Bodybuilder's Recipes & Diets

[Chiron Jackal]

Though I'm certainly willing to bet that very few people here are bodybuilders, many bodybuilding diets help fix common problems - Ever noticed that you're losing weight on your diet but you're still as flabby as ever? You're eating things that are sustaining fat but not sustaining muscle so the muscle is what the body ends up eating away at. Ever had a great workout plan but simply couldn't gain any muscle? You're probably not eating enough protein (or not the right kinds of protein) or you're letting your body go so hungry during the night that it eats all of the freshly-developed muscle you worked so hard on.

So, post your recipes, tips, and diet plans designed to help make a stronger, leaner, healthier you.



Lean Turkey Pinwheels
When trying to get lean while maintaining muscle, try this tasty low-carb dinner. It really is tasty, BTW, and is kind of reminiscent of something from a fancy restaurant.

You Need...
8 oz. turkey breast slices
about 1/2 cup of low-fat ricotta cheese
your choice of spices (I've heard salt and cayenne suggested. I personally prefer salt, pepper, and some kind of generic Italian seasoning).
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
some sort of nonstick cooking spray.

Start Cooking!
Set oven to 350 degrees and allow it to preheat during the next steps.

Lay plastic wrap or wax paper out on your counter. Lay your turkey slices on top of it with about an inch between them and then lay another piece of wrap/wax paper on top and then proceed to gently smoosh the turkey with your palm until it's somewhere between a quarter and an eighth of an inch thick.

Get out a small bowl and mix up your ricotta and spices.

Get out a large plate and spread the Parmesan onto it.

Remove the top layer of wrap/wax paper and divide the ricotta mixture among your turkey slices and spoon it onto each piece.

Roll your turkey slices around the cheese mixture to create a wrap, then roll them around in the Parmesan cheese to coat the outside.

Get out a glass baking dish (something about 2-quarts big should work just fine) and coat it with your nonstick cooking pray. Put your turkey pinwheels into the dish - make sure they are seam-down.

Bake them until the meat is cooked through, which should be around half an hour.

This goes with...
If you want to be real healthy have a side of spinach sauteed in a bit of olive oil. Not a fan of spinach? Other veggies relatively low in carbs include Celery, Peeled Cucumber, Lettuce (Iceberg is lowest), raw mushrooms, radishes, spaghetti squash, zucchini, and tomatoes.

Gimme Nutrition Facts!
about 350 calories, 68 grams of protein, 8 grams of carbs, and about 5.5 grams of fat.

Give it a try and post your favorite seasoning combinations!

Much like with Meta's recipe thread, feel free to request a specific meal or type of snack you'd like to see a recipe for.

[Chiron Jackal]

Help! There's Going To Be Some Holiday With A Big Family Meal And I'm Gonna Get FAT!

Calm down - TC, in his infinite furry wisdom, shall save you from delicious fattening meals!

About an hour before your huge holiday meal (or in the case of upcoming holiday, huge holiday BBQ) drink a whey protein shake. Not the tastiest thing on earth (at least most of them aren't - some are actually pretty good), but they're full of good healthy protein and they help stop hunger. 20 to 40 grams of whey protein will give you the protein you need and when the meal comes around you won't be as hungry - this way you'll have enough protein and it'll control how many grams of fat and carbs you pound down (did you know that just one ear of corn has almost 20 grams of carbs!?).

If the whey shake alone doesn't work well enough take a gram or two of glucomannan at the same time. Glucomannan is a soluble fiber that absorbs large amounts of water when in the stomach, causing it to grow to about double in size, obviously making you feel much more full.

Glucomannan is also a great supplement for people who are trying to lose weight but who insist on eating too much.

Happy munching!

[Chiron Jackal]

Watch What You Eat - Not All Calories Are Equal!

When people are trying to lose weight (or avoid gaining it) they often resort to counting calories. That's a good place to start, but counting calories without paying attention to how well each kind turns into fat is like counting the bills in your wallet without paying attention to their individual value!

Besides the bodybuilder-friendly fact that protein saves muscle while you're trying to lose weight, protein doesn't turn into body fat as easily as things like carbs. Further, carbs and dietary fats don't boost metabolism nearly as well as protein does. Protein also helps keep hunger down so you can cut down on how much you eat without feeling like you're starving.

How much protein should you try to take in daily if you're concerned about losing muscle? About 1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight. This is best done in several smaller meals throughout the day - it keeps you full and keeps the metabolism up.