Last week on our Easy Veggie Meal Plans bonus coaching call, Craig Ballantyne and I tackled a slew of listener and reader questions—truly one of the absolute best coaching sessions I’ve had the pleasure of being a part of, and some absolutely killer questions came in on all kinds of topics (even meat, believe it or not).
One question in particular caught my attention and because I believe so many people deal with this kind of thing on a regular basis, I decided to blog about the topic today.
Enter “emotional eating”.
Simply put, emotional eating can be absolutely catastrophic to any diet plan.
“And things were going SO well….”
Yes, I know the feeling.
Time to put an end to that nonsense once and for all.
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A little while back I sent you an email with the subject “1+1=3?”, informing you of the unstoppable synergy that occurs when you combine a killer metabolic resistance training program like Turbulence Training along with my Cheat Your Way Thin diet system.
And today, I’m back with another stellar math lesson to wow your friends with: 0 does NOT equal 0.
Sounds like some ass-backwards calculus nonsense, I know, but it’s actually a very practical equation. Or should I say “non-quation” (Yes, I know they’re called inequalities, but non-quation sounds WAY cooler to me, and it’s my blog).
Let me explain.
This morning, I sat down to a bowl of Bran Flakes. It was a rather large bowl, because hey, not only do I preach big breakfasts, I eat them, too.
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Over the weekend I had the pleasure of training with my great friend, fitness model, and New York personal trainer John Romaniello.
For 30 minutes, he punished me with non-stop movement, compound exercises, calisthenics, and VERY little rest.
Think 30 minutes isn’t long enough to get an incredibly challenging workout in? Try working out with this guy for a half hour. Brutal.
But that’s John, and you gotta love the guy. And I do, in a totally non-gay way.
I digress.
So after our workout, one of the female members of John’s gym came up to us and asked us what we were drinking while we were working out.
My response: “The most important meal of the day.”
Clearly, by the look on her face, that didn’t quite register with her. So, I went on to explain.
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Alright, I’m addicted to these things, and I just HAVE to share the recipe with you (mostly because I want to make myself feel better about my addiction by knowing that “lots of other people are doing it”, too).
No, seriously. Denzel Washington and Blue Magic would have been straight up OUT OF BUSINESS if these bad boys were being peddled on the streets back in the 70’s.
Enjoy!
Banana Maple Protein Snack Wraps
Ingredients:
-1 8″ 100% Whole Wheat Tortilla
-1 medium banana
-2 tablespoons of all natural peanut butter (or almond butter)
-1 tablespoon of slivered almonds
-1 scoop of vanilla protein powder
-1-2 tablespoons of sugar free maple syrup
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As I write this newsletter, I’m doing a little late night snacking on a batch of organic cucumbers (marinated in vinegar, yummmmm) from my local CSA.
Now, you’ve probably heard that there are benefits to eating organic, but if you’re like most people, you’re may still be a tad confused about the whole “organic” thing (as is proved by all the organic-related emails that regularly come through my inbox).
Perhaps you’ve wondered, what exactly makes something “organic” and why is it better than the regular stuff? Or maybe, what makes organic produce so darned expensive, and is there any way to enjoy it without burning a hole in my wallet?
Joel to the rescue.
We’ll start with some boring (yet helpful) definitions.
For a food to be certified organic, it must meet certain USDA’s criteria. For produce, this means that the produce must be grown without using most conventional pesticides, fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering, or ionizing radiation.
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Being the resident fitness guru, I’m always being asked questions by my friends and family about diet and exercise.
And every once in a while, against my better judgment, I agree to help a friend or family member out by designing them a diet and/or exercise program (knowing fully well that, at best, they will stick with it for a week, maybe two).
But, still, I do it…because hey, I’m a nice guy.
Well, just last week I decided to help my buddy Mark out with a program per his request. He’s a pretty disciplined dude (ex-army guy), so I figured he might actually follow through. And if he does, that’ll make it worth it.
In the meantime, however, I’m sure he’ll be giving me some ideas for blog content based on the questions I’m being bombarded with as he begins the program, like yesterday’s question about whether he should be mixing his protein shakes with milk or water.
So, let’s say you’re getting ready to mix up some protein, which should you go with?
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On Wednesday, I shared three ways to get more veggies in your daily diet, and today I’m back as promised with three more:
The 5-lb Frozen Veggie Method – I’ve personally used this method often and absolutely love it. Every week, just break open a 5-lb bag of frozen veggies and by the end of the week make sure it’s gone. Extremely simple, exceptionally accountable, and it works!
Juice it Up – On a similar note, here’s another quick way sneak in more veggies, especially for those who absolutely can’t stand ‘em! Juice ‘em! Even the strongest “veggie” tastes can be disguised in juice form with an apple or pear base. So much so, that apart from the color, you may not even realize they’re in there.
Fill Your Plate Half with Veggies – This one is for those who enjoy vegetables, yet still struggle to get the recommended number of servings each day. Try filling your dinner plate half with veggies from now on. You’ll get a good 3 servings of fibrous vegetables while lightening the overall caloric load of your meal. Great for health, and even better for fat loss.
Now, if you didn’t share Wednesday, we want to know! Do you have another tip or trick that you use to increase your daily veggie intake? Did you try any of the tips from Wednesday’s post? Let us know by commenting below!
Talk to you in the comments section!
Joel
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Tuesday’s rock.
Why?
Because Tuesday is the day each week that I get to stock my fridge to the brim with fresh produce and spend time with one of my favorite people.
You see, about a month ago my über friend Mimi and I bought a “share” of the summer harvest at a local CSA (community supported agriculture) farm, and every Tuesday we get to go pick up our share of what’s “in season” and even do a little picking to boot.
Yesterday’s “picking” crops were raspberries, green beans, and cucumbers, although I think more raspberries probably went in our mouths than in the container :-)
Needless to say, I’ve now got veggies galore sitting on my counter and in my fridge—and that’s what everyone’s house should look like as far as I’m concerned.
At the same time, I’m a realist, and know that if I’m going to get the recommended 8-10 servings of fruit and veggies each day, it’s going to require me getting a little creative.
And perhaps you’ve found yourself in a similar situation, having a desire to eat more veggies (for their million and one health benefits), but struggling to do so.
Well, that’s what today’s blog post is all about, my friend! Three simple, creative ways to get more veggies in and boost the healthfulness of your diet:
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I think I may have had the worst seat on the plane yesterday.
You see, I flew Southwest, which means I didn’t have an assigned seat, only a boarding “zone” (which didn’t matter anyway because I was very, very late getting on the plane).
Why?
Well, as I sat there at the airport bar, history was unfolding before my very eyes.
I sat there watching as Roger Federer and Andy Roddick battled it out in what will be remembered as one of the greatest tennis matches of all time—the 2009 Wimbledon Men’s Final.
140+ mph serves, smashing forehands, slicing backhands, and oh yeah, a five-set grueling back and forth match which set the all-time record for most games played in a 5th set (it took THIRTY games for someone to finally “win by two”, as is required).
But that wasn’t the only record that was set. Ultimately, “the greatest”, Roger Federer pulled out the win, pushing him above Pete Sampras for the most career grand slam titles of all-time with 15. A new all-time record, a new champion, a phenomenal record-breaking match.
Like I said, history in the making.
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Yesterday I spent the bulk of my day sitting in the “coffee shop” area of Barnes and Noble plugging away on client programs and a couple of other “big things” I’ve got up my sleeve in the coming weeks.
Apparently if you’re working on a laptop at Barnes & Noble your cool points instantly jump by a factor of 3.7, which is essentially why I pay the additional $20 a month for AT&T Wi-Fi despite having plenty-o-internet and two other computers in my home office.
Okay, that’s not entirely true. Granted, I’m all about looking cool, but the fact is I can’t seem to get ANYTHING done at home lately, so I’ve been somewhat of a work-nomad for, well, about a year now (I suppose that goes a little beyond “lately”, sorry).
Nevertheless, I always seem to run into interesting people wherever I’m at.
For instance, just the other week these two guys were sitting behind me with about 17 books laid out in front of them talking about SPIDERS.
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Hey, it’s Joel! So you want to know a little more about me, huh? Well, I’d be happy to oblige :-)
I guess it all started back in 2001 (my freshman year of college) when I was just a “skinny fat” 19-year old kid. At the time, I was spending close to 2 hours a day in the gym (now my workouts last about 30 minutes), and despite my efforts, you’d probably never guess I worked out a day in my life by looking at me...