After the talk was done and I was fielding questions, one comment was voiced that I repeatedly mentioned that consuming more vegetables was key for weight loss, however, I didn’t mention anything about fruit.

Frankly, I’m glad this question was raised because I’ve had a number people ask me recently about my stance on fruit. I think the sudden interest in fruit consumption has a lot to do with Weight Watchers having recently changed their nutrition guidance to counsel people that fruit is a “free food” and that daily consumption is unlimited.

To this I have to say: sorry Weight Watchers, but once again your nutrition advice is off the mark.

Biological scientists realize fruit and vegetables aren’t the same thing…

Now before I go to far, let me assert the following: fruit (in the correct servings) is a wondrously healthy addition to most meal plans.

Personally, I think that the micronutrient profile of fruit makes it the smartest way to meet the bulk of daily sugar intake and I routinely encourage clients to have some fruit in and around their workouts.

NB. I deliberately did not use the term “daily sugar requirement”. Because as I have already pointed out, physiologically speaking, the daily sugar need for a human is zero grams per day.

However, for people whose primary goal is weight loss (and not just maintenance of good health), fruit intake MUST BE controlled. Suggesting otherwise is a straight up slap in the face of science.

Let’s look at some numbers to see this in greater detail. Considering our latest food guidance tools suggest that we need “5 servings of fruit and vegetables” a day, let’s see what happens if someone consume all those servings as either fruit or vegetables.

I tried to use very “standard North American” choices here to show just how massive a difference there is between 5 servings of vegetables (~2 1/2 cups chopped) vs. 5 servings of fruit (5 medium servings). Incidentally, I included vitamin C in this analysis because I frequently here people telling me that they need to eat fruit to get vitamin C…

According to this very simple analysis, we can see that on average, a serving of fruit provides:

• 4x a many calories as a serving of vegetable
• 5x the carbohydrate
• 7x the sugar
• 3x the fibre
• comparable amounts of vitamin C, depending on the food source

Now I don’t know about you, but telling people they can consume as much fruit as they like a good bet to having them overconsume calories and sugars in long run.

Speaking from personal experience, the most common problem my weight loss clients have is that they are already eating far too many sugars of any type. And although I think the sugar in fruit is the healthiest type of sugar to consume… it’s still sugar and you can’t go “carte blanche” and expect to have an easy time losing weight.

Clearly not a GTO sponsored weight loss class…

To be fair, if your diet is currently nothing but Krispy Kreme donuts, then opting for 8-10 servings of fruit in place of those 8-10 donuts will do wonders for health AND weight loss. In fact, fruit is a great tool for helping people wean themselves off all the added sugars in the typical North American diet.

However, assuming you are reasonably healthy already and are looking to drop those last 10 lbs and look ultra fit, then practicing proper fruit control is likely going to be a necessary diet modification.

To sum my position on fruit it’d be as follows: is fruit healthy? Yes. Can you eat all the fruit you want and look the way you want to? Probably not.

A far better approach is to limit the majority of your fruit consumption to in and around workouts, then load up your plate with vegetables the rest of the day. Do this and don’t be surprised if the weight starts to fall off by “magic”.

Clearly it’s not magic, it’s just basic physiology. Crazy how science works.

Till next time, train hard and eat clean!

Although I enjoy cooking, I can be quite lazy with my meal preparation. The beauty of this tuna recipe is that it takes about 2 minutes to prepare and packs in several servings of vegetables to boot.

Tuna Avocado Stuffed Peppers

• 1 bell pepper (any colour)
• 1 can tuna
• 1/2 avocado (ripe)
• 1/2 cup onion (chopped)
• 1/2 cup salsa

Directions

In a small mixing bowl, max ripe avocado. Add tuna, onion and salsa, stir together with avocado.

Wash and cut bell pepper (in half), remove the seeds. Spoon tuna mixture into each pepper half and consume like a sandwich.

Optional: you can swap 1 TBSP of tzatziki for the avocado for a different flavour and lower caloric impact.

Nutrition Info: 400 kcal, 15 g fat, 28 g carbs (12 g fibre), 38 g protein

So there you have it, an awesomely healthy meal that even the laziest among us can prepare!

And who said fast food had to be unhealthy?

Till next train, train hard and eat clean. W2C3QWFZWQFP

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!

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!

This is why one of my favourite “convenience” products are Eat Smart bagged vegetables. Most convenience, pre-packaged food tend to detract from your pursuit of optimal health; however, pre-cut and pre-washed vegetables are godsends. All you have to do it open the bag and eat – how easy is that?

In fact, one bag a day (which will cost you only $2-$2.50) is a great way to add 4 servings of vegetables to your diet. Extrapolate that out to a week and for around $15 dollars, you can excuse-proof your required vegetable consumption. From a cost-benefit perspective, this is the type of lifestyle change that yield the biggest benefits to your health and physique.

And as always, to help you make eating more vegetables a reality, here’s a quick and easy recipe for you to try:

Peanut-Chili Stir Fry (Peanut butter stir fry recipe)
Makes 4 servings

1 bag of mixed or stir-fry vegetables
3 chicken breasts
1 tsp coconut cooking oil
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 TBSP garlic-chili sauce
3 TBSP E.D. Smith’s Syrup (for you carb counters) or 2 TBSP honey

1. In a frying pan, heat 1 TSP of oil.
2. Chop chicken into bite-sized pieces and add to pan.
3. Cook until golden-brown on the outside.
4. Add vegetables to pan and cook.
5. In a cup, combine peanut butter, chili sauce and syrup.
6. Add 1/4-1/2 cup water (more if desired) and stir well.
7. Add peanut sauce to the pan, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

*adjust ingredients as needed to achieve preferred balance between chili and peanut butter
** you can also add more vegetables as desired

Per serving: 490 calories, 22 g fat, 22 g carbohydrates, 51 g protein

There you go, pretty simple. To speed this recipe up further, you can use pre-cooked chicken breasts. Toss toss everything into a pan, cover with the sauce and heat for 5-10 minutes.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Till next time, train hard and eat clean!