Top 55 Lean-Body Foods
Thursday, December 24th, 2009Did you know that there are many foods that actually help you
develop a trim and fit body during the Holiday Season?
This is also a great way to start off 2010.
You will love this article by Mike Geary an Author,
Certified Nutrition Specialist and friend of mine.
My Top 55 Lean-Body Foods to Build Muscle and Lose Body Fat
by Michael Geary – Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified
Personal Trainer
In this article, I’d like to give you healthy ideas of what I stock my fridge and cabinets with. Delicious and healthy foods that also help to get you closer to that hard-body appearance that everyone is looking for, while also more importantly, improving your health for life.
Remember, if you don’t have junk around the house, you’re less
likely to eat junk. If all you have is healthy food around the
house, you’re forced to make smart choices. Basically, it all
starts with making smart choices and avoiding temptations when you
make your grocery store trip. Now these are just some of my
personal preferences, but perhaps they will give you some good
ideas that you’ll enjoy.
Alright, so let’s start with the fridge.
Each week, I try to make sure I’m loaded up with lots of varieties
of fresh vegetables.During the growing season, I only get local
produce, but obviously in winter, I have to resort to the produce
at the grocery store.
Most of the time, I make sure I have plenty of vegetables like
onions, zucchini, spinach, fresh mushrooms, red peppers, broccoli,
etc. to use in my morning eggs. I also like to dice up some lean
chicken or turkey sausage into the eggs, along with some swiss,
jack, or goat cheeses (preferably raw grass-fed cheeses when I can
find them).
By the way I’m talking about whole eggs, NOT egg whites. Always
remember that the yolk is the most nutritious and nutrient dense
part of the egg, so only eating egg whites is like throwing away
the best part… and no, it’s NOT bad for you because of the
cholesterol… eggs actually raise your GOOD cholesterol. Try to
get free range organic eggs for the best quality.
Coconut milk is another staple in my fridge. I like to use it to
mix in with smoothies, oatmeal, or yogurt for a rich, creamy taste.
Not only does coconut milk add a rich, creamy taste to lots of
dishes, but it’s also full of healthy saturated fats. Yeah, you
heard me…I said healthy saturated fats! Healthy saturated fats
like medium chain triglycerides, specifically an MCT called lauric
acid. If the idea of healthy saturated fats is foreign to you,
check out my healthy fats article
Back to the fridge, some other staples:
* Chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds – delicious and great
sources of healthy fats.
* Cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, and yogurt – I like to mix
cottage or ricotta cheese and yogurt together with chopped nuts and
berries for a great mid-morning or mid-afternoon meal.
* Whole flax seeds or chia seeds – I grind these in a mini
coffee grinder and add to yogurt or salads. Always grind them fresh
because the omega-3 polyunsaturated fats are highly unstable and
prone to oxidation, creating high levels of free radicals in
pre-ground flax.
* Whole eggs – one of natures richest sources of nutrients (and
remember, they increase your GOOD cholesterol so stop fearing them).
* Salsa – I try to get creative and try some of the exotic
varieties of salsas.
* Avocados – love them…plus a great source of healthy fats,
fiber, and other nutrients. Try adding them to wraps, salads, or
sandwiches.
* Butter – don’t believe the naysayers; butter adds great
flavor to anything and can be part of a healthy diet (just keep the
quantity small because it is calorie dense…and NEVER use
margarine, unless you want to assure yourself a heart attack).
* Nut butters – Plain old peanut butter has gotten a little old
for me, so I get creative and mix together almond butter with
sesame seed butter, or even cashew butter with macadamia
butter…delicious and unbeatable nutrition!
* Leaf lettuce and spinach along with shredded carrots – for
salads with dinner.
* Home-made salad dressing – using balsamic vinegar, extra
virgin olive oil, and Udo’s Choice oil blend. This is much better
than store bought salad dressing which mostly use highly refined
soybean oil (full of inflammation-causing free radicals).
* Whole grain wraps and whole grain bread (look for wraps and
bread with at least 3-4 grams of fiber per 20 grams of total carbs).
* Rice bran and wheat germ – these may sound way too healthy
for some, but they actually add a nice little nutty, crunchy taste
to yogurt or smoothies, or can be added when baking muffins or
breads to add nutrients and fiber.
Some of the staples in the freezer:
* Frozen berries – during the local growing season, I only get
fresh berries, but during the other 10 months of the year, I always
keep a supply of frozen blueberries, raspberries, blackberries,
strawberries, cherries, etc. to add to high fiber cereal, oatmeal,
cottage cheese, yogurt, or smoothies
* Frozen fish – I like to try a couple different kinds of fish
each week. There are so many varieties out there, you never have to
get bored.
* Frozen chicken breasts – very convenient for a quick addition
to wraps or chicken sandwiches for quick meals.
* Grass-fed steaks, burgers, and ground beef – Grassfed meats
have been shown to have as high as, or even higher levels of
omega-3 fatty acids than salmon (without the mercury). Also,
grass-fed meats have much higher levels of conjugated linoleic acid
(CLA) compared to typical grain-fed beef. I recently found an
excellent on-line store where I buy all of my grass-fed meats now
(they even deliver right to your door in a sealed cooler) -
www.healthygrassfed.2ya.com
* Frozen buffalo, ostrich, venison, and other “exotic” lean
meats – Yeah, I know…I’m weird, but I can tell you that these are
some of the healthiest meats around, and if you’re serious about a
lean healthy body, these types of meats are much better for you
than the mass produced, hormone-pumped beef and pork that’s sold at
most grocery stores.
* Frozen veggies – again, when the growing season is over and I
can no longer get local fresh produce, frozen veggies are the best
option, since they often have higher nutrient contents compared to
the fresh produce that has been shipped thousands of miles, sitting
around for weeks before making it to your dinner table.
Alright, now the staples in my cabinets:
* Various antioxidant rich teas – green, oolong, white, rooibos
are some of the best.
* Whole wheat or whole grain spelt pasta – much higher fiber
than normal pastas
* Oat bran and steel cut oats – higher fiber than those little
packs of instant oats.
* Cans of coconut milk – to be transferred to a container in
the fridge after opening.
* Brown rice and other higher fiber rice – NEVER white rice
* Tomato sauces – delicious, and as I’m sure you’ve heard a
million times, they are a great source of lycopene. Just watch out
for the brands that are loaded with nasty high fructose corn syrup.
* Stevia – a natural non-caloric sweetener, which is an
excellent alternative to the nasty chemical-laden artificial
sweeteners like aspartame, saccharine, and sucralose.
* Raw honey – better than processed honey… higher quantities
of beneficial nutrients and enzymes. Honey has even been proven in
studies to improve glucose metabolism (how you process carbs). I
use a teaspoon or so every morning in my teas. Yes, it is pure
sugar, but at least it has some nutritional benefits… and let’s
be real, a teaspoon of healthier raw honey is only 5 grams of
carbs… certainly nothing to worry about.
* Organic maple syrup – none of that high fructose corn syrup
Aunt Jemima crap…only real maple syrup can be considered real
food. The only time I really use this (because of the high sugar
load) is added to my post-workout smoothies to sweeten things up
and also elicit an insulin surge to push nutrients into your
muscles.
* Organic unsweetened cocoa powder – I like to mix this into my
smoothies for an extra jolt of antioxidants or make my own
low-sugar hot cocoa by mixing cocoa powder into hot milk with
stevia and a couple melted dark chocolate chunks.
* Cans of black or kidney beans – I like to add a couple scoops
to my Mexican wraps for the fiber and high nutrition content. Also,
beans are surprisingly one of the best sources of youth promoting
antioxidants!
* Dark chocolate (as dark as possible) – This is one of my
treats that satisfies my sweet tooth, plus provides loads of
antioxidants at the same time. It’s still calorie dense, so I keep
it to just a couple squares; but that is enough to do the trick, so
I don’t feel like I need to go out and get cake and ice cream to
satisfy my dessert urges.
Lastly, another thing that’s hard to go wrong with is a good
variety of fresh fruits and berries. The staples such as bananas,
apples, oranges, pears, peaches are good, but I like to also be a
little more adventurous and include things like yellow (aka -
mexican or champagne) mangoes, pomegranates, kumquats, papaya, star
fruit, pineapples, and others. Also, strawberries, blueberries,
raspberries, blackberries, and cherries are some of the most
nutrient and antioxidant-dense fruits you can eat.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this special look into my favorite lean
body meals and how I stock my cabinets and fridge. Your tastes are
probably quite different than mine, but hopefully this gave you
some good ideas you can use next time you’re at the grocery store
looking to stock up a healthy and delicious pile of groceries.
Be sure to pick up a copy of Mike’s book The Truth about Six
Pack Abs, which introduces you to the entire comprehensive
training and nutritional program that will turn your body into a
lean, sexy specimen that others will envy!
