Posted By Dave Ruel
If you’re like most people out there, one thing that you definitely struggle with when it comes to sticking with your healthy meal plans is meal preparation.
Let’s face it, life is busy.
You have a million and one things that you have to try and get through and spending hours in the kitchen doesn’t exactly rank high on your priority list.
But, maintaining a lean and defined body does, so you have to find a way around this problem. Surely there’s some method that you can use to slash your meal prep time without having to sacrifice good nutrition? Fortunately there is and that’s the secret I’m going to share with you today.
The secret that I’m referring to is using a slow cooker. This one simple cooking tool can easily take away hours of work each week and get you out of the kitchen and going about your day.Let’s have a quick look at why slow cooking is such a great method to prepare your muscle building foods so you can get it clear in your mind why it’s a must-do for success.
Accommodates Any Skill Level Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: healthy meal plans, muscle building foods, slow cooker meals
Posted in Articles, General Nutrition Tips | 25 Comments »
Posted By Dave Ruel
We all know that we should eat the right kind of foods but what are these foods and how can they help our muscle building endeavors? I am going to explain how blueberries can help you to recover and build muscles after your workout and why they should be included in all healthy meal plans.
Blueberries are packed with antioxidants.
Antioxidants carry a large number of health benefits. After a workout, a period of stress or illness, your body goes through oxidative stress in which electrons are taken from substances during a chemical reaction. After this process has taken place, we are left with a nasty little thing known as a free radical. Free radicals are basically unstable oxygen atoms.
Free radicals don’t want to be unstable and they will try to find another electron in order to balance themselves out. Free radicals won’t even stop at stealing an electron from one of your body’s cells. In essence, free radicals therefore cause your body to rust on the inside. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: antioxidants, blueberries, healthy meal plans, muscle building foods
Posted in Articles, General Nutrition Tips, Muscle Building Nutrition Tips | 25 Comments »
Posted By Dave Ruel
I love coffee!! There’s nothing like the smell of coffee to start off the day! Growing up, we did encounter a few myths about coffee. Some of them say that drinking coffee causes increased risks in causing heart diseases, hypertension, stunted growth and tooth decay. These claims were said to be controversial though.I researched more about coffee and found out that drinking appropriate amounts actually does have health benefits. Here are some of them:
ANTI-OXIDANTS
Coffee is rich in anti-oxidants that prevents oxidation, a process that causes damage to cells and contributes to aging. Anti-oxidants can also be found in most fruits and vegetables such as berries, beans and pecans but these are consumed less frequently as compared to coffee. In fact, a 2005 study found that Americans get more antioxidants from coffee than anywhere else. More than half of adults drink coffee daily, and the average coffee drinker downs about two-three cups each day.
IMPROVED MENTAL PERFORMANCE.
Caffeine in coffee is a well-known stimulant. Coffee promotes alertness, attention and wakefulness. The cup of coffee can also increase information processing.
TOOTH DECAY Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: coffee benefits, coffee informations, coffee nutrition, coffee side effects
Posted in Articles, Nutrition Tips for Men, Nutrition Tips for Women | 33 Comments »
Posted By Dave Ruel
If you’re after the goal to build more lean muscle mass, one thing that you must be thinking about is the influence that alcohol will have on your progress. Many people often wonder whether they’ll have to give up having an ice cold pint every so often if they want to see results with their program, or whether it can be safely added to their routine.
The fact of the matter is that if you’re serious about building muscle, you need to be serious about giving alcohol the boot. As much as it may pain you to do this, you have to weigh the pros and cons of every decision you make. Alcohol will have a large influence on your progress, so if you’re not taking this into account and proceed to make unwise decisions, it is going to influence the rate of success you see.
Let’s have a look at what you need to know about alcohol and your muscle building progress.
Alcohol And Testosterone Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Alcohol, Effects of Alcohol, Muscle Building and Alcohol
Posted in Articles | 31 Comments »
Posted By Dave Ruel
If you’re getting ready to get started with a workout program, one question you might be asking yourself is whether you would be best off with a full body workout routine or if a split approach would be superior.
It can be difficult to decide as you’ll hear mixed opinions coming from both sides. In order to make the best decision, you should consider a few different factors that will allow you to easily see which variation of workout routine will be best.
Let’s have a look at what you need to know about the full body routine versus the split body routine.
The Full Body Advantage
In many situations, the full body routine will hold a number of important advantages. First, it only calls for you to be in the gym two or three days per week. For those who are just starting out or for those who are participating in other sports or want more time for their cardio training, this proves to be an advantage since it frees up your schedule. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: advanced workout, beginner workout, full body routine, split routine
Posted in Articles, Training / Workouts | 35 Comments »
Posted By Dave Ruel
One question that often comes up as people going about their training is whether they are on the verge of overtraining or not. Overtraining is a really issue that many people fear but the fact of the matter is very few actually ever come close to overtraining.
Blame this on the fact that many people in society are notoriously sedentary and some may think any exercise that gets their heart rate up is likely to lead to overtraining. If you are someone who is exercising very intensely though, then there is reason to show some concern, but you have to be careful you don’t blow it out of proportion or you could just wind up backing off a program that’s actually going to bring results.
Let’s take a look at a few of the guidelines that you should keep in mind regarding the signs of overtraining and whether you’re actually at risk.
How Much Exercise Should You Do?
The first question to address is how much exercise is considered ‘reasonable’ for each skill level. When you know what is reasonable, you can assess your program to see if there’s a problem.
I know people who workout every day and get great results out of it…they just get good amounts of sleep and their nutrition is bang on therefore their recovery is optimimum…
Those who are just starting out are best off keeping their sessions to three days a week. Remember that this refers to weight lifting sessions though, not cardio workouts. Cardio workouts can be added to that as well without much threat of overtraining.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: avoid overtraining, overtraining, signs of overtraining, superhero workout
Posted in Articles, Training / Workouts | 10 Comments »
Posted By Dave Ruel
As you go about your diet plan, one food that you must make sure not to leave out is lemons. Most people completely overlook lemons for the flavor they provide and never think to make use of it in their cooking preparation. I on the other hand use them ALL the time whether it’s for experimenting with a new recipe or using one from my trusty Anabolic Cooking cookbook 
But, when used correctly, lemons are not only a fantastic way to enhance the flavor of your meal, but they’re also going to offer numerous health benefits as well.
Let’s walk you through the main benefits you’ll get from adding lemons as well as provide you with three simple ideas to start incorporating into your diet plan today.
Health Benefits Of Lemons
Before showing you what you can do to add lemons to your diet, let’s have a look at the primary health benefits that lemons offer.
First, lemons are very rich in Vitamin C content, so they’ll help to keep your immune system strong and you feeling well on a day to day basis.
In addition to this, they’re also jam packed with antioxidants, so by eating just one lemon a day with your meals, you can help fend off disease and all the damage that free radicals can cause.
Finally, lemon will also act as a powerful antibacterial in the body, so this fact alone can ensure that you don’t become ill nearly as often and instead maintain proper health.
Meal Prep Ideas Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: benefits of lemons, lemons, recipe with lemons
Posted in Articles, General Nutrition Tips | 23 Comments »
Posted By Dave Ruel
With summer in full swing, one cooking method that you must make sure you’re making good use of is grilling. Grilling is one of the top health promoting ways to prepare your meals and even better, it offers plenty of flavour.
My favorite part of summer grilling? The gathering’s it brings and the fun that follows
When you cook on the grill you’ll help to reduce the total fat content in any meat that you prepare as the fat will drip right off and since you aren’t using any butter or other added fats in the cooking process, you’ll get a low calorie dish that’s high on nutrition but low on calories.
Cooking on the grill using propane or charcoal tends to bring out the flavour in foods to a larger extent, so you won’t need to add a lot of high calorie sauces or condiments either. Simply using some herbs or marinades will easily enhance the taste without destroying the nutritional value of the meal.
Let’s give you a brief run-down on how to make use of this terrific cooking technique.
What To Cook
There are many different options as to what you can prepare up using your grill. Vegetables are a classic favourite as they’ll come out juicy and crisp, really awakening your taste buds and allowing you to see just how satisfying eating healthy can be.
There are many different protein options for cooking on the grill as well including steaks, venison, buffalo burgers or lean ground beef burgers, fish, shrimp, and chicken. Each of these will be a high quality source of protein that’s already naturally lower in fat.
Pretty much all meats mentioned in Anabolic Cooking can be modified to be cooked on the grill. In fact some of the recipes will taste even better if you can get access to a BBQ.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: anabolic cooking, BBQ cooking, BBQ Recipes, Cook times for meat, Healthy Recipes, How to Grill
Posted in Articles, General Nutrition Tips | 4 Comments »
Posted By Dave Ruel
After putting in all the time and effort to make sure that you’ve got your workout in order, you have to ask yourself, are you doing everything possible to succeed with your diet?
If you’re like many people, you aren’t. The truth is that many people fail miserably with their attempt at a muscle building diet and largely it’s because they’re making a few key yet critical mistakes that cost them big time when it comes to their results.
How would I know? Well apart from having seen new clients experience these problems, I was also making them before I really got into bodybuilding and fine tuned the nutrition side of things
Fortunately, these mistakes are easily solved. With just a few simple changes to your cooking routine, you can make sticking with a good muscle building diet a breeze so that your hard work in the gym will really pay off.
Let’s have a quick look at what these mistakes are and what you need to do about them. Getting in sufficient calories for massive muscle growth can feel like a challenge, but not when you’re making good use of the following advice.
Mistake #1: Not Cooking In Bulk
First things first, unless you want it to feel like you’ve just taken up a second job as a chef, you need to learn to cook in bulk. In order to build muscle you must supply your body with a continuous stream of nutrients, which means eating every two to three hours.
Obviously most people don’t have time to get into the kitchen this often however, which is why cooking in bulk will save the day.
Prepare large batches of chicken, beef, fish, stir-fries, or protein based snacks and you’ll dramatically slash your total kitchen time requirements.
Mistake #2: Not Investing In Quality Tupperware Containers
After you’ve started preparing more food in bulk, the next step is to invest in some quality Tupperware containers. For those who are always on the go (which is most of you!) Tupperware will save the day. It’s a must to bring foods you’ve prepared yourself with you as you go about your day otherwise you’ll risk either dining at a fast food or restaurant location, or possibly worse, not eating at all.
Good Tupperware containers mean you’ll always have proper nutrition on hand, so there’s no excuse not to get in your designated meal.
If you can afford to spend a bit more, I would recommend investing in the pyrex or glass tupperware since it is safer to microwave in.
Mistake #3: Failing To Have Enough Recipes
Bored of your diet? When trying to build muscle and consuming thousands of calories a day, if you aren’t changing it up it’s only going to be a matter of time before you become incredibly bored.
Having a large number of healthy recipes on hand solves this problem instantly. This way you’ll actually be excited about having another meal, rather than feeling like you’re dreading it.
Recipes like these ones below makes things INTERESTING and not to mention TASTY! Just a small sample of the recipes in Anabolic Cooking of course 
Baked Crispy Chicken Nuggest Recipe – “an Anabolic Cooking inspired recipe”
Roasted Chicken Breast with Spinach and Walnuts Recipe – “an Anabolic Cooking inspired recipe”
Mistake #4: Not Multi-Tasking Kitchen Tasks
Another quick time saving tip is to make sure that you multi-task kitchen tasks. Many people focus on just doing one thing at once, when in reality many tasks could be completed at the same time.
While one food is cooking for instance, rather than sitting around waiting, prepare another dish to either go along with it or to save for another meal.
This again reduces your total kitchen time so will make sticking to your diet feel like less of a burden.
Mistake #5: Using Sugary Marinades Instead Of Herbs And Salt-Free Spices
Finally, the last big mistake you must watch out for is that you’re not using sugary marinades. Many people think that ‘fat free’ means it’s okay to eat, but that’s not the case. If you want to build quality lean muscle mass, you need to be feeding your body with quality ingredients.
Marinates prepared with sugar will just take away from the results you see and send you for an energy high followed by a crash. Instead, use marinades based around herbs and salt-free spices.
If you have the right recipe for these, they may even offer additional muscle building benefits.
So there you have five huge kitchen cooking mistakes that you must make sure you’re not making. Were you guilty of any of these?
You better not say your guilty of not in enough recipes right?
Tags: anabolic cooking, cooking tips, healthy food, Muscle Building Diet, recipes
Posted in Articles, General Nutrition Tips | 14 Comments »
Posted By Dave Ruel
If you’re a regular salad eater, it’s time that you started to take a good hard look at the different foods you’re putting in your salad to make sure that you’re getting nothing but top of the line nutrition.
One mistake some people make is always relying on the same old foods over and over again with their salads. Not only does this get incredibly boring incredibly fast, but it’s also going to put you at risk for nutritional deficiencies.
Getting a wide variety of fresh produce into your diet is essential because each vegetable offers a totally different combination of nutrients.
Now, one specific change-up that I want to talk to you about today is your lettuce. If you’re preparing the foundation of your salad with iceberg or romaine lettuce, it’s time to change that.
Spinach needs to be your new selection.
Let’s take a quick look at why spinach earns top marks as far as your salad is concerned.
The Calorie Counts
First things first, when assessing any food you want to put into your diet, you must think about the calories it contains. Since total calories consumed does play a big role in your muscle gains or body fat loss, you need to keep this under control.
Between these two options, the calorie count is fairly similar and will be so low that it’s not going to make a difference.
So rest assured that by swapping out your lettuce for spinach instead, it’s not going to alter the calorie count of your diet in any significant way.
The Iron Content Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: iron, lettuce, mucle building vegetables, multivitamin, spinach
Posted in Articles, General Nutrition Tips | 10 Comments »
