Lean and Hard

"According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005, nutrient-dense foods are those foods that provide substantial amounts of vitamins and minerals and relatively few calories" (Wikipedia).

The way I think about food has changed over the past year. It used to be that I'd categorize the desirability of possible meals by how good they'd taste and how filling they'd be, and the more of those things, the better. That type of thinking led me into a cycle of addiction to energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods, obesity, a shortened life-expectancy, and all sorts of related health problems.

Now, when I consider the goodness and desirability of possible meals, I think about how I can pack as many great nutrients into as few calories as possible and have it all taste good to boot. With this kind of thinking I've lost 125 pounds so far, and shed some serious health problems along with those pounds. For me it's all about packing in the nutrients, not the calories.

Here's a great article that lists some awesome nutrient-dense foods. Once you've learned to identify them, the trick is putting them into tasty, calorie-sparse recipes. Obviously, there are scads of ideas on the internet, and you can learn to make them up yourself through some trial and error. A couple of great categories for putting these awesome meals together are soups and salads, just because they both can handle lots of excellent ingredients.

For example, instead of potatoes and pasta in your soups, add beans and vegetables. And in your salads, instead of the boring iceberg lettuce, make them out of spinach, carrots, walnuts, cranberries, avocados, etc. There's almost no end to the number of delicious superfoods you can easily pack into these two types of meals.

When you eat like this you're accomplishing two excellent things. You're keeping your calories down in order to get rid of fat, and you're enhancing your looks, health, fitness and longevity at the same time.

So, pack in the nutrients, not the calories!

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The key to weight loss is not as simple as eating less. If it were that simple, no one would ever be overweight.

Yes, it's true that IF you eat fewer calories than you are burning, you WILL lose weight. The problem is with the IF. It's not easy, and virtually impossible for many people to eat fewer calories that they're burning. It was for me. I knew I was ruining my life by becoming morbidly obese, but even the threat of death couldn't help me to eat less. Quite simply, I was as addicted to fast carbs as someone else might be to alcohol or cocaine.

The problem was I didn't know it.

The good news was, it wasn't that hard to break my addiction.

All I had to do was replace fast carbs with slow carbs. A complete substitution.

What are fast carbs? While there is no absolute line between fast and slow, some are clearly fast and some are clearly slow. Fast carbs are simple carbs, carbs that break down into sugar very rapidly when eaten. Things like white potatoes, refined flour products like bread and pasta, sugary drinks like soda or even orange juice, cakes and pies, candy, ice cream, white rice, are all fast carbs. And almost all low calorie recipes still include them. Just try looking for a so-called lo-cal frozen meal at the supermarket that doesn't have these ingredients. It's not possible.

So you have to simply stop eating those things. No more donuts or bagels. No more pizza. No more linguini. No more white bread sandwiches.

But lets talk about what you can replace these things with.

All kinds of beans, vegetables, whole grain breads like Ezekiel bread, corn flour products like tacos or tortillas, yucca and yams, sweet potatoes and fruits, other whole grains like quinoa and flax. There's a pretty long list and thousands of great recipes.

What are some typical meals for me? (Keep in mind that I'm only eating 1200 to 1500 calories a day in order to get my weight to an ideal level, while at the same time getting exercise 6 days a week in order to build muscle, so the amount you eat may need to be different.)

Breakfast is usually a scoop of cooked beans and half a cup of liquid eggs. I make a big crock pot of beans and mushrooms, cooked in chicken broth and with my favorite seasonings, and just get a scoop of them in a frying pan with some cooking spray (I like to add some jerk seasoning too because I am Jamaican after all), then I add the liquid eggs and stir. Delicious.

My mid-morning snack is usually a cup of soup, which I cook on weekends and take to work in a Tupperware container. I like to cook boneless/skinless chicken thighs, which I pull apart when they've been boiling long enough to be tender, then add vegetables like squash, carrots, etc., and some split peas or lentils that I've pre-soaked. Sometimes I'll include chicken broth, chopped spinach, onions, celery and the like. It makes a very healthy, thick, delicious soup that keeps me going till the afternoon.

My mid-afternoon meal is typically a piece of chicken with a slice of Ezekiel bread, or sometimes a salad.

Dinner might be 3 tacos, made with seasoned ground beef in whole grain corn taco shells, diced tomatoes, a bit of shredded cheese and some chopped jalapenos. For dessert I might have a few apple slices.

Of course these are only a few ideas. You can find thousands more online, but you only have to avoid the fast carbs listed above and replace them with slow ones.

I hope this helps!

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This is my own invention and may not be to everyone's liking, but I adore hot spices, so this one is tasty and healthy, a winning combo!

Boneless/skinless chicken thighs seasoned with chili mix powder, then browned and cooked down in chicken broth until tender. Brown rice, cooked and mixed with chopped spinach and a habanero pepper.

Enjoy!

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Sadly, many Americans, when they think about pumpkins, think only of pie and Halloween. In the realm of foods, the pumpkin has no place except as a sweet, unhealthy treat in the holidays. I'm here to try to correct this oversight. (Check out the pumpkin's health benefits here.)

When you're looking for low-glycemic-index carbs to replace the ones you usually eat - you know, the ones that spike your blood sugar and do other undesirable things, like white rice, bread, pasta, potatoes - you should consider the tasty and healthy pumpkin. Here's a healthy idea for a delicious soup that you may not have tried before. I love it. I make a big pot of it on a Saturday and I have a yummy lunch/snack that does my body good all week long.

Chicken-Pumpkin Soup


Ingredients:

• Boneless/skinless chicken thighs or breasts
• Pure pumpkin filling (not the sugary pie filling!)
• Squash
• Celery
• Carrots
• Great Northern beans
• Onions
• Seasoning to taste

Let me know if you try it!

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As I continue to lose fat and firm up muscle, people wonder what I'm eating. Here's something I have quite often. It's yummy and packed with nutrients without lots of calories.


 This makes a delicious meal that will help you get lean and hard...


Ingredients:

Raw spinach leaves
Romaine lettuce
Apple slices
Walnuts
Grilled chicken breast
Cucumber
Celery
Artichoke hearts
Sun dried tomatoes
Light balsamic dressing

A crunchy, tasty, healthy dish that provides tons of nutrition and not too many calories. Try it and tell me what you think!

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