What do you do to get a hard lean body ? Not hours and hours in the gym – that will help you a bit but the main thing is what you are pouring into your stomach. You may want to get some ideas on healthy snacks and meals and I hope this article will encourage you to experiment . Basically, you just need to make sure that all the junk food in your house is thrown out or that it never gets a chance to get in ! If you have junk food around, then you are going to eat it and that is not going to get you the hard body you are looking for. The most important thing I reckon is not to make mistakes when you shop for food.
I always make sure that my fridge is stocked with loads of fresh vegetables. My supplier will change depending on the season but I always try to have the following basics in the fridge.
I usually have zucchini, spinach, broccoli, red peppers and mushrooms. I use these with my breakfast eggs every morning. Sometimes I can put some lean chicken (diced) along with Swiss or goat cheese just to vary the thing a bit. I love coconut milk which is always in my fridge and I use this for mixing it in to my smoothies, yogurt, oatmeal. This stuff is great because it is full of healthy fats and gives a great creamy taste.
What else will you find in my fridge? I love cottage cheese and ricotta is a great favourite of mine as well. I can mix in chopped nuts and berries into these or into a yogurt for a great snack. As regards nuts, I use pecans, walnuts and almonds – these are a great source of ‘good’ fats. I also grind flax seeds in a coffee grinder and add them to a salad. You must use them fresh, though. Eggs are another favourite because they can increase your good cholesterol. As for peanut butter, well, I am not a great fan but I like to use almond butter with sesame seed butter. What about normal dairy butter ? Nothing wrong with it but is fairly dense in calories but if you eating healthily, why not?
If you open my kitchen cabinets, you will find : Oat bran – these have higher amount of fibre than the instant ones. I keep cans of coconut milk – if I open them I can keep the rest in the freezer. I have a wide variety of teas from oolong to green, white and rooibos. I also have a sweetener which is called Stevia . This is natural and non- caloric, not like those full of chemicals (aspartame, saccharine and sucralose). I make sure I have organic maple syrup- avoid the stuff which is full of fructose like the plague. I use the organic maple syrup occasionally to add to a smoothie if I want an insulin surge which in turn will shove nutrients into my muscles. Raw honey again is full of great nutrients unlike the highly processed stuff. Honey helps you to process the carbs, in other words your glucose metabolism. Great for your tea if you have a sweet tooth. I also keep whole grain pasta which has a higher amount of fibre than normal pasta. Brown rice is another staple in my cabinet – don’t bother with white rice. Kidney beans are great for adding to wraps and other Mexican stuff. Actually these beans are just full of antioxidants which will promote longevity. Tomato sauces are a great source of lycopene which is a great help if you are suffering from enlarged prostate. I consider myself a chocoholic but actually I try to limit my intake of dark chocolate (the darker the better) to a few squares. It is fairly full of calories but it has loads of antioxidants and that is much better than going and stuffing yourself with cake and cream. I also have some organic unsweetened cocoa powder – this is great for me as I am a chocoholic and I can satisfy my desires in a healthy way as this stuff is full of antioxidants as well.
I hope you enjoyed looking inside my fridge and kitchen cabinets and that this will give you some great ideas when you go to your grocery store to stock up. Just eat some or most of the stuff above and you will be well on your way to a healthier, leaner you.
Robert Locke is a specialist in Wellness.
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