Simple and Same (Members)

Keep it Simple, Repeat

Good morning team! By now you understand the concept of bumps on the scale and baseline.

If you saw a bump in the past few days, your weight today should show you moving back down towards your baseline. That is as long as you have resumed your eating plan. 

If your bodyweight is trending down, do a repeat today of what you did yesterday.

Yes, just eat the same thing you did yesterday, a few days in a row. We like to refer to this as #simpleandsame

It may sound boring. It may sound redundant. Buts it’s a surefire way to regain momentum and get back to baseline. 

If you’re not moving back down, here’s a simple suggestion:

There is a difference between Planning what you will do, vs tracking what you did.

Don’t track food, Plan food. Then track compliance.

Instead of going about your day and trying to fit your food intake into your servings, plan what you will have today. Then eat what you plan.

-Keeping it simple and knowing exactly what you are eating is key.

-Minimizing meals out is ideal. (If possible)

-Know all your ingredients.

-Know how much you are consuming.

-Know the spices, the oil (or not) and the amounts.

This is something that I do whenever I need to get back to baseline and beyond to a new baseline. 

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Lay out a simple meal plan that fits into my servings and foods, then execute. Make it a simple one 

In the Kitchen: Spicy Chicken Stirfry

I was in the mood for something spicy, and you know I’m a stir fry guy. So here a stirfry I whipped together. Once again, only ingredients I found in the fridge when I got home at night.

Total cook time: >20 minutes

You’ll need:

-2 boneless skinless chicken breast

-2 stalks celery (sliced)

-1/2 carrot (sliced)

-1/8 red onion (sliced)

-10 baby bell pepper (cut in half)

-10 leaves of fresh Basil

-1 tbls Coconut oil

-Crushed red chili flakes

-1 Tbls sea salt

How to cook it:

-First cut up all your veggies. I went with the “sliced” theme this night. So I sliced everything up, and put it on a plate. The more you do this, the better you get at it and the faster. I can now cut up all my veggies for just about any dish in under 5 minutes.

-Next cut up your chicken. I went with 1/4″ x 1″ pieces tonight.

-Heat the pan/wok and throw in the coconut oil

-throw in the onions, carrots, and chicken

-When the chicken starts to brown, throw in the peppers

-Stir for 5 minutes, then add the Basil leaves

-When the basil starts to wilt, add the salt, and as much red chili flakes as you can handle.

Eat it like you mean it 🙂 My lips were on fire, but it was delicious

In the Kitchen #3: Thai Green Chicken Curry

Here is a recipe that I made the other night in under 25 minutes.

Ingredients:

-6 frozen chicken Tenders

-Mae Ploy Green Curry paste (find this at asian grocery store)

-1/2 can of Coconut Milk

-1 Green Pepper (chopped)

-1 Red Pepper (chopped)

-1/2 large carrot (chopped)

-1/4 yellow onion (chopped)

-1 cup mushrooms (chopped)

Cooking Directions

 

Place frozen chicken tenders in a pot, and fill with water just enough to cover the chicken. Then put on med/high heat

As you bring the water and the chicken to a boil, add in 2 Tbls of the curry paste. You cannot find this stuff at the traditional grocery stores, but if you have a thai restaurant in town there is sure to be an “Asian” grocery store nearby.

 

Chop all the veggies and have them ready to add to the mixture. When the water and the curry paste condense, add the onions and the carrots, and continue simmering for 5-7 minutes.

 

 

After simmering the chicken, carrots, and onions for 5-7 minutes, throw in the mushrooms and peppers. Add 1/2 can of coconut milk to the mixture and stir well. Add 1 Tbls of sea salt and simmer for another 7-10 minutes.

 

Serve over rice, or just eat it out of a soup bowl like I did.

This recipe provided the following for me:

-2 Servings

-Protein: 50 grams

-Fat: 22 grams (17 grams of healthy fat from coconut milk)

-Carbs: Net <15 grams

In the Kitchen #2: Thai Style Turkey

This is the dinner I prepare often for me and my wife. As usual, I timed myself from start to finish and clocked in at a cool 18 minutes.

For those of you who have had Thai food, this is a spin off of a dish called “Larb”. It’s fresh, easy, high in protein, tastes great, and can help you get lean. So yeah, it’s a winner. No wonder I eat it a few times a week.

Here’s what you need

-20oz Lean ground Turkey (you can use Ground turkey ‘Breast’, but it tastes very dry. I don’t suggest it.)

-1/2 cup chopped cilantro

-1/2 medium cucumber, chopped

-1/4 cup chopped red onion

-1 stalk green onion

-1 1/2 limes

-1-2 tbls Sea Salt (more/less to taste)

-1-2 tbls crushed red pepper

Preparation and Cooking

Heat a pan and throw in the Turkey. Stir it periodically so it cooks evenly

While the Turkey is cooking, chop all the other ingredients

As you chop the ingredients, place them on a plate so you can add them to the dish as needed

When the turkey is cooked, place it in a dish and add the chopped onions. Then squeeze the limes on top and mix it in.

Let the meat cool for 2-5 minutes, then add the remaining ingredients. Add the red pepper and salt last, and add until you get the spiciness you want.

Mix it all together and it's ready to serve. You can put this over rice, or you can eat it out of lettuce cups.

This is one of my favorite dishes. It is easy to measure portions, and easy to bring for lunch in tupperware.

You can mix up the types of meat you choose to make this with. I rotate between lean pork, lean turkey, chicken breast, and extra lean ground Beef.

To measure Nutrition Facts: Only count the nutrients in the meat. This recipe made the following:

-5/ 4 ounce servings (Turkey weight)

-Protein: 20 Grams

-Fat: 8 Grams (I do not add healthy fats to this meal, since there is plenty in the meat. If I used ground Turkey breast (super lean) I would add avocado… Of course.

-Carbs: <5 grams

Please let me know what you think in the comment section below! I’d love to get your feedback.

In the Kitchen #1: Dinner in 25

If there is one skill you could learn that would support your health and fitness goals more than any other, it would be cooking. If you haven’t heard the phrase, “Abs are created in the kitchen”, it is true. If you can make good nutritious food that supports your goals and tastes good, you’ve got a huge advantage.

So if you find yourself exhausted around dinner time, before you order take out here is a better option. This recipe took me a total of 25 minutes to prep, cook, clean the cookware, and serve.

What you’ll need:

-2 skinless chicken breasts

-2 japanese eggplants

-1 large zuchinni

-1 small carrot

-1/4 white onion

-2 stalks green onion

-1 cup dry rice

-1 tabls Coconut oil

-Soy sauce (preferably gluten free)

-1 skillet

-1 small pot

-1 cooking utensil

First pour the rice in the small pot and cover it with about 1/2″ of water. Bring it to a boil and reduce heat to low (with the lid on)

 

 

 

Then chop all the veggies and put them on a plate.

 

 

 

Then cut up all the chicken into 1/2″x 1″ pieces

 

 

 

Heat the pan, and throw in the the coconut oil, the chicken, the onions, and the carrots.

 

 

 

As the chicken cooks half way through, add the zuchinni and the eggplant.

 

 

 

As the the veggies are almost all cooked through, add the green onions and about 4 tbls soy sauce. Cook for about 5 more minutes, then plate and serve.

 

 

 

Make sure you portion it out based on the nutrition plan you are following. The nutrition total on the stirfry:

Approx 100grams protein, 26 grams fat, lots of fiber and a few carbs from the veggies. The rice totals 50grams per cooked cup.

This whole pan made 2 meals for me. Each of about 50grams protein, 13 grams fat, and carbs depending on how much rice I ate.

You can also make this stirfry with other lean meats, such as lean steak or pork. Get creative, and have fun while you cook!

 

A Day in the Life: My daily diet

I get asked frequently about nutrition, so I wanted to take a moment and share what my daily diet looks like. If you’ve heard me talk about transformations before, you know what a huge advocate I am of adequate nutrition. I use the word adequate, simply because the outline of a nutrition plan may change under certain circumstances and goals. There is no one perfect plan.

Just as you take on a training regime to hit your goals, you will need to do the same with your nutrition. It’s unlikely you’ll get very far with your transformation without putting serious emphasis on your eating. Unless of course you’ve set very underachieving goals, which even then may seem impossible to reach.

I will first state that my diet is based on these specific goals:

-Decrease Bodyfat

-Maintain muscle

-Maintain/Gain Strength

Considering these goals, I’ve structured a plan to make that happen. My plan allows for adjustments as I track my progress and see fit. Here is a typical day. (with pictures)

Coffee and 1/2 and 1/2. Every morning I have a cup before the day starts. I do however, drink a glass of water before I have my coffee. I may drink 1-3 cups of joe a day. I drink it black or with 1/2 and 1/2, depending on how many I’ve had. Everything counts.

Meal 1: Stirfry

I eat some type of stirfry every day. This was 8 oz. chicken breast, onions, red and green bell peppers. I cooked this in 1 tsp coconut oil. Then added 1/2 avocado.

Meal 2: Fish and Avocado

8oz of Cod, seasoned and cooked in a nonstick pan. Then I added 1/2 Avocado. Yeah, I love Avocado.

Meal 3: Pork Larb.

Larb is a Thai dish, pronounced “Lop”. It’s made with ground meat, lime juice, cilantro, and a few other goodies. I eat it probably every day. This was 10oz of ground lean pork. I ate 1 oz of raw almonds along side this as my healthy fats.

Meal 4: Steak and Veggies

8oz of London Broil steak, zucchini, and onion. This was dinner, and I cooked it on my grill. I didn’t add any healthy fat, since I basted the grill with coconut oil spray.

These are some of what you’ll find in my spice cabinets. I use many of these every day, to keep the meals tasty. As long as it doesn’t contain sugar, starch, or any fake stuff, I’ll use it.

Each day is consistent, and it’s the consistency that produces the results. I have each meal broken down into servings, and I know my servings for the day. The meals of this day were all different, however some days I will eat the same thing more than once. As long as it fits the servings and food groups of my plan, I have flexibility.

My current Plan:

-2lbs/day of lean meat (Beef, Pork, Poultry, Fish)

-4 servings of Healthy fats (approx 15grams/fat per serving)

-Various veggies as I see fit for the meal.

*On days I workout (strength train) I drink an amino acid shake.

That’s it. I will eat like this for a certain amount of days, then have a “cheat day”. This is usually every 7 days, and it usually contains lots of torilla chips with queso dip, tacos, and Mint and chip Ice cream. But I switch it up. How crazy I get on my cheat day all depends on the progress made while eating on the plan.

*Notes:

-You may notice I’m not eating carbs. I typically rotate through weeks of eating carbs and not eating them. It really depends on how I’m feeling, and how I’m progressing.

-Cooking oils: If I use it, I use coconut oil. But I like to grill or bake my food as much as possible, so I don’t need it. I’d rather “eat” my healthy fats, like avocado or almonds.

-Water: I drink about 1 gallon per day.

***Consistency is KEY. Make sure if you’re following a plan, you actually follow it. Commit to doing it. I’ve never seen anything produce desired results when not done consistently. So Make it Happen!

-Jonny