Damn Good, High Protein, Low Carb Dessert - Super Easy to Make!

The other day my Mom had asked me to try this new dessert she had made; when I found out what was in it I said no way! One of the things it contained was ricotta cheese; I'm not a big fan of cheese at all, so when I heard this had cheese in it I thought there was no way it could taste good. I mustered up enough courage to try it and was reluctantly surprised out how delicious it was! Also, by no means am I one that likes to try new foods a whole lot, so if you're the same - don't worry, you'll like this!

There are ONLY 4 ingredients, 2 of which are optional...

• Ricotta Cheese (which is actually sweet tasting, and has the consistency of peanut butter almost, not what you would think of cheese at all)
• Reddi Whip
• PB2, non-fat, dehydrated peanut butter (optional)
• Shredded Coconut (optional)

It's super easy to put together, just throw a couple, 4-6, tablespoons of ricotta into a small bowl, throw in a tablespoon or two of PB2 and a pinch of shredded coconut and mix them in. Next just top it off with a little Reddi Whip to add a little more sweetness, and there you have it! The easiest and surprisingly good desserts to eat while watching your diet... try it out!

More Low Carb Ground Turkey w/ Peppers and Jalapenos!

Hey everyone so as you can see I've been eating a ton of ground turkey lately, but one problem you might run into I when dieting or trying to eat cleaner and healthier is that certain foods get dull or boring. So because of this you always have to be switching things up even if it means just changing a couple of the ingredients; for this dish I used 99% lean ground turkey breast, favorite seasoning, assorted bell peppers, and canned jalapenos for some tangy spiciness! I love spicy foods and I love jalapenos, they add a really nice unique and interesting flavor and you can even poor some of the juice into the meat for extra deliciousness.

The peppers are good for boosting your metabolism a little bit to keep that fat burning going strong. You can add some cheese, or a healthy fat like an avocado to the side as well, as there is pretty much no fat in this dish; and remember to burn fat your body needs to consume fat as well!

So just because you might think two or thee things together would be gross you might be surprised at how new and good tasting they can be; it can definitely bring a lot of new and good flavors into your regular boring dishes!

Counting Carbs? Keep in mind NET Carbs...

This seems to be a new thing I'm noticing these days with healthy foods, you'll see a lot of packaging on foods that says something along the lines of "Only 5 net carbs"... Well what is a net carb exactly and how does it help you? A net carb is when you take the total number of carbohydrates in serving of food and subtract the amount of fiber from it; what you're left with is a net carb. For example if I was eating some whole grain tortillas and on the nutrition label it said 10 grams of carbohydrate and 5 grams of fiber for one tortilla then technically you're left with 5 net carbs. This is because your body can only absorb 5 grams of carbs due to the amount of fiber.

So why is this a good thing to know? Because today lower carb diets seem to be the way to go for those looking to lose the pounds and fast, and by knowing how to calculate net carbs you'll save yourself a lot of trouble and actually be able to eat more then someone else who was counting carbs but didn't know how to calculate net carbs. Another example of this is lets say 2 people were only allowed to have 40g of carbs per day while dieting. The first person knows how to calculate net carbs eats a total of 70g of carbs, but all from sources with a lot of fiber which added up to 30g of fiber... leaving them at 40g of net carbs taken in for the day! Now lets say the second person didn't know about net carbs and just eats 40g of carbs, but in actuality they ate 20g of net carbs then they technically could be allowed to have more!

Whether you have some extreme weight to lose, or you're simply trying to tone up while retaining muscle mass, keeping net carbs in mind can help you out a lot when choosing the right foods!

Review: ISOPURE Zero Carb Protein Drink

Isopure from the company Nature’s Best, is one of the most unique protein drinks on the market today. It’s one of a very few, if not the only drink to offer 35-40grams of whey protein isolate (best quality of protein) with absolutely zero carbs or fat! Another thing that makes it different than other protein drinks on the market is that it is so pure that it is completely clear and see through, whereas other drinks resemble milk or chocolate milk. They do this by using their complete Ion Exchange technology which creates pure whey protein isolate with zero carbs; the process also removes other impurities leaving Isopure carb, fat, and lactose free! Also, due to the microfiltration process it also does not cause gas or bloating which other whey proteins have been known to cause in some people.

As for the taste, some flavors are definitely better than others in my opinion, and it does take a little to get used to. After I swallow down a gulp I find that it leaves my mouth feeling dry and thirsty rather than refreshing, which could suck for someone who wanted something to quench their thirst after a hard workout. There is a little bit of a funny after taste with each drink, but again it’s not a big deal and you’ll get used to it! My favorite flavor is actually coconut, which I really don’t like in true form, but as for the drink it’s really good with minimal weird aftertaste.

Now there are all kinds of protein drinks on the market today; all of them with different and similar purposes and nutrients. Some have carbs, fats, and vitamins and minerals which for example could be treated as a meal replacement drink. Isopure Zero Carb on the other hand is just pure whey protein isolate, which is great for lots of things, but not necessarily for a meal replacement. Instead I love to use Isopure to help supplement my daily protein intake. Let’s say for example if I have a meal that has low to no protein in it, then what I’ll do is drink either ½ or the full bottle of Isopure with it to get in my protein. This way I don’t have to worry about taking in too much additional carbs or fats because it’s pure protein! Just be careful that when you go to grab a bottle you get one that’s marked, Zero Carb, and not one that’s marked MASS as they look identical, but the mass one has a bunch of carbs and more so for the people trying to put on, well, mass!

Low Carb Diets

Low carb diets have always been the way to go for people looking to go on those crash diets to lose weight and fast, but do they work? The Answer is yes and no… The reason for this is because yes you’ll lose weight and fast, but it’s not going to be the weight you want to lose. You see when you eat foods dense in carbohydrates your body holds more water, approximately 3 grams of water for every 1 carbohydrate gram. So once you go on a low to no carbohydrate diet your body’s glycogen stores (the form in which carbohydrates are digested and stored as) will deplete pretty fast depending on how low you go; and along with that goes all the water that was being held leading to rapid weight loss, rapid water weight loss that is.

So if you were 180lbs. at 25% body fat, and you start eating a low carb diet and within two weeks you lose an incredible 15lbs. and weigh in at 165lbs. chances are that 90% of the weight lost was from water. Another reason why people like low carb diets is because the body’s preferred choice of fuel is from carbohydrates, so cut back on the main source of fuel then the body is going to have to move onto something else for energy and the belief is that it starts to target body fat. What a lot of people don’t realize though is that your muscle proteins are just as much of a target for fuel as your fat is, so the weight you lose beyond just water could be just as much muscle proteins as body fat. So to combat excessive muscle loss during low to no carb dieting is to always get adequate protein through food and supplementation spread out through 4-6 meals per day and especially after exercising.  That is only half of it, what many people don’t know is that carbs are in fact muscle sparing! So if you’re considering going low carb if you’re going to eat any carbs make it before and immediately after exercise; generally you’d want to eat slow digesting carbs before a workout (oats, yams, black beans, etc.) and immediately after a workout eat fast digesting carbs or foods that have a lot of sugar like fruits, juice etc. Doing this should allow for minimal muscle loss while dieting and exercising  no matter what method of dieting you decide to do.

Remember though, more importantly though, it doesn’t matter what method of dieting you do, it won’t work unless you’re in a calorie deficit, ideally no more than 500-1000 calories (less than maintenance) a day which adds up to 1-2 pounds of weight lost a week. If you have any questions feel free to email me.