German Christmas Gluhwein - With A Twist

Here is my quick and easy recipe for a spiced up version of Gluhwein, generally found in German markets around christmas. In this version, warm up some red wine, or in this case, I managed to find some german mulled wine already. To make the mulled wine, add some spices, such as cinammon or orange peel.

Do not boil the wine as this will ruin the alcohol (the best bit)

Serve up the warm wine into a suitable mug or glas. Then grab yourself some amaretto / disaronno, and pour in a generous sized shot (50ml is about enough)

Now sit back and enjoy as it warms you up from inside.

A big thanks to the wonderful city of Amsterdam and the Wintermarkt where I discovered this!

Merry Christmas!

Homemade Protein Shake - Peanut Butter & Banana

Two videos in one week, damn you guys are lucky!

Here is one of my favourite shakes. Sometimes protein shakes can be a bit boring, and adding them with other ingredients can spice things up a bit, as well as boosting your intake of calories and vitamins.

Ingredients:

300ml Milk
1 Teaspoon Peanut butter
1 Frozen banana
1 Scoop Protein Powder





Stick it all in a blender until smooth! If you want a thicker shake, try adding extra protein powder or more banana.

Why Breakfast Cereal Will Make You Fat

My latest video on youtube:

The other day I decided that instead of cooking a large meal, I would opt for a small bowl of cereal. The first one that came to hand was Oatibix, basically oat flakes with some raisins. I added a further handful of raisins and topped with 1% Fat milk.

Luckily I weighed it out, so I could add the ingredients to MyFitnessPal and see what the damage was afterwards.

Needless to say, it was quite shocking.

The moral of the story, if you a re serious about health and fitness: track what you eat, dont rely on judgement to count calories.

Until next time

Stay safe out there.

Bodybuilders Creatine Breakfast

Check out the video above for a list of ingredients and basic how to.

There are many ways to take creatine, in water, juice, tea for example. This puts my own take on it, which has served me well so far.

Calories: 600

Carbs:97
Protein: 22
Fat:12

All in all its a standard oat based breakfast, but the flaxseeds add a different flavour, and for those who hate gritty creatine its a perfect solution.

Have your own alternatives? Let me know in the comments section.

Stay safe

Whey Protein: Common Myths & Advice

Whey protein is big business, but why?

Please check out the video above. I  made this primarily for a friend who has never used protein supplements before. He is a keen cyclist, and wants to encourage his legs to grow for more power, but as lean as possible to offset the weight disadvantage.

I explain that simple Whey Protein is his best bet, in my opinion. Most protein supplements have around 25g of protein per serving which would be an ideal way of getting in the nutrients without forcing down the common standard foods such as chicken, turkey, beef etc etc.

I also cover the general cost, that he should not expect any sudden gains or boost in performance, and also show that frequency and timing of protein in the diet doesn't matter in the long run.

Basically, when it comes to Whey, KEEP IT SIMPLE.

Enjoy.

Legal Steroids

Here is a short video about something I picked up in a supplement store:

The product is called Methdrol - and you may have guessed, it is a prohormone.

Im not going to get into the arguments for and against prohormones here, do what you will. All I ask is that you take care and read as much as you can first.

Please note in the UK where I am, these prohormones are LEGAL. They may not be in your area of residence.

Now, even though you can legally buy and use these as supplements, be wary of their contents. Methdrol contains a chemical compound which will be broken down by your body and introduce excess testosterone into you system. The particular compound found in this prohormone I understand to be BANNED by WADA, meaning in for example, a tested athletic event or bodybuilding show, you will be in the same class as the juicers.

I am not discussing whether they work, how they work or whether you should source these products yourself on here. What I am saying is:

UNDERSTAND FULLY WHAT IS IN YOUR SUPPLEMENTS BEFORE YOU TAKE THEM, AND WHAT EFFECTS THEY WILL HAVE ON YOUR BODY AND IN YOUR ENVIRONMENT.

Stay safe.

Rice Powered Bike Race!

I completed my first ever organised cycling event today.

The Birkenhead North End CC 5 Mile Time Trial

Click above to watch the video (im testing out the camera on my Samsung Galaxy S3).

My fuel for the race, which took place in the evening, was a bowl of egg fried rice with some hot sauce, and greek yoghurt. Afterwards I needed an SIS energy gel to keep the legs going to get home. 

An excellent experience, 2000 calories burned, including the ride there and home. Completed the event in 13 mins and 14 seconds with an average speed of 21.9 mph.

All as a warm up for the Wild Wales Challenge on Bank Holiday Sunday, 82 Miles, 10,000ft of climbing. Oh God.

I Cant Lose Any Weight!

Please check out this video first guys:

Basically I am weight training to maintain my muscle mass, and doing a lot of cycling for my cardio, in the region of 50-80 miles per week.

See Strava Here

Although I am eating at a calorie deficit, my weight loss has slowed down a lot, and I feel if i eat more, i will gain weight (which I refuse to do, as it makes cycling harder and I am entering cycling events). However, in addition to cycling, I practice Jujitsu once a week and lift weights 1 or two times a week, so more cardio will be hard to fit in around my working week. I eat relatively clean, no cheat meals but a kind of IIFYM style and dont take any supplements.

Any suggestions or insights as to what is going on?

Stem Cell Burger - Worlds Leanest Protein?

So after a long time in a lab in Europe, boffins decided to cook a burger patty which had been grown from the stem cells of a living cow. It all sounds a bit odd, but raises interesting points:

Advantages: 

Far less harmful to the environment in production
Less animal slaughter
Less focus on growing crops for animal feed
Possible alternative meat for vegetarians?

Disadvantages:

Costs £215,000 per burger
Hasn't been properly tested
Apparently tastes a bit different, lacks flavour

Check out my thoughts here:

An interesting point i picked up on, was that as it is grown from the muscle fibres of a cow, it doesnt contain the naturally occuring fats which would be present in a living animal.

Imagine bodybulders getting hold of a chicken breast with no fat or a prime steak with near pure animal protein - I can see the supplement industry going wild for this.

Make Your Own Starbucks Iced Mocha...

....with extra protein (obviously!)

Recipe video now online here:

Simple, effective, refreshing, good for you and tastes awesome!

Calories and macro's obviously depend on serving size and quanities of the ingredients, which I am not listing, as everyone is different when it comes to caffeine and protein tolerance.

Enjoy!

Overnight Oats (A Breakfast Alternative)

A Chocolate Whey Porridge Alternative:

The purpose of leaving the mixture overnight will allow the oats to soak up the liquid without the need for cooking. I find this useful when you dont want breakfast straight away and if you have to, for example, quickly get to work, you can carry this with you and guzzle it down an hour later without the worry of cooked porridge going cold. Plus the chocolate flavour makes it taste mega.

 

1 Empty Shaker!

 

 60g Porridge Oats!

 40g Whey Protein!

 120ml Water/20ml Milk

Refrigerate (you guessed it) Overnight!

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Fixing A Road Bike

Check out this video from my latest bike ride.

I have signed up for Wild Wales Challenge 2013, which takes place in Bala on Bank Holiday Weekend. The ides of this training ride was to hit as many big climbs as possible. However, on my second climb of the morning, i ran into trouble with my gears. After the chain came off for the third or fourth time, i looked down to find the rear derailleur hanging off.

I was alone, at the top of a welsh mountain with a broken bike. I managed to strap it to the frame using a spare inner tube, and freewheeled back down to the closest town and ordered a taxi to take me back to my car.

I thought i had killed the bike. My bike knowledge isnt that great just yet as I havent been riding that long. It turns out this was a failsafe called a Derailleur Hanger, which are desgined to snap under increased load so that neither the derailleur or the frame get bent in the event of shock or other damage, in this case caused by the yanking of an unconnected chain.

Fast forward a few days and I have fixed this all myself. You can buy Hangers online, there are thousands to choose from, so get the one suited to your bike.

In my case, it was as simple as using a 5mm allen key to take off the broken piece from the derailleur and a smaller one to release the other piece from the frame via two tiny allen bolts. Fasten it nice and tightly together and voila, back from the dead!


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Raw Food Diets

Are they any good?

Why are so many people taking up raw food diets?

Let me start with a little basic info. A raw food diet means exactly that, eating nothing but pure, straight from the ground food. A raw food diet will not contain any pre cooked, steamed, or processed foods and is generally related to Veganism and some vegetarianism.

A raw food diet is not a fad, its a lifestyle choice. By "diet" I mean a constant day to day nutritional plan, not a quick fat loss fix.


What Do I Eat?

Essentially, your food would consist of a lot of fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Already, this doesnt sound very appealing, but through a bit of research there are various ways to prepare the food if necessary to make it taste nice I guess!


Who promotes Raw Food?

I have noticed a few Youtubers who are advocates of the raw food lifestyle, such as the slightly wacky DurianRider and his better half Freelea. I have watched many of their videos, and while Durianrider is obviously a successful athlete, I'm not so sure I agree on his dietary ethics. Go check him out, he definately has some things for you to think about. Others worth noting are RawBrahs, and FullyRawKristina.


Is It Healthy?

Generally health organisations point out that while it would be safe for a sensible adult to take part in the raw lifestyle, its not something to do without fully understanding the risks. The most obvious is the possibility to a lack of nutrients, vitamins and minerals which are harder to find than in a regular diet. Such dangers are the lack of high quality protein and Vitamin B12, both of which are readily available in meat products. However they can be sourced elsewhere, and it is possible for a "raw foodie" to use supplements.

Many converts to this lifestyle report massive weight loss, an increase in energy levels, and reversal of many medical conditions. I am slightly sceptical when it comes to the medical side of things, as your diet would have to be spot on nutritionally in order to not see some side effects. Women for example may experience issues with menstrual cycles on certain extreme diets.

The abundance of carbohydrates though, would explain the rise in energy, and I assume the weight loss would be partly caused by the lower than usual levels of protein, which may in turn cause some degree of muscle atrophy.


What Do You Think?

Comment below and let me know what your views are on the Raw Food Diet. Have you tried it? If so, what was the outcome? I would love to know whether it was an easy choice or whether it only lasted a short period.

I personally would rather enjoy a good solid cooked meal when I fancy it, so I doubt i'll ever try this. Unless maybe for a short experiment!



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Strength Training Anatomy: Book Review

Strength Training Anatomy by Frederic Delavier

Amazon Link: Strength Training Anatomy (Sports Anatomy)

I bought this book for £13.99 at my local Waterstones. I was looking for Starting Strength, but that was unavailable and this one caught my eye.

Basically it is split into sections for bodyparts; Arms, Shoulders, Legs, Back, Buttocks and Abdomen. Each section contains around 15-20 exercises which may be performed on free weights or machines and there are some excellent illustrations with clearly marked muscle names. The illustrations of the person performing the exercise is drawn so that you can see the muscle fibres and clearly understand what is going on under the surface.

 

One of my personal favourite parts of this book is its attention to the possibilities of injury, with full reasoning and explanation as to why certain movements are not advised. Take for example the "dips" which engage the chest and triceps. In this book it explains that you should keep your head position in line with your spine, as the stress of the exercise itself can cause indirect pressure on the neck.

There are also more in depth explanations of health risks, such as the damage that may be caused to the knee joint during leg exercises. These are brightly marked with a yellow page and also fully determine the scientific facts behind the scenes.

Female readers may also be  drawn to this book as it not only shows the female body for many of the examples, but also goes into further detail, such as the reasoning behind rotation of the hips and the differences to men and why certain exercises may be easier or more difficult based on the physiology of the two sexes.

Although this book focuses solely on exercises and the motor functions of the human body, you cant fault its depth and completeness.

I am sure this will be a good read for those just starting out, and a great reference to pick up and absorb nuggets of information along the course of a fitness lifestyle.

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Lonsdale Pro Bar 30 Review

Lonsdale Pro Bar 30

30 grams of protein! As you can see in the pictures above, the ratios are pretty good. However I am a bit dubious about the ingredient list, as there are certain hydrogenated oils and other fats and sugars which are only there to enhance the taste.

Overall these are pretty harmless bars. If the protein is good quality, then there is nothing wrong with using them occasionally for your lunch if like me you are always on the move. Nothing beats real food though!

I bought these from Sports Direct which is a popular chain sports store in the UK. They cost £1.50 but I have found them on sale before for £1 or less.

Flavours I have tried include Chocolate Fudge, Mint Chocolate and Strawberries and Cream. They are all pretty nice, due to the levels of fat and other ingredients mentioned ealier. The texture is a bit like eating a chewy, slightly chalky toffee bar (UK readers, imagine a thick Chomp bar).

I'd say go for it, but with this being a vegetarian based blog, be wary of the ingredients, as the packet warns it may contain gluten and nuts, so who knows what else may be derived in the process (one amazon review claims it contains gelatine).

Enjoy!

Is Starbucks Coffee Killing Your Progress?

Many of us, myself included, love a cup of coffee. Some of us even need it just to function in the mornings.

While a cup wont really do you any harm, lets take a minute to think about the colorific values.
A standard cup of coffee you make at home has the majority of its calories from the milk that you add, along with the sugar you drop in by the spoonful. Obviously adding flavoured syrups and the like will boost these values even more. Then again, this is generally ok as long as you keep an eye on what you are doing, and if you feel you dont need the 5g of sugar in your coffee, there is 20 calories saved already which you can bank for somewhere else later in the day.

But what happens when you venture out of the house? Lets say you go into town and halfway through your day you stop at a Starbucks or a Costa Coffee for example.Do you have any idea how many calories are in the Cappuccino, or that "Skinny Late" you ordered? You might have thought it was irrelavant as coffee by itself is generally very low in calories, but these drinks fron the large chains can contain anything up to around 200 calories for a regular cup!

And thats not even including the calorie dense hot chocolates or the cream filled fruit smoothies.

The following is taken from Starbuck's website (Drink name, Calories, Fat, Carbs & Protein). Drinks are assumed to be "Grande" with 2% milk.

• Caffe Latte - 240, 9, 24, 16
• Caffe Mocha - 340, 11, 53, 17
• Cappuccino - 150, 6, 16, 10
• White Choc Mocha - 510, 15, 77, 19

In recent years, large outlets, including the likes of McDonalds, down to my local coffee shops, have begun to list the calorie content of their products. Take a look next time at the large menu behind the counter. Dont get sucked in by the marketing strategies which aim to sell the most profitable drink, but be sensible. If you can afford to add it to your daily macros, then by all means treat yourself. Just dont make a habit of it, coffee is addictive and you might find that extra bit of fat growing with your intake.

Still reeeeally want a coffee? Try going black...!



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Whey Protein Review

Kinetica Whey Protein

Amazon Link: Kinetica Whey Protein 2.27KG - Vanilla

Mixing

I always mix my protein in a standard Shaker Cup.  Kinetica whey, along with Syntha 6 have been the most outstanding proteins I have used in my 8 years or so of using supplements. Generally I used one scoop per 250ml of Semi Skimmed milk, and about 20 seconds of violent wrist action later, it was good to go. No lumps, no nasty surprises. After some time I used a heaped scoop, so basically 1.5 regular scoops, and had no complaints.

Taste

This is where this protein really shines. I have tried chocolate, vanilla and even banoffee (the shop had no others available so i took a chance) and each one has been great. The banoffee was even a little addictive.

Sometimes, chugging down 3 shakes a day can get very monotonous, and you may begin to grow resentment to downing it. Not with this stuff! I took on a lot of protein using this, and never once got bored of it.



Cooking

As the price was fairly high in comparison to other proteins online, I didnt feel comfortable using it all up on cooking experiments. A few times I did make chocolate whey pancakes, and even mixed it into a batter with an egg for a chocolate based cake texture dessert thing. It cooked as expected and held the taste very well. No complaints, but I could have experimented further if I could afford it!


Value for Money

Probably the only point here I wasnt too happy with. Compared to ON Whey or other big brands, at £45 per 2.2kilo tub it was around the usual price range. I have found some on Amazon for about £40 now which looks like a good bargain. Before the recent raise in taxes on sports nutrition products its all got a bit more expensive anyway!

Nutrition

Nutritional Information	Typical per 30g serving	Typical per 100g
Energy	118kcal/494kJ	394kcal/1648kJ
Protein	22.6g	75.3g
Carbohydrate	1.4g	4.8g
of which sugars	0.9g	3.1g
Fat	2.5g	8.2g
of which saturates	1.8g	6.0g
Dietary Fibre	0.08g	0.26g
Sodium	0.05g	0.17g
Other Added Active Ingredients	Typical per 30g serving	Typical per 100g
Aminogen® (Digestive Enzyme)	100.0mg	333.3mg
Amino Acid Profile	Typical per 30g serving	Typical per 100g
Leucine	2.73g	9.10g
Isoleucine	1.47g	4.90g
Valine	1.48g	4.95g
Total Branched Chain Amino Acids
	5.68g	18.95g
Aspartic Acid	2.78g	9.28g
Glutamic Acid	4.45g	14.83g
Serine	1.38g	4.60g
Glycine	0.48g	1.62g
Histidine	0.47g	1.56g
Arginine	0.70g	2.32g
Threonine	1.88g	6.28g
Alanine	1.25g	4.16g
Proline	1.47g	4.92g
Tyrosine	0.79g	2.63g
Methionine	0.47g	1.58g
Cystine	0.62g	2.08g
Phenylalanine	0.83g	2.78g
Lysine	2.37g	7.90g
Tryptophan	0.37g	1.22g

INGREDIENTS:
Biotein™ Protein Blend (Ultra Filtered Whey Protein Concentrate, Cross-Flow-Micro-Filtered Whey Protein Isolate, Hydrolysed Whey Protein Concentrate), Natural Flavouring, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin), Digestive Enzyme (Aminogen® A Registered Trademark of Triarco Industries Protected By US Patent No. 5,387,422), Natural Colour (Carotene), Stabiliser (Carboxymethylcellulose), Sweetener (Sucralose).


Overall


9/10 - Only losing points for the price! Hint, dont buy from Kinetica's own website, there are cheaper deals elsewhere. Click the link to Amazon in this little box below, or this text link here:
Kinetica Whey Protein 2.27KG - Vanilla


The product is affiliated through Amazon. You will pay no extra, but my blog will be credited with the referral and that will help my site continue to grow. Thank you!
 
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Lose Weight For Summer

Losing weight is simple. There are millions of websites, blogs, weight loss groups, gyms, personal trainers, and corporations (read: Weight Watchers) that over complicate things.

There are two main factors which will aid in weight loss:

Move More

Eat Less

.....and thats essentially it. Generally, if you eat 2000 kCal a day, and you move around enough so that you expend 2,500 kCal every day, you will be at what is known as a calorie deficit. Through the space of a week, you will have burned off 3,500 kCal, and that is nearly the same amount of calories as one pound of bodyfat.

There are many ways of keeping a tab on how many calories you are burning. Apps such as Myfitnesspal, my favourite, can help a lot. Try tracking everything you eat for a few days (and i mean everything). You will be surprised how wrong you may be with your estimations beforehand.

Track Your Calories













Track Your Weight Regularly

Dont worry about supplements for now. Thermogenic Fat Burners for example may have their place, but can vary in their effectiveness and some people can be very sensitive to stimulants.

You Are What You Eat!

You might be able to get all of your daily calories from chocolate, but you will be badly malnourished and feel terrible. If you eat nothing but chocolate, which for instance may be 30% fat, 60% Carbs (refined sugar) and 10% Protein, then how do you expect your body to drop to under 10% fat so you can see your abs? In this case, a calorie is not equal to any other calorie.

If you want to lose weight as a bodybuilder, you are going to lose some muscle size. Deal with it. In order to minimise this loss, keep your protein level high. The reason for this is when your body starts to break down for fuel, you will still have enough protein passing through your system to replace whatever mass gets used up (a very basic overview).

Cutting out a Macronutrient

It works, but its probably not worth it. Once you come off the diet and eat carbs again for example, your body will adjust and you might find yourself back to square one. Good for competitors & models who have to hit a deadline, not so good for longeivity and good health.

Be Smart, Eat Sensible, Train Hard.

 

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The Only 2 Supplements You Need

Thought about trying BCAA's, Testosterone Boosters, Deer Antler, Fat Burners, Natural Steroid Alternatives?

You dont need any of it!

If you work hard at the gym, in my experience there are only two supplements which work, and thats besides sweating your ass off and eating clean.

Whey Protein and Creatine Monohydrate

I recently heard Marc Lobliner call whey protein "chocolate chicken". Its not a magic formula, that when you consume a 5lb tub in a few days you grow huge. Its essentially the macro's of something like a chicken breast in an easy convenient formula. Think about it. Easting 6 chicken breasts a day wont make you huge, so why should a protein powder. 

Of course it helps. I myself find it hard to eat a gram of protein per pound of bodyweight a day, but if i have 6 servings (6x1 scoop) per day, i can get close enough on top of my other food. Please note, as whey protein is derived from milk, it is not suitable for vegans. There are other protein sources available out there which may be suitable.

Creatine should be used in the monohydrate form. All of the other forms are marketing techniques on the same product. Also, the loading phase isnt necessary. It will fill your muscles faster, but you will also burn through your stash faster. My advice is to take 1 5g scoop per day throughout your required term. There is no need to cycle either. 

Save your cash for the gym membership and rubbish gym clothes!

1000 Kilometres, 3 Course Meals & Cycling

For those who read this blog, may have noticed some inactivity on my part for the last week and a half. There is a good reason for this!



See the video above! Me and 4 friends took on a challenge of riding 587 Miles across the Czech Republic, stopping at a new city each night for a week. In each city was a UNESCO site, to add a bit of class to our travels.

Visit the UNESCO website here

On the topic of food, eating vegetarian in the Czech Republic is possible, but not very easy. For the purpose of my ride I needed as much calories as I could handle, as I was burning off between 3 and 5 thousand calories a day. This led to me straying from a perfect clean diet, and yes I ate meat. The Czech lifestyle is very much centred around pork, beef and some chicken and in some cases it wasnt possible to get a vegetarian meal. One place had a choice between a hamburger or pork and dumplings.

So bear that in mind if you are a strict veggie and heading to Prague or one of the other awesome cities.  

On the flipside, it is generally very cheap, especially if you leave the major cities. We managed to get a 3 course meal, and 3 pints of beer for less than £10 each.

Overall we are on course to raise over £1000 for charity, supporting Martins House Hospice for the work they are doing for a sick girl.

Check out the JustGiving page here

Thanks for reading, stay tuned for more blogs in the near future!