Fitness food doesn't have to be boring

There is a widespread mistaken belief that in order to attain or maintain a lean toned physique year round that your food has to consist of the same bland, tasteless food.

This could not be further from the truth as it’s the number of nutrients contained in the food and what it adds up to which is most important, not the type of food per say. This is why you often see these crazy McDonalds, maple syrup, cabbage soup diets etc actually work for people. Yes they are certainly not optimal in regards to the nutrients you are getting and you would certainly loose muscle using one of these but they are have a common trend in that the people doing them are ingesting less calories than they are burning.

So called ‘healthy eating’ doesn’t have to be limited to chicken, rice and broccoli people!

Now for someone who is uneducated on food and its nutritional content, sticking to bland foods which can be more easily tracked might be a good idea as it will make it easier for them to hit their target intake for the day. But this is certainly not the only way.

I also believe that sticking to bland foods is only a short term strategy is not sustainable. You often see people come off diets and then indulge in all the things that they have denied themselves for so long only to put back on all the weight they lost.

The long term benefits of educating yourself on nutrient content of food groups will in the long term help you make better food choices. If the food can fit into the overall target intake for the day then there’s nothing wrong with a bit of indulgence. Consistently hitting your target nutrient intake for the day is more important.

Here is an example-

Say you fancy a bit of chocolate cake. An average slice of chocolate cake contains between 300-400 calories. If you can account for this into you overall calorie intake for the day and the rest of the days food consists of an appropriate division of protein, carbohydrate and fat then I there is nothing wrong with having the piece of cake. Err on the side of caution and estimate high when in doubt. Most nutrition information is readily available at the click of a Google search, ignorance is not an excuse.

Now obviously the flexibility will be reduced when on a calorie restriction as you have less calories to play with but there are few foods that have to be totally eliminated. Nutrition and ‘healthy eating’ like so many things in life is about balance. It’s not about living like a monk and restricting your self from all pleasures in life.

There is also having flexibility when cooking. Again use of herbs, spices and condiments shouldn’t be restricted provided they are accounted for in the overall nutrient intake for the day.

Here are some examples of the food I cook, food porn for the foodies-



Chicken liver casserole with potatoes, green beans and saukraut.



Baked coley fillets





Pepper steak with potatoes and mushrooms

Mixed berries with sweetner



Baked whole gammon joint




Homemade chocolate cake

Would you like to learn how to track your food so that you can maintain a lean, toned physique year round without having to restrict yourself from food?

I will post more examples of my cooking in future. Please email me if you have any questions