Nutrition Basics

Everything You Need to Know About Dietary Fats

Here’s what you need to know, consuming dietary fats doesn’t make you fat. Consuming too many calories that your body can’t metabolize gets you fat.

Staying On Track While Traveling

These past few months I have been traveling across India training a client of mine who is a Bollywood actor. He is filming a movie (and I have small role in it as well) and we’ve have been training for a number of months to build a “brawlers” physique for his film role.

Importance of Carbohydrates

Let’s face it; we are pretty sure we can all come to an agreement that the main purpose of Carbohydrates is to provide energy and fuel for the human body. Carbohydrates have probably gotten the worst reputation of the macronutrients due to eating excessive amounts leads to excess adipose tissue.

The Dynamic Effects of Protein

Let’s face it, not consuming protein is almost as bad as not depositing some money into your savings account. Think of it as your trying to save money to buy a house. If you don’t build that savings account over a period of time for a down payment, how will you ever buy a house?

Choosing High Satiety Foods for Dieters

An article on choosing high satiety foods while dieting by the Dynamic Duo, Chris and Eric Martinez. This is a must for those of you who really fight with hunger when on a fat reducing plan.

Grocery Shopping with Antoine Valliant

Eating a Pre-Bed Meal for More Muscle Gains

Eating a Pre-Bed Meal for More Muscle Gains One of the biggest nutrition myths to date is the ever so popular don’t eat past 6 pm or at night time because all of the nutrients consumed will somehow magically convert to fat. We wrote about this HERE and Sofer et al. showed that consuming carbohydrates […]

Oatmeal and Eggs vs. Cereal

Oatmeal and Eggs vs. Cereal Over the last few years IIFYM (if it fits your macros) has become a popular diet strategy, particularly with natural bodybuilders and competitors. In general the idea behind IIFYM is that as long as you meet your macros (protein, carbohydrates, and fat), fiber, and micronutrient needs the end result of […]

Wild Game

A great occasional substitute that I sometimes put in nutritional plans is wild game. Notice I said substitute, as these choices are leaner, much leaner in some cases, and my plans are not low fat. We need fat so we can reap the benefits of fat soluble vitamins. My three favorites are probably ostrich, bison, […]

Raw Grass Fed Dairy

Raw Grass Fed Dairy (mostly milk) I love raw milk. It tastes awesome, and it is unbelievably healthy. The same things that applied to grass fed beef, applies to grass fed dairy. You get more CLA, and Omega 3s. The Journal of Dairy Science did a study in 1999 on CLA in grass fed dairy, […]

Wild Caught Salmon

Perhaps no food is better at supplying healthy Omega 3s then wild caught/marine salmon. These salmon have been fed their natural diet of tiny shrimp like creatures called Krill, which not only gives them their lovely reddish orange color, it also gives them the big dose of Omega 3 that we all desire. Be careful […]

Free Range Organic Eggs

Chickens that have been free to roam around, and feast on their natural diet of bugs, insects, and grass lay the highest quality eggs. So first of all, what is the difference between cage free, organic, free range, and all of that confusing stuff you see in the grocery store? How do you know what […]

Grass-Fed Organic Butter

Grass-Fed Organic Butter I saw a shirt once that said “Butter was framed”. I thought it was awesome, and how appropriate. So well-put, when you think about how people believe that butter is not heart friendly but margarine is. A study in “Nutrition Week” demonstrated that those who eat margarine have double the heart disease […]

Oils

Macadamia Nut Oil This is another fine oil to cook with. The large majority of the oil is monosatured/oleic acid which has numerous health benefits. Actually, oleic acid also helps omega-3s get into the cell membrane. If you remember what I wrote about saturated fats being important as it relates to cell wall structure and […]

Fruits

Kiwi My guess is that if someone where to ask you what fruit has the most Vitamin C, you would say an orange. The truth is the Kiwi fruit has even more vitamin C then oranges. It also has a decent dose of Vitamin E. Being a big supporter of antioxidants from whole foods, this […]

Fibrous Carbs

Kale When I think of the most healthy foods, Kale comes to mind. I must thank author Jonny Bowden for turning me onto the massive benefits of this cruciferous vegetable. In his book, “The World’s 150 Healthiest Foods” he mentions Kale as having a compound called sulforaphane in it. It is a class of phytonutrient […]

Grass-fed Beef

First of all, I look at grass-fed beef as an extremely good source of protein and also fat, so you will see this superfood in both sections of this site. This type of beef is from cows that have been fed their natural diet consisting of green grass. The only exception would be in winter […]

Protein

Overview I believe that complete proteins from animal sources should be the foundation of every meal you consume. If you are vegetarian, my diet will not be workable for you. Animal meat comes with not only high quality protein (all essential amino acids are present); it also has fat soluble vitamins and the fat to […]

Fats & Oils

Now we come to my favorite topic – fats. Fats are so misunderstood by the general public. Due to indoctrination of the “lipid hypothesis” (aka the diet-heart hypothesis) here is what the current mainstream thinking is in regards to fat: Saturated fats are bad. Stay away from them at all costs. You will get high […]

Carbohydrates

Overview Debating carbohydrate needs, like fat intake, is often a very controversial topic. You have many who believe in a higher carb, lower fat diet for optimal health and longevity, while others believe the opposite is true. While I do not agree with any low-fat diet approach for an extended period of time, I don’t […]