Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
Here is an often-asked question that is a tough one to answer. It really can go a few different ways, and there isn’t only one “right” answer. If you want more info on why eggs kick ass, I wrote about it HERE.
Q: Hey Brian,
At my grocery store there are Omega 3 eggs that aren’t organic and organic eggs that say nothing about having omega 3′s, is one a better choice over the other?
Thanks.
A: Eggs are another one of those things that there isn’t one perfect answer. Ideally we would get eggs from hens allowed to pasture on grass/insects/maggots/etc. This would be awesome. I went into more detail on why this is awesome HERE. Unfortunately this isn’t how most eggs are produced.
In order for eggs to be organic they only have to be fed organic grain, which is only slightly healthier. They, like cows, are not supposed to subsist on so much corn, it is not healthy for them. Though some organic eggs are from hens that are allowed to actually go outdoors (not just have “access to”), it isn’t a requirement. The one big benefit is that these hens are not give antibiotics, hormones or fed animal byproducts like regular eggs are. They should be slightly healthier and may contain a slightly higher content of omega-3 eggs.
Omega-3 eggs are fed a diet rich in soy, rapeseed (which is what canola is made from) and/or flax. This higher consumption of omega-3′s makes its way into their eggs. They are also not necessarily treated better, and they are usually still subsisting on a lot of corn, just interspersed with the soy, rapessed or flax. Again, it is only marginally better, but better none the less. They are also usually not given hormones or antibiotics. Labels will state this to use as a selling point, and it does make a difference. I usually lean towards omega-3 eggs in stores because at least they are being fed a little something better for them, they will have a significantly higher omega-3 content for their own health, and it gets passed on to us. Organic eggs may have the same benefits, but it isn’t a given. Just remember that as much as organic can be better, it does not always equal better.
There are also some options at most stores where you can get eggs from hens that are treated a little better and provided a better diet, and are your closest bet to eggs from hens allowed to pasture and range and consume their normal diet. Azuluna eggs are blue shelled eggs from a different breed of hens that are allowed to pasture and feed on their more natural diet. They make silky and very flavorful eggs. They have a much more orange yolk, indicating a higher beta-carotene content and just a greater assimilation of nutrients. The only downfall is that these eggs are crazy expensive, so if you eat 4-5/day like myself, that number adds up really fast. Good luck!
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition, Recipes
I have gotten great feedback from readers when I post recipes, so I have tried to get into a habit of providing a few recipes per month. I do have one reader though who gets on my back sometimes about my recipes. My wife (it is still a little weird saying that!). Anna is often the inspiration for many of my recipes, and she likes to point out that I take credit for some of her recipes that I just slightly modify (which is true) so now I am giving her a little love.
.jpg "cute")
Anna is also a pretty good cook. She makes a damn good beef stew, the Blueberry Apple Crisp was originally her recipe that we just tweaked, and today’s recipe is all her. This is one of my favorites, and I work on her to make it nearly every week.
Chili is one hell of a flavor combination. Combining meat, veggies, beans, and spices to make an aromatic and delicious explosion of awesomeness. This meal is great served anytime, and for those of you out there trying to keep carbs lower, it is great for post-training. High in protein, fiber, veggies, and flavor and delicious hot or cold, this is one that can be enjoyed by almost everybody at anytime. Ideally ingredients should be pastured/grass-fed/organic. If you only had to pick one, I would choose pastured/grass-fed meat over organic veggies any day.
Without further ado:
Anna’s Chili
Ingredients:
- 1-1.5 pounds lean ground beef (90-93%)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 onions
- 2 green peppers
- 2 cans stewed or diced tomatoes (14.5 ounces each)
- 1 can tomato sauce (16 ounces)
- 1 can light red kidney beans (15-16 ounces)
- 1 can dark red kidney beans (15-16 ounces)
- 1 can chickpeas (15-16 ounces)
- 1 small can of corn (7 ounces)
- 2 tablespoons of chili powder
Directions:
- Cook the beef, onion, and green pepper in large skillet coated with the olive oil, over medium heat.
- In a large pot combine the tomatoes, tomato sauce, kidney beans, chickpeas, corn and chili powder and cook over medium heat. Do not drain canned goods – pour entire contents into pot.
- Once the beef, onion and green pepper mixture is cooked thoroughly, add to the large pot. Bring to a boil then stir and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.
I often bring this in to work in my glass Pyrex bowl, filled to the absolute brim and enjoy after a hard lift! It is absolutely awesome.
Later this week I will writing a post answering some questions for vegetarians and muscle gain. It is going to be a good one so keep an eye out.
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition, Training
For those of you who missed it, check out my previous blog with a big announcement of Leigh Peele’s incredible nutrition book Body By Eats. Yours truly was lucky enough to contribute a recipe, so be on the lookout for that! Leigh has created an incredible resource covering diet myths, tips, tricks and kick ass recipes. Whether you want to get lean or get jacked, she covers it all in evidence-based thorough detail, be sure to check out Body By Eats!
In that same vein, the great Mike Boyle, maybe the most successful strength and conditioning coach ever and certainly one of the most influential, has just released Functional Strength Coach 3. Volumes 1 & 2 were awesome and were two of the very first learning tools EC let me borrow when I was a wee bitty intern many moons ago, and Volume 3 is even better. I’ve been following (and stealing from) Mike Boyle for as long as I’ve been coaching. His information is just that good. So the fact that he’s putting out a program with his latest training concepts tells me one thing…I need to get it in my hands as soon as possible. And so do you. Whether you train athletes, regular joe’s or are just an avid fitness enthusiast, this product will take you to a whole new level. Click here to check it out.
The Problem of Overcompensation
Many of you probably read that Time magazine article about how “exercising makes you fat”. That article sucked because I think it led people to believe that vigorous exercise doesn’t provide benefits, despite the mountains of research showing otherwise, but it did shed light on one very pertinent fact. Many people do not lose weight from exercise alone because they reward themselves with too many calories after they train. Who doesn’t know someone (probably yourself!) who has eaten a huge dinner or an extra piece of dessert because “I trained today”. Exercise doesn’t justify being a glutton!
Exercise doesn't justify being a glutton!
I don’t care how hard you train, you can not out-train a poor diet. In that article the author stated how he would exercise then reward himself with some french fries, or of others who would chomp down on some muffins (or as my dad would say, glorified cake) post run. Exercise has a whole assortment of benefits. Cardiovascular benefits, endocrine response, joint health, bone density, postural improvements, cognitive improvement, etc. Proper exercise selection, intensity, duration and frequency will make you tremendously more healthy, not less so, especially if you don’t justify to yourself that you earned that 1,000 calories Starbucks latte and chocolate chip muffin. Trust me, you didn’t expend that many calories, you are not Michael Phelps.
The best way to think of it is that your diet will control your weight loss results, your exercise will maintain or help build that awesome lean mass (to help you look “toned”), improve immune function, make you smarter and increase strength and stamina.
In the end, train smart, eat well and look awesome!
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
My good friend and colleague, and brilliant nutritionist, Leigh Peele is releasing a kickass new product called Body By Eats.
Body By Eats is a pretty comprehensive nutrition product covering a whole host topics. In this new book Leigh covers some of the myths and tricks of fat loss, which is her specialty. There aren’t many people, if any, who are better at getting people lean than Leigh. This book also covers the myths and methods to gaining muscle, and explores the truth behind many “healthy superfoods”. Leigh also provides some awesome recipes that anyone can put to use immediately. It really is a remarkable book, covering so many topics that I can’t even begin to give justice to it.
As a cool bonus she provides some free recipes from top-notch nutrition experts, and I am proud to say, features one from yours truly!
This product launches tomorrow and if you are interested in learning how to properly feed yourself in a healthy, delicious and non-OCD way, you should do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of Body By Eats.
Leigh is also the author of one of my absolute favorite manuals out there, The Fat Loss Troubleshoot. In this book Leigh outlines the common mistakes that people make that inhibit their fat loss goals, things that are simple and quick to fix, but are overlooked by nearly everybody. She doesn’t overcomplicate the book with tons of complex science and jargon, she just provides easy-to-apply solutions for just about any dieting problem. Do yourself a favor and check it out here.
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition, Recipes
I have returned from my honeymoon and I am ready to get back to dishing out some good content. Hope you all enjoyed your long weekend as much as I did. Here we go.
At Cressey Performance (the website is being overhauled, just a little fyi) I do a lot of in-person nutrition consults. Though I would say the majority of my clientele are high school athletes, followed by the pro guys, not too far behind are just regular 9-5ers. Contrary to popular belief, places like CP and Boyle’s actually train a lot of “regular” people, we do not exclusively train athletes.
Not the world's healthiest chicken
While doing a nutrition consultation with one of our “regular” clients I came across a pretty neat idea. I was looking over his food log and he noted that he had breaded chicken for dinner. I made a mental note to possibly comment on that, depending on how he went about his breading process. I continued to read and what he did was absolutely brilliant.
As most of you know I am not a huge fan of wheat. I think some is ok, but people tend to consume to much of it, even the whole kind. It’s high gluten content could possibly be problematic for people, even if they don’t have celiacs.
He breaded his chicken cutlets with dry quinoa and shredded unsweeted coconut. Absolutely awesome. He then baked it in a pyrex dish at about 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes. This is absolutely awesome. It provided some extra texture, favor, fiber and healthy fats.
After talking with yet another adult client last night who is very up on his nutrition, we came up with the idea of using quinoa flakes, as it would probably be even easier and maybe a little tastier for the breading.
Basically you would just purchase some chicken breasts, cutlets, tenders what have you (ideally pasture raised, but do the best you can within your budget). Dip into a bowl with a whipped up egg (again ideally pasture-raised), then take the lightly egg-covered chicken and press into a bowl with a mixture of the organic quinoa flakes, and some organic unsweetened shredded coconut. Cook as many as you want/need, bake in a covered pyrex at 400 for as long as needed, depending on the thickness of the chicken. Enjoy!
<a title=”Breading on Foodista” href=”http://www.foodista.com/technique/482ZKJDV/breading”><img alt=”Breading on Foodista” src=”http://dyn.foodista.com/content/embed/b2_482ZKJDV_9808a6b105533742df30e45e1e5ff334c8d7d00c.png?foodista_widget_4XTN68D8″ style=”border:none;width:300px;height:175px;” /></a>
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
As a nutritionist I get a lot of questions from people about how to take less time to make their own meals. They love cooing for themselves, but they hate all of the time that it involves: ie. they miss the convenience.
Fortunately for them, and you, I have a few tricks up my sleeve. I will admit, these definitely are not my original ideas, I have stolen a lot (ok most) of them from John Berardi and his fantastic Precision Nutrition. If you want the most comprehensive source of nutrition info, tips, guidelines and pretty much anything else nutrition related you could think of, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy. Employing just these few simple tips can save you a ton of time and effort, and can be that difference maker on whether you stick to your nutrition program or not.
Tip # 1
- Cook chicken breast in bulk.
- Purchase the large family packs of boneless, skinless breasts (especially when they are on sale). Season them however you want, (I just sprinkle a little Redmond Real Salt and some Montreal chicken seasoning on them). Then bake them in a large pyrex dish, covered in foil for about 35 minutes at 400 degrees, or until done.
- Store them in a large pyrex bowl and you have a simple, convenient and versatile protein source for the week!
Tip # 2
- Chop your veggies!
- I suggest that people do their grocery shopping on Sundays, giving you more time to get your prep work done. While your chicken is baking in the oven, take out your fresh veggies that you bought (peppers, onions, broccoli, etc.). Chop them up to desired size and either store individually as I do, or store all together in one large bin (ala Tony Gentilcore).
- Now you have pre-chopped veggies for any occasion. If you want to make an omelet, stir-fry, salad, wrap, you name it, you are now much more prepared to eat healthy in less time.
Tip # 3
- Practice!
- I can’t encourage you all enough to practice these tips. It takes repeated efforts to get quick at making healthy meals, but once it becomes second nature, it is a piece of cake. It may not happen overnight, but before you know it, you will be a healthy meal-making whiz!
If you check out my recent example of my personal food intake, I bring on average 3 meals to work everyday. My wrap, Greek yogurt and cottage cheese meals take me a combined 15 minutes tops to make and put into my cooler. Granted, I have mastered my methods on making those meals rapidly, but it just goes to show that it can be done. Even my breakfast omelet and oats takes me no more than 20 minutes to make and consume, and I am hardly awake! Apply just those few ideas and it could make the world of difference for you.
I also wanted to wrap this up by saying that this will be my last blog post until after I return from my honeymoon. So I will see you all sometime next week! Enjoy your holiday weekend everybody.
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
I want to preface this blog with a note that in the next week or so my blogging might be a little erratic (like it was last week). I am getting married this Saturday, yay for me, so my attention has been on that. I promise to return with a vengeance once we get home from our Honeymoon. I already have some really good ideas lined up, so stay tuned!
OK, on to the actual blog. I get a lot of questions from people about food timing and things of that nature, especially from my recent post about an example of my actual intake. I already answered one question from that post, so here is another that I think can benefit a lot of people.
Q: What time do you go to bed? Your 9:30 late dinner seems like a lot of food since you’ll be asleep when your body is processing it. Do you have a high metabolism and this is a way to keep weight on?
It obviously works for you but I’m curious your thinking on a meal so close to bedtime.
Thanks.
A: I usually go to bed between 10 and 11 PM, and I am usually ravenous when I get home around 9. The point I want to address here is the part about me being asleep while my body processes the food. So what? The body still needs energy while I sleep, we still burn hundreds of calories while sleeping. Contrary to some weird popular dogma, the body doesn’t stop utilizing energy late at night. While it is true that our ability to utilize carbs is diminished near our bedtimes, it isn’t gone, and we can certainly still use protein and fat just fine.
I don’t know if this is from Oprah or something, but there is absolutely no need to stop eating after 6pm or whatever the idea is. If you consume a diet rich in high quality foods and nutrients and expend more calories than you take in, you will be just fine.
Look at it this way, lets say you need 3,000 calories to maintain your weight, but you are looking to drop a few pounds. So you do some research that says that you need to consume plenty of water, some lean protein, and not eat after 6pm, and you are golden. You eat all your meals before 6 everyday, getting plenty of lean protein and water, and yet somehow you aren’t losing the weight. If you are still consuming 3,000 calories, regardless of timing, it does not matter! Timing is important and can be utilized effectively, but only if total calories are accounted for.
That last meal of the day fits into my caloric needs to maintain my weight, and that is it. I am hungry, I want to eat, the extra cals fit into my needs, so I consume them, end of story. There is nothing fancy, no ultra-fast metabolism (trust me, I don’t have one of those), it is just a meal that satisfies all of my needs.
Now don’t take this to mean that you can eat just anything for before bed and you will magically be ok. I tried to make it very clear that my last meal fits into my dietary needs, it may not fit into yours. Know what your requirements are. This is not free reign to pound down a pint of Ben & Jerry’s, no matter how tempting.
Not a bed-time snack
I hope that helped clear up another myth that drives me absolutely nuts. If you have any questions, feel free!
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
After my latest blog detailing an example day of my food intake, I got some pretty good feedback. I try to answer my comments and questions as quickly and thoroughly as possible, so in honor of that I am actually going to make a blog post or two on some of the feedback.
Q: I was little surprised by the quantity of fresh fruit. The glycemic load is obviously balanced out by the other parts of the meals, but it’s still a good amount of fructose over the course of the day. If you wanted to cut some calories out of this plan, would that be where you would go first?
A: First off I do what to say that I agree with the premise that a large daily consumption of fructose could potentially be very problematic, with connections to high triglycerides, visceral fat, metabolic syndrome and possibly even Alzheimer’s (and more). The research on this topic is growing and is pretty consistent across the board, but to take this research and extrapolate it to mean to not eat fruit is just plain silly. It’s like making a mountain out of a mole hill.
Yes there is fructose in fruit, but on the average of 7-10 grams per serving. Some have a little more (apples/pears), some have a little less (berries) but it all averages out in the end. A great blog on the topic of fructose and its potential for health problems was done on the Precision Nutrition website here. She points out that to consume as much added fructose as the study participants, on a 2,000 calorie diet it would require more than 20 apples per day! On my diet, where I am definitely consuming more than 2,000 calories, it would take even more. Now that would be excessive fruit consumption.
A second point is that fructose barely causes a blip on the glycemic index, due to the fact that it has to travel to the liver first, and since fruit is still generally pretty low in carbs per serving, it’s glycemic load is very moderate, so it is just irrelevant, but I digress.
Lets take a quick look at my actual estimated fructose intake shall we (and I am going to estimate high):
Breakfast:
- 3oz POM = ~5 grams fructose
- 1/2 cup wild blueberries = ~5 grams fructose
Pre-Training:
- 1 banana = ~7 grams fructose
Post-Training:
- 1 Gala Apple = ~10 grams fructose
Late Lunch:
- 1/2 cup wild frozen blueberries = ~5 grams fructose
Dinner:
- 1/2 cup frozen raspberries = ~5 grams fructose
- 1/4 cup wild frozen blueberries = ~3 grams fructose
That gives me a total of approximately 40 grams of fructose intake from fruit. Sure there will be a little more maybe from the peppers etc., but definitely no more than 50 grams overall at the most. This is not a problematic number, especially since I am maintaining my weight. Most of the research showing problems with high fructose intakes has people on hypercaloric diets, in research where people are in a caloric deficit but taking in huge amounts of fructose there are little to no problems.
One last point is that I am also getting my fructose intake from high quality fruit, providing me tons of fiber, antioxidants, phytonutrients and a touch of sweetness to my meals that I enjoy. I am also an active guy, training 4-5 days per week and am on my feet all day at work. So a long answer to a short question is that no, I don’t feel that amount of fructose intake is a problem. When dieting, especially in low-carb situations, I do think that my fruit intake might come down a smidge, but not a whole lot since I do want my limited amount of carbs to come from high-quality nutrient-dense sources. If you want more info on that, please check out some of my previous blogs about low-carb dieting such as: Low-Carb Dieters: Eat Your Fruit & Carrots (my second blog ever), Warp Speed High Carb Day, Warp Speed Normal Day, and Warp Speed No Carb Day.
Hope that helped to clarify a little misconception and help you realize that fruit intake isn’t your fructose problem, too much sugar and HFCS is.
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
I have done a few previous Day in the Life examples before, detailing my food consumption for the day under different circumstances; you can check a few examples here and here. Now that I am older and wiser I like to think that my nutrition is that much better. I could certainly even take it up another notch or two, but there are budget limitations, so I do the best I can with what I’ve got.
To make things easier for you guys, I also provided links when I could showing you the exact products that I like and use, hopefully that helps!
Wake @ 6:30.
A little earlier than I used too, but I don’t mind.
Popular food in my house
Breakfast @ 6:45.
I absolutely love omelets, I would say I have this omelet 5 days per week, sometimes I just get lazy and make scrambled eggs sans veggies. I will also often have an Ezekiel English muffin with a little natural pb and maybe some organic fruit spread in place of the oats. My supplement regimen certainly isn’t extravagant or fancy, but it does the trick.
Pre Training @ 9:30ish.
I have been playing around with having a protein shake before I train again. Though I usually prefer real food meals, I just felt like lately food had been sitting heavy before my training sessions, so I am just doing some experimenting.
During Training @ 11:30-1.
World's greatest tortilla
Post Training @ 1-1:30ish.
I love this meal, especially post-training, lots of good stuff here. Some high quality starches, delicious fruit, veggies, lots of protein, fiber and plenty of monounsaturated fat. Plus it is tasty as hell.
Late Lunch @ 4:00ish.
- 16oz 2% Chobani plain Greek yogurt.
- 1 tbsp Navitas Naturals chia seeds
- 1 packet Truvia
- 1/2 cup wild frozen blueberries
- 2 tbsp chopped walnuts
This is one of my all-time favorite meals, I crush it every single day. Lots of active cultures, good blend of protein, tons of fiber, antioxidants, omega-3′s, it is all there.
Dinner @ 7:00ish.
This is another staple that I have almost daily. Tony has a twist on it where he puts in pumpkin too, but I prefer my pumpkin cottage cheese mix separately.
Late Dinner @ 9:30ish.
Another awesome low-carb meal to finish the night. Delicious and nutritious.
So there you have it, a normal intake for me on a training day, I also have some more random green tea intake on most days. On a non-training day I would drop the shake and banana meal, have the yogurt around 10-10:30ish, then I would have my pesto chicken wrap lunch at roughly 2 maybe with the apple maybe without, followed by the cottage cheese around 6, and the final meal at the same time as above. Pretty simple really. If you have any questions or thoughts, don’t be shy!
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition, Recipes
The title says it all. This is one delicious dessert, and can even be used in place of morning oatmeal, and it is absolutely delicious. This is my fiance’s recipe that we have continually modified to make ever healthier, and it gets better every time!
Let’s not waste any more time, here it is:
Blueberry Apple Crisp
Apple Mix
- 4 Gala apples – cored and sliced
- 1 tbsp lemon or orange juice
- 1-1.5 tsp cinnamon
Blueberries
- 1 cup fresh or frozen wild blueberries
Topping
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 1/3 cup buckwheat flour
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 4 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon or orange juice
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Directions
- Spray a 9×9 pyrex pan with 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil (I like the Misto sprayer).
- Stir the Apple Mix until evenly distributed, and then place in the pan.
- Sprinkle the blueberries on top.
- Cover with the Topping, evenly distributing.
- Bake in pre-heated oven at 350-375 degrees for about 35-40 minutes or until apples are tender and topping is browned.
- Enjoy hot or cold.
- Optional – you can sprinkle in some milled flax for extra fiber if desired or some raw chocolate nibs, maybe add in some unsweetened shredded coconut, the possibilities are endless!
Posted on October 29th, 2009 by Brian St. Pierre
3 Comments »