The Body Temple

I think there’s a misconception that the pursuit of a high level of fitness needs to be an all-consuming obsession. The reality is that anything you do to get up and move your body takes you one step closer to the fit body you were born to have.

Shadow box a few rounds in the morning (great way to get yourself amped up for a big meeting or busy/stressful workday). Crawl up the stairs in your house on all fours for an evening; really focus on using your whole body to propel yourself up the stairs. Hang from something! Crawl around, lizard, crab or bear style. Dance! Chase a squirrel (understand that people will judge, not understanding your ninja training)!

Just get up, move that wonderful body of yours, and use some of those extra pounds you’ve packed on over the years as resistance to banish the fat from your body forever.

And if hitting the gym and working out is your jam then go nuts! Just make sure that every minute you’re in the workout you’re moving with purpose and passion. Make every rep count; get in and get out!

If you take this approach, you can spend a lot less time working out and avoid fitness turning into an unhealthy obsession.

Train hard!

This is a real time-saver. I’ll bust this recipe out when it’s late, I’m hungry and I want dinner on the table with as little effort as possible, without settling for some kind of fast food garbage.

I start with a salmon steak, which I cook up with a little bit of lemon, dill pickle juice and garlic.

I put a lid on the fish so that the steam can do its thing, then I get a separate pan going for the veggies.

In this dish, like many of my other dishes, I use all frozen veggies. They are an incredible time-saver, they’re just as nutritious (and in some cases moreso) than fresh veggies and, best of all, they don’t go bad! If you’re like me, you’ve thrown away more than your fair share of veggies simply because they go bad before you can get around to eating them.

I let all the veggies cook up with a little bit of sea salt and a touch of vegetable broth. While they cook I go back and check on the fish.

When the fish and veggies are both done, I turn off the heat and then add heaps of fresh spinach to the veggies. It’ll cook down just a little bit with the residual heat of the pan.

Total cook time will be 10-15 minutes, which is about as long as it would take you to put a frozen pizza, so NO EXCUSES! Keep your freezer stocked and wolf down those veggies whenever you can!

Abs Like Pacquiao! from The Body Temple on Vimeo.

We get asked, a lot, about pre and post-workout nutrition. These are subjects that you should take very seriously if you’re involved in an intense training program (something all of our clients have in common). If you’re going to the trouble and expense of hiring a trainer, our thinking is that you want to do whatever you can to support that. In this case, properly fueling-up before the workout will help you get so much more out of it, and properly re-fueling after the workout will help your body recover and get ready for the next session. For many of our clients that’s only a day or two, so it’s of vital importance.

For starters, you never want to eat right before the workout. If you do this, your body will be using vital resources to digest food, when all of your energy and focus should be on getting the most out of the workout. Our recommendation is usually to eat 90 minutes or so before the workout. This gives you time to digest, gives you the energy you need, and by the time the workout’s over it’s time for you to eat again anyway. That being said, everyone’s a little bit different, and you might need to experiment with timing to find out what’s optimal for you.

Fat and carbohydrates are the best sources of energy, so your pre-workout meal/snack should hit those notes. For example, a piece of flax toast with some peanut butter and hemp seeds; greek yogurt with a little bit of honey and granola; a handful of almonds, seeds, raisins, peanuts etc.

What we want to do is set ourselves up for success. This means making a conscious effort not to wing it, and just grab whatever on your way out the door to the workout or, worse yet, not eating at all. Pre-prepare some little bags of trail mix if you have to. Keep them in your bag/purse for emergencies. Remember that digesting food is one of the biggest calories burns for us, so skipping a meal to save calories makes no sense. While the pre-workout suggestions I’ve just given all have protein in them, protein is not an ideal fuel for your workout.

Other example of pre-workout fuel could be: oatmeal with berries or some other kind of fresh fruit; a peanut butter and honey sandwich (on some type of healthy bread, of course); apple slices with cheese or peanut butter; steamed veggies with some olive oil. Just think carbs + healthy fat. Sometimes, if I’m short on time, I’ll just down a spoonful of peanut butter and one of honey. It’s a little rugged, but it gets the job done.

Post-workout we need to, once again, get carbs in to replenish what we’ve just burned. We also need to focus on good quality protein to help re-build our muscles. Protein actual has a two-fold effect in that it builds and repairs our muscles, and the more muscle you have the more fat you burn 24/7, and your body actually burns more calories digesting protein than fat or carbs. That’s why most people who work out hard, are always big on getting protein.

Now, the fact that you need protein does not mean that you have to drink gross protein shakes. Examples of post-workout meals that include both protein and carbs would be: egg white omelet with veggies and whole wheat toast; lean fish wish steamed veggies or salad; chicken w brown rice and veggies.

But, if post-workout shakes are your thing, there’s a lot you can do to make them more nutritious and better-tasting. Throw some frozen berries and a little yogurt in a blender with some water, a good, clean whey protein powder, maybe a little bit of honey. You can even toss a banana or a spoonful of peanut butter in there as well. If you do some experimenting, you can actually make these shakes taste great. A secret ingredient in most of my shakes is coconut milk.

While the timing of your pre-workout meal may take some experimenting, your post-workout meal should be consumed as soon after your workout as possible.

This should be a good jump-off point to get you going. If you’re really diligent about your nutrition, you will be staggered at the results you get from your training.

Just made a great, quick shake in my mini blender. I threw in: 1 banana, a couple of tablespoons of coconut milk, hemp seeds, rolled oats, local honey, flax seeds, New Zealand whey protein powder (vanilla flavour), and filtered water. I blended it all up for a few seconds and it’s good to go!

It tastes great, and it hits a lot of different nutritional notes: protein, good carbs and fat, lots of fiber, and most importantly it tastes great! My shakes are rarely the same twice in a row so check back, and I’ll keep posting more!

This is another work in progress, and a first-attempt at what I’m sure will evolve into a spectacular, and fun dish for the whole family. I started by cooking up a package of extra lean ground beef, with onions, garlic, basil, vegetable broth and sea salt. At the end I added in tons of turmeric and a little bit of black pepper.

Then I took a small tortilla and wrapped it around the inside of a small Pyrex dish and popped it in the toaster oven. This is how you build your tortilla bowl. Toast it until it’s nice and crisp.

Instead of shredded lettuce, we decided to go for the more nutritionally-dense option of shredded spinach. We also grated a bunch of cheese, and picked a delicious salsa out.

Once the meat was done, we simply spooned the meat into the bowl and presented it on the plate with the shredded spinach and cheese. This meal tasted AWESOME, but be warned, it got messy! Have some paper towel on hand and don’t wear your favourite Form Athletics shirt while eating this one!