orange juice and cream

So you are sick of drinking milk, you need a break from it, but you still need a high calorie drink to gain weight. Well lately I’ve been craving orange juice, for some reason, but its hard to make the calorie sacrifice when I can be getting double the calories from milk… So what can I do?

Well here’s the recipe for a solution: Just add some 1/2 and 1/2 or cream to your milk. Remember those Popsicles Tropicana used to make that were vanilla with a coating of frozen orange juice on top? They are friggin’ delicious, well anyways that’s what your orange juice will taste like when you add 1/2 and 1/2 or cream to it. Not too much, but just a few tablespoons can bump up the weight gain ability by 100 calories or so, so use it at your own discretion until you think it tastes right.

And you still get the satisfying fruity refreshing taste of orange juice. Let me know what you think once you try this orange juice recipe.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

ready to drink protein shake

Protein Shakes are

• Nasty
• Kinda Expensive
• Thick and Nasty
• Leave you feeling bloated
• Convenience is the only pro I can think of

Steak is

• Delicious
• Low in Fat
• Extremely dense in protein
• Did I mention delicious?

So a Guy at my gym was drinking these things (over on the right). It’s a $4.00 (outrageous!) ready-to-drink can of flavored protein drink, readily available at GNC… A 12 pack will run you about $50.00, which in my opinion is INSANE! I guess this works out to roughly 8 cents per gram of protein. I can see convenience working in as a reason to have this

Rare Grilled Steak

stuff, but a diet high in meat should render it obsolete. I mean, just tonight, I went down to the grocery store and picked up a nice steak for $3.00 that has 75 Grams of Protein in it… The math on this one is 4 cents per gram of protein. The protein in a steak costs 1/2 as much as the stuff in that nasty can (this is actually one of the cheapest one’s I’ve found lately, usually its not more than $1.50 more though). Could he not wait to get home, fire up the grill and throw on a steak? I usually have time I guess if you are in a huge hurry all of the time you might need the nasty shakes.

But I have another point. People today seem to think getting enough protein is all about supplements and shakes, but it doesn’t have to be! Eat a few eggs at breakfast with some ham, toast and peanut butter, make milk your primary beverage throughout the day, have a meaty sandwich at lunch, and have a steak at dinner, and you are easily at 150 grams of protein in one day without even trying, without consuming one shake! Just eat more meat! Its really low in carbs, low in fats when its not fried; making hamburger patties at home on the grill with lean hamburger is another good source! I think people have forgotten how healthy meat is these days. Meat get a bad rap.

To further push against shakes, the amount of carbs and sugars shakes are usually loaded up with, at the end of the day, will usually transfer to a net amount of fat gain much higher than steak or any relatively lean meat in general. That shake may only say 8 grams of fat, but when you look down and it says 250 grams of total carbohydrates and another 50 grams of sugar (extreme case, read on), you know that’s just going to metabolize into fat anyways! And at that point, the everything comes back down to that single equation, are your calories in greater than your calories out (or vice versa)… Even some of the leanest ” PURE Whey Protein” powders will still struggle to hit the protein : net fat ratio of even some non-lean cuts of meat.

Just something to consider before you start downing shakes like crazy!

This post is dedicated to meat.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

I’ve broken the 135lb barrier, finally! I think I’ll be ready for updated progress pictures pretty soon. Once I hit 136lbs I’ll definitely post an updated picture.

I’ve also definitely settled into my new routine. Its taken about 5 complete rounds of the 4 day routine to completely get the hang of everything. With the new exercises I had to find the right weights to hit failure at the right number of reps… And honestly it takes a while… But I’m definitely on track now. I’m hitting muscle failure right around where I should be and slowly increasing the weights with each exercise.

Good things, good things. I think I’ve definitely got a good summer beach body on the way. I hope to look amazing by June. There’s no room left for any more slacking!

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

It is really good that I have been documenting everything really well because If i hadn’t, I probably wouldn’t have realized that I need to increase my gym visit frequency. I’m also trying to get over a lousy cold at the moment, so until I’m completely over it (hopefully by tomorrow) I wont be able to kick things into hard gear.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

My personal favorite at the moment is the Cinnamon Dolce Latte made with 1/2 and 1/2. But you wont see me in there without the Starbucks gift cards I get every Christmas… At almost $6.00 for one of these drinks, I’d have to be retarded to spend my own money on that.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Sometimes before bed we can get a slight hunger pang, not enough to warrant a meal or snack even but rather to nod us off to sleep. Try lightly heating a small cup of milk, stir in some cinnamon and raw honey and sip on it before going to bed. The milk will help calm the stomach and give a sedative effect, so don’t be surprised if you start yawning soon after. – Zen to Fitness

Warm Milk… I had never thought of that. Before bed I usually gulp down a 300 calorie glass of cold milk (everyone knows milk is a decent source of protein) but warm milk seems like it could be much more relaxing. This got me wondering if there are any good recipes out there for warm milk. Here’s a recipe I just tried out and its pretty delicious.

• 1 cup whole milk – 150 calories 8g protein
• 4 tablespoons of 1/2 & 1/2 – 80 calories
• 1 tablespoon sugar – 45 calories
• 2 drops of vanilla extract
• Microwave on high for just over 1 minute – stir and enjoy

If its a little too rich for your tasting, leave out the 1/2 & 1/2 or try skim milk. 275 Calories, 8 grams of protein, and one relaxing and delicious drink that does well right before bed.

Do you have a good recipe for warm milk? Have a good tasting way to add some more protein to the drink? Let me know!

Bookmark It

Hide Sites