Finding a healthy alternative to the delights of Ben ‘n’ Jerry was a priority for me because there is so much crap included in the ingredients of a tub of normal ice cream that I wouldn’t know where to start. One whole pot would contain around 130g sugar!!!  It’s certainly not ideal for someone looking to build muscle and burn fat.

So here’s the first healthy ice cream recipe that I want to share with you guys.  Have I got it to a stage where, in my opinion it tastes better than B&J Caramel Chew Chew? No. Not sure I ever will!  But it is certainly good enough to make me very happy, and satisfy any sweet cravings I may have, so it’s not like I’m longing for the caramel any more. This is a good enough replacement, especially when I know I haven’t got 130g sugar ruining my body after eating it!

This recipe is for a strawberry, vanilla and coconut ice cream.  There is no added sugar, it has a high protein content, and is low in carbs and bad fats.  Note – it does contain fats from the coconut milk/cream but these are good fats that you should not be concerned about.  This is a whole article in itself but basically you need to eat fats to burn fat – the importance is in making sure they are the right fats (trans fats are the real enemy). I’ll get working on an article to cover this in more depth but you’ll just have to trust me for now!

Recipe: Healthy Strawberry and Vanilla Protein Ice Cream Recipe

Note that the protein powder in this recipe isn’t essential and should definitely be avoided if you only have chocolate flavour (as it would not go well with the strawberries).  I add it here for flavouring and added protein content (which is obviously better for muscle building), but even just strawberries mixed with coconut milk will give you a nice tasty ice cream (though it would be a stretch to be able to call it a protein ice cream!).

I like to have a few different flavours of protein powder at home at any one time to use in my cooking.  I know it will get used eventually, so if you can afford it I’d suggest you do the same.  It will open up a range of protein recipes for you, and will help to avoid getting bored with a single flavour.   At home at the moment I have Vanilla PHD Whey, and Mint Chocolate PHD Whey, but will be adding to this collection shortly – I welcome any recommendations! Maybe I should find a caramel flavour and attempt to put Ben n Jerry’s, and their oh so delightful Caramel Chew Chew , out of business!

I hope you enjoy this healthy protein ice cream recipe. I’d love to know how you get on with it.  If you haven’t done so yet, please make sure you are following us on Facebook and are signed up to our mailing list so we can keep you up to date with all these great recipes and special offers!

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Let me start by giving you some details of what a soft ice cream maker actually does.  Erm…well it makes ice cream! But there is more to it!  The fact is that ice cream can actually be made without a machine. You just get your mixture together – normally some kind of cream and flavouring, and put it in the freezer.  But there is a downside to that approach.  The ice cream will come out rock hard from the freezer and, once it starts to thaw, it will be edible – and probably reasonably tasty, if made with the right ingredients – but won’t have that nice, soft, light texture that is inherent in the best ice creams.

So what a soft ice cream maker does is slowly churns the cream and ingredients at the same time as freezing it.  This technique basically means the mixture freezes and aerates at the same time – thereby helping to make nice soft ice cream!

Different Types of Soft Ice Cream Maker Machines

There are several types of soft ice cream maker machines that you can buy.  The one I have gone for basically involves putting a container into the freezer for several hours beforehand to cool it down (mine requires 8 hours in the freezer).  You will then make up your ice cream mixture, remove the empty container from the freezer, pour in the mixture, attach the rest of the ice cream maker, turn it on, and it mixes/stirs your ice cream mixture whilst the frozen container freezes the mixture and creates a gorgeous soft ice cream. This is the cheapest option, and is the option that I chose. The particular one I went for was this Andrew James Ice Cream Maker - just £19.99 at the time of writing. It even comes with a book of recipes for amazing ice creams (though most of them aren’t healthy at all!).

The second option is to buy a soft ice cream maker where you don’t need to put the container in the freezer for several hours – meaning less planning time. These have a freezing mechanism built in to them so you simply create your mixture, put it into the machine, and a tasty soft ice cream is created!  This is the most expensive option but obviously the most convenient.  An example of this type – also from Andrew James – is this ice cream maker, currently priced at £149.95.

It’s worth adding that in addition to being able to create delicious healthy (and unhealthy) ice creams, you can use these machines to make frozen sorbets, yoghurts, and slush drinks.

So as you can imagine, I’ve created some amazing recipes with my new toy (sneak preview below). I’ll be adding them to this blog very soon so keep checking back, or sign up to our mailing list to be kept up to date!

Please do share this article using the buttons below – I really do appreciate it!

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The chocolate I use is 90% dark chocolate.  I always try to find the highest percentage chocolate I can, mainly for the fact it contains so much less sugar.  I never even used to like dark chocolate, but now I have been eating this stuff for a while, the thought of going back to milk and white chocolate isn’t that appealing.  Not only does the chocolate contain barely any sugar (7g per 100g), but its packed with antioxidants. The chocolate is available in most major supermarkets and it’s worth noting – even dropping from 90% to 85% cocoa content will mean the sugar content, per 100g, doubles! So try to get 90%, or even more, if you can.

You may find that 90% takes some getting used to and is quite bitter. That’s one reason why I add some coconut milk (I use Koko Dairy Free which is available in most supermarkets these days) and Xylitol (sugar free natural sweetener) to the melted chocolate in the recipe below.  It makes it a little more palatable but isn’t essential so give it a go without if you don’t have these ingredients to hand (you can also use some unsweetened almond milk or alternative sugar free sweeteners if you would rather).

Just one more thing. The hazelnuts are added to provide even more goodness but they also give a nice crunch to the ingredients, which is in contrast to the nice soft smoothness of the raspberries and chocolate.  Ok, here’s the recipe….

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My latest creation are these healthy Blueberry Muffins.  Just look at the ingredients – not one unhealthy item in there and these taste great.  They will last for a while but do taste best when slightly warm after coming out of the oven.  Nice, warming, comforting, guilt free food – enjoy!

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There can be so much conflicting information everywhere regarding good carbohydrates and bad carbohydrates, and high or low carbohydrate diets, particularly now the internet has grown and any “expert” can add their opinion as “fact”.  I wanted to help clear up some of that confusion for you and give you my opinion which has served me well over the years.

First of all, I believe that one of the main causes of increased bodyfat, primarily in the western world, is that people are over-consuming processed refined carbohydrates such as pasta, breads, cereals, rice, fruit juices, etc.  I am not saying that you should necessarily follow a low carb diet, but I do believe that these over processed carbs should be avoided.   In addition to causing big blood sugar swings and insulin surges that stimulate direct body fat storage, eating too many of these carbohydrates can also increases your cravings and overall appetite.

After years of eating excess processed carbohydrates, it becomes harder and harder for insulin to do it’s job and continue handling all of this blood sugar, and insulin resistance and eventual type 2 diabetes can occur in many people.

I actually try to avoid all grains completely.  This includes pasta, bread and rice, and yes, it includes whole grains as well – something which many people believe to be healthy. Instead, I aim to get my carbohydrates from vegetables, sweet potatoes, lentils, quinoa, and sometimes berries (NOT fruit juices which are packed with sugar)

If you are going to get any grains at all, focus on the most nutrient dense and fibrous portions of the grain… the bran and the germ. This means that the healthiest ideas are using oat bran instead of oat meal, and using wheat germ and rice bran by adding them to your salads, yogurt, cottage cheese, soups, smoothies, etc. This way you get all of the most nutrient dense parts of the grains without all of the excess starches and calories.

If you are used to consuming large quantities of cereals, bread, pasta, and other carbohydrate sources, and move to a lower carb diet, try replacing the carbs with additional healthy fats from avocados, guacamole, coconut oil, oily fish, nuts, seeds, nut butters as well as healthy proteins such as grass-fed raw dairy and grass fed meats, whole free-range organic eggs, etc. Healthy fats and protein sources go a long way to satisfying your appetite, controlling proper blood sugar and hormone levels, and helping you to make real progress on weight loss for life.

Whilst I consume vegetables throughout the day, I like to consume the majority of my carbs as soon as possible after training in the gym.  I train in the evening and then will normally have sweet potato, quinoa or lentils with my dinner.  Am I concerned about having carbs in the evening, before bed? Not one bit – and you shouldn’t be either – as long as you are eating the correct kind of carbs, i.e. not processed rubbish. In fact, carbs can help to improve the quality of your sleep!

After training is pretty much the only time I would recommend high GI carbs.  I mix some Vitargo in with my post workout whey protein, and generally recommend doing this, especially for those looking to build muscle (not necessarily ideal for people whose main aim is burning fat).

Want some more info? Here’s a nice article I have found which discusses one of the most popular carbs – Potatoes, in particular the white variety.

The post The Truth About Carbs appeared first on The Truth About Muscle.

There is still room for improvement here, and I just need some time (and possibly some new tools) to get it perfect, but it’s definitely a good start (I devoured the whole tub on Saturday afternoon and didn’t feel in the slightest bit guilty about it!).

Let me first start by giving you a list of things that I won’t include in my recipes (you’ll find that many “healthy” recipes on other sites will include one or more of these):

-          Sugar
-          Dairy (though I’m ok with a little unsalted butter)
-          Wheat
-          Flour
-          Alcohol
-          Chocolate (unless its at least 80% Dark Chocolate – I try to use 90%).

When you rule those things out, it can make recipe creation a little more difficult.  But where there’s a will, there’s a way!  So here’s my first attempt at chocolate ice cream.  There are improvements which I will talk about after the recipe, and I’d love to get your thoughts/feedback, to help make this truly perfect!

The post Healthy Ice Cream – Attempt #1 appeared first on The Truth About Muscle.

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Now obviously drinking alcohol isn’t ideal for those looking to build muscle and burn fat but I know lots of you like to go out and have a drink every now and then.  It doesnt ruin your goals if it’s only every so often (Id recommend not more than once a month) and can be a nice break from strict dieting.  However, knowing which drinks to pick to avoid complete destruction can be good to know so below I’ve listed the calorie content of a number of popular alcoholic beverages.  You’ll be able to see which is the lowest calorie alchol, something for you to bear in mind next time you are on a night out – especially when you consider one pint of lager is the equivilent of a slice of pizza or 100g of cookies!

Gin or vodka and tonic = 126
Dark rum and coke = 142
Medium glass of white wine (175ml) = 130
Medium glass of red wine (175ml) = 120
Bottle of wine (white) = 555
Bottle of wine (red) = 510
5% Lager (pint) = 240
Cider (pint) = 180-250
Stout (pint) = 210
Bitter/Ale = 180-230
Liqueur (50ml) = 100-170
Brandy (50ml) = 110
Whiskey (25ml) = 55
Mixed drink (Ready to drink) (275ml bottle) = 160-228

Now obviously the above numbers are approximate. It can vary with each brand of drink and, in particular, the alcoholic content of the drink. For example, a 5% beer will likely have higher calories than a 3.5% beer.

Remember also that the mixer you choose with your sprits can increase the calories of your drink. For example, a vodka and coke will have more calories than a vodka and soda water.

Hopefully you have found this a useful guide. If so, please share with anyone else you think might like it.

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The recipe will show how to make the banana flavour soufflé, and then a separate blueberry coulis to accompany this (which you can pour over the soufflé if you wish).

The main change from a normal souffle is the use of Stevia instead of sugar. Stevia is a natural plant that is very very sweet, and is a great healthy replacement to sugar.  Don’t confuse this with other processed sweeteners, such as Candarel (which should be avoided).  It is natural.  There are other sugar free sweeteners that I am ok with using, such as Xylitol and Truvia, all of which have a slightly different taste.  All work well, so you may want to go with your preference.

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Every person is different, and taking creatine may pose different risks for them.  To assist you in making in informed decision, I lay out below what I believe to be the main -possible – side effects of creatine.

I should start by saying that recent studies have shown that taking up to 10grams of creatine per day is largely devoid of health risk.   However, there are so many reported side effects that I want to give my views.  Note that these are mainly my views, and if you have any concerns, you should consult a doctor before taking the supplement.

Side Effects of Creatine
One commonly reported side effect is upset stomach and stomach cramping, though I have never personally experienced this.  What I have experienced is increased dehydration on creatine, particularly towards the start of a cycle, and some very mild nausea.  I always ensure that I am drinking sufficient fluids anyway, but do up my intake when taking creatine.  Because of this dehydration, I believe there is some risk to the liver, and for that reason, people with liver problems should consult a doctor before taking creatine. I should say that most studies indicate there is no risk to the liver, but my experience of dehydration makes me question these results.

Similarly, most studies would suggest that there is no risk to kidney function.  However, I again believe that it would be premature to take this as fact, and that those people with any kind of kidney issues should avoid creatine completely.

Creatine has also been associated with asthmatic symptons, and it’s actually possible to be allergic to creatine, so obviously these people should avoid the supplement altogether.

One virtually certain side effect of creatine is that you will gain weight.  This will happen very quickly.  Initially it will likely be water weight (perhaps 2-4 pounds in the first week), with subsequent gains hopefully due to growth in the muscles.  However, these subsequent gains will only occur if you work out and utilise the additional energy that creatine is giving you – it won’t build the muscles by itself.  Without working out, you will just put on the water weight.

Under 18’s
If you are under the age of 18, my advice would be to avoid creatine altogether.  Very few studies have been done on that age group and the effects creatine can have.

Creatine Loading Phase
The risks, I believe, to the liver, kidneys and dehydration issues in particular, are compounded when using a loading phase at the start of a creatine cycle.  Because of these risks, combined with the fact that I don’t believe there to be a huge benefit of creatine loading, I will never use a creatine loading phase.

Creatine Cycle
To further reduce side effects, I would also recommend that you do not take creatine for any longer than 8 weeks at a time.  You should have at least 4 weeks creatine free, before restarting a creatine cycle.

Remember, if you are going to order Creatine online – or any supplement for that matter – then its well worth checking out our discount codes here, which can help you to save a lot of money! And if you haven’t done so yet, make sure you sign up to receive a free recipe book, that you can download instantly, filled with muscle building recipes, using the form on the right of this page!

As I mentioned before, all of the above is my own opinion, formed from much self testing and research.  Do you use creatine? Do you find it worthwhile? What side effects have you experienced? Let us know!

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