Recipes and Stuff ...

Well, I haven't been very good at blogging so far.  I think I am at like one every two months or so.  Not a good record.  Anyway, just wanted to chime in on a couple of things.  In previous posts I talked about the fact that I was doing high intensity training and then moved on to a higher volume training.  So I did that for about six weeks and think that I liked the high intensity (heavier weights, slower reps, etc.) regimen.  Now I have moved on to a good old back to basics routine.  It is very "bodybuilding" oriented.  I am actually using a bodybuilder (from the 70's) routines as inspiration and adapting them for my needs.  As I stated in previous posts.  Everyone is really different and every body responds to different types of workouts.  I think the current routine blends the best of both the high intensity and higher volume components.  So I will hopefully keep folks updated on how that is working for me.  I will just say though, that my longer frame does not build muscle easily and I am applying the principles that I am using to gain as much lean muscle as possible - obviously without gaining fat - which is actually a really hard strategy and takes a lot of determination.

Anyway, I wanted to just post a couple of thoughts on recipes and diet.  I have been thinking a lot and talking with people a bunch about this subject.  First let me start by saying that this is my weakest personal area.  Every person really responds differently to dietary guidelines and no one way works best for each person so you have to experiment a lot.  I am a horrible cook so that makes experimenting on my own that much more difficult.  One thing that I have considered a lot lately is that the idea that people need to make sure that there calories don't exceed what the put out in energy is so important - but at the same time we also need to monitor the type of calories that we put into our bodies.  I always struggle to emphasize that the type of calories is almost as important as the amount of calories that you put in your body.  Also the timing of those calories and the sources are things to carefully consider.  My conclusions are too much to put right here but I would say that it is REALLY important to eat a sizable (biggest meal of the day) breakfast.  People just don't get this and really struggle to find things to eat in the morning.  Secondly eating more frequently and smaller meals tends to be the more appropriate way to consume calories.  Finally - as you go through the day you should taper your carbs and sources of carbohydrate - like a "bready" type products at night are not advised.

Okay - so as far as new recipes I have tried.  How about pizza?  I know - you are like "what ... pizza?"  Well I have made a new little pizza that I really like.  I use pita bread (which I have read has a pretty low glycemic rating) that is wheat (even better).  I put like a very thin layer of olive oil on the top of it (like a teaspoon) and smear it around.  Then I put like a tablespoon or so of Ragu sauce on it.  I use Hormel turkey pepperoni (only 5) and sprinkle about an 1/8th of a cup of 2% milk mozzarella cheese on it.  Oh and I have heated the oven to 425.  I put it in for like 5 minutes and it is awesome.  The calories, carbs and fat are all reasonable and it really tastes like decent pizza.  That is just my recipe.  You could add peppers or other vegetables to it to even make it better if you like.  

So that is it for today.  Let me know what you think.

Thanks for your time.

Andy