Nutrition SWITCH #1 – No More Dessert for Breakfast

If you want to lose fat, stop eating dessert for breakfast.

Let’s be honest, most of what people eat for breakfast would qualify as dessert if served at any other time of day. So stop with sugary cereals, muffins (let’s be honest, we all know that muffins = cake), granola bars, and bagels.

Mandy – Pages on VFT to help you…
http://virtualfitnesstrainer.com/healthy-eating/fat-burning-breakfast-the-real-secret-to-beat-fat-with-breaky/

See the French Toast:
http://virtualfitnesstrainer.com/healthy-eating/these-4-kick-butt-healthy-meal-ideas-are-almost-too-easy/

Nutrition SWITCH #2 – Switch Your Eating Schedule

If you find that you often “binge snack” at night, try having a bigger late afternoon healthy snack, and then having a later healthy dinner.

There’s no magic to not eating after a certain time. I often eat a big healthy dinner and go to sleep within 30 minutes.

That won’t make you fat. Eating a pint of ice cream and a bag of chips every night while you watch TV makes you fat.

Mandy – Blog posts on VFT:
http://virtualfitnesstrainer.com/healthy-eating/simple-healthy-eating-meal-plans/

Nutrition SWITCH #3 – Minimize the Junk

Your house doesn’t need to be stocked like the local 7-11.
Keep the minimum amount of treats at home to avoid mutiny and keep treats out of sight & hard to access.

Make healthy foods (giant bowls of fresh fruit) visible and places encouraging notes to eat the fruit in the kitchen.

Put ready-to-eat produce in most visible part of the fridge & hide junk in the back. All research proven to increase healthy food consumption. And when it’s your time for a cheat meal, you can enjoy it guilt-free.

Nutrition SWITCH #4 – Go From Processed to Natural

When possible, switch out all processed or “modified”
carbohydrates and replace it with a fruit, vegetable, or nut.

For example, instead of toast with eggs, have an apple and add spinach to the eggs. Instead of a processed carbohydrate with your morning coffee, have 1oz of raw nuts (almonds or walnuts). With steak, eat broccoli, not mashed potatoes or French fries.

Mandy – VFT blog post to help:
http://virtualfitnesstrainer.com/healthy-eating/mike-gearys-top-55-lean-body-foods-to-build-muscle-and-lose-body-fat/

Nutrition SWITCH #5 – Cut the Sugar From Your Post-Workout Drink

If you’re focused specifically on fat loss, you do NOT need to add sugar (or any variations of sugar) to your after training drink.

I interviewed top nutritionists about this in 2010, and they all agreed that for fat loss, you don’t need to force post- workout sugar into your body. So take it out.

Mandy – VFT blog post:
http://virtualfitnesstrainer.com/training-supplements/rating-the-energy-drinks/

BONUS Nutrition SWITCH – Become Your Own Nutrition Expert

Stop getting fooled by fad diets. Become an expert yourself by going through a 2-week “intensive nutrition course”.

Here’s how:

Eat a wide variety of food for 2 weeks and record all of your meals. You’ll quickly know the calorie counts of all foods and proper serving sizes AND most importantly, what works for YOU. Very simple. Very effective.

Research proven tips to help you eat better.

Mandy – VFT blog post to help:
http://virtualfitnesstrainer.com/blog/12-ways-to-improve-your-diet-and-lose-weight/

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit “TurbulenceTraining”

In the previous article I discussed how drinking water and keeping a nutritional journal can help you control portion sizes and minimize overeating: How To Not Pile On The Pounds Over The Holidays – Part 1. Those are a couple of the most effective strategies, but there are other things you can do as well, both in terms of nutrition and exercise.

The most practical and successful solutions to preventing holiday weight gain involve strategies that do not expect you to be perfect. A good approach is to make the best of your situation and focus on minimizing the overindulgences and excesses that are typical around the holidays. Unfortunately, this does not happen automatically and you should work on developing a plan that works for you.

The important thing to remember is that nutrition has a cumulative effect on your body and one bad meal or a bad day will not ruin your diet or make you gain 10 pounds during the holidays. The real problem comes when people start saying things such as, “I blew my diet today, so I might as well not worry about it until after the holidays are over and I can get back to my normal routine.”

Instead of giving up until after the holidays, a much better idea is to develop a plan to help you get through the holidays as well as possible. One of the best ways to do this is by analyzing your previous holiday experiences and figuring out what specific things caused you the most problems or prevented you from maintaining your previous results.

For instance, my biggest weakness is always sweets and there are certain desserts that I have a very hard time not eating when they are around. When I am at home this is not a problem, because I don’t buy them, so the temptation is not there. However, a wide variety of sweets seem to be at every gathering during the holidays, which becomes very problematic.

Fortunately, since I know this is my main problem, I can develop a strategy to minimize the negative effects, especially on weight gain. My plan involves evaluating all the foods that will be around and figuring out which ones I will have the hardest time not eating (the ones I want the most). Then I make a plan to actually include those foods in my meal.

It is important to have a balance between protein, carbs, and fat, even during the holidays, so this becomes my starting point. Then if I know there is a food like fudge brownies, that I will most likely eat, I think about how that will effect my overall meal. Since brownies are essentially fat and carbs, I know the rest of my meal should be more heavily focused on protein (ideally low-fat protein).

In addition, I will minimize my intake of foods that are mainly carbs or fat. For example, with a traditional holiday dinner, there could be a turkey, potatoes, vegetables, rolls, sauce/gravy, dessert, and possibly some other items. If I know I want to have some of the dessert, then my plan will be to focus on eating the turkey and minimizing or skipping the potatoes, rolls, and gravy type foods. Vegetables without sauces are good to eat in any situation.

What typically happens is people eat everything available during a meal and then cannot turn down dessert or other foods later, so they simply eat way too much. Planning around the foods you cannot avoid and skipping foods during the meal that you do not enjoy as much is a great way to minimize overeating.

Admittedly, this is not the healthiest way to eat from a nutrient standpoint and it is definitely not a good strategy to use year round, but it can be very useful during the holidays or any meal where there is a lot of food, such as a buffet. Just be sure to look at everything first and try to decide how much of each item you plan to eat and what foods you will skip, before you take your first bite or even grab your plate.

Another important part of the holidays is keeping up with some sort of exercise routine. If you are traveling or have company to entertain, you may not be able to maintain your regular routine, but that does not mean you need to stop exercising altogether. It is much better to do some workouts, even if they are not as challenging as usual, than not doing any exercise at all.

If you are spending the holidays with family and/or friends, you can come up with a group activity to at least keep your muscles and joints moving. Weather permitting; this could be as simple as walking around the neighborhood to look at holiday decorations. You could also drive to a park or other area that has walking or climbing trails.

If weather is an issue, you could go to a nearby mall or similar covered area where everyone can walk around. There is probably something nearby that you could do to at least get you and your family/friends up and moving. Also, if you are out and moving around, it means you are not sitting and eating, which seems to happen by default during the holidays.

Another option for holiday exercise is to do shorter, but more intense workouts than usual. This is a great option for people who do not have as much time to exercise, but want to maintain as much of their fitness level as possible. The increased intensity of the exercise and high overall level of difficulty is great for preventing performance decreases and may even stimulate additional positive results.

For example, if you normally perform endurance running routines, you can do shorter sprint workouts instead. On a treadmill or other cardio machine you can increase the speed, incline, and/or resistance, depending on the machine. These workouts should make you feel just as fatigued (possibly in a different way), but it happens much quicker, especially if you are not used to that type of training.

If you already do a lot of intense workouts, but do not have to time to complete your normal routine, you can simply create some shorter workouts using similar exercises. For instance, if you usually perform full body workouts, then you can do workouts focusing on one or two areas of the body. Then the next workout you can focus on different areas. The overall workout will not be as difficult as usual, but you will get the stimulus needed to retain most if not all of your existing level of fitness.

You can also shorten your workouts by taking out the easier exercises and focusing on the exercises that use your larger muscles or numerous muscle groups at the same time. Exercises like squats/lunges (legs), bench presses/push ups (chest), and rows/pull-ups (back) are great choices.

An example of a quick full body workout using dumbbells that focuses on larger muscle groups and core training is shown in the accompanying video. There are many options for holiday exercise, so try to figure out what will work best for your particular goals. You may have to significantly change your workouts or even try a new type of exercise, but there are always options.

By Ross Harrison
VFT Fitness Expert
© Virtual Fitness Trainer.com

The holiday season can be a great time of year, but it can also be frustrating or stressful if you are trying to stick to a healthy exercise and nutrition routine. In many cases, the ease or difficulty of getting through the holidays without losing ground is influenced by the habits of those around you.

For instance, if you spend the holidays with people who are similarly concerned about eating healthy and exercising, then things may be fairly easy. However, most people are surrounded by tempting unhealthy meals and snacks and possibly even social pressure to eat large quantities of food. Fortunately, even in these situations, there are a number of things you can do to prevent significant weight gain during the holidays.

My best general advice is to make an effort to eat as healthy as possible and continue exercising, but have reasonable goals and allow yourself to enjoy the holidays without stressing about eating unhealthy foods.

It is important to have realistic expectations about your holiday eating behaviors and make a plan to stick to them.

For example, I usually eat healthy foods and keep my meals small, but I know that during the holidays I eat more unhealthy foods (mainly deserts) and it is not realistic for me to stick exactly with my regular eating habits. On the other hand, I do not abandon my healthy eating habits altogether and I put my energy into controlling portion sizes.

That way, even if I eat unhealthy foods, my total calorie intake is still somewhat similar and weight gain is minimized or even avoided. Admittedly, this strategy does not work for everyone, especially not for people who struggle with portion control. That said, controlling the amount you eat is probably the most important thing you can do to prevent holiday weight gain.

Perhaps the biggest problem with the holidays is there are so many opportunities for overeating and much of the time people do not even realize how many extra calories they actually consume during the holiday season. People are usually aware that they overeat during large buffet style family meals, but there are many ways people unknowingly consume too many calories during the holidays.

One of the biggest offenders is the various snacks that are left out all day for people to eat between meals. It is common for people to keep out things like chips and dip or a bowl of candy, but this ends up being a huge problem. When tempting foods are sitting out, the more you are around them, the more likely you are to have a little something, even if you are not hungry.

Another issue is many people drink liquids that are high in calories, such as eggnog or any number of alcoholic beverages. When you are already eating large amounts of foods during meals and having additional snacks throughout the day, the last thing you want to do is consume even more calories in your drinks.

As with the snacks, drinks are problematic, because you can consume a lot of calories in a small amount of time and not realize it. Junk foods (foods with few nutrients) and high calorie drinks are not very filling relative to the number of calories they contain. Therefore you can consume a lot of calories before you start feeling full.

To combat these problems, one of the best things you can do is drink water throughout the day. Even though water does not have any calories it still helps fill you up, because the feeling of fullness has more to do with the weight of foods and drinks you consume than it does with the number of calories they contain.

Drinking water is especially useful before and during meals. If you drink a glass of water before a meal starts, your stomach will already be partially full and you will not be able to eat as much before your body tells you to stop. Continuing to sip water throughout your meal makes you take breaks from eating, which may help you eat slower. Eating slower is another good way to consume fewer calories before you get full.

Another one of the most effective ways to prevent holiday weight gain is to keep a nutritional journal. This does not need to be complicated or time consuming, as just keeping track of what and when you eat and drink can have a huge impact on preventing weight gain. Keeping a mini note pad or using a smart phone or other small mobile device that stores text will work great.

Keeping a journal forces you to think about the amount you consume and take responsibility for your food choices. For example, if chocolate candy is left out all day, you will probably not really think about having a piece here or there. However, when you make a note every time you eat a piece of chocolate, you are forced to think about how much you have eaten. If you see that you had chocolate four times already, it makes you less likely to have more.

Not being conscious of everything you eat and drink quickly leads to consuming extra calories and keeping track of your food makes this much less likely to happen. It also affects how much you eat during larger meals, because people tend to eat less when they think about having to write everything down. Keeping track of food intake is a great way to hold yourself accountable for your choices and help control total caloric consumption.

Drinking water and keeping a nutrition journal are two of the most effective things you can do to prevent holiday weight gain, but there are certainly others and more will be covered in the next article. However, it is also important not to ignore the importance of exercise.

I know it can be much more difficult to exercise during the holidays, especially if you are travelling, but make an effort to get in at least some occasional workouts. If you regularly exercise and stop working out at the same time that you start eating more, then you have a definite recipe for holiday weight gain.

Exercising can help burn some of those extra calories, but more importantly it keeps your metabolism up to burn even more throughout the day. In many cases, just doing quick, but challenging workouts can be enough to raise your metabolic rate and maintain your fitness level, which are both important for preventing holiday related problems and this puts you in a position to start the new year off right.

The accompanying video shows an example of a quick and effective workout that is made up of only exercise band/cable and bodyweight exercises. This workout can be done almost anywhere and only requires a cable and a doorknob or other object to attach the cable to, so it is a great option for people travelling during the holidays.

By Ross Harrison
VFT Fitness Expert
© Virtual Fitness Trainer.com

If you’ve ever wondered EXACTLY what you should eat on a day-to-day basis to blast off the belly fat, well, then here’s a well deserved gift for you!

Registered Dietician Jayson Hunter has made available to me 12 powerful meal plans designed specifically for optimal fat burning. Even better, he told me he wants me to make sure I get them to YOU.

So I’ve made them available for immediate download here:

12 Fat Blasting Meal Plans

They’ll help you:
- Have great energy all day long
- Feel full and satisfied
- Fuel your body with powerful and healthy nutrients
- Boost your metabolism and burn fat
- Best of all, they don’t cost you a single cent.

These fat blasting meal plans are created by a real registered dietician with over ten years of experience. Please make sure you download them and put them to use. If you want to burn the belly fat off that is

Here’s the url again:

12 Fat Blasting Meal Plans

Kind regards
Mandy
VFT

Well there was certainly some controversy over my blog post in regards to GH And What Not To Eat After Exercising!

Some of you contacted me and wanted to know what I have as my post exercise protein shake…

I have to admit, there are times when I choose to have more carbs, depending on how I feel physically and mentally. I listen to what my body is telling me.

Here’s my own post exercise protein shake recipe…

This is my everyday protein shake. Even if it’s my “day off” training I still have it.

Phyto-Protein is extracted from Golden Peas. I use the flavourless option.

Vital Greens is a nutrient and enzyme-rich, complete "Superfood" which contains 76 nutrients

a. 25 grams protein (I use an organic protein powder called Phyto-Protein – see photo)

b. 1 heaped tablespoon of Vital Greens (supplement powder)

c. 200mls skim milk

d. ½ cup frozen blue berries

e. 100 mls water (from the water purifier)

I bung the lot into the blender and that’s it!

Note… the following banana option for me is more of a “once in a while” occasion. When I’ve been an absolute ratbag and accidentally skipped a meal and my blood sugar feels like it’s hit rock bottom. I’ll either add 1 small banana (those little baby ones) or half a banana – if it’s a large one, to the above shake.

I actually look forward to having it each day.

IMPORTANT: I’m NOT an affiliate for these products! I just use them because I like them and they’re not filled with junky fillers and other “nasties” that some supplements contain.

So there you go… that’s my own post exercise protein shake.

Kind regards
Mandy
VFT

Finding the perfect exercise program that that reduces body fat and creates lean muscle can seem like a dream come true. But grabbing a quick snack after all of your hard work in the gym could reverse those fulfilling results in just minutes.

Through high intensity workouts, growth hormone or GH is released naturally within your body to spur an anti-aging, weight reducing and muscle toning chemical reaction. When you reach for a fruit drink that is laced with fructose or an energy bar that is loaded with refined sugar, it counteracts all that hard work you’ve just put into your high intensity training.

Waiting approximately two hours after your exercise regime before enjoying a low carbohydrate meal is, says Phil Campbell, the best way to avoid interference of your body’s ability to reap the benefits that GH can produce.

This is not to say that you should “starve” yourself after your workout or that weight loss cannot occur with proper exercise… but without the ‘2-hour window’ provided by the body’s ability to reap the fat burning properties of GH for this additional period of time, your exercise program may not deliver all that it can.

Phil Campbell, of “Ready, Set, Go!” recommends the following:

1. Don’t eat a high fat meal before exercise (no high fat meals one hour prior to training)

2. Drink water during training

3. Don’t consume sugar for two hours after training

4. Consume 25 grams of protein after training (high protein meal or protein supplement without concentrated sugar)

Why the body reacts as it does to refined sugar and fructose has always been understood to increase insulin release. An interesting discovery was made in 1973 in the laboratory of Roger Guillemin.

Somatostatin, or SRIF, was found to be a second hormone that can override the growth hormone when put to the test. Feeding high sugar foods or drinks to our natural blood supply automatically triggers SRIF which interferes with GH production.

As we age, the benefits naturally attributed to the growth hormone can begin to slow and further blockage with the second hormone of Somatostatin can make us feel as if we are going nowhere with our exercise regime. During that two-hour window immediately following a high intensity workout GH rises putting your body’s fat burning capabilities on “turbo”.

In general, medical reasons for not grabbing a fructose fruit drink immediately after your routine workout include it negatively affecting insulin sensitivity. Insulin resistance is known to trigger type 2 Diabetes, not to mention, being an issue for other chronic diseases such as heart disease. And obviously, if you are significantly overweight, protecting your body from these problems (which can sometimes mean the difference between life and death), is definitely something that should be taken seriously.

To learn more about getting the most out of your body’s ability to produce and maximize GH visit Ready, Set, Go! Synergy Fitness for Time Crunched Adults

Happy healthy eating and training folks,

Yours in fun, health and fitness

© Mandy Gibbons
Virtual Fitness Trainer

Persons who are of good health, suspect of their health or are aware of any conditions, physical deficiencies or diseases should always consult a physician before undertaking any eating or exercise program. Mandy Gibbons, Virtual Fitness Trainer, www.virtualfitnesstrainer.com.au and www.virtualfitnesstrainer.com disclaims any liability or loss in connection with the above program or advice given in this article.

Reference and Research: Dr Mercola’s site… Mercola.com

Diet Vs Exercise Video Challenge

Years ago performing hours of strenuous cardio, and eating anything you wanted, would’ve supposedly nipped your body fat in the bud. That was the myth anyway!

Sure… everyone thought half killing yourself on the treadmill, or in lycra packed aerobics classes filled with Olivia Newton-John “Lets Get Physical” look-a-likes, was the key.

But that’s NOT the case anymore!

I’m telling you straight-off-the-bat you can’t eat whatever you want and expect to be able to exercise it off.

Want the proof… watch the above video!

To see why Craig Ballantyne’s concepts and training are taking the fitness world by storm check out Craig’s Turbulence Training website.

Kind regards
Mandy
VFT

Time to crush 2 more nutrition myths and prove to you that you can eat your favorite foods while losing fat.

Nutrition Myth #1 – Fruit Makes You Fat

This. Is. Ridiculous.

No one, and I repeat, NO ONE is fat because they eat too much fruit.

Let’s clear things up. Yes, fruit contains sugar. But fruit also contains fiber and water and fills you up for just a few calories.

Check out this calorie chart of our favorite fruits:

* 1 cup of cherries = 75 calories
* 1 medium apple = 75 calories
* 1 medium banana = 100 calories
* 1 cup blueberries = 80 calories
* 1 date = 25 calories
* 1 grapefruit = 80-100 calories
* 1 orange = 60 calories
* 1 peach = 40 calories
* 1 cup pineapple = 65 calories
* 1 cup strawberries = 45 calories
* 1 cup watermelon = 50 calories

So seriously, let’s just say you ate that entire list…you’re still only at about 750 calories.

Compare that to these common foods – the ones that really make us fat.

* Grande Iced Caffe Mocha = 200 calories
* Grande Caramel Frappuccino = 430 calories
* Starbucks Low Fat Blueberry Muffin = 430 calories (only 1g fiber!)
* Plain Bagel = 300 calories (2g fiber – whoop-de-doo!)

You see my point? And we’re worrying about “fruit making us fat”?

Sheesh.

Whooooaaa, don’t eat that 75 calorie apple, you might get fat!
(Note: Sarcasm)

Heck, there are days this summer when I’ve had:

* 1/2 a watermelon
* 2 apples
* 1/2 cup blueberries
* 1/2 cup strawberries
* 2 peaches
* 5 dates
* 2 bananas
* 1 pear

So the myth that fruit makes you fat is a joke. The truth is that fruit is healthy for you and fills you up and helps you LOSE fat.

Nutrition Myth #2 – You can’t eat delicious foods while losing fat

This is not true. However, “delicious” is a subjective term, right?

So what I might think is awesome (natural peanut butter sandwiches on flax bread with blueberries), might be your idea of boredom.

You do not have to give up your favorite foods completely when you are on a fat loss program.

Now I’m not going to lie and say you can eat whatever you want, and however much you want, every meal and every day.

You just need to harness the power of portion control and improve the overall quality of your diet, and you’ll still be able to get a lean and sexy body this summer with your favorite foods.

So keep your nutrition SIMPLE. Focus on whole, natural foods and limit high-calorie, high-sugar foods to just a couple of treats per week. Combine that with your favorite Turbulence Training workouts and you’ll lose fat fast.

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

Sugar Drinks, ever wondered how much sugar is in the drinks you’re consuming?

You’ve gotta see this to believe it!

Considering the amount of calorie packed sodas, juices, cordials and so forth that so many folk gulp down, without thinking twice about it, I’m not surprised that it’s become such a scandalous issue.

Check out Jamie Oliver’s video and see for yourself how shocking sugar drinks really are! And how much sugar they contain!

This will really put it into perspective for you!

Kind regards
Mandy
Virtual Fitness Trainer

In most of my Lean-Body Secrets Newsletters, I like to provide a healthy snack or meal recipe that not only is delicious and healthy, but also helps to get you closer to that hard-body appearance that everyone is looking for, while also more importantly, improving your health for life. In this article, I’d like to give you healthy food ideas in a different way. This time, I figured I’d just give you some ideas of what I stock my fridge and cabinets with.

Remember, if you don’t have junk around the house, you’re less likely to eat junk. If all you have is healthy food around the house, you’re forced to make smart choices. Basically, it all starts with making smart choices and avoiding temptations when you make your grocery store trip. Now these are just some of my personal preferences, but perhaps they will give you some good ideas that you’ll enjoy.

Alright, so let’s start with the fridge. Each week, I try to make sure I’m loaded up with lots of varieties of fresh vegetables. During the growing season, I only get local produce, but obviously in winter, I have to resort to the produce at the grocery store. Most of the time, I make sure I have plenty of vegetables like onions, zucchini,  spinach, fresh mushrooms, red peppers, broccoli, etc. to use in my morning eggs.  I also like to dice up some lean chicken or turkey sausage into the eggs, along with some swiss, jack, or goat cheeses (preferably raw grass-fed cheeses when I can find them).

By the way I’m talking about whole eggs, NOT egg whites.  Always remember that the yolk is the most nutritious and nutrient dense part of the egg, so only eating egg whites is like throwing away the best part… and no, it’s NOT bad for you because of the cholesterol… eggs actually raise your GOOD cholesterol.  Try to get free range organic eggs for the best quality. Here’s an entire article I did on the topic of whole eggs vs egg whites.

Coconut milk is another staple in my fridge. I like to use it to mix in with smoothies, oatmeal, or yogurt for a rich, creamy taste. Not only does coconut milk add a rich, creamy taste to lots of dishes, but it’s also full of healthy saturated fats. Yeah, you heard me…I said healthy saturated fats! Healthy saturated fats like medium chain triglycerides, specifically an MCT called lauric acid.

Back to the fridge, some other staples:

• Chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds – delicious and great sources of healthy fats.
• Cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, and yogurt – I like to mix cottage or ricotta cheese and yogurt together with chopped nuts and berries for a great mid-morning or mid-afternoon meal.
• Whole flax seeds or chia seeds - I grind these in a mini coffee grinder and add to yogurt or salads. Always grind them fresh because the omega-3 polyunsaturated fats are highly unstable and prone to oxidation, creating high levels of free radicals in pre-ground flax.
• Whole eggs – one of natures richest sources of nutrients (and remember, they increase your GOOD cholesterol so stop fearing them).
• Salsa – I try to get creative and try some of the exotic varieties of salsas.
• Avocados – love them…plus a great source of healthy fats, fiber, and other nutrients. Try adding them to wraps, salads, or sandwiches.
• Butter – don’t believe the naysayers; butter adds great flavor to anything and can be part of a healthy diet (just keep the quantity small because it is calorie dense…and NEVER use margarine, unless you want to assure yourself a heart attack).
• Nut butters – Plain old peanut butter has gotten a little old for me, so I get creative and mix together almond butter with sesame seed butter, or even cashew butter with macadamia butter…delicious and unbeatable nutrition!
• Leaf lettuce and spinach along with shredded carrots – for salads with dinner.
• Home-made salad dressing – using balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and Udo’s Choice oil blend. This is much better than store bought salad dressing which mostly use highly refined soybean oil (full of inflammation-causing free radicals).
• Whole grain wraps and whole grain bread (look for wraps and bread with at least 3-4 grams of fiber per 20 grams of total carbs).
• Rice bran and wheat germ – these may sound way too healthy for some, but they actually add a nice little nutty, crunchy taste to yogurt or smoothies, or can be added when baking muffins or breads to add nutrients and fiber.

Some of the staples in the freezer:

• Frozen berries – during the local growing season, I only get fresh berries, but during the other 10 months of the year, I always keep a supply of frozen blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, cherries, etc. to add to high fiber cereal, oatmeal, cottage cheese, yogurt, or smoothies
• Frozen fish – I like to try a couple different kinds of fish each week. There are so many varieties out there, you never have to get bored.
• Frozen chicken breasts – very convenient for a quick addition to wraps or chicken sandwiches for quick meals.
• Grass-fed steaks, burgers, and ground beef – Grassfed meats have been shown to have as high as, or even higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids than salmon (without the mercury). Also, grass-fed meats have much higher levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) compared to typical grain-fed beef.  I recently found an excellent on-line store where I buy all of my grass-fed meats now (they even deliver right to your door in a sealed cooler) – www.healthygrassfed.2ya.com
• Frozen buffalo, ostrich, venison, and other “exotic” lean meats – Yeah, I know…I’m weird, but I can tell you that these are some of the healthiest meats around, and if you’re serious about a lean healthy body, these types of meats are much better for you than the mass produced, hormone-pumped beef and pork that’s sold at most grocery stores.
• Frozen veggies – again, when the growing season is over and I can no longer get local fresh produce, frozen veggies are the best option, since they often have higher nutrient contents compared to the fresh produce that has been shipped thousands of miles, sitting around for weeks before making it to your dinner table.

Alright, now the staples in my cabinets:

• Various antioxidant rich teas – green, oolong, white, rooibos are some of the best.
• Whole wheat or whole grain spelt pasta – much higher fiber than normal pastas
• Oat bran and steel cut oats – higher fiber than those little packs of instant oats.
• Cans of coconut milk – to be transferred to a container in the fridge after opening.
• Brown rice and other higher fiber rice – NEVER white rice
• Tomato sauces – delicious, and as I’m sure you’ve heard a million times, they are a great source of lycopene. Just watch out for the brands that are loaded with nasty high fructose corn syrup.
• Stevia – a natural non-caloric sweetener, which is an excellent alternative to the nasty chemical-laden artificial sweeteners like aspartame, saccharine, and sucralose.
• Raw honey – better than processed honey… higher quantities of beneficial nutrients and enzymes. Honey has even been proven in studies to improve glucose metabolism (how you process carbs). I use a teaspoon or so every morning in my teas. Yes, it is pure sugar, but at least it has some nutritional benefits… and let’s be real, a teaspoon of healthier raw honey is only 5 grams of carbs… certainly nothing to worry about.
• Organic maple syrup – none of that high fructose corn syrup Aunt Jemima crap…only real maple syrup can be considered real food. The only time I really use this (because of the high sugar load) is added to my post-workout smoothies to sweeten things up and also elicit an insulin surge to push nutrients into your muscles.
• Organic unsweetened cocoa powder – I like to mix this into my smoothies for an extra jolt of antioxidants or make my own low-sugar hot cocoa by mixing cocoa powder into hot milk with stevia and a couple melted dark chocolate chunks.
• Cans of black or kidney beans – I like to add a couple scoops to my Mexican wraps for the fiber and high nutrition content. Also, beans are surprisingly one of the best sources of youth promoting antioxidants!
• Dark chocolate (as dark as possible) – This is one of my treats that satisfies my sweet tooth, plus provides loads of antioxidants at the same time. It’s still calorie dense, so I keep it to just a couple squares; but that is enough to do the trick, so I don’t feel like I need to go out and get cake and ice cream to satisfy my dessert urges.

Lastly, another thing that’s hard to go wrong with is a good variety of fresh fruits and berries. The staples such as bananas, apples, oranges, pears, peaches are good, but I like to also be a little more adventurous and include things like yellow (aka – mexican or champagne) mangoes, pomegranates, kumquats, papaya, star fruit, pineapples, and others. Also, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and cherries are some of the most nutrient and antioxidant-dense fruits you can eat.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this special look into my favorite lean body meals and how I stock my cabinets and fridge. Your tastes are probably quite different than mine, but hopefully this gave you some good ideas you can use next time you’re at the grocery store looking to stock up a healthy and delicious pile of groceries.

By Mike Geary
Michael Geary (CPT) is a recognized International Fitness Expert, contributing writer for Muscle & Fitness Magazine, and author of the internationally-selling book, The Truth about Six-Pack Abs .