Tag: Food & Nutrition

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Eating Keto…

Posted on July 4, 2014by admin

After a successful weight-loss in 2013 and hitting a plateau in 2014 I decided to change things up a little. On June 22, 2014 I decided to try eating keto, which essentially consists of a very low carb (20-30g), high fat (180g), moderate protein diet (150g) and the idea is your body will learn to utilize fat stores for energy.

I’m just about two weeks into my eating keto style experiment and after suffering the typical keto flu symptoms the first week I survived!!! Total weight loss which was water consisted of about 6.5 pounds (water), and 2.4% body fat so far. I’m almost finished with the second week, my strength is back and my dizzy spells are gone (yay).

What does my diet consist of when eating keto? A combination of the following…

Eating Keto, Low Carb, Low Sugar, High Fat, Moderate Protein:

  • Meat = Beef, Salmon, Turkey, Chicken, Pork
  • Vegetables = Spinach, Broccoli, Asparagus, and small amounts of tomato, zucchini and summer squash
  • Snacks = Almonds, Macadamia Nuts, Quest Bars (Chocolate Brownie, Almond Crunch or Apple Pie)
  • Quest Bar Note: I eat these to get fat, protein and the net carbs are super low making it a good snack
  • Drinks = Water 3-4L per day (Typical Smart Water it has added electrolytes), Nuun Hydration Tabs (2 per day)
  • Cheese = Tillamook Cheddar, Cabot Sharp, Blue Cheese Crumbles
  • Oils = Coconut oil (1Tbps in my coffee in the morning, Bullet Proof Coffee (hint put in blender for a lattee)), EVOO and Kerrygold Butter

Sample Day:

Obviously this is ever-changing but it fits within my macros and calorie limits.

  • Breakfast  = Three fried eggs, 6g of butter and a single piece of cheese and maybe a ham slice.
  • Snack = 12 Almonds
  • Lunch = Meat, typically 6-8oz and some spinach or broccoli
  • Snack = 12 Almonds
  • Dinner = Meat, 8=10oz which spinach or broccoli
  • Snack = Cabot Cheese and Quest Bar

I’ll continue to try to keep the blog updated with progress along the way..

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Wild Salmon Quinoa Salad

Posted on April 14, 2014by admin

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted on the blog and today’s lunch deserved a quick post. I was recently at Costco and found a few interesting items that turned out to be a great lunch. Costco carries Bear & Wolf canned wild salmon, from the deli counter I picked up some Quinoa salad.

Wild Salmon Quinoa Salad Recipe

1/4 cup of the Quinoa salad & 1 can 4.5oz of Salmon dump into a bowl, toss and eat.

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Oat Bran Cereal with Egg Whites

Posted on March 22, 2014by admin

I decided to try something new today and instead of having Oat Meal, I had Oat Bran and wow it was amazing. I think this will be my new breakfast of choice when at home.

Oat Bran Cereal with Egg Whites Recipe

  • 2/3 Cups Oat Bran (Bob’s Red Mill)
  • 2 Cups Water
  • 3/4 Cup Egg Whites
  • 50g Raspberries
  • 50g Blueberries
  • 1/8 Cup Crushed Almonds
  • 1Tbps Flaxseed Meal
  • Cinnamon to flavor (as much or little as you like)

Directions: Bring the water to a boil and cook the Oat Bran at high heat for 2 minutes, it will start to get thick. Turn down the heat just a little and stir in the egg whites and continue stirring for about 2-3 minutes (it’s important to keep stirring) and you will notice the consistency get really thick. Next, add in the Cinnamon, Berries, Flax and Almonds and put into a bowl. ENJOY!!

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Fruit and Veggie Smoothie

Posted on March 10, 2014by admin

I’ve been eating a lot of fruit and vegetables in the past week and I was getting bored. This afternoon for lunch I whipped up a little fruit and vegetable smoothie/juice.

Fruit and Veggie Smoothie Recipe

  • 10oz of water
  • 3oz black berries
  • 3oz raspberries
  • 3oz cucumbers
  • 3oz spinach
  • 3oz blueberries
  • 3oz Strawberries
  • 1.5oz carrots
  • 1.5oz radish
  • 6 ice cubes

Toss into a blender and blend it up. Delicious! However, the cucumber taste was pretty strong so you can add a banana or reduce the cucumber taste if that isn’t your thing.

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Paleo Friendly Oatmeal

Posted on March 6, 2014by admin

Oatmeal is by far my favorite breakfast and I wanted to find something that was similar that would fit into my version of Paleo, so I’ve created a Paleo Friendly Oatmeal based on a few recipes I’ve seen online. At little back history, on Monday I decided to try to give up all refined foods, oats, wheat, sugars and stick to veggies, meat and fruit. I’ll most likely be able to follow the 80/20 rule to start. I’m on day 4 and traveled this week to NY and NJ and was able to stick to this about 90%. The biggest challenge I’ve had so far is finding enough veggies when going through airports so I did hit the fruit a little hard this week.

Here is my version of a oat-free oatmeal, I’ve adapted a few recipes I found online to create this. (sorry I don’t have links handy)

The Recipe Paleo Friendly Oatmeal

  • 1/4 Cup Almond Milk (unsweetened)
  • 9Tbps of egg whites
  • 1/2 Mashed Banana (the other half I sliced up)
  • 1tsp cinnamon
  • 1tsp nutmeg
  • 2Tbps of FlaxMeal

Put into a pot, mash the banana and stir together and cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes until thick and clumpy, add more cinnamon and berries to give it extra flavor if needed.

It was amazing and good! It contained – 307 calories, 42g carbs and 20g protein

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Fitness Motivators – What are yours?

Posted on March 3, 2014by admin

I often get asked how I “did it” what did made me “do it” and at first I had no good reason other than It sounded like a good idea. But then I really started thinking about it, which led me to this blog post about my personal fitness motivators… Here we go..

I’ve tracked aspect of my left for the past 14 months. My steps, stairs, miles, food, calories, protein, carbs, fat, weight, measurements, exercise, sleep, heart rate and blood pressure all to various applications that are connected to give me metrics about my life. While not always perfect, it serves a purpose for me. I’m actually so into the metrics I wear a Fitbit and a Nike Fuel Band, just to compare them.

Thinking further into this journey, this blog, the last year, how I have put myself out there on a more intimate and personal level more than ever before. I was that guy who wore a shirt at the pool, I would generally just skip the pool because I wasn’t comfortable with my weight. I never fathomed putting a picture of myself without a shirt on a website, nor being this open about it for the world to see.

Headshot – 110lb difference

A year ago in Feb 2013, I weighted 295 pounds. I was miserable, puffy and tired but I didn’t vocalize it, complain about or frankly do anything about it. Looking back, internally it was something that did bother me. I’m sure someone reading this blog post will relate, either consciously or subconsciously (don’t be afraid to contact me I’ll give you some advice). If you relate and are struggling, I encourage you to take that step towards a better you, a simple walk or cutting out sugar drinks is a good first step and slowly add other positive things to achieve the goals you want.

2013 vs 2014 – Fitness Motivation!

In Jan 2013, something clicked for me to be motivated enough to make this life change. Perhaps, it was the pants that were size 46 that were getting tight, the XXL shirts that were getting snug, the consistent sweating or maybe it was when my 2-year-old wanted me to chase him and after 5 minutes I was sweaty wet mess and out of breath.  Subconsciously, and after many hours of mindless thinking about this subject while sitting on planes and in airports I came to the conclusion I didn’t want to be that dad who sat on the bench, couldn’t chase him, couldn’t play catch, football, soccer you name it.

Actually, I think reading Tony Hortons new book “The Big Picture” really got me thinking about this journey in a different way.

Anyways, everyone has a motivator, mine is being around so I can be a dad, live life to my fullest and be there for as he grows up. My secondary motivator was for myself and my wife, I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I didn’t want to be out of shape or eat horrible food and I didn’t want to be a statistic. I wanted to wear those jeans (pick a brand), you know the ones you can’t get in size 46? I’m sure I could keep going, but you get the point. It’s really that simple, those things made me change my lifestyle. I’m still on my journey, I’m still tweak my eating, I try new things and I continue to mix up my workouts.

I was doing T25 this morning, I thought to myself seriously it only takes 25 minutes to do this workout. ANYONE can find 25 minutes to workout with this program OR go for a walk or a run or a bike ride. I’ve put together some tips here here if you are ready to get started on your journey.

The more I think about this, the more I want to help others succeed. The journey was hard, but wasn’t unachievable. It just takes motivation and the willingness to change, did I mentioned I usually eat out 2-3 times per day while I lost my weight? It can be done..

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Focus T25 Day 27 – Speed 2.0

Posted on March 3, 2014by admin

Today was the second day of Focus T25 and the workout was Speed 2.0 as I mentioned yesterday I’m really going to enjoy this cycle of the T25 workout. Additionally, I decided to try to eat as close to Paleo as possible for the next 30 days. I really have no reason in particular to try this style of eating other than I wanted to challenge myself to try something new and force myself to eat different things. Today was my first day and I managed to stick pretty close to the Paleo “style” of eating. The biggest thing I miss so far is my morning oatmeal and my protein bars.

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Focus T25, Running, Nutrition

Posted on March 1, 2014by admin

I’ve recently been able to catch up on posting my Focus T25 videos and they are now available in my Youtube Channel.

My diet over the past couple weeks hasn’t been the greatest but I’m managing to try to keep it under control. I’m thinking about trying something new for March and will attempt to try eating Paleo to see how well it goes. Unfortunately, this means giving up the protein bars and oatmeal that I love. However, I feel like I need to try something new and give myself a new challenge to keep things interesting.

I also went to a Running Clinic last week and found out some rather interesting things. The clinic measured all aspects of my running, nutrition, mobility and food pressure. The end result I needed to add more carbs to my diet, focus on core strength and my runners knee is compounded by lack of strength in my hips and my shoes. I’ve been running in Saucony Mirage 3’s and after reviewing my running on video with the team at the running clinic I need to get a pair of shoes that will help stabilize and correct my pronation, more to come.

You can catch up on Focus T25 days 19 – 25 video blogs on my Focus T25 page.

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Egg White Oatmeal Recipe

Posted on February 19, 2014by admin

I decided to change things up today and try something new for breakfast, Egg White Oatmeal. I like mixing things up for my meals and I felt like I needed something a little extra today. I stumbled upon the idea of adding Egg Whites to my oatmeal for protein instead of a powdered protein source and I decided to give it a try!

This is my new favorite way to eat oatmeal.

Egg White Oatmeal Recipe Ingredients:

  • 1/2 Cup of dry oatmeal ( I used McCanns today, but I use Bob’s RedMill Gluten Free as well)
  • 3/4 Cup of water
  • 40g of blueberries
  • 40g of banana
  • 1Tbps of Flax Meal
  • 1/4 Cup Unsweetend Almond milk
  • 1/3 Cup of Kirkland Egg Whites (about 2 eggs worth of whites)

Cooking Instructions:

  • Put water into a pot and bring to a boil on high heat (about 5-6 minutes)
  • Bring to a medium heat, stir in Oatmeal and cook until almost all the water is dissolved (about 3 minutes)
  • Stir in egg whites and continue stirring until a fluffy consistency, its important to keep stirring (about 1 minute) so the egg whites don’t get cooked in “chunks”.
  • Stir in Blueberries, Banana, Flax and Almond Milk (about 30 seconds)
  • Put in a bowl and enjoy.

Nutrition: 308 calories, 47 carbs, 7 fat, 16 protein, 193 sodium and 11 sugars