I recently discovered a podcast that I just have to share with you. I was just looking around at the iTunes store for nothing in particular, when I did a search for vegetarian.

I am a vegetarian, I like reading books about vegetarianism, and I though maybe there would be a few audio books or even podcasts about it at iTunes. And I was right, I found a podcast from Compassionate Cooks.

I was curious, because this seemed to be a podcast about how to cook and I thought maybe it was all about sharing different vegetarian recipes.

But I was wrong, because this podcast is actually the best podcast I have ever listened to, and I have listened to many.

The theme of the podcast is animal welfare, vegetarianism, everything vegan, and health in general. You’ll get all sorts of information related to why you shouldn’t eat meat, and alternative sources for protein and calcium (just as examples).

You might ask; why should you listen to the podcast from Compassionate Cooks if you are not a vegetarian and you are not even considering to become a vegetarian?

I think it’s very important that you do, because Colleen Patrick-Goudreau is very intelligent, and she will share with you information that you will have a hard time to find anywhere else. I am not saying this just to convince you to become a vegetarian or go vegan, I am saying this to enlighten you about various sources of vitamins, minerals or you name it. It’s probably a whole new world out there for you, and you don’t even know about it. At least that’s how I feel after listening to the podcast.

Usually, if you ask people, what should you eat in order to get enough proteins, 99% will answer meat. If you ask people, what should you eat/drink in order to get calcium, 99% will answer milk, and finally. If you ask people, what should you eat to get Omega 3, 99% will answer fish. This is because that’s what we have been thought since kindergarten.

Now, it’s time to learn from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

I am so glad that I found her website and her podcast, I am not sure if I can express it with words. I discovered it two days ago, and I can’t stop listening. I have downloaded about 80 “episodes”, and she has the most wonderful voice I have ever heard… I just love to listen to her and it’s the perfect podcast (no doubt about it).

I urge you to take a look at Compassionate Cooks for more information about the podcast, and start listening today.

I have never tried this myself, and I am not sure if I have ever actually eaten a protein bar… because I haven’t really had any need to do it. But anyway, it seems to be fairly easy to make them yourself.

If you buy them at the store, they are expensive, at least they are in Norway. If you make them yourself, you will have full control of the ingredients, and you can make a flavor you like.

Just take a look at the video from YouTube (just below the text), it shows you exactly how to make your own homemade protein bars. And it shouldn’t take you more than 5 minutes (at least that’s what they say in the video).

I have a friend, he is not really a bodybuilder, more like an amateur one. He is lifting weights and sort of taking care of his body, he likes to look, how should I put it; big.

I have talked to him about proteins over the years, and I haven’t really figured out, why his fridge is full of various protein drinks and why he always has a can of protein powder somewhere in his kitchen.

So, today I am going to try to figure out why Bodybuilders need more protein, or do they really need more protein than regular people?

My guess is that this has something to do with muscles. The more protein you eat while lifting weights, the more muscles you build. It have to be something like that, if not, why would bodybuilders eat and drink that much extra protein?

I have tried to do a little research, and to me, it seems that as a bodybuilder, you really don’t need that much extra protein. What you need is extra calories/energy or maybe you need a little extra protein if you are lifting weights or a bodybuilder, just not an excessive amount of extra proteins?

From what I have read today, people who exercise and bodybuilders need a little extra protein. I think that this is sort of the rule of how much proteins you need:

If you’re exercising daily, then your requirement is probably around 1.0 – 1.2 g per kg (or 0.5 – 0.6g per pound)

For endurance athletes, this is 1.2-1.4 g per kg (or 0.6 – 0.7g per pound)

For bodybuilders this is 1.6 – 1.7 g per kg (or 0.8 – 0.85g per pound)

But there are many opinions on this topic, and I am a newbie… so, don’t take my word for it, I have just been doing some research and this is what I found.

Just another interesting question for you.

I have always been wondering why regular guys like my friend needs all the supplements. He is not that big, but a lot bigger than me obviously. It might be required in order to grow bigger, I am not really sure. But it seems to me that there are a lot of discussions, and that people don’t seem to agree about how much protein you really need.

The thing is, that most people are not bodybuilders, even though they read the magazines and they want to look like bodybuilders. I think that it’s all about marketing, there are thousands of products for bodybuilders and people wanting to look really good. You can see them everywhere, in health stores and on the various gyms.

Is it mostly a marketing trick?

It seems to me that what it’s all about is the following question; “Do bodybuilders need supplements to become as big and strong as they possibly can?” It’s not just about fit, big or strong anymore, it’s about being the biggest and strongest. And the answer seems to be yes.

But some people seems to forget that you need to do a lot of extra training as well, supplements alone is never enough.

I downloaded a software called DietController about two days ago. I found it by coincidence, I was just browsing through the download site at apple, and there it was.

I have downloaded it, and I have been using it for two days. You can download a free 10–day trial too if you like, that’s what I am currently using.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. DietController is not a Mac only software, you can download it for Windows as well. I am currently using the Mac version.

I haven’t had much experience with it just yet, but I am now going to tell you what I think about it after using it for apx. two days.

First of all, DietController is very easy to use. You will first add the users, you can add as many users as you like (at least it looks like you can). Then, you should add some information about the user, like the age, gender, weight and so on. Now, before you start using it, you should add a goal. Say you’d like to loose a few pounds, then you could just add this to the system and then tell the system on how many days you’d like to be on a diet.

DietController will then help to control your diet. You just add the food you eat, it will automatically add the proteins, fat, calories and you name it. It has a database of thousands of food. And if it doesn’t have exactly what you are eating, then you can add your own food to the database. It’s great for me, because I am living in Norway and the food here are very different from the US.

After you have added the food you have eaten, you can write in the journal/diary. You can write anything, maybe about how you feel that particular day, or about life in general. It’s up to you.

DietController also offers to keep track of your exercises. Add whenever you do an exercise, and the system will tell you how many calories you have used. The database covers most types of exercises, you can just add 30 minute cross-country running, and you will get the amount of calories automatically.

Finally, you will get various reports on how you are doing. You can just pick whatever type of report you are interested in, or I think you can even customize your reports. The standard one that I have been using is to show me how many calories I have eaten (and drinking) that particular day, how many calories I have used for my exercises and then how many calories I have gone over or beneath my goal. You’ll see the reports as graphics, either bar or lines. It’s pretty cool actually.

So far, remember it’s only been two days, I think DietController is a very cool software. It seems to be close to perfect if you are on a diet, and you want to be in control. If you are not on a diet, you just want to keep track of what you are eating and drinking, then this software can do the job for you as well.

I am not sure if I am able to add everything into the system, maybe for 10 days. But I am not on a diet, I am just curious to see how the system works.

Visit DietController and tell me what you think.

I have been looking forward to this day for a long time, it’s time for my vacation. Three weeks camping with my family. We’ll be without electricity for the whole period, and it’s going to be so much fun.

I might be writing some posts before we leave, and maybe I’ll be able to publish them during the next weeks, but I really don’t know.

I should probably have written a fairly long post with the title:

The carrot juice effect, the potato chips and the week of pizza and hardly any running (LOL).

I decided not to. The week my family (wife and two kids) was gone, was like disaster. Well, I am talking about health. It was great to be home alone, and it was great to finally be able to do everything I enjoy doing (like watching a lot of movies, reading books, and staying up way too late – and eat pizza). But when it comes to my health, it was close to a disaster.

I did drink carrot juice every single morning though, well, almost every single morning. But I also ate potato chips and pizza every single day, and I drank Coca-Cola zero the whole time. Not sure if every married man is like me, but the time alone did something to me (I am still talking about my health).

Maybe I am a few pounds heavier, but that’s not what I am talking about.

If you have a week of junk food, you will probably be more aware of what you have been eating, and you’ll be thinking more about health (exercise and food) after the week, more than before the week.

The reason that I was living on junk food, and doing hardly any running, was because I did know exactly when my family left and I knew exactly when they came back home. I had the exact amount of days, and I know that I can live like this for a certain amount of days, but not make it a habit.

It was sort of like an experiment…

Finally, I am back on track and I will keep experimenting with various juices, and I will be eating less pizza (hopefully), and I’ll be testing various dinner options soon.

I am still testing the DietController software, and I am still just as impressed. But I can also see that this software might be a little too advanced for people that are just a little curious about how much protein and/or calories that they are eating every single day.

If you are not really on a diet, and you just want to keep track of what you are eating, you might want to install a toolbar for Firefox (I am also suggesting that you install Firefox as your web browser if you are not using it already).

This toolbar, the Calorie Count Plus, is completely free and you can use it to browse all sorts of foods, and keep track of “everything”. But it’s not as advanced as DietController, for instance I don’t think that you can add your exercises, the reports you get are not as customized, and I don’t think that you can add your own food to the database (but I might be wrong). 

The Calorie Count Plus toolbar allows you to easily search for calories and nutrition information, keep track of your daily calorie intake using the Eat Meter, receive new message notifications, find hot forum topics, and more.

You can read more information about the Calorie Count Plus Toolbar for Firefox at About.com, and you can download the toolbar from Mozilla.org

I have just bought The High Protein Cookbook by Linda West Eckhardt and Katherine West Defoyd. I bought it from Barnes and Nobles, and I received it in the mail a few days ago.

I haven’t had the time to have a detailed look at it just yet, and I haven’t had the time to actually try a few of the recipes. But I have had the time for a quick look.

The book contains more than 150 healthy good low-carb dishes that you can make in thirty minutes or less. Each entrée provides at least 30 grams of protein.

The High Protein Cookbook seems to be interesting, the only problem I have with it (so far), is that I can’t seem to find any vegetarian dishes other than the ones made with eggs, and there are no vegan dishes, well, except for the side-dishes.

There are plenty of recipes for:

• Fish
• Lamb
• Veal
• Beef
• Pork
• Chicken
• Eggs

There are also some very interesting deserts, and some dressings I am really looking forward to try. But next time, I am probably going to order a cookbook with more vegetarian dishes.

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Today, it was the last day of work before my vacation. I had home made salad for lunch, and it tasted great. I made it myself, and I just have to brag about it. It wasn’t really something out of the ordinary, it was mostly a plain salad.

But it tasted really fresh, and I included some very interesting nuts.

Image by edwaado

In Norway, we call it Para nuts. I am not sure why, because the name seems to be Brazil nuts (some people call them cream nuts as well, the Latin name is Bertholletia excelsa).

I haven’t been eating a lot of Brazil nuts, actually the first time I tasted it, was just a few days ago.

At the moment, I think it’s my favorite nut right along with Cashew nuts. The taste is great, and it’s quite big and easy to chew (well, it’s like chewing a nut).

It consists of 70% fat and 17% proteins. For instance, if you have 100 grams of Brazil nuts, then you will apx. get 17 grams of protein. At least that’s what it said on the container I bought.

The Brazil nut has a very interesting history:

For centuries the indigenous tribes of the rain forest have relied on Brazil nuts as an important and significant staple in their diet – so important, that the nuts have even been used as a trade commodity, much like money.

My first guess was that the reason why the name is Brazil nut, is that it was first discovered in Brazil. And I was right (I think), Brazil nut trees have grown wild in the Amazon forest and especially in portions of Brazil, Bolivia and Peru. But now, there are large plantations as well.

We all want to look fit, feel fit, and stay fit. It’s hard to accomplish it, and it’s even harder to lose weight.

There are probably many reasons why people are not losing weight and many people are gaining weight instead of losing it. The main reasons are that people are eating too much unhealthy food, too much junk food, and they are not exercising enough.

But today, I am going to tell you my thoughts on weight loss, and the two reason why most people (according to me) are not losing weight, and why they fail to stay fit and fail to stop gaining weight.

Are you ready?

To be honest with you, I don’t believe that losing weight is really a diet. You just can’t do something very differently for a few months, loose a lot of weight and then go back to your life and expect to stay fit forever. To me, a diet, is something you do for a few months. You do things differently, after the diet, you go back to your normal life and hope to stay fit (as fit as you were when you finished the diet).

My thoughts might not be what you are expecting them to be, they are really simple, and you probably know all about them from before. But if you think about it, isn’t this what it’s all about?

In order to lose weight, you need to do someting about the following:

1. Portion control
2. Food and emotions

Let me start with Portion control. One plate is really enough, and you don’t have to supersize it. Remember to use one medium / regular plate, and nothing more for every meal. Don’t eat more than what’s on your one plate. If you stick to this, you should be better than ok.

I think that the part where most people lack control are when they connect food with emotions. Let’s use myself as an example. It’s always great to tell you about my faults.

Every time I am watching a movie (it doesn’t matter if it’s on TV or I am at the movie theatre), I feel like eating candy. I am just hooked on candy while watching movies. The same thing happened a while ago when I was watching soccer on TV, it felt really good to eat potato chips during every game.

Some people eat ice cream every time they are sad (at least that’s what women do in movies), some people eat candy every weekend, because that’s when they are enjoying themselves. Some people are eating candy every time they have guests, because that’s the polite thing to do. Every time we celebrate something, we are eating cake… why is that?

There are all sorts of reasons why people eat candy or unhealthy food, just like me and my pizza. I am not eating it just because it tastes good, or because I need it to survive. I am eating it because it makes me feel good. I am enjoying myself while eating, and I am enjoying myself because I am eating pizza. Just the thought of pizza makes me smile.

So, if you really want to lose weight, you should disconnect food and your emotions. If you will start eating only because you need to eat (in order to survive), then you will be more than ok. It might sound like a very hard thing to accomplish, and it might be, I really don’t know… because I am still eating candy almost every time I am watching a movie.

Remember, those are just my thoughts.

What do you think?