Although certain cooking methods are less favourable (i.e. boiling), cooking actually enhances your body’s ability to absorb other nutrients. For demonstration purposes, I’ve included a study that looked into various cooking methods used with broccoli. Additionally, it compared both fresh and frozen vegetables.

J. Agric. Food Chem. 2010, 58, 4310-4321

If we look at the dotted line, that’s the value of raw vegetables. With the exception of boiling, the other cooking methods either preserve nutrition quality at 80% or better and occasionally, make nutrient absorption superior to the raw version. Fresh vegetables are generally superior nutritionally to frozen vegetables, but both are good for you.

Canned vegetables are much poorer options nutritionally as they are packed with salt and occasionally can pick up harmful residues from the inside of the cans (particularly acidic vegetables like tomatoes: The 7 Foods Experts Won’t Eat).

The key when cooking vegetables is to limit how much direct time they are cooked in water, as many of the water soluble vitamins and phytochemicals leach out into the water. A quick cook in the microwave or steaming are both vastly superior cooking methods in this regard. A light stir-frying can also be used to preserve high levels of nutrition quality.

These rules about cooking vegetables don’t apply to leafy greens (they are best eaten raw) or really watery vegetables like cucumber. However, any vegetable with an appreciable fibrous content (i.e. broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, carrots, peas, beans, asparagus etc) benefit from a light cooking method.

One final cooking tip, you never want to cook vegetables to the point of being mushy or discoloured. Only cook vegetables just long enough that they start to soften, but still retain their crunch.

So now you know, both fresh and lightly cooked vegetables are equally beneficial for you, just in different ways. If you struggle to digest raw vegetables (and many people do) then giving them a quick steam is a surefire way to make them easier on your system, while still giving you all the nutrition you need.

Till next time, train hard and eat clean!

Without any further ado, here we go!

1. The only way to lose body fat is through diet.

Before anyone argues that their 3rd cousin twice removed once lost 50 lbs strictly from walking 30 minutes a day… realize that when you are academically inclined, you tend to disregard exceptions and follow the rule.

Sure a couple of lucky individuals can get lean just by exercising, but for the vast majority of individuals, making significant dietary changes is the only way to go.

2. Squats are the best exercise for body recomposition.

Learning to squat properly is the most important training investment you can make. Really bad squatting form leads to injuries, good form leads to spectacular gains.

Squats may be hard, but the world’s best bodies are built on a foundation of squats and lots of ‘em.

3. The bench press is the most overrated exercise there is.

Don’t get me wrong, I love bench press as much as the next guy. However, the bench press just isn’t that great for body composition. If you want to build a great chest, use dumbbells.

4. If you are training 3 of fewer times per week, steady state cardio will not improve your physique.

At low volumes of training, the intensity needs to be high. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

5. Sleep is the most underrated component of body transformation.

Once you get passed the age of 25, trying to build muscle or lose fat with poor sleep habits is as counterproductive as trying to empty the Atlantic ocean with a spoon.

Sleep is free, improve your sleep habits before you blow hundreds of dollars on training or nutrition supplements.

6. The food most responsible for weight loss struggles: bread.

Who doesn’t love bread? This is the problem. Almost without fail, removing bread from someone’s diet makes them feel and look better. Just my observation… but gluten is not a friendly protein for many individuals.

I was tempted to put high fructose corn syrup here, but that deserves its own special column.

7. If your personal trainer never has you squat, deadlift or perform chin-ups, fire them.

Excluding the olympic lifts, these three exercises give you the biggest bang for your buck. Whether you want to lose weight or gain muscle, these 3 lifts (or some variant thereof) need to be the cornerstones of your program.

8. Avoiding dietary cholesterol diet is idiotic if you are serious about training.

Our body makes many of our most anabolic hormones from cholesterol. Remove cholesterol from your diet and say goodbye to your gains.

9. Too much is made about the “speed” of absorption of various proteins in workout shakes.

Funny – millions of awesome physiques were built back in the day before designers workout shakes. I have nothing against supplementation and I am a firm believer in nutrient timing, as I feel it enhances results. However, the real focus needs to be on total nutrient quality and quantity, rather than how quickly your post-workout shake is absorbed.

Most of these studies that show markedly greater gains using fast absorbing proteins suffer from serious methodological flaws (like studying fasted individuals, using novice exercisers, etc). If you are serious about gaining muscle, your diet as a whole must provide the proper building blocks.

10. “Everything is ok in moderation” is terrible advice.

Does moderation mean once a day, once a week or once a month? Nowadays, moderation is just used to justify terrible food choices.

I wouldn’t recommend you drink a cup of cyanide even once.

11. If you insist on doing steady state cardio, opt for the step mill.

For best results, don’t hold onto the railings and decrease the resistance so you actually have to pump your legs at a good clip.

Just you against gravity. Good luck.

12. If you could only take 1 supplement, it should be vitamin D.

I’m going to call vitamin D even more important than omega 3 and protein powders. In the supplement world, this is as close to a magic pill as we’ve got.

Obviously, if you live in year-round sunshine, this advice does not apply.

13. The real magic pill: avoiding added sugars.

People are always looking for what they need to add to their diets to make them healthy. This is totally the wrong mindset. Eliminating added sugars is hands down the biggest thing you can do to improve your health.

14. Fruit and berries are health promoting.

The last statement applied to added sugars. Natural sugars IN THEIR WHOLE, UNPROCESSED FORM can be health promoting. Fruit still contains the fiber to slow absorption, as well as the complete vitamin and enzymatic complement required to properly process the sugar it contains.

Highly processed “natural” sugars like agave nectar or Demerara sugar are still junk.

15. Many vegetable oils are trash (including their by-products).

Speaking of junk, most bulk vegetable oils are more appropriate for your car than your body. A few of the oils of vegetable origin you should use are:

• Olive
• Coconut
• Walnut/hazelnut/almond/macademia
• Avocado
• Flax

16. Natural saturated fats do not cause heart disease.

The paranoia surrounding saturated fats is based on terrible science. Literally, it’s laughable. Saturated fats were an integral part of our diets for millenia, to think they somehow became deadly starting in the 1950s is crazy.

17. Milk is the ultimate double-edged sword food source.

Milk is highly anabolic. Used properly, it contributes to significant muscle gain. Used incorrectly, it just prompts the formation of body fat and a whole host of food allergies.

18. No one ever got fat eating vegetables.

It doesn’t matter how many you are currently eating, you should be eating more. Lots more.

19. Sprinting is the best activity for stripping body fat.

Ever seen a fat sprinter? Nuff said.

20. Green tea may be even better for you than water.

An essentially calorie-free beverage that increases metabolic rate and decreases your risk for various chronic disease? If you aren’t already drinking this stuff, you need to be. And trust me… the loose leaf tea tastes vastly superior to the stuff you get in tea bags. You can thank me later.

21. Red meat isn’t endangering our health, how we treat red meat sure is.

Let me get this straight, we feed cows corn, which they can’t digest. As a result, they get fat and sick and we give them antibiotics and hormones to keep them “healthy”. We then wind up ingesting unnatural amounts of fats and chemicals… and somehow it’s the cow that is the problem?

Does deep frying broccoli and smothering it with CheeseWhiz make broccoli fundamentally unhealthy?

Do yourself a favour, opt for grass fed meat or befriend a farmer who practices sustainable agriculture and livestock practices. Your health and the environment will thank you.

22. Even a bogus workout supplement will produce results for newbies.

The placebo effect coupled with even basic nutrient timing can be a very, very powerful thing.

23. Fish oil helps everyone.

The laundry list of positive health outcomes associated with omega-3 fats gets longer by the day. If you aren’t taking some, stop reading this article, run to the store and pick some up. I’ll wait.

24. We don’t appreciate or understand stress, and it’s killing us.

Nothing ruins physiques or your health faster than poorly regulated stress. There isn’t a trainer or nutritionist alive who can design an effective program for someone with poorly regulated stress levels.

A good rule of thumb is to learn to not sweat the small stuff… and it’s all small stuff.

25. The idea of “eating right for your type” is 100% correct.

However, the notion that it’s simply a product of your blood type or lectin content of food is not.

Correct typing involves looking at family history, hormone levels, activity levels, age, gender, medications…

26. Training the abdominals with repeated flexion (e.g. situps or crunches) makes no sense.

The primary function of the abdominals is stabilization of the torso and spine, as such abdominal training should always start and end with planks.

27. Everybody needs to stretch more.

Flexibility training isn’t glamorous, but it’s necessary. Think of it like going to work.

28. Distance running causes more injuries than all other forms of training combined.

Slight exaggeration, but it’s probably not far off the truth. This isn’t to say distance running is bad, because it’s not. It’s just that too many of us don’t have the body structure or running mechanics to run long distances. At the very least, humans weren’t designed to run on asphalt and pavement.

29. There is no one perfect diet or approach to training.

People who spend their time claiming to have invented the “perfect” approach to anything are morons. Inter-individual variability is too great for universal recommendations. Lots of dietary and exercise approaches work; the key is finding one that satisfies your moral, religious and health parameters and stick with it.

30. Success doesn’t happen by accident, planning is paramount.

The only people who experience success long term are those who are following a plan. Workouts… diet… life, you need to have an objective measure of whether you are progressing towards your goals. Otherwise, it’s too easy to find excuses for failing.

Where there you go: 30 lessons from the past 30 years and I feel like I was just getting started!

I guess I’ll have to hold some of them back until I hit my next milestone birthday. Of course, by that time my feelings on most of this list will probably have changed 180°. Such are the joys of nutrition science.

Till next time: train hard and eat clean!

That being said, I’m loathe to accept that someone just “doesn’t eat vegetables”. Let’s be clear: you might not like all vegetables, you may not like vegetables prepared a certain way or paired with certain foods, but 100% vegetable avoidance? Even the most ardent vegetable-phobe has no problem consuming the diced peppers and olives found atop a mountain of nachos. Clearly the issue is not with the vegetables per se but rather with the delivery vehicle.

Thankfully, there seems to be at least one meal that works equally well for both the pro- and anti-veggie crowd: chili. Whether you prefer a vegetarian version or a chili loaded with ground beef, sausage and extra habanero; chili is a dish that appeals to the masses. For some reason, pairing vegetables with ground meat, beans and pasta sauce just works; go figure.

Now with 2x more Machismo…

The real beauty of chili is that it is super convenient. You can prepare a huge batch and have meals for the week if necessary. Chili also freezes remarkably well, meaning a 30 minute investment of food prep time will easily yield 6 meals over the course of the week. Now that’s math everyone understands!

Remember, meals need to satisfy two criteria if they are going to be used to help someone establish improved eating habits. The meal must:

1. Taste great
2. Be convenient to prepare

Chili comes up aces on both counts so without any further ado, here is my favourite homemade chili recipe:

Old Fashioned Chili (Downloadable version)

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS

1.5 lbs ground beef, pork or turkey
1.5 cup onion, chopped
2 stalk celery chopped
1 medium green pepper
2 cloves garlic
6 oz can tomato paste
3 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp mustard seed (optional)
1 cup mushroom, chopped
2 cup tomato sauce (canned or homemade)
2 cup kidney beans (rinse well)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a skillet, brown ground beef.
2. Drain fat, then place meat in slow cooker.
3. Sautée onion, mushrooms and garlic in skillet, then transfer to slow cooker.
4. Add kidney beans, tomato sauce, tomato paste, chili powder, and mustard powder to slow cooker; mix well.
5. Feel free to add oregano, basil, cumin, and black pepper as desired.
6. Cover; slow cook on LOW 4 to 6 hours or on stove 1 to 1 1/2 hours (stirring occasionally)
7. Add green peppers and celery 30 minutes prior to removing from heat.

Although this recipe can be prepared on the stove top, I strongly recommend investing in a slow cooker. For a minimal one-time investment (a solid slow cooker will run you $40), you get a “must have” meal preparation tool.

I can’t remember what terrible informercial reiterates the line, “just set it and forget it” but that’s the gist of cooking with a slow cooker. You just dump all the ingredients into it in the morning, head out the door and when you return 8 hours later, you have a meal waiting for you.

As an added bonus for those on a budget, a slow cooker allows you to purchase tougher (i.e. cheaper) cuts of meat. The longer, low-heat cooking process coupled with acidic liquids (i.e. vinegar, wine) tenderize the meat until it takes on a “fall off the bone type characteristic”.

Simple, cost-effective, delicious.

Slow cooking: it’s the old fashioned solution for the new-fangled problem of being “too busy” to cook. Give it a try, you won’t be disappointed.

Till next time, train hard and eat clean!

As someone who coaches people through implementing dietary change, I never cease to be amazed at how drastic sex differences can be with our relationship to food. You really come to appreciate the need for using entirely different language depending on whether you are dealing with a male or a female client.

For example, when I suggest to my female clients that one of the keys to getting lean is avoiding sugar, I get dirtier looks than if I tell them to shave their heads. Whereas telling a guy to cut out sweets is generally met with little more than, “makes sense”. Conversely, discussing the importance of beer avoidance with some of my male clients can be more painful than having a “birds and the bees” talk with my grandmother.

Needless to say, there are certain stereotypes that hold a remarkable amount of truth to them. And one of the toughest stereotypes to overcome is that idea that vegetables are only a side dish.

Well, let me refine this last comment somewhat. One of the toughest stereotypes to overcome, IN MEN, is that vegetables are only a side dish.

If I had to summarize the typical conversation I have with my clients about the need to eat more vegetables, it would go down something like this:

Me: A great way to start eating more vegetables is to make one of your meals a salad…

Female client: Hey, no problem, I can do that. (This is followed by… )

How many cups of lettuce should I use for my salad?
Do you think yellow peppers are better for me than red peppers?
If I have my salad for dinner do I need to avoid carrots because of their sugar content?
Is low-fat Italian dressing better than low-fat Ranch?
Is a tomato considered a vegetable?

And so on and so forth…

Whereas for a male client:

Me: A great way to start eating more vegetables is to make one of your meals a salad…

Male client: Hahaha… wait, are you being serious right now? Dude, a salad is not a meal.

(Insert a good 5 minutes of protesting, followed by…)

How many servings of vegetables are there in Catalina dressing?

True story (at least the question about the Catalina dressing part). When it comes to convincing people to eat more vegetables, it is always way tougher working with males than females.

This is because, as a group, men base their food selection on only two criteria:

1. Does it taste good?
2. Is it convenient?

And for too many men, vegetables don’t taste great unless they accompanying a plate of chicken wings and can be dipped in blue cheese dressing.

Therefore, instead of pushing salads as a means to an end, I’ve had way more success just ripping off a standard male meal and “healthying it up”. And in the grand scheme of food, what is more quintessential man than Shepherd’s Pie?

Ground meat, corn and potatoes.

If the sound of those ingredients doesn’t excite your inner Caveman, than nothing will. Unfortunately, what is good for your inner Caveman isn’t necessarily so great for your waistline. Most people already eat too many grains and starches, so I’ll need to get rid of those if I’m to devise a physique friendly version.

My solution: swap out the potato for cauliflower and the corn for mushrooms & onions.

Bodybuilder’s Shepherd’s Pie

INGREDIENTS

1 lbs lean ground beef
2 head cauliflower
2 cups mushrooms
1 large onion
1 cup cottage cheese
1 cup black beans (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Brown ground beef in a frying pan, then drain fat.
2. Bring 5-6 cups water to a boil in a large pot.
3. Cut cauliflower into flowerettes and place in boiling water.
4. Cook 5-10 minutes or until soft.
5. Thoroughly rinse black beans in a strainer until water runs clear.
6. Remove ground beef from frying pan.
7. Add chopped mushroom and onion, cook until transluscent.
8. Add black beans and ground beef to vegetable mixture.
9. Cook another 2 minutes, season with salt/pepper/chili seasoning if desired.
10. Remove cauliflower and drain the water.
11. Add cottage cheese and mash well.
13. Spread meat mixture in a 9 x 9 pan.
14. Layer cauliflower mixture on top.
15. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

*Cooking times may vary, check after 20 minutes.

This version of the recipe keeps the vegetables pretty hidden. If you are more vegetable tolerant than most, then I encourage you to add a layer of frozen carrots, beans, or peas mixture as a middle layer. However, even just swapping out the potato for the cauliflower is a huge step forward.

The black beans are included as a cost effective way of increasing the volume of the recipe. For all you carb-a-phobes, you are welcome to leave them out. Personally, I think a little fibre and ultra low-glycemic carbs are good for you, but that’s just personal preference.

So there you have it. A vegetable recipe that:

1. tastes great
2. is super easy to make
3. is loaded with high quality ingredients
4. won’t get you dirty looks from the boys when you pull it out for lunch

And who ever said eating healthy was difficult?

Till next time, train hard and eat clean!

Jaime Oliver is the British chef who was instrumental in leading the reform of the Brit's school lunch program and now he is attempting to do the same thing in the US. His new show takes place in Huntington, West Virginia, a city recently named America's unhealthiest.

If you haven't caught the show yet or seen a promo, here's a short clip:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Amazing, isn't it? Out of an entire class of 25 kids, not one of them could recognize a tomato. This is obviously quite sad, but what is more depressing are the attitudes of the "powers that be" that have allowed this to happen. Considering the town in question boasts an obesity rate of over 50%, a perverse attitude towards food is clearly not the exception, but the norm.

This backassward relationship with food is really highlighted in another preview clip where Jamie is seen asking a group of lunch ladies if they have a problem with serving pizza to the kids for breakfast; they don't. Or if they can even recognize half the ingredients found on a box of chicken nuggets; they can't. Needless to say these lunch ladies are just the tip of the iceberg. 

If you are interested, here's the clip in question. 

Click here to view the embedded video.

Until we as consumers or food providers start demanding higher quality food, there won't be any long-lasting or meaningful change. How can we expect children to develop good eating habits if most adults themselves have no concept about makes "good nutrition"?

Obviously the show sensationalizes the situation a little, but it does highlight a situation that is becoming far too commonplace. We have increasingly moved away from real food, and the widespread incidence of chronic diseases (ie. cancers, obesity, diabetes, depression) are just some of the horrible side effects.

What I love about Jaime Oliver is that he's trying to make a difference on the food preparation and supply side. I think we can agree that the simple "knowledge is power" approach hasn't yielded the kind of results we are looking for.

Far too many health experts have spent years debating what is "best". Although I'm all for discovering the optimal ways to do something, the reality is we are still failing with convincing the masses to do even the bare minimum.

Take for instance our vegetable and fruit consumption. How long have we had ad campaigns preaching the virtues of "5-10 servings per day" or "eat the rainbow"? And how successful have those campaigns been? At last check, a good 55% of adult Canadians still don't even consume 5 servings of vegetables and fruit… combined!

Starkey et al. (2001). Can J Diet Pract Res.62(2):61-9

Now I don't think people avoid eating vegetables and fruit because they haven't heard about the importance of at least 5 servings a day. Rather, the situation is grim because we (the health industry) haven't made eating vegetables and fruits an attractive option.

Instead of clinging to our self-righteous ideals and continuing to harp on people that they should eat vegetables, "because it's the right thing to do", we need to accept that most people will only eat vegetables when vegetables are more convenient and tastier than the alternatives.

Enter one solution: better tasting vegetable recipes.

If, when someone mentions "vegetables", you instantly think of iceburg lettuce or carrots boiled into oblivion, you need to expand your palate. One great way is to get started with more vegetables is with a couple of recipes I posted earlier:

1. Peanut butter stir fry
2. Spinach berry smoothies

As an added bonus, I'll be back later on this week and next with even more unique ways to sneak more veggies into your diet.

Till next time, train hard and eat clean!