Posts Tagged ‘nutrition’

How Much Protein Should I Eat in a Day?

Thursday, February 15th, 2024
How Much Protein Should I Eat

Hardcore bodybuilders, powerlifters, weightlifters, and even most other athletes eat a ton of protein in a day. OK, they don’t eat a “ton”, but they do eat more than the average person. There are myths and stories about professional bodybuilders and strongmen who eat 300-500 grams of protein each day. Most of us can’t follow that prescription so we end up with the nagging question, “how much protein should I eat in a day?” This leaves us with a number of additional oft-debated questions, such as:

“How much protein do the professionals eat?”

“Exactly how much protein do I eat?”

“How much protein is appropriate for me?”

“Can I physically eat ‘too much’ protein?”

“If so, what are the side effects?”

“Exactly how much is ‘too much’?”

Let’s stop to consider all of the factors that go into determining how much protein we should eat.

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Intermittent Fasting: A Primer

Tuesday, October 10th, 2023

Intermittent Fasting Part 1 – A Diet Strategy to Get You Ripped

For many people, losing fat and keeping it off is an impossible task, and they’d sooner reach China by grabbing a shovel and flinging dirt around. The road to leanness is littered with the remnants of horrible-tasting food, dingy Tupperware containers, and the dreams of those who abandoned their quest because of the seemingly insurmountable difficulty.

We’ve all been there at one point or another, but those who’ve managed to travel the wasteland and emerge on the other side victorious have done so by finding a way to stay on the path while others fell to the wayside, rules be damned.

And let’s face it: the fitness industry has managed to create a lot of rules and myths, both intentional and unintentional, to keep people in a constant state of fear and dependence, but the concept of intermittent fasting has come around and anecdotally proved that many of these claims are based off faulty and cherry-picked research, or are just flat out lies. Freeing people from the shackles of dogma and letting them indulge their inner hedonists without an ounce of guilt has helped hundreds if not thousands, achieve the body of their dreams.

Finally! A Powerful Diet That Anyone Can Follow

Forget about Atkins, low-fat dieting, low-carb dieting, the South Beach Diet, or any of those other fad diets. Here is a nutrition strategy you can use year in and year out to maintain ideal body composition, to get shredded for a show, or to lean out for summer.

Without further adieu, I’d like to introduce you to the new sheriff in town and how he can help you get to where you want to be as fast and painlessly as possible.

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How To Drink Wine While Maintaining a Healthy Diet

Thursday, August 3rd, 2023
fitness girls drinking wine

Maintaining a healthy and perfect diet is part of every athlete’s game. You’ll see that there are lots of people spending too much time in the gym, getting the right amount of meals on their plate, and some may even go vegan only to make sure they get a perfect fit and fab body shape. It’s the usual thing that all people may pay a lot of attention to compared to unhealthy behaviors such as drinking wine, using drugs, and eating candy. 

While maintaining a healthy diet seems easy for some people, others get into trouble. Especially that you may see your friends eat a lot, you undergo a stressful day, and sometimes you get overloaded with your job, and the only way to relieve the anxiety you are feeling is through eating. Aside from that, you may either choose to drink your favorite glass of wine to get through a rough day.

According to some medical experts, most people want to maintain a healthy lifestyle through dieting; however, many factors would tempt them to deprive themselves of achieving this, and that is by drinking alcoholic beverages such as wine. Hence, if you are one of those people who want to perpetuate healthy living but can’t live without drinking a glass of wine daily, here are some helpful tips you may apply on how to drink your best wine labels while keeping an excellent diet and staying fit. 

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3 Reasons Protein Intake is Vital for Muscle Growth

Friday, April 28th, 2023
building muscle with protein intake

Building muscle is part of every fitness journey. While strength training plays a big role in achieving ripped abs, strong calves, or Popeye biceps, sufficient high-quality protein intake is essential for weight loss and optimal muscle growth.  This is because amino acids in protein act as building blocks to repair muscle tears that occur during exercise, support muscle tissue, and help you feel full longer which fuels muscle mass development.  

Research shows that proper protein intake is important for muscle growth because it increases muscle mass, optimizes the metabolism when consumed at the right time, and burns fat layers under the skin to help with better muscle definition to show off those gains.

Check out the 3 ways adequate protein intake can boost your muscle growth.

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Healthy Grab and Go Snacks: From A Personal Trainer

Thursday, April 6th, 2023
Healthy grab and go snacks

Being a fitness trainer is an exceptionally challenging job that not only requires your expertise in helping others to achieve their fitness goals but also demands that you look after your physique on a daily routine. As a busy personal trainer, I am always searching for the best grab and go snacks that I can consume regularly to maintain my healthy appetite. 

The perfect diet does not exist but with an evaluated plan that effectively contributes to your health, you can easily manage to get your fitness right on track just like a personal trainer myself. Let me take you through my day-to-day snacks and meals that make me maintain a balanced diet while helping in my fitness journey.

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10 Tips to Manage Cravings with Healthy Foods

Friday, December 9th, 2022
girl running away from snacks

You are a hardworking person who gets up early, works a full day, exercises, and takes care of the kids at night. Life sure is easy, right? Riiiight… Something is already telling me you could use some tips to manage cravings during your weakest hours.

OK, maybe your story is a little different, but most likely you are living a busy life, full of stress, anxiety, and deadlines. While you sit at your desk or drive your car, your daydreams shift to thoughts of salty chips or a smooth, sweet chocolate bar. You most likely are not thinking about healthy foods.

Don’t fret, it’s perfectly normal to have food cravings. When you constantly give in to your cravings and overindulge, is when you pay the price. Go ahead and accept your cravings as part of life, but also be aware that you can take action to prevent going overboard.

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Are Salads Truly Weight Loss Food? + 3 Ways to Fix Your Salad

Thursday, December 8th, 2022
fit man eating a salad as weight loss food

Are Salads Truly Weight Loss Food?

It might be a shocker for many people, but not all salads are good for weight loss food. The modern-day fitness industry has created this aura around salads, claiming that salads are the “ideal health food”. Not only this is not the case for many types of salads, but this approach also hurts people who eat salads genuinely trying to lose weight, only to see no results.

In this article, I will tell you about 3 steps to make your salads healthier and actually help you with weight loss. But before talking about ways to fix the problem, let’s figure out what the problem is – what makes many weight loss salads unhealthy?

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How To Make Protein Ice Cream In 3 Easy Steps

Thursday, November 3rd, 2022
how to make protein ice create

Protein ice creams are produced with all-natural ingredients and are usually 100% vegan. They taste as good as any other sugar-loaded ice cream but are way healthier. The best part about protein ice cream is that it can be served at lunch, dinner, or even breakfast, as it is light, fluffy, and nutritious.

Protein is uncountably the main component of every cell in our body. It doesn’t only help in repairing and building tissue muscles but also makes our hair and nails shiny and long. All body chemicals and enzymes need protein to function properly. Hence, people on a diet often take a high-protein diet to fulfill their body requirements.

Let’s look at how easy it is to make protein ice cream with a few ingredients in just a few simple steps. 

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The Project Shred Diet

Sunday, October 16th, 2022

Just in time for the new year! Lose fat quickly and safely on this 21-day fat-loss shred diet!

Disclaimer: the author is no longer a certified nutritionist and has not been a certified nutritionist since the mid-2000s. Use these diet guidelines and meal plans at your own risk.

Mermaid Abs from the Project Swole shred diet

To spare you from having to read this entire post to learn the premise, here is a quick summary of the Project Shred Diet:

  • A PDF that you can print out, containing meal plans that you can easily follow.
  • A strict diet is used to lose fat in 21 days.
  • A guideline for your post-diet lifestyle eating habits.
  • A detox diet is used to clean out your system of processed garbage.
  • A higher protein diet potentially allows muscle gains while losing fat.
  • Input from no less than 2 certified sports nutritionists.
  • I personally tried it, and it works!
  • Skip all the bunk and check out the meal plans.

Judging by a recent Swole Poll, most Project Swole readers want to build muscle – 53% to be exact. However, 33% of you are looking to lose fat and I’d wager a guess that at least 50% of the muscle-builders will, at some point, switch their goals to losing fat. Therefore I can say that if you are one of the 60+% of Project Swole readers that will eventually want to lose fat, then this article is for you.

The Project Shred Diet is, in fact, a diet plan that you can follow for the recommended 21 days or longer. There are 7 days of carefully planned out meals – 3 full meals and 2-3 optional snacks per day. Each of the 7 days can be switched and swapped around as you prefer. To get the most benefit try to hit all 7 days before repeating. Some food substitutions can be made within reason. I’ll tell you all about the rules in a moment.

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How to Cook Pumpkin Seeds for Halloween and Beyond

Saturday, October 15th, 2022

Halloween Recipes – How to Bake Pumpkin Seeds

Jack O'Lantern

We recently talked about the sweet Omega 3 and antioxidant benefits of pumpkin seeds. Since autumn is upon us and Halloween fast approaches, you are going to want to cook pumpkin seeds, so I thought it appropriate to discuss some Pumpkin Seed Recipes.

Every time you carve a jack-o-lantern you end up with a Halloween decoration and a bowl full of stringy, slimy, pumpkin guts that don’t look the least bit appetizing. To make them appetizing, follow these instructions, and you’ll end up with a really healthy Halloween snack that everyone can enjoy.

Once considered to be trashcan fodder, we now know you can roast them, toast them, or nuke them; and you can season pumpkin seeds with a wide variety of flavors. Check it out!

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Halloween Recipes – Bloodshot Eyeballs

Friday, October 14th, 2022
Bloodshot eyeballs on a platter

High in protein, and low in fat and carbs, this fun Halloween recipe is both delicious and nutritious. Eat your bloodshot eyeballs as a snack or serve them to the kids for some good laughs.

The Bloodshot Eyeballs Recipe

Ingredients

  • 6 hard-boiled eggs
  • 6 oz whipped lite or low-fat cream cheese
  • 7 oz green olives with pimentos
  • red food coloring
  • optional – a sprinkle of paprika
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Halloween Recipes – Protein Pus Pockets

Tuesday, October 11th, 2022
Protein Pus Pockets

Another great gross-out Halloween snack for you and the kiddies. Looks like someone just squeezed a zit! Arrange these Protein Pus Pockets on an hors d’oeuvres platter as the recipe says, and you will have a fun and healthy treat for a Halloween get-together.

You could also make a handful of these and keep them in the fridge for a quick snack or a small meal. They are also easily taken to work for lunch because they are small and very portable.

So, how do we make them?

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Halloween Recipes: Kitty Litter Protein Cake

Sunday, October 2nd, 2022
Kitty Litter Cake Recipe

High Protein Kitty Litter Cake Recipe for Halloween

This is one of the more disgusting Halloween recipes I’ve found. It is also not the healthiest recipe on Project Swole, but it is definitely fun for the kids. Just don’t let Fluffy near the final product or you might end up with more ‘Tootsie Rolls’ than you thought.

In an attempt to get as much protein into this recipe as possible, I am literally adding scoops of protein powder to everything and substituting protein bars for candy whenever possible. The recipe might not come out that great if you use every one of my substitutions, but you can pick and choose which substitutions to use based on personal preference.

I’ve also listed several substitutions for the cake recipes. If you use them all, the cake might not be that great, but using applesauce in place of oil never seems to ruin any recipe that I have ever tried.

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What is Fructose – Can it Make or Break Your Dream Body?

Thursday, September 29th, 2022
man eats apple, wonders what is fructose?

There’s lots of sugar out there. Some are just plain unhealthy to consume, others, like fructose, should have a place in your diet, even if sparingly. So what is fructose?

Fructose is one of the three foundation sugars that are found in our foods. Fructose combines with glucose and galactose to form the sugars that we see on the ingredient lists. When fructose is combined with glucose you get traditional sugar which means that sugar is 50% fructose.

Fructose, aka fruit sugar, is what makes fruit taste sweet and helps to intensify the flavor of the fruit. However, the fructose in fruit varies depending on the fruit. The fruit with the most fructose is the common apple, though some people mistakening believe it to be the banana.

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How Long Should I Wait to Exercise After Eating?

Tuesday, September 20th, 2022
athletes waiting to exercise after eating

There are numerous considerations when planning an exercise routine; what type of exercises will you partake in? What clothes should you wear during said activities? How hard you want to push yourself and for how long, among other factors. One concern many people may overlook is the importance of how long to wait to exercise after eating or snacking. 

Eating too much beforehand can make physical efforts seem unbearable, leading to pain and potential health hazards such as cramps or constipation.

So, how long should you wait after eating before exercising? Will exercising make it harder for your body to digest food? What are the benefits of waiting before taking a workout break? 

This guide will discuss how much time you need to wait between meals and working out.

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How Do I Start a Vegan Diet Plan?

Sunday, August 7th, 2022
start a vegan diet

There are several reasons to start a vegan diet, but each person’s motivation will be unique. Some people may choose to be vegan because they feel there is a connection between a vegan diet and chronic degenerative illnesses. Other people choose to be vegan because they care about animals. Other factors may include the environment, religion, weight reduction, and so on.

Whatever goals you have currently to motivate you, you will end up broadening the circle of compassion in this world and raising your mind and body to new heights! Being vegan, as they usually say, is like drinking a truth serum, because living an honest, healthy, clean life alters your mindset.

Let’s take a moment to think about the essential aspects you’ll need to start a vegan diet plan for weight loss and general good health.

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A Protein Powder That Tastes Great Mixed with Water

Friday, August 5th, 2022

Official Update for 2022

This original post was all about the Shakeology product. Let it be known I no longer use Shakeology and instead, I use Muscle Milk, which is a far better and less expensive product that also tastes better. Muscle Milk is a protein powder that tastes great mixed with water.

If you are looking for a pure protein powder, check out Muscle Milk. Muscle Milk protein powder comes in about 20 different flavors, and is available in 1 lb, 2 lb, 5 lb, and 10 lb containers. Learn more about Muscle Milk. Finally, a protein powder that tastes great mixed with water!

Maybe you prefer all-natural whole-food protein bars. Visit RX Bars for awesome tasting bars. My favorite is Maple Sea Salt.

“Like eating 3 egg whites, 2 dates, and 6 almonds. With no B.S.”

This guy is hungry for a protein powder that tastes great mixed with water

The Healthiest Meal of the Day

Please note: you’re about to read my original story from 2011.

So I was hungry the other day at work and didn’t have many meal choices. The cafeteria was closed, I didn’t have any money for the vending machine, no protein bars, and only a couple of packets of Sweet & Spicy Tuna in my desk drawer. I’d already eaten tuna earlier that day, so I wasn’t in the mood for more.

What to do? What to do?

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Follow These 10 Rules to Get Shredded

Friday, July 1st, 2022
male deadlifting wants to get shredded

When you need to drop fat quickly to get shredded, you might have to say, “screw healthy lifestyle eating habits”, and take a more aggressive approach. It’s great to eat healthily and maintain low body fat. But what if you only have 2 months to lose 20 lbs? What if you are trying to get from a decent 12% bodyfat to a ripped 6% bodyfat? Well, now it’s time to talk about jumping on a hardcore diet to melt off the fat and show those hard-earned abs.

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20 Unhealthy Foods You Mistakenly Think Are Healthy

Wednesday, June 15th, 2022

Updated: 6/15/2022

the rock eating unhealthy foods

Let me preface this post by saying: “I eat these foods.” Yes, it is true, I do eat about 50% of the foods listed. Especially peanuts, Smartfood, and some of the carbohydrate foods listed at the bottom. Despite calling them all out as unhealthy foods, they aren’t all technically that bad for you, it’s just good to examine the nutritional details and figure out where we can make the best decisions.

If you take this list literally, it will just aggravate you, so take it with a grain of salt… or maybe a grain of whole wheat.

There are many terms that are misleading in the food advertising industry today. Think of how many times you see healthy phrases plastered all over food containers. Don’t allow yourself to be swayed by these words of trickery, none of these catchphrases mean ‘healthy food’ inherently – you have to read the labels.

Let’s take a look at some of the most common attempts to convince consumers a food is healthy when perhaps it’s really not.

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How To Eat a Balanced Diet

Saturday, June 4th, 2022
balanced diet power bowl

Eating a balanced diet may sound cliché. Who doesn’t know that every meal should have carbohydrates, proteins, and vitamins? Even the laziest of people can whip up a healthy balanced meal. 

Here are 5 tips you can use today to start transitioning your lifestyle to a healthier balanced diet.

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