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A few have asked to blog a little more on eating eggs. To tell the truth all the nutritional info about eggs was revealed in the previous post. But I will elaborate on past experience. I remember when eggs where the “whole food”. Then they became the “bad egg” because they have cholesterol. After that it was all right to eat them again because the lecithin in the egg white countered or balanced out the cholesterol’s badness.

This is possibly where the egg white omelets and three whites to one yellow ratio came from. The latest was it’s all right to eat eggs just make sure they’re cooked and be careful of the cholesterol. Maybe I’m different, probably more like most than not. When I was growing up a half dozen eggs for breakfast was regularly was not uncommon. Even when I was in my twenties I consumed most days for breakfast, three to four eggs scrambled or fried. Always I ate the entire egg, that’s four egg whites and four egg yellows. I used to consider the egg yellow “liquid Sunshine”.

As you can see from my Post: Why Do They Only Eat Egg Whites the yellow contains more nutrients than the white, as much if not more protein proportionately by volume, and combined with the white makes it pretty much a complete food. Even now since I usually work out first thing in the morning, After my after workout shake when I get home I immediately have breakfast with three whole eggs over easy with when available no more than a half of sweet potato for a quality protein , nutritional meal and a good carbohydrate to fuel the muscle.

Now a word of caution, there are those of us that have a cholesterol problem or susceptible, for those of you that fall in this category, do not throw caution to the wind. Here is where you need to consult your physician and ask for a blood lab workup. These usually will tell the doctor if you have a cholesterol problem. And of course the older we get the more of a concern this becomes, take care of your heart, after all it’s MUSCLE.

Another aspect to diet is quality of carbohydrates. Technically there are two types, simple and complex. Some definitions have fruits as a simple carbohydrate and vegetables are the complex. Another version is that all refined and processed carbohydrate sources are simple and both fruits and vegetables are the complex carbs.

While it tends to be a blend of the two. Simple carbohydrates are both fruit and the processed variety. Complex carbohydrates are found in the vegetable groups and refined processed foods as well. You have refined whole wheats and wheats in general, plus other processed grains such as those found in breads and pasta’s.

The best rule of thumb is to consume natural complex and simple carbs. For the simple carbs sources like apples, blackberries, blueberries, grapefruit, oranges, peaches and strawberries are all low in simple sugars as well.

For your complex carbs try broccoli, spinach, cabbage, cauliflower, onions, tomatoes(technically a fruit) and sweet potato to name a few. Natural complex carbs provide the essential vitamins and minerals needed for energy production. Simple, refined carbs found in many processed, convenient foods tend to be devoid of these natural nutrients. Who wants the additives any ways.

When choosing your veggies and fruits, as mentioned previously, opt to go organic if at all possible. This way you get a higher quality nutritional source. Also choosing natural, aids in your goal to lose weight. These sources tend to be utilized more efficiently by the body.
All carbohydrates are broken down in the body to become glucose to  produce the energy molecule ATP (adenosinetriphosphate). Complex carbs tend to be processed slower than simple carbs and this is why you use it to load up on to store energy for your workouts. Since the simple carbs break down faster they can be beneficial in getting a quick energy source just before a workout.

However you need to be careful for those of you that may be diabetic as this can be dangerous to your glucose levels first thing in the morning. It’s recommended to eat a small bit of complex carbs in those situations.

It is recommended that one eats at least five helpings a day of veggies and two to three of fruits. I like to start my day with either half a grapefruit or whole banana and a small portion of some protein source.

Then into my workout drinking plenty of water. Post workout I drink a quality protein drink that has some carbs as well. Here a good choice also would be to eat half a sweet potato, as you know you want to carbo-load the muscles. That’s two to three meals down, lunch would be something like grilled chicken and mixed veggies.

While I’m thinking of it you should also try to eat as many veggies that are a spectrum of colors. Such as red bell pepper, yellow squash, purple eggplant and green leafy veggies etc. etc. Reason being that they all have a different variety of essential nutrients we all need.
Back to meal or snack four, a piece of fruit or two. Dinner could be a nice fresh piece of fish with broccoli and sweet potato. The last snack and also as a bed time snack a protein drink.

Good night all.

James Bolduc

MrPowerFitness
PowerFitnessSecrets.com

With all the supplements, diet restrictions and exercises we tend to overlook the quality of our diet. In quality I mean not just the type of proteins, carbohydrates and fats, but the quality in wholeness and pureness of the food.

For instance any vegetable you buy in the traditional supermarket like … err, I won’t mention names, are mass produced, and over farmed. Which means less nutrients in the soil and even less nutrition in the vegetable or fruit. But it’s still better to eat an apple before a workout than to grab a snickers bar. Oops I did anyways.

The same goes with animal foods. The supply chain here is even longer. Since the land is over produced, the grains fed to the animals is lacking in nutrients thus the nutritional quality of the meat is less than what it use to be.

Now with fish you have a different angle. Most fish caught out at sea and away from the reefs tend to be every bit as quality nutrition as it always was. Provided it’s fresh, within a few days from being caught and/or hasn’t gone bad for whatever. If it smells like the ocean it’s good to consume. If it smells like the proverbial “fishy” smell it is past it’s prime.

The one caveat with fish is farmed fish. In which they are fed inferior feed to keep cost down, which puts this type of meat in the same category as the rest of the farmed animal products.

The best way to go even though it will hit your wallet to almost the cost of twice as much is Organic.

In most cases buying organic produce will guarantee complete quality nutrition and flavor. The same holds true for the animal products. If you buy beef opt out to go organic and make sure it is grass fed. Most other meat products follow the same rule, like free range chicken. Beware free range chicken doesn’t mean that it is organic, nor their eggs.

With fish you have only one choice for high quality, fresh off the boat from a deep sea fishing expedition. Now the seas don’t have to be in the middle of the ocean. A mile or two off shore is fine. I n many coastal areas dolphin, swordfish, tuna and other tasty varieties can be found. Salmon, make sure its wild not farmed and preferably pacific coast or Alaskan.

I almost forgot seafood and shell fish. But you get the picture on the fresh catch theme. In some cases try to stay updated as to any environmental conditions that may pollute certain areas like lakes and rivers.

Now you will not only enjoy your food more, but you will also be the healthier for it.

James Bolduc

MrPowerFitness

PowerFitnessSecrets.com