So many of you have been asking me for more recipes, things have been very busy (oh never heard that before) but no excuses. Here you have an extremely simple, fast and versatile daytime meal that can be transported and eaten either hot or cold...




First of all let me tell anyone reading this that the best source of chicken for both convenience and nutrition is that from GoldStandard, the ready cooked, steamed chicken breasts they do are really the best option for healthy living (unless you happen to own a free range chicken farm, in which case lucky you!). Unlike supermarket chicken they contain zero preservatives and you can tell straight away that no extra water has been added, I don’t eat any other chicken myself and urge all my clients to do the same. You can buy them online directly for the GoldStandard website.


Secondly I’m all about convenience, although the title here makes it seem as if we’re creating a delicate, fine-dining experience – it literally takes 3 minutes to prepare (yes I am serious).


 Shopping list: Chicken breast (GoldStandard recommended), pesto sauce (no added sugar), Quinoa, Chickpeas, Bulgar Wheat & Rice Waitrose Love Life 250g (available from Waitrose, in pre-cooked packets). Note: If you can’t get this exact product you can of course use wholegrain rice or quinoa cooked yourself, even wholemeal pasta, I’m listing this option as it’s just so easy. 
 
Preparation:
Chop your desired amount of chicken breast (for me a portion is 150g), add two teaspoons of pesto sauce and your desired amount of quinoa/rice/bulgar wheat mix (for most of my meals I use 100g which give your roughly 30g of carbohydrates, follow your diet plan to get the right amount of protein and carbohydrates) and mix together.
 
Now for the best part… This meal can either be eaten cold or heated up (microwave for 2 mins). Delicious, healthy, versatile and guilt-free. This recipe is also available in downloadable PDF format in my DIET > RECIPES > DAYTIME section.

JB

Save yourself time and money with GoldStandard
steam cooked chicken
 
When I design diet plans for clients I usually point them in the direction of Iceland or one of the supermarket chains to get ready-cooked chicken. Most people don’t have the time and energy to cook up kilos of chicken multiple times a week (if you do, great – you have more time than most people, enjoy it!). They want something ready-to-go and in this age of instant gratification and limited time, it’s a no-brainer.


I recently tried the new product from GoldStandard nutrition, steam cooked chicken. The chicken comes in individually steamed breasts, skin removed and no E-numbers, preservatives or water
injections. It comes in a 2.5kg pack of frozen, pre-cooked breasts and wait for it, the price…£19.00 for a pack (this drops down to £17.00 if you purchase 4).


I found it difficult to find uncooked chicken for this price, let alone cooked. Simply pop out a few breasts the night before, leave in the fridge and in the morning they are ready to rock. As if this wasn’t enough I can tell you from my own experience (eating a very measured diet, every meal weighed and calculated) that 140g of this stuff will leave you as full as 180g of the supermarket options, which, let’s be honest, are pumped full of water. It’s worth adding this into the equation when calculating the value of this product.


I for one will never go back to Iceland for my chicken and I encourage any of my clients and members of this site to give GoldStandard a try. You will thank me.

Use this link to try them for yourself

So where can I start?
 
It’s all very good for athletes and trainers to harp on about “advanced training technique X” or “the secret training system for extreme fat loss” but really what most people (and by this I mean people who may not be gym goers, overweight, self-conscious etc.) want is an idea of where to start without killing themselves!

I had the pleasure of competing at the Muscletalk show this last Sunday in Bedford. It was an excellent event and professionally organised. The big buzz of the day was about Jodie Marsh competing for the first time in a real federation (UKBFF). I’m sure most of you have followed her story to some extend and seen the madness first hand, her malnutrition and poor advice
she was given throughout has, I fear, painted this sport in a bad light. There
are a million trainers around and even more diet and training plans. What is
clear to me is that there is no “one-fits-all” approach, despite what the big
businesses would have you believe. You need to have real advice from someone you can trust and more importantly to put your faith in that person to deliver you the results you want without straying from their plan, the worst thing you can do is to seek professional advice from multiple places or overthink the
 advice given to you. I can’t tell you how many opposing views have been
presented to me during my pre-contest prep – but I stuck with the advice from my coach and achieved success.


Don’t stray from the advice  given!


Now with that being said there 10 basic rules  that apply to everyone:



1.      
Clean up your diet:  remove: sugar, crisps, sweets, fizzy drinks, cakes, chocolate, pizza, chips,  burgers etc.(you know -the bad
things!).


2.      
Do at least 30 minutes  of something each day, running, swimming, football – anything that makes you sweat! (yes including bedroom cardio, 30 minutes might be pushing it though)


3.      
Get a good night’s sleep; don’t fall into the trap of sleep debt. Sleep is when your body heals itself, it’s so important!


4.      
Don’t skip breakfast; by doing so you mess up your metabolism and cause your body to be more likely to store fat. This one is so important and every person I speak to who says they “just can’t eat breakfast” soon sees the benefits once they start.


5.      
Don’t overeat, binge eating is a great way to get fat - you should never feel bloated after a  meal.


6.      
Alcohol and recreational drugs; fun? Yes –helpful for healthy living and a good body composition? No.   (Moderation)


7.      
Green veg; so important to leading a healthy life I can’t begin to tell you how much my health improved after upping my green veg intake (see my kale shake recipe). Goodbye constipation.


8.      
Low fat arrgh!?!?! Generally speaking “low fat”products are worse than the regular versions, instead of having fat they are usually full of sugar instead (which in my opinion is much worse). I'll have a full-fat yoghurt over the low-fat version any day. 


9.      
Processed food; avoid at all costs – everything should be from a natural source if possible.


10.  
Vitamin pills: Forget apples, one of these a day will help to keep the doctor away!

"I can't recommend them enough", this is my sound-bite for the IFBB education courses and it's completely true. Over the last few years I have been fortunate enough to have attended (and passed!) the majority of the IFBB educational courses. These courses are organised by the IFBB and the British federation (UKBFF), held at Panther's Gym (near Uxbridge, West London) and are delivered by the most experienced lecturers on the planet. I owe a large chunk of my success to the information provided by the IFBB courses and would hastily recommend them to anyone wishing to improve their own knowledge. I had already trained for 8 years prior to attending the IFBB "Weight training prescription specialist" course (suggested to be the first "training" lecture from which to build knowledge). After learning the scientific approach and understanding to weight training (basic kinesiology) I then progressed to the advanced version and finally to the personal trainer course (recognised in 183 countries across the globe). Since then I was able to design my own training program to focus on weak points, allow for the recuperation of long-term injuries and to generally approach training from a scientific understanding instead of "my buddy told me so" knowledge.

In the world of weight training people tend to get set in their ways and think there is nothing new to learn, think again! If you are an athlete, trainer or otherwise involved in the world of strength training you really owe it to yourself to invest in these courses. This really is something special people. As if that wasn't enough reason already, you will also have the chance to meet some of the pros and celebrities in the world of bodybuilding and fitness; Alvin Small (IFBB pro), Neale Cranwell (Mr. Universe), Trevor Chung (Multiple title holder) and Carly Thornton (celebrity fitness model) to name but a few.

For more information on the upcoming 2012 course schedule please see the education home page here - You need to hurry though, I know they are getting full for this year.

You can also contact me directly for more information via email.

Hope to see you there!

James

Lawrence writes: A question for your website/blog - what is your take on whole milk used as a training supplement in modern times?  

 
This is a double-edged sword, I have an interesting discussion with John from TailoredPT.com about this exact topic. There are two sides to the argument, while whole milk does contain extra goodies that are missing from pasturised milk (certain enzymes and friendly bacteria). Whole milk also contains a higher fat content than most milk available “off the shelf”, remember fat is not the enemy like so many magazines  would have us believe - just don’t overdo it. So it’s essentially understood that whole milk contains a better nutritional profile than pasturised milk. The  issue (and argument against whole milk) is that there is a chance that the milk  will contain a contaminant (usually bacterial) that will cause harm to you if you drink it, while the studies about the chances of contamination vary in their risk assessment we can assume that healthy cows will not have  contaminated milk (this is the consensus).


The final consideration in this argument is the risk vs. benefit. Yes,  the health risk associates with whole milk is very low, but what of the benefits? The best analogy I came up with last time this was discussed was to compare your body to a car. If (like most people) you drive a regular car, don’t really check the oil levels or tyre pressure like you should, you keep a load of
old junk in the back and don’t really care about the funny knocking sound every time you turn a corner – I’m not sure that putting high-octane fuel in the tank will make any difference (if fact it may just damage your engine). However if you drive a performance car, with a lightweight body, tuned engine and gearbox, sports suspension etc. and you add high octane fuel – you will notice a difference immediately.


It’s the same with your body, if you smoke 20 a day or finish each evening with a 6-pack of beer, or your idea of exercise is walking to the pub –  I doubt whole milk will do a thing for you.