Category Archives: Clean Eating

Food Rules

Throughout my career I have been lucky to spend tome with some of the best in the nutrition and diet world. I have broken bread with Dr John Berardi and Michael Pollan. Both of these men had a profound influence on how I eat and the idea I will share with you today. Michael Pollan has a simple method for eating.

 

“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Michael Pollan

 

If you followed those three simple rules you’d probably be healthier than you are right now. On the other hand Dr John Berardi has written books about his different rules and methods. I have devised my own simple plan that is based in many ways on the lessons I have learned from these two.

 

  1. Figure out how many eating opportunities you have in a week. If you eat 4 times a day 7 days a week that is 28 opportunities.
  2. Create a scoring system. You could use an excel graph with 28 squares or even use notes in your phone. It doesn’t matter, just track it someway.
  3. Mark an X in meals that don’t pass the simple test (I am about to show you), Mark a checkmark when you do pass the test.
  4. Follow this simple test. Does your meal have protein, fruit and or veggies, and water. If so then it passes, if not it fails.
  5. At the end of the week score yourself. Maybe you hit 14 out of 28 meals. Then you have a starting point, aim for 15 next week.

 

A few notes about this is, be honest with yourself as you must know where you are starting. Also, don’t fret over where you are now. The only way us up, no human would score perfect (maybe a bodybuilder preparing for a show), so give yourself a break and just try to do better.

 

Try this out and as with any goal make slow steady progress.

 

Hamer

Hungry Food Fun

Hello my hungry homies,

 

If you follow along on my adventure shenanigans you can see that I love cooking and trying new exciting foods with a twist. What you may not have known is that I’m pretty much a veg head these days. Long ago a grumpy gray bearded man told me I couldn’t get bumpy by being a veg head, so we had to stubbornly prove him wrong. Also, I’m team animal and team save the planet which helps fuel the fire, and forces me to think outside of the box and be more creative. With all that being said, I have two fun and easy food recipes to show you that will definitely spice up your life and give you a twist on some classics, veg head style of course.

 

First we have the Black Bean & Beet Fiesta Burger which was inspired by our trip to The Independent, a Squirrel Hill tavern and restaurant (a fan favorite).

 

Take your Beets (fresh is better for most things) black beans, chickpeas, quinoa, jalapeños, onion, thyme, oregano, salt, pepper, a bit of A1(for that umami hit) and send it all through the food processor. Mix all that up well and refrigerate for a bit, then create your patties and cook them like you would your favorite burger. Then Boom, toss your go to toppings, some guac on that burger and send it between some fresh buns. There you have it, a quick and easy twist on a tasty burger.

 

As a nice side for the Triple B Fiesta Burger we created a Cashew Queso, for our lactose belly ache friends out there. I believe we first had this on our adventure pit stop at a brewery in Boulder Colorado but it could have also been on a ride up Pacific Highway 1. I’ll consult the elders for the determination.

 

Any-who, get some cashews and soak those puppies overnight to start the process. Boil some potatoes, take some unsweetened vegan cream or almond/ cashew milk, diced tomatoes, chopped jalapeños, garlic, salt, onion, cayenne powder and nutritional yeast. That is correct, I don’t measure anything, just all eyes and elbows over here. Blend all that fun stuff together and TADA Cashew Queso. Dip your chips and enjoy.

 

There you have it my hungry homies. Let me know if you tried these out and how it all went. Hold onto your butts for more twisted food ideas.

 

Cheers,

CeJ

Holiday Season Tips

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! The holiday season is upon us and we here at UF are excited for the new year, while also celebrating an exciting end to 2021. Here are some tips (and some ways we can help), for a strong end to 2021, and stronger start to 2022.

 

  1. Bring someone to the gym for our free week. If you have anyone coming from out of town, bring them to the gym Dec 23-Dec 31st for a free week. Have a friend who doesn’t train, bring them over. This offer is for anyone who is not a member and they do not need a member with them. This is an open invite for all to come try UF for one week. This membership will be an unlimited membership so please help others discover the beauty of strength.
  2. Give yourself a break. Yes, holiday parties will involve cookies and libations. Just get back on it the next day. It’s OK to be human.
  3. Keep your sleep schedule. Sleep is one of the most important acts humans do. Through all the adaptation we have seen as humans, the body has never changed how much rest we need. So try to stay on point.
  4. Get ready for SPIN! We are adding spin back to UF. Starting in January we will be having spin classes as well as our normal cardiolab classes. So try something new here at UF.
  5. Drink more water. Before the cookie tray hit the water fountain. Water will help reduce our urges, as well as just generally making us better.
  6. Serve others. Servant leadership is very important, especially at this time of the year. Do some good out there, it will come back to you ten fold.

 

Thank you for reading my rants about how we can improve ourselves and others. Now let’s all go out there this holiday season and share the love.

 

Ham

Tis’ the Season of Bulking

UF has a very diverse membership, we have competitive lifters, athletes, business workers, yoga fans, and everyone in between. For some of these people bulking is a good word, for others it is an unwanted side affect of the holidays. The cold weather tends to bring less hikes, less sunlight, and more cookies/libations into the Pittsburgh region. For those of you who would like to avoid bulking this time of the year, I have some tips to help you out.

 

  1. Focus on what matters. Will one cookie or one drink be the difference maker? NO! Yet, one drink and one cookie nightly will be. So enjoy the cookie at the party and realize it won’t be the one that matters, the ones you have at home may be the difference maker. So have fun, be social, enjoy the cookie tray, then go home and get back to your healthy eating habits.
  2. Stick to your plan. Just like in step one, we must continue to do what is right when no one is watching. Look in your kitchen, do you have healthy or unhealthy options? Surround yourself with good options.
  3. Find mini workouts. Make a commitment to walk, jog, move, or do anything throughout the day that will burn a few extra calories. If you have a dog walk the little guy he needs it.
  4. Set a new routine. Over the next few months set some new goals. Make your goals input not outcome based. If you have an Apple Watch then a simple one is fill your rings. If not then how about just walking daily. Set a very simple achievable goal and stick to it daily.
  5. Come see us at UF more! Yeah I had to plug the gym here. We are hosting out annual Turkey Burn workout. Come and burn a few hundred calories prior to stuff your face. Then go stuff your face and enjoy every bite.
  6. Last but not least. Give yourself a break. We will all mess up, and we will all fall off the wagon, that’s OK, just get back up and keep moving. Life, fitness, and health are all marathons, do what you can to keep moving.

 

Happy holiday season and happy bulk season too for our lifters.

Break Your Rules

Dr John Berardi is someone who has really helped me throughout my career when it comes to diet and nutrition. Years ago he wrote a book (I forget which one), to help people with their diet and training. In the book he recommended using an excel sheet to record your diet. The method he used was simple. Set a few simple rules such as,

 

  1. Have protein in each meal.
  2. Have fruits or veggies in each meal.
  3. Drink water at each meal.

I am not sure these were his rules, yet this is what I took away from the rules. Once this is set make an excel sheet with 7 columns and as many rows as meals you would eat each day.  If you were eating 5 meals per day you would have 35 empty boxes. Now each time you follow your rules put a check, and when you fail put an x in the corresponding box. At the end of the week score your sheet. Now try to do better next week.

 

Improvement is not linear yet your steps for improvement can be. Let’s say you had 20 meals that you followed the rules in week one, and 15 that you didn’t. This is your baseline. Just be one meal better next week. Keep taking steps in that directions. Here is the kicker, for most people scoring 100% on this is not only impossible, it isn’t a happy life. No matter how good you get at this don’t try to get to 100%, break your rules 10% of the time. This 10% is life that happens. Sometimes Marcus opens a new doughnut shop, and next thing you know we are eating doughnuts here at UF. If 2020 taught us anything it is, don’t turn down the opportunity to have a beer with a good friend.

 

Now I ask you, can you go set some rules, believe in those rules, and break them sometimes? Just by the act of being conscience of your decisions I can promise you that you will feel healthier and stronger. Until then I’ll be here eating the peaches that Sarah brought to the gym.

 

Sugar, Sugar, Sugar, and HFCS

The good old American diet, quick and assessable greasy fat or sugary foods. YUM, am I right? In America, there is heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and an obesity epidemic. There is room to point fingers at a lot of reasons but in this, we’ll focus on added sugars like high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).  

 

HFCS was invented in 1965 and in the 70s it was being marketed. Over the years, this has been used more often for food and drink products. Which is found in most of the foods and drinks we consume (e.g. bread, soda, juice, canned fruit, cereal, & coffee creamers, etc). This has become a common ingredient because it is cheap and easy to manufacture. 

 

High-fructose corn syrup is an artificial sugar made from corn syrup. HFCS needs to be broken down into glucose, glycogen, or fat by the liver before being used as fuel. In America, the increased sugar consumption per person per year has greatly increased. This increase consumption can cause serious health issues mentioned in the beginning. Glucose will stimulate the area of your brain that controls appetite, whereas, fructose does not, which means you could eat more than planned. Are you wondering what overeating can lead to? Well, have you heard of visceral fat? It is the most harmful type of body fat. HFCS will promote visceral fat build-up on your major organs such as the liver, kidneys, pancreas, intestines, and heart. This can increase your risk for heart disease, stroke, artery disease, diabetes, and some cancers.

 

I’m not saying avoid HFCS or sugars at all costs. These sugars are everywhere and can be hard to avoid, especially in our more sedentary, grab-and-go society. Just try to be mindful of what you are putting into your body. 

I Love Eggs and You Should Too

Hang around lifters, (the humans not the bad nickname for your shoes) long enough and the topic of protein will come up. The rule of thumb that most of you have probably already heard is eat one gram of protein for every pound of bodyweight. For me I float around 200 lbs so around 200 grams of protein a day is a good goal. There is some debate about this number yet we can use it as a starting point. From there the quality of protein matters. If you do not understand amino acids that’s OK here is how you can think of it. For this blog we are going to just use numbers to represent different amino acids(AA). Let’s say AA your body can produce AA’s 1-5 but not 6-10. AA’s 6-10 must one supplied through diet. That is what makes a protein a “complete protein.”

 

Your goal for protein intake can include some non complete protein, yet getting complete proteins is very important for recovery. Another rule of thumb (no this is not a fact yet a decent rule of thumb) is animal proteins are generally complete. This is why being a vegetarian is so hard. Often times you will have to supplement with AA’s that you miss in your diet.

 

Onto the egg. Here are some fun facts about eggs.

 

  1. Eggs are a complete protein
  2. The yolk has as much protein as the white.
  3. They are one of the few foods high in Vitamin D.
  4. The are delicious and easy to prepare.
  5. This is the big one. The egg has a cheat sheet inside of it to tell you how awesome it really is. That cheat sheet is the yoke. A yellow yoke=BAD egg. A dark gold or almost brown yoke=Gainz. Without delving into hens diets too much a darker yolk means that the animal had a healthier diet and more than likely a better life. Run an experiment for yourself. Go to a local grocery store by the cheapest eggs you can look at the the yolk, cook it and taste it. Now go to a farmers market or east end food co-op, do the same thing. See and taste the difference for yourself.

 

Clearly point #5 was the one I really wanted to write about. The yolk tells you most of what you need to know. Now I am aware that people will say “Hamer, those eggs are expensive.” I do understand yet let’s look at the bigger picture. If you are willing to spend 4-6 dollars on your fancy coffee yet not 4-6 dollars on your eggs then you made your decision as to what’s important. I love the fancy coffee too and I also know the fancy eggs are more important. So skip the mocha, soy, chai, skinny, latte, with the sugar free, sugar infused vanilla and a pump of hazelnut and buy some real eggs.

 

Eat real food.

 

Hamer

 

Drink Coffee, Get Bumpy.. Mo Joe

Union, Let’s raise a cup of Joe ,

 

It has been said loooooong ago in a land far away, that a herd of goats stumbled upon a berry, ate said berry and had a jolt of energy. The goat herder took these berries to the local monastery for the monks to observe. A drink was made with these berries and boom, the nectar of the gods which we call coffee was born!

 

The Effects of Coffee on Exercise:

1) Caffeine blocks adenosine receptors in the brain which in turn reduces grogginess & smacks the parasympathetic system up, boosting alertness & response time. 

2) Caffeine improves blood circulation, which brings oxygen and other nutrients to muscle tissues.

3) A study by old Johnny Hopkins University suggests 200-400mg of caffeine can improve mental and physical performance.

4) Pain in post exercise soreness decreases with pre-training coffee consumption.

5) Coffee has antioxidants which are badass and help defeat evil inside of you.

 

Now go french press your own, or head on over to your local coffee beanery and enjoy a cup for your health & performance. 

 

Cheers, 

CeJ

Staying On Track During the Holidays

It’s that time of the year. The holidays are here and the new year is upon us. You’ve worked hard to get to this point and want to make sure that you stay on track during the holidays and into the new year. Although getting to this point has been a bit different than past years, the same rules still apply.

 

1) Take the time to sit and reflect back on the past 365 days and all of the things that have gotten you to this point. This includes the good, as well as the bad. Each decision that we’ve made and experience that we have encountered has placed us here, exactly where we are supposed to be. What we choose to do with it going forward is up to us.

 

2) Think about how you will approach the upcoming 365 days. What will you do to continue upon the path that you are on, or how will you make the adjustments for some things that you would like to change? If you have you achieved your goals, then great. Keep doing it! If not, then that’s okay. We don’t always get to check them off the first time around. Going forward, set small goals and put together a mental outline of what you want this next trip around the sun to look like for you, and then take the steps necessary to make it happen. 

 

3) Don’t stress about working out or not working out. If you want to continue to exercise and stay active over the next few weeks, that’s great! Keep it rolling and keep that momentum driving forward. If training isn’t appealing to you at this time and you feel as though you need a mental and physical break, then by all means, take it. You’ve been building and conditioning your body for days, months, and years. It is not going to get erased in just a few weeks.

 

4) Be open minded with your diet. Just as with training, if you have been consistent with your nutrition, then a couple weeks of eating Christmas food will not ruin the progress that you’ve made over the last year. Enjoy a good meal with loved ones, have some cookies, and drink a glass of your favorite beverage (milk included). It’s okay to be a kid again.

 

5) Find alternative forms of activity. Whether you choose to partake in exercise or not, do something that may be outside of your normal routine. Take a day to explore some new land, pick up a new sport, or play outside with friends and family. One of the best things you can do is go for a morning walk to collect your thoughts and reflect. Maybe even do some bodyweight squats and pushups along the way. Who knows, you may even stumble upon something new that sparks your interest going forward.

 

6) Most importantly, enjoy time with others, or even just yourself. Remember what this time of the year means to you. Regardless of what’s going on in the world, this does not change. Tell the people in your life that you love them, look out for each other, be grateful for the things and those people in your life, and remember that each day is a blessing.

Nutrition Tips For Thanksgiving

The holidays give a lot of people anxiety when it comes to eating, being fearful of overindulging, not being able to control their intake, or for some, not sure how to approach any holiday while still enjoying the foods they love. My simplest piece of advice that I can offer always reigns true for anything in love, eat mindfully but allow your space to indulge without guilt, how do we do this? Well if you keep following along you’ll find out.

 

Thanksgiving is probably one of my favorite holidays, mainly because I get two in one year. As a Canadian we celebrate Thanksgiving in October however also being American, we celebrate this holiday but in November. From the pie to the stuffing to the gravy, this holiday is all about the food and I’m here for it (sometimes I end up in a food coma, actually let’s be honest, I always end up in a food coma around Thanksgiving).

 

As always, my tips are just suggestions and in no way do you need to follow them head-on. I’m simply sharing what I share with clients who struggle with this holiday and want to also stay on track with their goals while enjoying all the amazing food that sits in front of them.

 

Fasting for Thanksgiving is a big no-no, you do not need to fast for this festivity unless you are someone who already follows an intermittent fasting schedule. Instead, let us look at the day this way:

 

  1. Enjoy a high protein, low carb, and fat breakfast
  2. If your Thanksgiving dinner sits in the early afternoon, instead of having lunch, make yourself a high protein, low carb/low fat snack.

 

          • If anything, people struggle with getting enough protein in on this day so having 1-2 meals or one meal and one snack that is high in protein will set you up for success.

 

      3. For your Thanksgiving meal, the following is a suggestion:

 

          • 1/4 protein, 1/2 carb, 1/2 vegetable, 1/4 fat (can be included in protein/carb). Within this structure, you’re still hitting all your core groups and you can visually see on your plate where each macronutrient sits.
          • For dessert, if there are many different kinds sometimes I’ll opt for smaller portions to allow more space for a variation or if I’m more prone to want just apple pie, 1-2 slices is the perfect amount for me (I’ll never skip dessert, it’s the best part).

 

Remember, these are just suggestions to get the most out of your holiday without feeling like you overindulged. However, if you’re someone who doesn’t struggle with these feelings then please disregard my suggestions or follow them if you want to also stay mindful of your goals. Everyone is different and we all have different relationships with food, that is why what works for me doesn’t necessarily work for the next person.

 

If anyone needs any extra advice or wants to reach out to speak on the holiday, feel free to DM me on my personal Instagram. I’m always available for a little chat, especially since I’ll be spending the Holiday virtually with my family.

 

Have a great Thanksgiving Union Fam, much love,

 

Jocelyn