Cheaters #1

The foods I lay out in this series are foods I eat whether on a weekly, monthly or even longer basis. The purpose of this is to show you that to have the physique you want you don’t have to continually eat chicken and broccoli everyday. Because honestly, that shit sucks. These foods aren’t always going to be what some consider the healthiest options. They are what I feel fits perfectly into a healthy lifestyle that is balanced. Warning: These foods may make you feel like you are "cheating" on your diet (hence the name).

I have competed in bodybuilding and been through some hellish diets (cod and spinach for 5 meals a day for 4 weeks). Given I did reach ~4% body fat; I don’t think I would do that diet again. This series is for those wanting to maintain athletic body fat ranges 8-12% (guys) and 16-20% (women). If you want to venture below these ranges I would remove some (possibly all) of the foods that I will be presenting here.

I try to maintain 8-10% body fat through the spring and summer months and I will let it hit 10-12% through the fall and winter months. I have eaten the foods I will be featuring and been able to do this quite nicely. (Remember: you have to be in calorie balance to maintain weight).



The first featured food is Kashi Pizza. Kashi pizza is a life savor when I have worked and long day and want to fix an easy meal that is fairly quick. Kashi pizza has a crust made from whole wheat flour and the Kashi seven whole grain blend. Other key ingredients include ground flax seed, extra virgin olive oil, 2% cheese, and diced tomatoes. This stuff is great. 1/3 of the pizza is a serving and this pizza pictured (five cheese tomato) has:

Calories 290
Fat 9g
Carbs 37g
Protein 14g

Depending on my caloric needs (and protein needs) for the day sometimes I will heat up some of the pre cooked chicken breast I keep in my fridge and either (a.) cut it up and eat it on the pizza or (b.) just eat it along side the pizza.

So there you have it, the first installment of Cheaters. Stay tuned for more to come.