.
It is super good! Obviously this won’t be super sweat unless your strawberries are so you can add sweetener if you want.
A great low cal, healthy dessert and perfect for our high carb days since we do lower fat on those days!
And since I’m cauliflower obsessed, and love our homemade fried rice as well, I wanted to share this delicious dinner to go along with your dessert!
Cauliflower Fried Rice
Ingredients:
1/2 head of cauliflower
1lbs chicken breast
2 eggs
3 garlic chives
4 tbsp Tamari
Garlic, salt and pepper to taste
Rice uncooked cauliflower in a food processor and set aside.
Season chicken and place in a hot skillet coated with a bit of sesame oil.
When chicken is starting to cook, add tamari and chives. (You can add more or less of both depending on your taste.)
When chicken is just about cooked, add cauliflower to pan and then add one egg at a time. Scramble the eggs in the pan and mix in with the cauliflower and chicken.
Serve! And then eat the merengue after…Or along side…Whatever floats your boat!
As one of my clients always says about the cauliflower mash, “The cauliflower tastes like CARBS!” So I guess if you are craving carbs (yes…veggies are carbs but I take it to mean starchy or even maybe bad for you carbs) but don’t want to eat them, this and the cauliflower mash are great options!
Cajun Shrimp and Cauliflower-Avocado Mash
Every Thursday Ryan and I go to the farmers market. While I love so many of the things we get there, I’m by far most excited when the fresh seafood stand has SHRIMP! These are the BEST shrimp I’ve ever had. Always so yummy.
So of course….we had to eat them last night!
AND on top of the fresh shrimp, we had a ripe Reed Avocado (the BEST, most buttery avocados) from the market as well. They are in season right now! YAY!
We also of course had to get cauliflower. Because as you all know…I LOVE CAULIFLOWER!
Ryan took all of our fresh farmers market finds (Shrimp, Avocado, Cauliflower) and turned them into one great meal. He created a Cajun Shrimp with Avocado Cream and Cauliflower-Avocado Mash.
Cajun Shrimp with Avocado Cream and Cauliflower-Avocado Mash
Ok yes…the mash is a bit green, BUT YUM!
Ingredients:
1 lb Shrimp
1/2 head of cauliflower
1 Reed Avocado
2 tbsp Pasture-raised Cream
1/2 tbsp Chili
2 tsp Cumin
1/2 tbsp Paprika
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cut up cauliflower and steam it until it gets a bit softer.
While cauliflower is cooking, add avocado and cream with salt and pepper to a food processor. Blend until creamy.
Heat a skillet with olive oil. Coat shrimp in spices and add to the hot pan. Get a nice sear on the shrimp as you start to make the cauliflower mash.
Spoon avocado cream into a bowl, leaving some behind in the food processor. Add cooked cauliflower to the processor and blend with the avocado cream left behind.
When shrimp has finished cooking, remove them to a plate and spoon out the cauliflower mash. You can serve with the avocado cream or leave the cream on the side.
A great fresh farmers market meal!
What are your favorite meals to make with your farmers market loot?
Diet Essentials – 15 Staple Foods
I get asked a lot about what my grocery list includes – about what I have in my fridge and kitchen cabinets.
If you were to look in our fridge and cabinets, you would see basically the same thing every time.
As I mentioned before, I am a creature of habit. And part of habit is having the same basic foods around every week.
Here are the 15 groceries I make sure I have around the house every single week. (Note some are seasonal…Berries I have around the house during the summer but not once they go out of season.)
1. Grass-fed Beef – We always have grass-fed ground beef around the house. Occasionally we will have some sort of steak as well, but we ALWAYS have ground beef. Bunless burgers, chili, meatballs, meatza pie (meat pizza), stir fry….you can make a ton of different things EASILY. So if we ever need a last-minute meal, ground beef is the go-to. It can easily be cooked in a skillet OR thrown in a crockpot and just left to simmer and cook (this is where the tomatoes come in handy for a quick and easy chili). Plus grass-fed, naturally raised beef is leaner than conventionally raised beef (unless you get the like 90/10) and has a much better omega ratio. HEALTHY FAT! And it freaking just tastes SO GOOD! (Sorry vegetarians and vegans reading this…BUT IT DOES!)
2. Cage-free Eggs – Eggs have been considered healthy than unhealthy than healthy again all because of the cholesterol they contain, but EGGS ARE GOOD FOR YOU! Especially eggs from free-range, naturally raised chickens which have way more good fats than conventional raised chicken eggs (the proof is in the color of the yolk!). Eggs are such a versatile protein. They can be eaten for any meal of the day and can easily be made ahead for the week and then transported anywhere for a snack anytime. Hardboiled eggs, egg muffins, omelets, protein pancakes, healthy deviled eggs…and that is only just a bit of what you can use them for! You could even put them in your coffee….Hmm….
3. Free-Range Chicken – On high carb days we use the lean white meat to stay under 50 grams of fat for the day while on low carb days we eat all that delicious dark meat and skin. Sometimes we buy pieces of chicken, legs and thighs and then breasts separately OR sometimes we get the whole chicken, slather it in pasture-raised butter and bake it in the oven and then have our protein source already cooked for numerous days. (You can even throw it in the crock pot and just let it simmer away no matter what pieces of chicken you buy) While chicken doesn’t have as good an omega ratio as the grass-fed beef by itself, it can easily be made even better by cooking it in a healthy fat like coconut oil or pasture butter. Plus it is really perfect for those carb days – my favorite use of it is in my homemade chicken fried rice! (Eggs can also be a great way to thicken sauces so that you don’t have to use any fake or processed crap to hold things together.)
4. Avocados – A great source of healthy fat to improve your omega ratio AND SUPER YUMMY AND DELICIOUS. I could seriously just eat avocados by the spoonful….oh wait…I actually do that…So creamy and delicious. Often people think that eating healthy means eating bland food with no sauce or toppings. But slice a few strips onto your burger or mash into a guacamole to put on your chili or salad…YUM! I never miss dressing when I top salads with avocados or guacamole. Avocados can also be added to other condiments to make sauces and dressings creamier without having to use bad processed things…like miracle whip…..While we can easily get avocados all year around here, this will be one of those seasonal things in many places (and we do tend to eat more during the summer when we can get really great ones at the farmer’s market). The more you can eat locally and/or seasonally, the better off you are going to be.
5. Berries – Another seasonal food, but super delicious. When I want fruit, berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries…even cherries) are my go-to. They are lower in carbs and antioxidant filled. Plus…THEY ARE JUST SO GOOD! You can eat them plain for a low-calorie snack or you can blend them into a smoothie, which is super refreshing after a workout on a super hot day. They are also delicious frozen. A nice little cold treat to satisfy those frozen yogurt cravings. You can even take it a step further and mash the slightly frozen berries up with a bit of coconut milk (or cream) and some dark chocolate chunks if you really want frozen yogurt…Delicious and addicting!
6. Coconut Oil – Good for sauces, cooking, dressings, skin care….Why wouldn’t you have it around? While we don’t need to buy it every week (since one jar can last awhile) it is most definitely a staple. It can easily be added to smoothies and even protein pancakes for a source of healthy fats (and to keep you feeling fuller for longer since that is what fats do).
7. Raw, Pasture, Grass-fed Dairy – Raw Milk, pasture-raised cream, pasture-raised butter, even some raw milk cheese can be found in our fridge. While we don’t tend to keep a ton of cheese around, we do have a bit to occasionally sprinkle on top of things. A little blue cheese on a burger or a little cheese melting in your chili just makes everything taste that much better. However, don’t go overboard with the cheese. And your cheese should never come in a bag or be shredded. It should also be as minimally processed as possible. Just as all of your dairy should be. The pasture-raised butter we get, we use daily to cook in. It holds up well in the heat and helps create a great omega 3-6 ratio in any meal that we cook. Just make sure your butter is truly healthy. Just found out the Kerrygold has some processed crap in it! The cream, Ryan uses in his coffee each day…yuck…coffee…While I more often eat it in dressings and sauces. The raw milk, we drink straight or add to protein shakes. So rich and creamy with a ton of health benefits NOT found in pasteurized milk. (Most people also don’t realize there really isn’t that much more fat in whole milk than in skim. Don’t get me wrong, there is more fat. Just not as much as you would think. Especially not enough in my opinion to consume something MORE processed.) I have no problems with dairy and really enjoy it. But it should still be used in moderation. While we have it around every week, it isn’t something we go overboard with. It is more used as a sprinkling to make every meal taste delicious.
8. Leafy Green Vegetables (Spinach, Broccoli, Spring Mix, Romaine, Arugula) – We most often have some sort of organic lettuce mix around so that we can make side salads to go with our meals because if I’m not eating a side salad, I’m probably forcing Ryan to eat cauliflower since I LOVE IT! Leafy greens are a necessity though in any form that you choose. Really meat and vegetables make up the base of almost every meal for us especially on low carb days. Leafy green vegetables are a great source of nutrients AND they make you feel full and satisfied after eating. And if you are like me and need a certain amount of “content” on the plate to feel like you’ve eaten enough, getting to cover your plate in vegetables is very satisfying.
9. Cauliflower – Did I mention before that I LOVE cauliflower? And now I’m pretty sure Ryan does too! Since we’ve found a great place to get cauliflower at the farmer’s market, we’ve been getting a couple of heads every single week. You can eat it raw or steamed or baked or as “rice” or “mash!” We’ve riced it and put it in chilis. We’ve also been super into making it into a mash and eating it along with our protein. Seriously LOVE the cauliflower mash. You can add cream or butter or a little cheese even. The other day, Ryan threw in garlic chives we found at the farmer’s market, a couple of farm-fresh eggs and CHICKEN LIVER! We got a whole chicken straight from the farm and it had the innards in it still so Ryan decided to throw the liver into the mash since liver is so good for you (and I really really don’t like the taste). In the mash you couldn’t even taste it yet it added some great nutritional benefit to the meal! You of course don’t have to get that crazy with your mashes, but you can get a ton of nutrients into your meal by mixing them in. Cauliflower is also super low-calorie, which I love because that means I can eat like a whole head of it myself…Just kidding…sort of…
10. Tomato Sauce – Tomatoes are great for you in any form as long as a ton of crap hasn’t been added to them. We generally get an organic sauce with no additives in a BPA free can, which is great to pull out when we want to make a last-minute chili or sauce. And the best part about using tomatoes in a sauce is that more lycopene is actually released as the tomatoes are cooked! As I said though, we always have this around just so we can make that quick healthy meal. I do also love fresh little cherry tomatoes though with a little bit of green onion, garlic and olive oil as a nice little summer salad (Sometimes I add in cauliflower too!).
11. White Rice – Our carb day staple. Replenish your glycogen stores quickly and efficiently. Plus white rice is just so tasty! No it isn’t nutrient dense, but that is what the veggies, fruits and meats are for! And while it isn’t nutrient dense, it doesn’t have the phytic acid that brown rice does. This article basically sums up why I choose white rice over brown rice aside from the fact that I enjoy it more and that the whole purpose of the carb refeed is to get your muscles glycogen FAST. So while this isn’t a daily indulgence, it is consumed 2-3 times per week on refeed days. Remember, if you are looking to cut that last little bit of fat, you may need to ADD IN carbs on some days not cut out more stuff. Cutting out foods isn’t always the answer!
Mustard chicken breast and white rice. YUM!
12. Balsamic and Olive Oil – We don’t often cook with olive oil, but both olive oil and balsamic vinegar are condiments you always need to have around. They are the quickest and easiest way to make simple and healthy sauces and dressings. Get good ones too. Get a nice thick balsamic and a California Olive Oil.
13. Salsa – You must be careful when picking out salsas. You don’t want to get one with a ton of extra crap in it (you can also make your own salsas if you feel so inclined!). But all-natural salsas can be a great way to add flavor to any meal without adding a ton of calories (most salsas are very low-calorie). I also love to use them on salads since I don’t like dry lettuce. Plus, if the salsa really is all natural, it will add more than just flavor to your meal since many have vegetables, or even fruits, in them!
14. Whey – I’ve wavered on whether or not this one is a staple food, but I’ve come to the conclusion that it is in our busy and sometimes hectic lives. While it shouldn’t be used every day as a meal replacement, it can be a quick and easy protein source to keep you on track if you don’t have time to make a meal or prepare a snack. It is much better than eating cookies or any other crap we give ourselves permission to eat when we get super hungry and there isn’t a super easy and quick healthy option around. Whey at least has nutritional benefit AND can be combined with other ingredients in protein pancakes or smoothies to make it even better for us. A good thing to have around especially if you are always on the go and not the best about cooking. It can be a quick replacement. Just make sure you get one that has as little extra stuff in it as possible.
15. Wild Caught Seafood – We have some form of seafood basically every week. While we are better about this in the “warmer” months when we go to the farmer’s market every week, we do try to eat seafood at least once a week. We shy away from larger fish and anything farm-raised. We eat shrimp and salmon most often. Fish is a great source of healthy fats. And depending on the fish you get, it can be a super low-calorie protein source. Plus when fish is fresh, it just tastes so good! And it can be super quick to cook so is great for a last-minute meal. It can also be cooked the night before and then thrown on a salad or into an omelet the next day!
BONUS: On occasion foods….These are foods we will have around and use maybe once a week at most. They are also foods we can go awhile without replacing.
Nut butters – I love nuts. But they have phytic acid and I have problems consuming them in moderation. We don’t usually keep whole nuts around unless they are macadamia nuts but we do generally have a nut butter or two around. I will put them in protein pancakes or occasionally on fruit. They are a nice little treat, but should be eaten in moderation!
Bacon – I love bacon. LOVE IT! But we’ve gotten away from eating it often just because it is hard to find truly good bacon. We do have it around though on occasion and then use a piece or two to top burgers. We also use the grease to cook in. So if we’ve made bacon for burgers, we usually cook the burgers in the bacon grease right after. Waste not!
We also have a TON of spices. Spices are really key to making great tasting meals. Healthy food doesn’t have to be bland. You just need to learn how to spice it! Here are the grinders and spices we always have around – Garlic Salt grinder, Pepper combination grinder, Paprika, Chili Powder, Cumin, Oregano, Dill, Cayenne Pepper, Basil, Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Cinnamon, Nutmeg. Just make sure you get ones that don’t have additives!
So that is what we have in the kitchen. What are your Diet Staples?
Can I also just ask a question…Why does everyone love almond milk and think it is so healthy? For one, almonds have phytic acid, which prevents your body from absorbing minerals especially if you eat a ton of them. And two, almonds don’t have milk so processing has to go on for you to have almond MILK.
Nuts! – Nut Butters by Ingr-EAT-ients
Yesterday I got two delicious nut butters from Ingr-EAT-ients – Pistachio Butter and Almond Coconut Butter.
I was super excited to try them partly because a good friend and fellow trainer, Eddie Thomson, makes them and partly because I see his food pictures on Instagram all the time and they always look SO FREAKING GOOD! (Ok mostly because I seriously drool every single time I look at his food prep pictures on Instagram!)
Not only does he make healthy meals, butters, bars, fruit leathers, and shakes that look beautiful and delicious, but he doesn’t use any processed crap.
Everything is all natural and made with the highest quality ingredients…like literally….Even when his go-to stores are out of the product he wants, he doesn’t just settle for a lower quality ingredient.
Nope!
He freaking drives around to other stores and markets until he finds what he wants.
Eddie is fanatical about providing the cleanest, highest quality product. And when I say fanatical, I mean it in the best way.
Anyway, on to the nut butters that I got!
So I got Pistachio (because I’ve never even seen Pistachio butter before) and Almond Coconut (because well…I love both those flavors).
Can I just say…
I LOVE THEM BOTH!
Half of both jars might just be gone after last night because I kept sneaking back to the kitchen to eat just one more spoonful.
I love that “just one more game.”
I tell Ryan, “I’m going to have just one more…”
And then I say that about 50 more times before I actually eat “just one more.”
BUT, regardless of how much more is left, what made both of these two nut butter so special is how FRESH they tasted and how clear the flavors were.
The pistachio butter really tasted like pistachio. And the almond coconut really tasted like almonds and coconut.
I also liked the texture of both. The pistachio was super creamy and the almond/coconut butter had that texture that coconut butter has that I really like.
The neat thing to is that Eddie uses coconut oil in all of his nut butters. Coconut oil is seriously amazing for you. Tons of good healthy fats.
However, the idea of coconut oil in my nut butters made me a bit nervous.
Pistachios and coconut? Hmmm….
But it was really good! And honestly there was only the littlest hint of coconut if you really tried to find it.
So great flavor and a little extra health bang for your buck?!? SIGN ME UP!
The nut butters were amazing and made me feel like I was treating myself to a great little dessert (especially when I put a bit of the almond coconut butter on some local, organic strawberries that Ryan had put in the freezer!)
Ingr-EAT-ientsproducts were DELICIOUS. And the best part is that they are all homemade and have no unnecessary crap in them.
If you are looking for healthy clean eats that make you ENJOY eating well, I would definitely recommend you give these products a try.
(And if you are in SoCal, you can help support a local business!)
The only downside to these products, in my opinion, is that Eddie lists them as vegan…just kidding…but seriously….
My next nut butter to try might just have to be cashew espresso…Although my clients would tell you I’m slightly scary on caffeine!
What are your favorite healthy, clean eats?
P.S. If you like drooling over food pictures and have Instagram, Eddie’s Instagram is @coach_eddie!
Calorie Cycling: Are you cutting out TOO MUCH?
Today I want to take a second and talk about weight/fat loss and dieting. While I always drive people to have performance goals, a great percentage of the clients I deal with do have weight loss goals as one of their reasons for wanting to start with training.
Some are completely aesthetic goals. Some are health related.
But whatever the reason, weight loss is a very common goal.
And many people think that weight loss or body fat loss means cutting everything out.
Your plate should NOT look like this.
But can cutting out TOO MUCH actually be the reason why they aren’t seeing results?
YUP!
If you cut out too much, your body is going to think it is starving. And when your body thinks it is starving, it is going to try to slow everything down so that it can protect the stores that it has.
AKA your metabolism slows down, which fights against you losing the weight/fat you were trying to lose.
Not to mention that if you aren’t fueling properly, your body is going to be stressed, which will negatively affect your hormone levels.
And you aren’t going to have the energy to workout or even really make it through the day functioning at a high level.
All those hours you are putting in at the gym may not be paying off because you don’t really have the energy to push your body to work as hard as it needs to for you to make the strength/muscle/cardiovascular gains you are looking to make.
And I bet you are now shaking your head, thinking, “But I need to really cut calories or I won’t lose weight! Even Bob Harper’s diet says to eat only 800 calories a day for three weeks!”
If you eat 800 calories a day and expect your body to function at a high level, you are kidding yourself. At that rate, you are going to stall very quickly and your body is going to revolt.
Plus, 800 calories from meat and veggies is going to affect your body way differently than 800 calories of M&Ms. You are going to see drastically different results if you eat the RIGHT FOODS.
You now may be thinking, “Ok so you are one of those “quality matters more than the number of calories.”
Yes…and No.
I do think creating a calorie deficit matters. BUT I think that quality of the food you consume matters just as much.
And while I’m a fan of low carb, I do believe that cutting out too much of ANYTHING, be in calories or a macronutrient, for prolonged periods of time leads to plateaus and potentially even backslides.
So what do you do if cutting out a ton of calories isn’t the way and it isn’t only about eating the right foods?
YOU CYCLE!
I call it carb cycling, but it could very well be described as calorie cycling as well.
I meet my body’s needs.
And every day my body doesn’t need the same thing.
Some days I completely deplete my glycogen stores. I do a super tough workout and have had a few days of lower carb. And now my body needs carbs.
And if I don’t do a carb refeed, I’m going to be a grouchy low-energy person. I’m going to be angry and not very fun to be around. My workouts will suffer and that will only serve to make me more peeved.
So I avoid letting that happen.
I do a carb refeed. I respect what my body needs.
Just like I respect the fact that on some days my body wants breakfast and on others it doesn’t. Some days it needs 3,000 calories and other days it is fine with only 1,500.
And the thing is, your body functions best when it is getting what it NEEDS!
If you want to lose fat, if you want to lose weight, yes, you’ve got to make changes to your diet. And yes, you will need to create a calorie deficit at points, but you’ve also got to respect what your body needs to keep functioning at a high level.
Because when your body functions well, it will also do a good job of losing the weight and performing well.
But on top of that, cutting out “enough” calories to lose weight, or cutting your carbs, doesn’t mean you do it to the same extent EVERY SINGLE DAY.
CYCLE.
Cycle in high days. Cycle in low days. When you workout, fuel your workout. Replenish your body.
When you don’t workout, don’t give it calories or foods it doesn’t need.
The cycling allows you to create the calorie deficit and/or carb fluctuations you need over the weeks, months, or even years to lose the weight/fat without your body feeling deprived or stressed so that your hormone levels and metabolism work against you.
If you’re progress has stalled, take a look at your diet. You may just be cutting too much out.
Just like we vary our workouts to create some “muscle confusion” since our body adapts, we need to vary our diet since our body will adapt and try to prevent starvation if we cut out too many calories.
Have you ever suffered from the, “If I barely eat I’ll lose more weight” mentality?
When did you realize that NOT STARVING yourself actually led to greater results!?! (Maybe right now…..)
NOTE: STOP WEIGHING YOURSELF EVERY DAY! If you cycle calories and carbs, your weight will fluctuate day to day. Pick one day a week or even each month to weigh. Do not put it right after your carb refeed.
My Fitness Pal – Consciously consuming
I never count calories now. I haven’t for years.
I eat whole natural foods and I know my calorie intake will be where it should be.
Really the only time you need to count calories is when you have to worry about calories in vs. calories out. And that only happens when you don’t consume quality calories.
So while I’ll make basic notes about to help guide my eating, I don’t that often use a calorie counter or food tracking app.
However, there will be periods of time that spur me to be curious about my exact macronutrient breakdown, which is when I turn to a calorie counter/food tracking app.
Food logs or food tracking apps/websites are a great way to help you really be conscious about what you are eating. While I think calorie counting is awful and stressful, I think tracking what you are eating can be super helpful.
If we aren’t truly aware of what we are consuming, how are we going to know what needs to be changed if we aren’t making progress? If we are succeeding, how are we going to know what works so that we can keep doing it?
That is where a food log comes in handy.
Anyway, after our Metabolic Typing workshop at Innovative Results, I became interested to see my exact macronutrient breakdowns.
I generally don’t worry about exactly what ratios I’m eating. I focus on eating meats and veggies as the base of my diet, with carb cycling throughout the week. My carbs include rice, potatoes, fruit and the occasional corn tortilla.
I knew my carbs stayed low, under 60g, on most days and about 150-300g on carb refeeds (with my fat intake under 50g on carb days).
But I honestly had no idea what my fat and protein intakes truly were.
So I decided to try out a food tracking app.
In the past I’ve used Fitday.com.
And I like Fit Day, but honestly, it isn’t the easiest thing in the world to use. If you are willing to spend the time to put in your own foods and the nutritional breakdown, it is perfect.
I’ve also had clients use Spark People and love it. I found it easy to use and liked that it had some good information in addition to the tracker for anyone using the site.
But I decided to try out My Fitness Pal since a ton of my clients love it and I’ve liked using the phone app with them.
I’ve only used it with clients and never really sat down and fully used it myself so I was curious to really give it a try.
And it is pretty darn great and tracks a ton of stuff.
Tracks food and workouts. I do like the “notes” part as well.
I customized my own macronutrient ratios and there are a ton of foods listed in the counter already.
It is also super easy to save a meal so that you don’t have to go back through and select the list of foods in that meal every time you eat it (which for me is great since I eat a lot of the same meals over and over again).
Of course, I was amused by how many different foods there were in there….It is always interesting to see what people consider healthy…Lots of soy milk lattes and sugar-free things….YUCK!
There were also a lot more restaurant dishes and processed foods than whole natural ones. Which I guess, at least, allows people to know what they are eating when they eat out. But still, it is sad to see how much of even the diet of people trying to be “healthy” is really processed crap.
At least though, people are CONSCIOUS of what they are eating when they track it. Because so many people aren’t conscious of what they eat.
And being conscious of what you eat is extremely important. As I said above, if you know what you are consuming, you can figure out what is working and what isn’t.
Same thing goes for tracking your workouts.
Which is why it is nice that My Fitness Pal allows you to track your goals AND your workouts along with your food.
However, while I like the food tracking portion of this app, I can’t say I’m a fan of how the other two sections work.
I like that they exist…Just not how they work.
Under goals, you can choose macronutrient goals. You can even take a few measurements. You can record how many times a week you want to workout. Which is great.
But really the main focus is on weight loss. And it almost even encourages you to weigh every day…Which I don’t like.
AT ALL.
It shouldn’t allow people to record their daily weight. Because daily fluctuations don’t matter and can even discourage people.
Shoot if I weigh right before a carb day and then right after a carb day, I can fluctuate numerous pounds. It’s not really cause I gained weight though! And sometimes I might have even eaten fewer calories than on a low-carb day.
And actually the carb days are what help me become even leaner over the long run even if I do gain weight on the scale right after them.
The point is…YOUR WEIGHT FLUCTUATES. Be it water weight or whatever else. Weight fluctuates so shouldn’t be tracked daily.
And while it has measurements, it only allows you to record neck, waist and hips. Waist and hips are two great places to measure, and tell you a lot, but still…Why not just include arm and thigh as well?
You can lose/gain inches on a number places. And all can show progress. So why not include them all?
I know that there are only so many things a food/workout tracking app can do, but a couple extra measurements should be included.
Just like I think it would be great if the app included a place to record a couple lifts and/or runs and their numbers or times.
Right now, the app asks for workout goals that include how many workouts per week, how long and even how many calories you want to burn. And yes, working out the number of times you planned to, and having that be tracked, can be motivating.
But performance goals for during your workouts can be even more motivating! Having performance goals can help keep you motivated so that you accomplish other goals, like weight loss goals.
Because, let’s face it, when you have a performance goal, you are more likely to eat well AND workout hard no matter how much you want to skip the workout that day.
Anyway, I just think it would be nice for the app to allow you to include a bit more under “goals.”
Not everyone who wants to track their food intake cares about losing weight. And if weight loss IS the goal, it never hurts to have other markers of progress to help keep you motivated!
I know I just went on a bit of a rant about the goals portion of My Fitness Pal, but really the only thing I HATE about the app, is the workout portion.
I’m not sure how they could make it more accurate, but it isn’t accurate at all when it comes to calories burned. Which doesn’t matter to me, but since they add that in to what people can then eat, you would think they would want it to be more accurate. (I guess though if you really care, you could manually enter it yourself….)
But worse than that, is the fact that the app puts a HUGE emphasis on cardio.
Because when you choose the strength training moves, they don’t show you any calories being burned. Fortunately you can add weight, so if you really wanted to track your lifting progress you could always scroll back through your workouts.
However, the only way to show calories being burned during a strength training workout is to select “Circuit Training” under Cardio!
I, personally, don’t care if it doesn’t show what I burned during my workout, but since they do add that in to what you should then be consuming, you would think that strength training would have some value.
It just made me mad because I felt like it perpetuated the LIE that cardio is key to weight loss (and health in general).
Anyway, I’ve found tracking to be very interesting. And I would recommend My Fitness Pal, at least for the food tracking portion.
Do you keep a food log? Workout log? What is your favorite app? Anyone else pissed off about the exercise portion of my fitness pal? (Am I just maybe missing something that makes it better?)
P.S. Another reason I like some of these online/phone apps is that you can easily SHARE and create a community. The more you involve other people in your goals, the more likely you are to accomplish them. ACCOUNTABILITY and SUPPORT!
Metabolic Typing
While I enjoy ripping on vegetarians quite frequently (sorry vegetarian readers), I do just as often admit that there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to dieting.
Different diets are going to work for different people.
End of story.
And while I don’t think this means that there is truly someone out there that can eat junk food and be healthy, I do believe that there is a range of things that will work for different people.
The diet industry thrives on trying to sell you a magic diet solution…it wouldn’t exist if everyone just kept it simple and ate WHOLE, NATURAL FOODS instead of looking for a quick fix!
Which is why I was interested in attending our nutritional workshop about Metabolic Typing today at the gym.
“One man’s food is another man’s poison.” – Hippocrates
What works for you may not work for your friend or family member.
Had that happen to you before, right? Had a friend say to you, “I followed ______ diet and felt great and lost 20lbs!” And then you went and tried the diet only to find out that you felt crappy and gained weight.
And it wasn’t that you didn’t do the diet correctly. It wasn’t that you didn’t follow the directions to a T.
It’s just that each of us have slightly unique nutritional requirements and different environmental factors that affect our gene expression. Our genetic make-up and our environment play a huge role in determining what “diet” works well for us.
There are a ton of studies out there about cultures that have a high number of centenarians. Researches have looked for that perfect diet that promises a long and healthy life.
But what they found wasn’t one diet. It was a variety of diets.
Of course there were some commonalities between the diets, like a lack of crap processed foods, but each diet was DIFFERENT.
Because there is no magic prescription, no one size fits all.
Trust me, I know. I had to test out a few different diets that have worked for other people before I found the one that worked best for me.
Over the last few years, I’ve experimented with a variety of diets and macronutrient breakdowns. I’ve done low-fat and high carb. Low-fat and low-carb. High fat, high protein and low-carb. Carb and fat cycling…
I’ve messed around with grains, dairy, fruits, nuts, organic, local, grass-fed. I’ve experimented with a ton of different variables.
Some things have worked. Some….some well…didn’t.
But instead of worrying about what SHOULD work, about what worked for other people, I focused on what actually worked for me.
And the things that worked, I kept. And the rest, I discarded without looking back.
By running my own experiments, I’ve found a diet that works for me. That doesn’t mean, however, that I’m not constantly learning and still always making micro-adjustments.
Because let’s face it, your environment doesn’t always stay the same.
And my perfect diet isn’t the same as Ryan’s perfect diet. I’ve found that I need more carbs than Ryan. Be it my genetic requirements or the way my body reacts to my workouts or a variety of other factors, I need more carbs.
As the guy who came in today and did the Metabolic Typing workshop said, “We are as individual as our fingerprint.”
Each of us will have slightly different nutritional requirements.
And while I do believe that if we all live by the principle “eat whole natural foods” we will all be pretty darn healthy, I do think that to reach our full potential we need to consider our own unique needs.
Have you done any self-experiments? What diet works for you? Ever tried a friend’s diet and had it completely backfire?
NOTE: Now whether or not I agree with the whole questionnaire that supposed reveals your metabolic type is another question and a post for another day. Dr. Oz has a four question metabolic typing quiz that shows you how it works. I do, however, believe that your genetic make-up does affect exactly what variation of a “whole, natural foods diet” is right for you and that genetic testing can be valuable. I just don’t know if a questionnaire can really determine it….
Cauliflower Mash
I’m a bit obsessed with cauliflower. I mean I could literally just eat a whole head of it raw.
Is that strange?
Probably.
But anyway, since it has looked so amazing at the farmers market, we’ve gotten it the last few times and the other night, Ryan created a cauliflower mash with it that was absolutely amazing.
So because I’m cauliflower obsessed and this was a super delicious meal of Wild Caught Salmon steak and Cauliflower Mash, I wanted to share the recipe! (Maybe I should call this the Un-American meat and potatoes…even though I do like grass-fed steak and mashed potatoes…)
Salmon Steak and Cauliflower Mash
I’m pretty sure I’ll never make a living as a food photographer.
Ingredients:
Salmon:
2 Salmon Steaks
1/2 tbsp Paprika
2 tsp cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
Cauliflower Mash:
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp diced garlic
1/2 tbsp dill
1 tbsp cream
3/4 head cauliflower
Salt and pepper to taste
For Salmon Steaks:
Sprinkle with spices and then sear in a skillet (with 1 tbsp olive oil) on high heat for 1-2 minute each side. Then lower temperature to medium/low and cook to medium/medium rare. About 8-10 minutes.
Cauliflower Mash:
Steam cauliflower until soft. When you transfer the cauliflower to the food processor, try to get rid of all extra water first. Put into a food processor with butter, garlic, dill, cream and salt and pepper. Blend until everything is mixed and there are no cauliflower chunks.
Then serve steak and mash together. If you are like Ryan, you may even enjoy a bit of hot sauce on your cauliflower mash!
The salmon steaks made one portion for each of us, but the cauliflower mash actually made about four servings…however, it was so good (and low-calorie) that we ended up consuming all four portions! (YUM!)
What random food do you love to consume…like raw cauliflower?
Also, since I’m into self-experimentation and have actually tried a number of the diets on Free the Animal’s list (and happen to agree with his findings), I thought it was interesting to share. What diet have you found to be most effective?
Man Bicep 