food

Homemade Protein Bars

Quick Tips

Before I get into this post I have to admit that I first saw this protein bar recipe in Gourmet Nutrition.  Gourmet nutrition is a phenomenal cookbook for anyone who is remotely health conscious yet doesn’t want to sacrifice flavor.  All in all, it is an incredible cookbook designed for the fit food lover. Actually, I think that is the slogan, maybe not.

Homemade proteins bars are the way to go.  Protein bars that you find at gas stations, discount stores or even grocery stores are probably about 90% crap.  

Why are they crap?

Next time you are in the store, grab one of those protein bars, flip it over and check out the ridiculous amount of ingredients it took to make that baby non-perishable.  The fact that most protein bars now taste like candy bars should be a hint that there is really nothing magically healthy about them.

So, the simple solution is to make your own.

John Berardi’s apple cinnamon protein bars have been a staple in my diet for years.  Well, ever since Gourmet Nutrition was released, which was probably 4-5 years ago.  The best part about creating your own food is that YOU know exactly what ingredients you are mixing in to make it.  

Trust me, this is priceless to know this information.  You’ll read stories every single week in the newspaper about how a large company is cheating it’s customers by using ultra low quality ingredients.  It’s not worth wasting your money on a protein bar that you can make at home for far less money while improving the overall nutrient profile of the damn thing.

It’s a no brainer really.

Much of fat loss is based on your nutrition and having a homemade protein bar that is packed with nutrients that will help move you along in this process.  These bars are a perfect solution to those of you who cannot make it home to eat during the work day, as they will keep you full for hours on end. 

So, without further ado, I present to you… The Apple Cinnamon Protein Bar.

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Here’s what you’ll need on hand:

Tools:  Mixing spoon, measuring cups, 9×9 pan, PAM (or other non-stick spray), whisk and a decent sized mixing bowl.

Food:  Cinnamon, salt, almonds, protein powder (I use Whey), oats, eggs and unsweetened apple sauce.  

Before you do anything, immediately pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.  (nothing is worse than forgetting to pre-heat the oven once you’re ready to bake)

I prefer to mix all of my dry ingredient together first.  So, in your bowl mix together the following:

–  1/2 oats

–  almond meal (start with 2 cups whole almonds, throw in a blender, blend until crumbly) 

–  6 full scoops of protein powder

–  Cinnamon (I use a lot of cinnamon for this recipe, it’s gives great flavor)

Stir all of these dry ingredients together so they are mixed nicely.

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Next, measure exactly 1/2 cup of unsweetened apple sauce in a beaker/measuring bowl and crack 2 eggs on top of the apple sauce.  Whisk the two together aggressively until the yokes disappear and the mixture is smooth.

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Pour the apple sauce/egg mixture into your dry ingredient bowl and begin to stir aggressively once again.

If you have ever made cookies before, you’ll be familiar with the thickness of the dough and the amount of work that it takes to mix everything together.

Once you’ve mixed the dry with the wet to make your dough, scrape it into the 9×9 pan that is already pre-sprayed with PAM.  

Spread it out evenly across the pan.

Bake for about 12-15 minutes and BOOM you’re done!

I love doughy textured bars so I bake for around 12 minutes each time.  If you like them a little more dry, leave them in for about 14-15 minutes.

The original recipe from Gourmet Nutrition adds chunks of fresh apple to the mix before baking, but in my personal experience, all this does is cause the apple to rot in the fridge if you don’t eat the bars fast enough.  You’ll deal with that one time before you say “screw it”, I don’t need the apples.  No worries, I feel your pain.  

By baking your own protein bars you are taking control of what is going into your mouth.  If you want a better body, you’ve got to get on board with this habits.  Take ownership for your situation (whatever it is) and aim to improve it bit by bit.  

Homemade protein bars is a massive step in the right direction.  You’re showing that you care about what you are consuming.  15 minutes of your time will give you more protein and nutrients in one bar than most people get in an entire day.  Consider that and tell your friends.  

Pat yourself on the back, rinse and repeat.

 

Cheers,

 

 

KG

Flip the Switch

Food/Eating

I don’t think that there is anything more:

  • Controllable
  • Manageable (is this the same as Controllable?)
  • Predictable

… then movement, eating and transitioning your lifestyle into the positive category.

Think about it.

What other area in your life do you have so much control over?  You are in the driver’s seat throughout your entire life.  You determine your general health.

What other area in your life can you map out and say, “If I do this, then I am going to get the reward of that”, especially with such subtle adjustments.  There really isn’t any real effort involved, it’s more of perceived effort.  Your brain is holding you back.

Improving your overall health is certainly a choice, but once you flip the switch and make the decision to be healthy by  executing consistent bouts of physical activity paired with rock solid nutritional habits, you are GUARANTEED to get results.

Be the switch on the left

It’s tough to guarantee a lot of things in this life.

Again, stop and think about it for a quick second…

Can a person guarantee by achieving a Master’s Degree that they are going to be successful?  Is your life going to be that much better by going through another 2 years of school and thousands of dollars of school loans?  No.

(I am not hating on all of you that went for your Master’s… kudos to you)

My point, again, is this:  What other area of your life has such an obvious step by step procedure to attain desired results outside of choosing to eat well and move more?

I cannot think of anything.  If you can, please leave a comment below.  

My job is to create awareness.  Actually, that is my mission.  If you’re aware of the exact steps that you need to take to achieve lasting positive change by improving your body and mind, you are that much closer to success.

Once you’re consciously aware of what you should be doing, you’re screwed.  

Why?  Because now you know.  Now you are aware.  Now you’re emotional invested in executing what’s right.  Anything negative or toxic is now just moving you further from your goals.

Yes, my aim is to get at your conscious thought process, absolutely.  If I can create enough of an emotional justification in your head for you to break your current habits and reach for better habits, then I have won.  That is my goal.

I say it all of the time it seems like, but people who are currently living in an unhealthy state really don’t realize how close they are to being able to change it all for the better.  It is so simple.  Not easy… simple.

A tweak in your eating here… a tweak in your beverage consumption there… sprinkle that with some movement instead of sitting…

You viewed this on an older post, but, watch it again because it’s that good…

2.7 million people have watched this video.  That means that 2.7 million people now know what even just the smallest adjustment of moving more throughout the day can have a life.

That’s awareness.  That’s my aim, my goal and my mission.

Stop wasting time and flip the switch before it’s too late.

-KG-

Canadian Outreach: Delivering What Needs to Be Delivered

Supplemental Nutrition

The Canadian outreach program is in full effect.

I first met my next contributor at a convention in Miami, FL.  We got talking about each other’s backgrounds, experiences and reasoning for attending the convention and we hit it off instantly.  Again, I was like a kid in a candy store asking her all kinds of questions, and I actually had more to ask but I decided to control myself.

One of the takeaway points from chatting it up with Julie was her comments about the female population and effectively treating osteoporosis by supplementing calcium, especially if it is consumed in an isotonic capable form.  Isotonic?  Think liquid form supplementation that is absorbed ridiculously fast by the body, delivering what needs to be delivered.

Calcium deficiency is interesting to me because the most obvious (and well-known) source of calcium is milk.  However, as I have harped on this blog in past posts, you’d cry yourself to sleep if you knew the quality of the milk that you’re probably buying and drinking.  I’ll save the heart ache for another post.

You’re welcome.

Besides the low quality of mass-produced milk, we also face the issue of inflammation and dairy sensitivities in a lot of people, IBS, etc.  Now, you could turn to other foods like kale, which is a rich source of calcium that a lot of people don’t know about, but kale quite frankly is a pain in the ass to prepare.  Eating it raw is like chewing on laminate flooring.  Most people won’t take the time to execute that gourmet kale recipe, so let’s just deliver the damn calcium and get it over with, ok?

*** Oh, if you want some interesting information about bone health go here for some notes I took while attending a recent webinar.  Knowledge is power.

I’ll let Julie share her opinion…

When any of us are looking for solutions to address our personal health concerns, we look for solutions that are safe and effective.  Safety and efficacy comes from research and experience with the products and this is one of the best parts about selling Isotonix. 

As consumers, we all know there are some friends we trust more than others regarding health advice.  

As I become more familiar with using the Isotonix products, I find that my customers and friends come to me more and more for this kind of advice, and I always want to have a well-researched answer for them.  The best part about distributing Isotonix products is that the MarketAmerica science team has done a lot of the leg work for me in terms of gathering the scientific research ensuring that safety and efficacy that I am looking for, in the entire product line.  

Having Isotonix as a research-backed product line, provides me as a distributor with peace of mind that what I’m selling to customers is a great supplement and the best option for those who are looking.

  • Why Isotonix?

–  It is affordable, and it is better value due to the enhanced bioavailability of the products.
–  There is a range of products that make it possible to help reach a more diverse customer base of people with a tool to help them take control of their health.
–  It is based on the most current research, so everything is always up to date to ensure the best customer satisfaction and results from taking nutraceuticals.

  • Why is it so great for practitioners?

–  The products are effective and backed by scientific research on design and combination, so all you need to do is ensure your research on indication and dosage. 
–  You are never alone in recommending the products. Doctors and health care practitioners have been benefiting from being able to provide their clients and patients with access to a dependable product line.
–  There is access to the products online so that customers can order products from the comfort of their home or work with the autoship program.  The method of distribution adds a convenience factor for you and your customers.  

There are always a number of reasons to prefer one type of product over another, but from my experience, of all the nutraceutical products out there, the enhanced bioavailbility of the Isotonix line and the diversity of products and applications makes it an easy decision for me. I feel fortunate to be able to provide these supplemental options to my customers, and it has tremendously benefited my personal health and the growth of my business. 

– Julie Hwang, BSc, ND (cand. 2014)

Do You Know What You’re Eating? Is All “Healthy” Food Healthy?

Food/Eating

After watching yet ANOTHER news story about the recall of the Apple Dippers served at McDonald’s and other fast food restaurants around the country.

Deep breath here…

Do you know what you’re eating?

Not all apples are created equal.  Not all oranges are created equal.  Not all beef is created equal.  Not all lettuce and spinach is created equal.  Not all peanut butter is created equal…

Do you see where I am going with this?

Just because you are buying a “bag of apple slices” from McDonald’s doesn’t mean that they are nutritious or non-toxic.  The red flag should be the fact that they are packaged in a bag and last for months they go rotten.

How long does a pesticide free grown apple last?  A week at the most probably?

You see, you cannot classify all food in the same categories.  I can buy meat from Wal-Mart, but is it the same ground beef that I can buy from a local farm that raises their cows on a free range grass-fed diet?

Absolutely not.

We have to smarten up as consumers.  I know that you want to believe that the cheapest yogurt at the grocery store is just as beneficial as the full fat greek yogurt… but it isn’t.  It’s not even close.

Please make an effort to learn something about what you are putting in your mouth.  I cannot stand to hear the excuse, “The food industry is just so big!  My vote won’t count!”.  Give me a break.  We bitch about so many other pointless issues that we don’t know what we are bitching about anymore.

Food sustains life and if you are eating toxic food, your risk for disease and early death sky rockets.

Try this for a 4 week time period:  Cut out bread and sugar.

The tough part about this challenge is going to be that bread is a habit food and sugar is addictive like cigarettes (this has been studied and proven).  Check my hyper-palatibility post for more information on that craziness.

Alright everyone, I had to write up a quick post before heading to a nutritional conference in Greensboro, NC.  Great things happening down here.  I will share later on…

 

 

KG

How Long Should a Workout Last?

How-To

I get this question a lot.

I am never entirely sure how to answer it because I am not ever entirely sure that the person asking the question even knows what they are asking.

That was a mouthful.

Do you know what I mean though?

A training session doesn’t have to carry a time limit.  However long it takes to get the work done is how long it will take for you to train for that particular day.

I had a question from a friend who read my most recent blog post where I stated, “eat clean and you won’t have to workout 6-8hrs per week”.  I meant that statement.  I will never deny that eating is the foundation of a body recomposition program.  What you put in your mouth determines what you look like, and too some extent, how much of what you put into your mouth.

If you eat like shit, you are going to look like shit.  Sorry, but that is the truth.  The truth hurts sometimes.

Now that I am off of my nutrition tangent, let’s get back to how long a workout should last.  I advocated a shorter workout duration daily because most people will either:

a)  Lose interest if the workouts take to much of their day.

b)  Don’t have the time (so they think) to commit 6-8 hours per week to physical activity.

c)  Waste less time spacing out in the gym.

The interesting thing about “b” is that somehow people can find 12-18hrs (or more) per week to plant their ass in front of the TV and watch ridiculous reality TV shows while eating toxic processed food.  It truly is the evolution of man (and women).

But, I can ask these people what is consuming so much of their time and they will fight to the bitter end to justify every second of that reality TV watching.  That is a tough battle for a trainer to be in my friends.  That is another situation where the truth needs to be told, and the truth often hurts.

So, I have managed to evade the title of this post until now…

How long should a workout last?

Well, in my opinion, it is dependent on the person, their goals and timeline, but I really think that 30-45min is the sweet spot.  My general training template calls for 60min exactly, but I still feel like that it too much for most people.  And by too much I mean that they will view that 60min as “too much” of a time commitment to get themselves fit and feeling better.

So, when I tell someone they can train hard for 30-45min 3-4 days per week, it is a lot more appetizing to them.

But, I always tell folks that if you are going to shoot for the 30min mark, you are going to be sacrificing some valuable components of a complete training program.  You see, training is about a lot more than just looking good.  It is completely possible to walk around at 5% body fat with ripped six-pack abs yet be completed unbalanced with chronic pain and a ticking time bomb for a massive training injury (I will touch on this in my book).  A lot of injuries are preventable with a proactive approach to life and more specifically training.

I believe this down to my core.

I know what I am up against.  People aren’t going to change, so sometimes it is necessary to meet in the middle.  I am willing to do that assuming a person is willing to put forth one hell of an effort in their training and in their eating.

It’s crazy.  Most of us walk the fine line between having a body we can be proud of and one that we are ashamed of, yet most choose to go the unhealthy route until it is too late.  The statistics don’t lie, we have never been as unhealthy as we are now.

Time for a change I suppose.

—->  Here is my real issue with devoting less time to the daily workout…