What's In Your Vanilla Ice Cream?

 "Mr. Food Revolution"  Jaime Oliver caused quite a stir on Letterman when he explained to Dave and his audience that vanilla ice cream has a product called castoreum in it. “It comes from rendered beaver anal gland,” said Oliver. “It’s in cheap strawberry syrups and vanilla ice cream, and If you like that stuff, next time you put it in your mouth, just think of anal gland.”

The castoreum is removed from the beaver during the skinning period, and is dried in the sun, or sometimes over burning wood. (*Throws up a little in mouth)

Detox Gazpacho

Try this easy gazpacho that is refreshing and can be served at room temperature instead of chilled. I found having a lighter dinner, without that glass of booz, means a more restful uninterrupted sleep, which not only equals more energy the next day, but a flatter tummy as well.

Detox Gazpacho

Serves 4

1 large cucumber, halved and seeded, but not peeled 1green bell peppers, cored and seeded 1/2 red onion 1 garlic cloves, cut in half 1 28-ounce diced tomatoes 1/4 cup red wine vinegar 2 tablespoons peanut halves 1 tablespoons olive oil 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse 10 to 15 times until a chunky mixture forms. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Stats Per Serving (1 1/2 cups): 122 calories, 3 g protein, 15 g carbohydrates, 5 g fat (0 g saturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 3 g fiber

The Healthiest Meal Of The Day Makes It To Oprah’s “O” Magazine

I drink Shakeology almost everyday and I didn't have to go half way around the world to get it. So when I found out Shakeology's creator was traveling with "O" magazine's editor and chief to Peru to find more superfoods I was ecstatic.



Below is a snippet of the actual article from the May 2011 issue which can be found in “O”.



Around 4 o’clock on any given morning, Darin Olien will walk into his Malibu, California, kitchen and make himself a smoothie. This will not be an ordinary drink. The other day, for example, he tossed the following into his blender: coconut water, fermented sprouted brown rice, maca, aloe vera juice, barley grass powder, kamut juice powder, almond butter, camu camu, avocado, goji, lucuma powder, noni juice, cacao nibs, MSM, maqui, bee pollen, sacha inchi oil, omega-3-DHA/EPA oil, Hawaiian deepwater salt, chia seeds, nopal, goat yogurt, luo han guo, and a powder called Shakeology.



If you’ve never heard of many of these ingredients, you’re not alone. But stay with me here, because they’re among the most powerful nutrients on Earth. Olien’s specialty is what’s known as “formulating,” taking wildly beneficial substances and combining them into something even more potent: a supplement, a snack, a tea, a medicine, a smoothie. Every food in nature contains a mix of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, along with noncaloric vitamins, minerals, fibers-all of which fuel our cells-and each one has unique abilities that we really don’t understand, but it is now clear that some foods pack an extra biochemical punch. Camu camu fruit, for instance, provides the richest source of vitamin C known to exist. Maca, a hearty root that grows only in the high Andes, comes in yellow, red, and black varieties, boosts fertility, is said to balance hormones, and dispenses a day’s worth of kick-ass energy. Sacha inchi is another South American treasure, a protein-rich, metabolism-revving nut that delivers an omega-3 bonanza. Olien’s final ingredient, Shakeology, contains more than 70 components itself, a crazy cornucopia of good.



No one understands Shakeology better than Olien, who created it in 2008, after Carl Daikeler, CEO of the fitness company Beachbody, challenged him to come up with a supplement to match the tagline The Healthiest Meal of the Day. His customer was someone who wanted optimum wellness, wanted to lose weight, wanted cholesterol levels to drop-but had no intention of eating a platter of broccoli each day. Daikeler gave Olien no limits on quality, no cost/revenue restrictions; the goal was to shoot the moon, to seek out and combine the most extraordinary plants, fruits, nuts, herbs-nature’s secret weapons. And Olien found them: ashwagandha from China, cordyceps from Bhutan, yacon from Peru. An alphabet of vitamins and minerals from the purest sources. Prebiotics. Probiotics. Green tea and grapeseed extracts, chlorella and spirulina and hydrilla, a spectrum of enzymes. Since hitting the market in March 2009, more than 400,000 bags of Shakeology, at $119.95 each, have been sold.

How To Make Chicken Nuggets Without The Ammonia

Are chicken nuggets your kids' default meal every time you take them out for dinner or fix their lunch? Have you ever wondered what was really in those chicken nugget or how healthy or unhealthy they really are?
It all starts on a chicken farm. Usually, only retired chickens (no longer egg layers) are destined to be a nugget because their meat is really cheap. Tendons, tissue, cartilage, organs, and other chicken extras are ground up into a fine poultry paste. Because that paste is typically crawling with bacteria, it's washed with ammonia, and treated with an artificial flavoring. To get rid of that pink color, the paste is dyed. Doesn't sound too tasty now does it?

This is how you can make your own chicken nuggets at home instead of buying that mess. Grill a chicken breast and cut it into small dipping size pieces with a knife or cookie cutters. Dip the chicken breast in a beaten egg mix, and then roll it in cornflake crumbs before you bake it. You get the crunch and healthy goodness without all the extra. Plus you get piece of mind knowing your child is getting more than just a breaded paste.

Say Bye Bye to Milk

So you've made the decision to go dairy free…Now what? Fear not, it's easy to avoid lactose and still get your fill of milk-like liquids. Soy, rice, coconut, almond, and there is even hemp milk. Some, like coconut and rice milk, have been around for hundreds of years as dietary staples in many cultures around the world.

Here are the five most widely available—and very diverse—milk substitutes. Before we start, let's look at what you're leaving behind when you give up dairy. A 1-cup serving of regular skim milk has 90 calories, 125 milligrams of sodium, 8 grams of protein, 30 percent of your recommended daily allowance (RDA) of calcium, 25 percent of your RDA of vitamin D, phosphorus, and riboflavin, and 16 percent of your RDA for vitamin B12. That same cup of skim milk also contains 12 grams of carbohydrates, 11 of which are sugar.

Now let's compare the other milks. Keep in mind that these are all vegetarian/vegan-friendly, gluten-free alternatives.

1. Soy Milk. Soy milk is probably the best-known milk alternative in the Western world. It's easy to find it in a variety of flavors and options at just about any market. So how does soy milk stack up nutritionally compared to skim milk? A typical 1-cup serving has about 100 calories—slightly more than skim milk—with 7 grams of protein, 29 milligrams of sodium, 25 percent of your RDA of thiamin, 9 percent of your RDA of riboflavin, 8 percent of your RDA of iron, 15 percent of your RDA of copper, 20 percent of your RDA of manganese, and just about 35 percent of your RDA of calcium.

 
 
 
 
Despite soy milk's popularity, there is some controversy surrounding it. More than 90 percent of  all soy beans in the U.S. are GMOs. (genetically modified organisms)


Also, soy products like soy milk contain phytoestrogens chemicals that tend to act like estrogen when introduced to the human body. (Not good for us guys) There are a lot of studies on this subject but most contradict each other. One study suggest that phytoetrogens could cause or prevent cancer.
I don't drink it at all because I think it's overly processed and cost way to much.


         
                                                    
2. Rice Milk. The popular brands are enriched with calcium and other nutrients found in dairy milk but they also come with a variety of additives, sweeteners and flavors.
                                                            

Nutrition: 1-cup serving has approximately 80 to 90 calories, mostly from sugar.  Although it's popular, I wouldn't settle on rice milk as a truly complete and healthy alternative to regular milk, unless I was mixing it with




                           

3. Coconut milk. If you're a fan of Thai food or pina colada , chances are, you've had plenty of coconut milk in your lifetime. Coconut milk is not the watery liquid found in the center of the coconut, which is known as coconut water (the stuff you hear sloshing around inside when you shake one). The rich, creamy stuff that's extracted from the white coconut flesh nutmeat itself is coconut milk.  


Until recently, a cup of coconut milk contained at least 500 calories, most of which was saturated fat, but now low-calorie coconut milk has begun finding its way onto grocers' shelves. A typical 1-cup serving has about 150 calories, most of which is still saturated fat. It has 3 grams of protein, 45 milligrams of sodium, 50 percent of the RDA of vitamin B12, 30 percent of the RDA of vitamin D, and 10 percent of the RDA of calcium and magnesium. If you're a vegan looking to get more vitamin D in your diet, this stuff might help, but keep in mind that you won't be getting any protein from it and you'll be getting a lot of fat.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4. Almond milk. This is one I can live with. Nutritionally, a 1-cup serving will have anywhere from 50 to 80 calories, depending on how much water has been added. Although it has minimal protein, it does have 25 percent of the RDA of vitamin D, 50 percent of the RDA of vitamin E, and 150 milligrams of potassium, along with some manganese, selenium, and many other trace elements.



There are a wide variety of fortified store-bought brands that all taste pretty good—sweetened, unflavored, or otherwise. I stick with regular organic almond milk. I love Almonds so Almond milk is my favorite and it’s quite versatile too, but it is low in protein.


 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5. Hemp milk. This may be harder to find but Places like Trader Joe's® or Whole Foods Market® are your best bet for hemp milk. (Sorry this will not get you high.) Although, the U.S. is pretty much the only country in the world that doesn't allow hemp seed cultivation, even though there's no drug content in it. All hemp seed in the U.S. is from Canada; so it's guaranteed to be organic and pesticide-free.



I consider hemp seeds a super food because even a small amount can go a long way nutritionally. A 1-cup serving of hemp milk has approximately 110 calories and has 24 percent of the RDA of iron, 72 percent of the RDA of magnesium and phosphorus, 35 percent of the RDA of zinc, plus 11 grams of omega-6 fatty acids, 4.5 grams of omega-3 fatty acids, and 16 grams of protein.


I hope this helps you with your choice and cuts back on some of the guess work. Most of these you can use in any recipe that requires regular milk. Shakeology^®. Store-bought brands will be more nutritious, but will contain a lot of sugar.

What's Your Body Type?

Your Body Type - Ectomorph, Mesomorph or Endomorph?


When I first started lifting weights I was overwhelmed with the sheer amount of different workout programs, diets, and supplements that were out there. There were so many conflicting training programs and diets available and of course every one made good points. After awhile of trial and error I finally realized that they all were right. The trick was I had to find out what worked for my body type.

Everyone has a body type. We are either ectomorphs, mesomorphs, endomorphs or somewhere in-between. My eye’s really opened once I found out what body type I was and my training took off.

My body type is ectomorph or what most body builders call hardgainer. When I first started working out I was 130lbs. I worked my but off for months before I found out about body types and only gained 1 pound. I assumed that I wasn’t working out long enough so I trained longer. After about a yr I still did not gain one pound.

I realized that training longer wasn’t working for me so I started training with more intensity for a shorter period of time. Since my body type is more ectomorph than mesomorph I focused more on long rest periods, calorie intake and no more than 20 mins of cardio twice a week. After the change I went from 132lbs to 165lbs with only 8% body fat.



ECTOMORPH

Typical traits of an ectomorph:

• Small  frame and bone structure

• Flat chest

• Small shoulders

• Thin

• Lean muscle mass

• Finds it hard to gain weight

• Fast metabolism

Ectomorphs find it very hard to gain weight. They have a fast metabolism which burns up calories very quickly. Ectomorphs need a huge amount of calories in order to gain weight. Workouts should be short and intense focusing on big muscle groups. Ectomorphs should eat before bed to prevent muscle catabolism during the night. Generally, ectomorphs can lose fat very easily which makes cutting back to lean muscle easy for them.

MESOMORPH

Typical traits on a Mesomorph:

• Athletic

• Hard body with well defined muscles

• Rectangular shaped body

• Strong

• Gains muscle easily

• Gains fat more easily than ectomorphs

The mesomorph body type responds the best to weight training. Gains are usually seen very quickly, especially for beginners. The downside to mesomorphs is they gain fat more easily than ectomorphs. This means they must watch their calorie intake. Usually a combination of weight training and cardio works best for mesomorphs.

ENDOMORPH

Typical traits of an Endomorph:

• Soft and round body

• Gains muscle and fat very easily

• Is generally short and “stocky”

• Round physique

• Finds it hard to lose fat

• Slow metabolism

When it comes to training endomorphs find it very easy to gain weight. Unfortunately, a large portion of this weight is fat not muscle. To keep fat gain to a minimum, endomorphs must always train cardio as well as weights. Usually supplements may not be needed as long as the person has a high protein intake in their diet.

Different body types require different training methods and diet plans. What’s your body type?

These body types aren’t set in stone. In fact, most guys have a combination of two body types. These combinations are either ectomorph/mesomorph or mesomorph/endomorph. It is not uncommon to find a pure mesomorph that gains weight like an endomorph for example.

No matter what your body type you can build a ripped, muscular physique. Even the skinniest of guys can bulk up. You just have to be willing to put in the hard work and it can be done.

My Rules of Training

1. Discover your weaknesses then strengthen them. (Everyone loves to do there favorite exercise but is that really helping) 
2. You don't need to train all day. My sessions are under an hour. It's about intensity. Do your work,get out, then recover.(When you lift weights your tearing muscle fibers. You can't recover till you stop) 
3. Warm up with body weight exercises.
4. Don't forget to Strengthen the small muscles that surround your joints. This will improve your strength and reduce injury. ( I ignored this rule a couple years ago when I was training for a 10k and got injured )
5. Total body training will improve how your whole body looks and help you build real world muscles.
6. Go to seep and eat right. No sleep means no growth.