Gourmet Food

Review of the Top Firm Body Eats   by Chuck Underwood

I like to eat a healthy snack or meal that not only is appetizing, but also helps to get you closer to that hard-body look that everyone is looking for. In this article, I’d like to give you some healthy food thoughts in a different way. This time, I figured I’d just give you some ideas of what I stock my fridge and cabinets with. Do not forget, if you don’t have junk about the house, you’re less liable to consume junk. If all you have is healthy food around the house, you will be much more likely to eat healthy food. Basically, it all starts with making smart choices and avoiding temptations when you make your grocery store trip. Now these are just a few of my individual preferences, but maybe they will give you some good ideas that you’ll benefit from.

All right, so let’s start with the fridge. Each week, I try to make sure I’m loaded up with lots of varieties of fresh vegetables. During the growing season, I only get local produce, but obviously in winter, I have to resort to the produce at the grocery store. Most of the time, I make sure I have plenty of vegetables like zucchini, onions, fresh Mushrooms, spinach, broccoli, red peppers, etc. to use in my morning eggs. I also like to dice up some lean chicken or turkey sausage into the eggs, along with some Swiss, jack, or goat cheeses. Coconut milk is another staple in my fridge. I like to use it to mix in with smoothies, oatmeal, or yogurt for a rich, creamy taste. Not only does coconut milk add a rich, creamy taste to lots of dishes, but also it’s full of healthy saturated fats. Yeah, you heard me…I said healthy saturated fats!

Now to the staples in my cabinets:

* Whole wheat or whole grain spelt pasta – a great deal higher fiber than ordinary pastas

* Brown rice and other higher fiber rice – NEVER white rice

* Oat bran and steel cut oats – high in fiber compared to those little packs of quick oatmeal.

* An assortment of antioxidant rich teas – green, oolong, white, rooibos are some of the finest.

* Organic maple syrup – not any of that high fructose corn syrup Aunt Jemima garbage…only real maple syrup can be considered real food. The only time I really use this (because of the high sugar content) is added to my post-workout smoothies to add sugar to things up and also elicit an insulin surge to push nutrients into your muscles.

* Unrefined honey – healthier than processed honey…higher quantities of good nutrients and enzymes. Honey has even been proven in studies to improve glucose metabolism (how you process carbs). I use a teaspoon or so every morning in my teas.
* Cans of black or kidney beans – I like to add a couple scoops to my Mexican wraps for the fiber and high nutrition content. Also, beans are amazingly one of the best sources of youth promoting antioxidants!

* Tomato sauces – delicious, and as I’m sure you’ve heard a million times, they are a great source of lycopene. Just watch out for the brands that are loaded with horrible high fructose corn syrup.

* Dark chocolate (as dark as possible) – This is one of my treats that satisfies my sweet tooth, plus provides loads of antioxidants at the same time. It’s still calorie dense, so I keep it to just a couple squares; but that is enough to do the trick, so I don’t feel like I need to go out and get cake and ice cream to satisfy my dessert urges.

* Organic unsweetened cocoa powder – I like to blend this into my smoothies for an extra jolt of antioxidants or make my own low-sugar hot cocoa by mixing cocoa powder into warm milk with stevia and a few melted dark chocolate chunks.

Back to the fridge, some other staples:

* Flax seeds – I grind these in a small food processor and add to yogurt. Always mill them fresh because the omega-3 polyunsaturated fats are extremely unstable and prone to oxidation, creating elevated levels of free radicals in pre-ground flax.

* Cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, and yogurt – I like to mix cottage or ricotta cheese and yogurt together with chopped nuts and berries for a great mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack.

* Chopped almonds, walnuts, pecans – yummy and great sources of healthy fats.

* Eggs – one of natures richest sources of nutrients (and remember, they increase your GOOD cholesterol).

* Nut butters – Plain old peanut butter has gotten a tiny bit old for me, so I get inventive and blend together almond butter with sesame seed butter, or even cashew butter with macadamia butter…delicious and matchless nutrition!

* Salsa – I try to get creative and try some of the unusual varieties of salsas.

* Butter – butter adds immense taste to anything and can be a piece of a healthy diet (just keep the amount small because it is high in calories…and in no way use margarine, unless you want to guarantee yourself a heart attack).

* Avocados – love them…plus a great source of healthy fats, fiber, and other nutrients. Try adding them to wraps, salads, or sandwiches.

* Whole grain wraps and whole grain bread (look for wraps and bread with at least 3-4 grams of fiber per 20 grams of total carbs).

* Rice bran and wheat germ – these may sound way too healthy for some, but they actually add a nice little nutty, crunchy taste to yogurt or smoothies, or can be added when baking muffins or breads to add nutrients and fiber.

* Leaf lettuce and spinach along with shredded carrots – for salads with dinner.

* Homemade salad dressing – using Balsamic vinegar, extra virgin Olive Oil, and Udo’s Choice oil blend. This is a lot healthier than store purchased salad dressing that mostly use highly refined soybean oil (full of inflammation-causing free radicals).

Some of the staples in the freezer:

* Frozen fish – I like to try a couple different kinds of fish each week. There are so many different types out there; you never have to get tired of the same flavor.

* Frozen berries – throughout the local growing period, I only get fresh berries, but all through the other 10 months of the year, I always keep a supply of frozen blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, cherries, etc. to put in to high fiber cereal, oatmeal, cottage cheese, yogurt, or smoothies

* Frozen veggies – once more, when the growing season is over and I can no longer get local fresh produce, frozen veggies are the top choice, since they often have higher nutrient contents compared to the fresh produce that has been shipped thousands of miles, sitting around for weeks before making it to your dinner table.

* Frozen chicken breasts – very convenient to nuke up for a quick addition to wraps or chicken sandwiches for fast meals.

I hope you enjoyed this exclusive glimpse into my favorite lean body meals and how I supply my cabinets and fridge. Your tastes are most likely quite different than mine, but hopefully this gave you some high-quality ideas you can use next time you’re at the grocery store looking to stock up a healthy and delicious pile of groceries.

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