No Brains, All Gains

FUELING OUR ICE CREAM ADDICTION

Making healthier decisions in the past often seemed like a sacrifice in quality of life, whether from restrictive diets or deep time sinks for fitness. It’s only in recent years that I started thinking more seriously about how to incorporate healthier habits. Peter has been at this for longer than me, but we’ve pooled creative juices to find processes that work for both of us.

I remember dipping my toes into various work-out and diet combinations, including complex body work-out splits and a perpetual menu of unseasoned chicken, broccoli, and potatoes. This was back in the 2010s. Needless to say, I never made the official dive into this morose regimen. I did, however, start going to fitness classes like Orange Theory and generally being more mindful of what I ate—but never was mindful of the amount of protein I ate.

Fitness classes were a good way to get some physical activity in without the stress of learning how to lift, perceived embarrassment of going to the gym as a complete noob, and mental energy in organizing a routine. You show up and were given exact instructions on what to do; what’s not to like? I realized that these classes, often heavy on cardio, helped facilitate some amount of weight loss, but it was not helping with being skinny fat. They were also terribly expensive—why was I spending $15 per class to be told how to run or row on a machine?

And then there’s the crash dieting and my past delusional belief that caloric restriction would be the best (and only) way of losing weight or becoming more lean. Not only did I feel constantly hungry which led to binge episodes, but it instilled in me a deep sense of defeat. I had always struggled with food growing up, and this type of dieting only seemed to make matters worse.

By the time Peter and I met, I had already transitioned from work out classes to independent weight lifting. Together, we were able to sync up our schedules for working out. I did not realize how much more enjoyable working out with someone else could be, not to mention an accountability partner! As with many other areas in which our lives intertwine, Peter created a very seamless Excel sheet to track all of our progress.

We currently have a basic home gym set up that allows us to get in the big compound lifts. It’s so nice to not worry about the time spent traveling to and from gyms, possibly having to wait for machines, and minimizing unneeded costs.

Between lifting, scheduled walks, and rock climbing, we find ourselves engaged in plenty of physical activity. But because all of these activities are typically planned with friends in mind, they serve as both physical and social engagement. In the end, these activities blend well with our schedules because we worked to reduce any barriers to scheduling and add other enriching elements.

But perhaps the most exciting and enjoyable process has been tinkering with food. We take a similar approach to eating as we do with working out—to reduce barriers to eating healthily, while finding creative recipes as not avoid stagnation in meals. In addition, though, we design ahead of time the meals that we want to eat, even with potlucks or when hosting friends. Because we adhere fairly well to a nutritious menu throughout the week, we also do not restrict or shame ourselves for indulging on our occasional meals out.

I can only describe Peter as particular in his food choices, but not necessarily picky. As long as the meals have high protein, are not spicy, and are low in fat (due to stomach issues), he literally does not care what he eats. As such, I get nearly full liberty in the kitchen when it comes to food. I enjoy the more creative aspect and Peter gets to be a guinea pig for all my absurd recipes. It has been surprisingly easy to incorporate 1g protein/1 kg body weight for the both of us.

Our weekly meal prep usually starts with pre-washing all the fruits and vegetables we intend on consuming—we are much more likely to eat and snack on these when they’re more accessible and cleaned. We also buy herbs, garlic, and ginger and freeze into discrete packets to utilize as seasoning when cooking.

Part of making sure our pantry and refrigerator is always stocked with healthy snacks is making mini chicken burritos/wraps. We would purchase 3 rotisserie chickens from Costco and portion them out into about 30 individual wraps made of low carb tortillas and 0% fat shredded mozzarella. They freeze very well and are easy to heat up as a quick snack or meal. Of course, the left over chicken carcasses go into making flavorful bone broths or a quick-and-dirty chicken pho.

Herbs, spices, pickled veg, and salsas are great ways to add taste while being mindful of calories or macros. We’ve started to utilize more frozen vegetables which are comparable in nutrition as fresh, but at a fraction of the cost and make for easy additions to any bowl. And because we tend to enjoy more passive modes of cooking such as air frying or baking, we are able to cook while lifting while running laundry (talk about efficient)!

Our meals tend to be fairly planned out. We have delicious protein pancakes every morning with a side of whatever fruit is in season. These pancakes are made of a prepared dry mix that we make in large quantities, only needing addition of egg whites and greek yogurt the morning of—a total of 15 minutes. Peter meticulously makes a batch of pancakes every morning for us, unless there is a nationwide egg shortage or other calamity of course.

Lunch and dinner are more variable but we sometimes utilize a random number generator that Peter created that will assemble a menu for us. We input parameters for our favorite ingredients, including a variety of meats, proteins, carbohydrates, vegetables, and snacks. The RNG then spits out a randomized list of ingredients from each major category to use that week. This poses a creative challenge for us but also ensures we get variety in nutrition as well. If it were up to Peter, he’d be having chicken and broccoli for every meal.

One of our favorite recipes developed from the meal randomizer has been guacamole. In addition to the core ingredients, we found that we could blanch a whole head of kale and spinach, finely chop them, and mix into the guacamole without any adverse effects—it’s still yummy as ever. Served with a side of protein chips or pretzels, it’s such a nutritiously efficient snack.

Invariably, we end nearly every day with a high protein version of ice cream, made from protein shakes, frozen then blended in Ninja Creami. We then dress it up accordingly. Some of our favorite iterations include cinnamon apples with vanilla, chocolate peanut butter and banana, matcha, mocha (using home made espresso shots!), and melona (using fresh cantaloupe flesh and juice). It’s amazing how indulgent these taste, and how easy they fit into our macro and caloric intake for the day.

Needless to say, I’ve been very satisfied with my overall health. I not only feel it corporally, but know that I’ve been making progress in a healthier lifestyle simply by looking at our lifting spreadsheet. I am satiated every day, and can snack away guilt-free should I have a hankering for something sweet or salty. It’s also been a fun journey to introduce Peter to foods he’s never tried, and developing new methods of keeping the traditionally mundane aspects of our lives interesting.

XOXO,

Howard and Peter