One of the teaching points I’ve been increasingly stressing to my clients is the need to simplify our diet selection – a lot. Humans are creatures of habit, so as long as your habits consist of repeating 4 or 5 healthy meals each day, then you can expect to get tremendous gains.

Obviously, the challenge then becomes “how do I identify my fav 5 meals?” Well it takes a little experimentation for sure, but it’s far easier to try and discover 4-5 healthy meals that someone likes to eat, instead of beginning a diet with the destined-to-fail expectation of creating a lavish meal plan consisting of 28-35 different healthy meals each week.

Nutrition is simple… sort of.

But what constitutes a healthy meal? Obviously, optimal health varies from person to person, due to genetic needs and different goals. However, in general, all of the recipes I’ve posted on this site can be considered healthy and make excellent choices as the foundation for a healthy, weight-loss oriented meal plan.

To illustrate how this work in reality, I’ve selected four recipes that I’ve posted on the blog over the past couple of years:

• Breakfast: protein pancakes
• Lunch: chili
• Snack: homemade protein bar + 15 carrots
• Dinner: chicken curry served atop 2 cups mashed cauliflower

Successful dieting really is as simple as starting with recipes such as these and repeating them, often. Now I know that anyone unfamiliar with the recipes I spotlight might be thinking “but diet food sucks” and I would have to agree. Thankfully, my recipes aren’t diet food, but rather awesome meals that happen to fit as part of a healthy diet.

It’s a subtle and important distinction…

Now before we jump on the “just eat the same foods everyday” bandwagon, it’s important to see if those foods actually provide us enough of the vital nutrients our bodies require. Although you may be able to eat a steady diet of fruit loops and bagels and peanut butter… those really aren’t foods of champions.

Taking a look at the 4 meals above, when I run a nutrient analysis on them here is what came back:

Joan Doe hypothetical meal plan

Excellent macronutrient profile and with the exception of calcium and vitamin D (which many people need to supplement with regardless of the quality of their diet), this is an exceptionally robust meal plan.  Looks like our efforts to simplify Jane’s life have resulted in a huge win for her health… as well as her meal prep time.

Obviously I’m not suggesting that my recipes are the only way to succeed. In reality, the best route to success is for each of you becoming your own food scientist and experimenting with the flavours and combinations that yield the types of meals you can enjoy routinely. But by approaching diet and meal planning with the goal of K.I.S.S. (start by finding 1 breakfast, 1 lunch, 1 dinner and a couple of snack options), your chances for success increase significantly.

Give it a try, you’ll be amazed at how quickly your body responds!

To help you start with this new approach to simple eating, here’s an amazing broccoli soup recipe I created. It’s been featured quite prominently as part of my weight loss program, The Final Diet, but it’s so good that I really need to share it on my blog as well.

The beauty of this recipe is that the broccoli does not overwhelm anything, making it quite suitable for broccoli lovers and not-so-lovers alike. Enjoy!

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Ingredients

• 6 cups broccoli
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 cups soup stock
• 1 dash Salt and pepper

Directions

• Steam broccoli, then add to blender.
• Bring chicken broth to a boil, then add to blender
• Add coconut milk, garlic & pepper to blender
• Close lid and blend for 30 seconds.

Makes 6 servings.
To turn into more of a complete meal, add 4-6 oz. grilled salmon or grilled chicken.
Nutrition Info (per serving): 150 kcal, 13 g fat, 5 g carbs (2 g fibre), 4 g protein.

This soup is quick, easy and nutritious. Try this recipe and see if it can become one of your fav 5.

Till next time, train hard and eat clean!

Related posts:

1. 400 Calorie Fixed
2. Low Fat Chicken Curry: Ridiculously Good Eating
3. Protein Pudding: Looks Awful, Tastes Great!

Sssh… don’t tell anyone, but I want to let you in on a little secret.

I know you’re here because you’re fed up with getting ripped off by ridiculous diet and exercise scams. Well today is your lucky day, because I’m about to let you in on a dirty little secret used by many of the top figure and fitness pros to keep their bodies lean year round.

They probably don’t want me telling you this. I mean, if word started getting out about how effective this diet strategy was for helping you look fantastic… well guys like me would quickly be out of business. But that’s ok – I’d rather help all of my readers start to look and feel fantastic, even if I don’t make a dime in the process.

But I’ve got to warn you, this information isn’t technically free… I mean, it will cost you a measly $6 per week to actually implement. That’s right, what I’m about to tell you is going to help you become shredded and all it’s gonna take is a $6 per week investment on your part – that’s less than half of what many of you pay per month for a gym membership!

Alright – ready for this? Promise me you won’t go start telling all your friends about this, because I don’t want this stuff to start flying off the shelves so fast I can no longer get enough for myself. Ok, ok,ok … I trust you. Here you go, the $6 solution that helps more of my clients than anything else is:

(keep scrolling)

(ready?)

(I bet the anticipation is killing you)

(ok, enough wasting time… here it is)

Yup, the $6 bag of pre-cut, broccoli flowerettes from Costco. Almost 2.5 lbs (16 servings) of ready-to-eat veggies at your fingertips. Sauté ‘em, steam ‘em or just munch on them raw, it doesn’t matter. I’ll even allow you to binge and eat the whole bag (go ahead and try, I dare ya)! Oh btw, if you do manage to get through it, you’ll have only consumed 400 calories! That’s fewer calories than most people get from their morning coffee and donut.

Look, figure pros and fitness professional aren’t perfect  – they are often lazy, cheap and don’t have ‘time’ to prepare nutritious meals. Hmm… sounds like pretty much everyone I know. But the people with the best bodies have learned to incorporate certain strategies that allow them to nail their goals. And pre-cut, ready-to-eat vegetables are just one of the tricks that keep them looking and feeling fantastic year-round.

If you are serious about remaking your body, make it a goal to eat a whole bag of these veggies each week (on top of whatever other fruits and veggies you enjoy eating).  Tell me that it doesn’t make a significant change to your waistline and your health… all for $6.

Remember, when it comes to your health – “good enough”, isn’t.

Got any other great, low-cost, fat-busting tips? I’d love to hear them.

Related posts:

1. Seriously Shredded Physiques: CBBF Competitor Emily Zelinka
2. So you Want to be a Figure Competitor?
3. Novel Vegetable Recipes: Cauliflower Shepherd’s Pie