A fresh avocado is a great source of unsaturated fats. Avocados contain nearly 20 vitamins, minerals and beneficial plant nutrients - they are a great source of dietary fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, folate and lutein for eye health. Sodium-free and cholesterol free, avocados are one of nature's super-foods! -Spread on Sandwiches or Toast: Use as a satisfying unsaturated fat replacement to other "bad" fats like mayonnaise or butter
- Quick & Easy Guacamole: Mix an avocado with a spoonful of salsa - Step up your salad by adding thinly sliced or diced avocados to any salad. San Diego County is the avocado capital of the country - 60% of California avocados are grown here! Ripe, ready-to-eat avocados will be firm yet will yield to gentle pressure. Stock up on hard, unripened avocados and use them as they ripen.
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 Kirk's Favorite: The Pull-up Few exercises are more simple or effective that the basic pull-up. One simple range of motion targets multiple muscle groups in your upper body and your core. The Basic Pull-up Pic 1: Starting Position Assisted Pull-up |
 "Go For Fresh, Simple Ingredients" A key component of living a healthy lifestyle is eating fresh, healthy foods and reducing or eliminating processed foods from your diet. Processed foods are basically anything that you did not make yourself or anything that comes in a bottle, box, can or pouch. -Begin to replace processed foods with fresh foods. Buy only fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, seafood, dairy and whole grains. - Focus on the nutritional value of foods. Many foods may look good on the label if they are low in fats or sodium or calories, but they have little nutritional value. - Shop smarter. Cruise the perimeter of the supermarket - the fruit and vegetable aisle and the meat and dairy cases. Only go down an aisle if absolutely necessary. - Cook at home. You will know exactly what is going into your meals and into your body. Kirk's advice is "Do not obsess over reading labels - the numbers on the side of the package hardly tell the whole story. I prefer to think about food in a more rounded, whole concept. It is not just about adding up numbers on the side of a box and hoping to keep the total low...it is more about successfully balancing your consumption of whole nutrients to meet the needs of your activity level." Remember, the fresher the food, the better the nutritional value. |
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 "Vary Your Workouts" Introducing some variety into your usual workout will step up your results and drive your workouts closer to your full potential. Our bodies are the "masters of evolution" and they adapt very quickly to routines. To keep your body on its toes is to keep your body in good shape. Here are some suggestions for introducing variety into your workouts: Modify your intensity levels. At least 2x per week, try to workout to your maximum capacity. On alternative days, stay under your max to aid recovery. Change what muscle groups your train together. The traditional training split of chest/triceps, back/biceps, and shoulders/legs certainly works, however your body gets used to it over time. Next week, try a chest/shoulder workout, back/legs workout, and a biceps/triceps day. You will see that you will reach entirely new muscle groups! Vary your sources of cardiovascular exercise. Each source of cardio specializes in a different area of your body. Try jogging, jumping rope or fast cycling on the spin bikes. Most importantly, do not forget to thoroughly stretch after each workout session. Stretching your muscles while the body temperature is still high is the most effective way to increase flexibility. |
 How many grams of protein do I need every day to gain muscle? To maintain your current muscle mass, you need to eat 1/2 gram of protein for each pound of body weight. To move yourself into a muscle-building range, you need to consume 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. For muscle gain, gradually work your way up to 1 1/2 grams of protein per pound of body weight over several weeks time. At that time, you should see the desired muscle gain and muscle fullness. You can then back down to a maintenance level of 1/2 g per day. The maximum protein you should ever consume is 2 grams per body pound per day. As an example, a 200-pound man would consume 100 grams of protein at a maintenance level, 200g of protein at a muscle gaining level and 300g per week at a serious gain level, but only for a few weeks at a time. A 130-pound woman would consume 65g of protein at a maintenance level and 130g at a muscle-building level. Meals should be lean proteins only - boneless skinless chicken breast, lean turkey, lean beef, seafood or whey protein powders. Vegetarian sources of protein which contain no cholesterol and no saturated fats are tofu, beans, lentils, corn, spinach, nuts and peanut butter. Remember, the more muscle you have, the more fat you burn - muscles are fat-burning machines! |
 Kirk's Green Smoothie Ingredients: Directions: Use large sized handfuls! Blend adequately until your smoothie is smooth and consistent. Don't worry if you don't have all of the exact ingredients - you can use this recipe as a base for experimentation. This is a raw recipe so make sure you thoroughly wash all of your ingredients. All conventionally farmed produce will contain some amount of harmful toxic sprays. Buying organic products help avoid unwanted by products, but still wash thoroughly! |
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