Avocado smoothie bowl

Avocado smoothie bowl

Not gonna bore you with 15 pictures of my smoothie bowl, and perfectly wrinkled  burlap napkins, rustic silverware and twine for whatever reason. Not gonna explain the process of making avocados into purée, or why it’s healthy to eat avocados. No, we are way past that, my friend. You came here for one reason only. And it wasn’t to look at Pinterest porn. 

One more thing before we get to the recipe:

My wife got me hooked on these, and my breakfast has never tasted so good!

-8 oz water

-1 avocado -1 scoop chocolate Life Time collagen peptides

-~1/2 c frozen spinach

-~1/2 c frozen beets 

Blend and top with:

-1 handful shaved coconut

-1 thumb walnut pieces

-2-3 tbsp açaí purée 

For a vegan version, sub the collagen for 2 tbsp cocoa and 2 packets of stevia. 

Hibiscus Lemon Gelatin

Why drink your tea when you can eat it?

• 2 cups cold filtered water
• 2 cups hot water (190-212f)
• 3 tbsp grass-fed gelatin
• 1/2 cup dried hibiscus
• 2-3 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 dropperfuls liquid stevia (estimated, go to taste)

Follow these steps to make it:

1. pour 1 cup water into a mixing bowl
2. bloom gelatin by sprinkling it evenly on the surface of the water - let sit for 5-10 min
3. add hibiscus to the hot water, steep for 5-10 minutes
4. strain the hibiscus out of the tea and pour it into the gelatin bowl, mixing together with a whisk
5. add lemon juice and stevia
6. cover and refrigerate 6 hours or longer.

Breakfast Seed Bowl

Don't worry, there won't be 50 food-porn pictures and and waaay too many paragraphs about the history and benefits of this seed bowl. Chances are you already know because I told you. My blog isn't that popular.

Here's the recipe.

• 1/4 cup flax seed
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut (dried)
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 3 tbsp hemp hearts
• 1 scoop Life Time Collagen Peptides (this is about 20g of protein if you are using a different kind)
• 8-12 oz unsweetened Ripple Milk
• 1 handful of berries (fresh or frozen)

Mix all the dry stuff together, then add the liquid. Top with berries. Tons of protein, tons of healthy fat. TONS OF FIBER SO DRINK LOTS OF WATER AND DON"T COMPLAIN IF YOU FART, JUST PRETEND THERE ARE DUCKS NEARBY.

Dairy-free Queso

Let's get right to the point (because Life is too short for me to take 9-15 perfectly-staged pictures of my cheese sauce. Nobody cares what it looks like in rustic tin dishes with antique bespoke spoon dripping it onto my vegan cheese fries. Kill me now.). Here you go.

• 1 cup nutritional yeast 
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 tsp Himalayan salt (FYI there is no sea in the Himalayas)
• Salsa to taste

Heat, mix, serve, eat.

Also this is my wife's recipe.

Bacon Smoothie

You 10-12 oz. liquid (water/coconut milk/whatever you like for your Smoothie base)

2 scoops chocolate Vegan Max

1 Scoop Double Chocolate Life Greens

1-2 tbsp. Sun Butter

2-3 strips bacon (cooked of course)

1/2 cup spinach

Some ice cubes

Blend until you can't wait anymore and decide to just go for it, chunks and all.

You can get the VeganMax and Life Greens at http://shop.lifetimefitness.com

Use my discount code 114251 and you'll save a little bit of money, and I might get a nice kickback from it for my bacon fund.

Supplements

Why I wrote this.

An old friend reached out with some questions about supplements. As a nutrition coach this actually a pretty common occurrence for me, and as I was writing a resonse the idea popped into my head to just make it a blog post, since my message back to my friend now exceeded 500 words! Here is my basic advice for choosing supplements.

Why supplements matter.

Nutrition is important when it comes to living a healthy life, and supplementation is just one part of that. For someone who has never taken a vitamin or omega-3 supplement in their life, sometimes just adding those is a great first step. 

When it comes to the world of supplements, there are a lot of small things that really add up. The last thing I want is for something as simple as the supplements someone takes be something that holds them back from better health or reaching a fitness goal. Here are some things that I typically coach people to look for.

Folate vs. folic acid. 

Folate is from plants whereas folic acid is made in a lab. Folate costs more, which is why a lot of manufacturers use folic acid instead. People with MTFHR gene mutations (30-50% of gen pop) are unable to convert folic acid to folate in the body. Folic acid has also been shown to cause cancer in lab rats.

Encapsulation and inactive ingredients.

Making sure that all supplements are in an easy-to-digest gel capsule is crucial to maximize breakdown and absorption in the body. Be sure to steer clear of stearic acid (an inflammatory derivitive of processed vegetable oils) and magnesium stearate, which may block absorption of key nutrients.

Vitamin D3. 

Making sure D3 is the form of vitamin D, and that it is paired with vitamin K2 for absorption. Both are fat soluble, and ideally should be suspended in a fatty solution, such as MCT oil.

Fish oil to EPA/DHA ratio and dosing.

With fish oil, look for 50% or higher of the oil coming from EPA & DHA. Manufacturers are known to cut fish oil with alpha-lenoleic acid, which can technically be turned into EPA or DHA in the body, but often doesn't actually happen.

Most people need 2400 mg combined EPA and DHA per day, so base your dose off that recommendation. For example the fish oil pills that I take each contain a combined total of 600 mg EPA and DHA, so I would take 4 per day to get my proper dosage. 

The reason for the higher dosage is that most Americans eat a 20:1 ratio of omega 6s and 9s compared to omega-3s. Just to bring that ratio a little closer to the 3:1 ratio our ancestors had, we need to supplement a little more. 

That's certainly not all there is to supplementation. Just a quick couple of things to check for. Just remember all those pills now could be preventing prescribed pills later.

Chapati-style flatbread - gluten-free, AIP and tasty

Hi,

Even if you don't give a Donald Trump about AIP, or think gluten-free stuff is all smoke and mirrors, you'll want to check this tasty recipe out. It's super easy, too.

I first found this recipe online, but it has since been taken down, which is a shame. So I decided that it needs to go on my blog. It's super versatile; you can make it into pancakes by thinning the batter with water, or just use it like flatbread. If you change the ratio of coconut flour to arrowroot, you can make a fluffy coconut flatbread.

From what I understand from an Indian nutrition coaching client of mine, chapati is a glutinous, chewy bread that is used to pick up dishes like daal and various curries and kormas. India is a fascinating place. Every chance I get, I try to learn about the culture that originated yoga, Krishna and korma.

Ingredients - this is what you need per chapati, so I hope you like to do math

-1 tbsp coconut flour

-2 tbsp arrowroot starch

-1/4 cup coconut milk (from the can)

-pinch salt

-1 tbsp. coconut oil

How-to

1. Heat a sauté pan on medium.

2. Mix everything up in a food processor.

3. Melt coconut oil in the pan

4. Add chapati mix, spreading it out as you put it in the pan. Flip after a few minutes. You should see bubbles or small changes in texture that will tell you when it's time.

If you already pay attention to how you fuel your body, this next part might seem silly to you, but I'm going to say it anyway.

I use this recipe for pancakes a lot. If you do this, avoid using syrup and opt to heat some frozen fruit to put on top instead. Also, be sure to eat them alongside a good source of protein. And lastly, be sure to wipe your butt after you poop!