Boneless and skinless chicken breast is one of those magical foods that is both healthy and delicious. The challenge in eating it more frequently, however, is typically the high cost and the preparation time associated with it. I’ve been using the following system to maintain a sustained diet of chicken breast for the past couple of years. The results are minimized preparation time and overall cost.

Like most people, I used to buy my chicken breast at the grocery store, until a friend of mine mentioned that a friend of his bought chicken breast directly from the manufacturer’s factory outlet - in bulk. I procrastinated on it for a while, even though I knew how much it would save me money (chicken breast ain’t cheap!) Almost two years ago I finally took the first step and visited the local Maple Lodge Factory Chicken Outlet in Mississauga (map). I picked up 5 kilos (11 pounds) of fresh boneless skinless chicken breast for $44 CDN tax included.

The best part is that it comes in a generic brown shipping box.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.

There is a choice between buying the chicken frozen solid, which is much cheaper, and buying it fresh. I prefer to buy it fresh, despite the higher cost, only because I don’t have the patience to wait for it to thaw (it can take 24-48 hours to thaw naturally, or maybe I’m just ignorant.) So, if your goal is to fully realize all the cost-savings, definitely choose the frozen breasts, since they’re almost half the price! As a side note, even the fresh breasts, which I buy, are still about $2 cheaper per pound than what you’d find at the local grocery store. The choice is yours.

I use a George Foreman Grill, bachelor version, which takes about 3-4 breasts at a time. Each batch takes about 10-15 minutes to complete. Overall it takes about 2 hours straight of cooking time on my small version of the Foremall Grill. A larger version of the grill could probably cut the cooking time down to under an hour. Basically, I cook all 5 kilos upfront, and keep it frozen. When I want to eat, I microwave the breasts for 1 minute 20 seconds each side, or 2 minutes 20 seconds overall.

It obviously sacrifices that freshly-grilled-chicken-breast-taste and texture, but in my case, I can live with the trade-off. The initial investment of time saves an enormous amount of time down the line. Perfect for packing lunches or making quick meals on-the-go.

I can say with certainty that this method of preparing chicken breast has helped me immensely in staying compliant with my diet at home. The convenience and frugality of the whole idea is nice, too.

Cheers.

This post was brought to you by Project Phatko

Many people have had problems with their shipments once they reach Canada Customs at the border. The majority of these incidents happen with USPS (United States Postal Service) as the shipping agent. Others and myself have had success by using FedEx as the chosen courier. I’ve never had one issue when ordering Biotest products via FedEx, especially since I’ve ordered some controversial (according to Canada Customs) stimulants like Hot Rox Extreme. The price is virtually the same, if not cheaper, when choosing the FedEx option (during the checkout on the Biotest site), and the duty charges are usually the same (or less) than USPS! In addition, the order usually arrives within 3-4 days, as opposed to 1-2 weeks as with USPS.

Anyways, just some advice if you plan to order any type of stimulants or fat burners from the US.

This post was brought to you by Project Phatko

Yesterday, to my dismay, I discovered that the “Evermore” Wordpress plugin caused several of my posts to be truncated. The plugin was supposed to only truncate the DISPLAY of the post (on the homepage), but not the actual post data itself. On top of that, I have no backups, which is entirely my fault.

Two lessons learned:

1) Use plugins sparingly, and when doing so, choose wisely.

2) Yeah yeah, always have backups.

I’ve recovered a few by locating cached copies on the web. Otherwise, I’ll just have to make up for them with a lot more new posts.

Long story short, in mid-August I took a trip to Serbia to visit my family for a week. When I returned, my university courses began and I also joined a martial arts academy. Combined with work, it made for virtually no time to blog, but now that my schedule is settled and organized I feel ready to start writing again!

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There have been some very good posts in the blogosphere lately. Here are a few that caught my eye over the last couple of days.

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Fish burps were the main reason I stopped taking fish oil supplementation a few years back. I just couldn’t stand the aftertaste of those burps, and worse if I had no access to a drink.

Two things can be done:

1. Freeze Them - Some say that by keeping your fish oils in the freezer, the ‘fishyness’ of them is greatly reduced.

2. Consume Before Meals - This has worked best for me. If I consume my oils prior to eating, I barely notice them.

Combine both tips and you should be in good shape.

So I’ve completed one week without my normal post-workout drink, Biotest’s Surge. So far so good, both in terms of physical results and recovery.

I’ve basically replaced it with a cocktail of glutamine (20g), BCAA (10g), creatine (5g), and whey isolate (30g). It effectively brings my post-workout carb consumption from 45g down to 4g (from the whey isolate), while still providing the necessary conditions for replenishment and recovery. My opinion in comparison to Surge depends on the training style performed on the day of consumption - heavy or circuits.

On heavy days, where I’m allowed 1-2 minutes of rest between sets, sipping a peri-workout mix of glutamine and BCAAs really helps in terms of performance and the onset of fatigue. Furthermore, at the end of the training session I don’t get the urgent feeling to consume something sweet and loaded with sugar (Surge).

On circuit training days (aka. lactate-inducing), I only consume water during the workout, and the light cardio session afterwards. When the workout is over, I have a huge craving for something Surge-like, with loads of sugary goodness. In this respect, I’m not as content with the glutamine/bcaa/creatine/isolate combo, but for the sake of results - it’s a very fair compromise.

I really do miss Surge though. On my next carb-up day (next Monday), I will make sure to have a coveted Surge serving both pre, peri, and post workout - just to get my sweet fix of the good stuff.

Temptations seem to come at the worst times, don’t they? Today I got hit with a major onslaught of temptations when I got to work. I rushed out of the house and forgot to bring my food with me. When I arrived at the office, what did I find? What else but a bunch of leftover pizza and Tim Horton’s donuts boxes! Now, it’s easier to avoid these kinds of traps when you have something healthy to at least tide you over, but when you are hungry and without your own arsenal of food, the old voices start to take over and the rationalization begins…

“I’ve been perfect for the past 4 days - a quick binge won’t make a difference.”

“If I just eat everything here, the temptation will be gone, and I’ll get right back on track afterwards. No big deal.”

“Maybe just one.” (yeah, right)

I won’t lie - it was an incredibly tough situation. I would do anything for just a big bowl of sliced fruit, let alone the major culprits. Then again, these desires are all old habits that I want to destroy. I don’t want to have to try so hard when turning away from devilish foods, I want to get rid of the desire! The only way I can see that happening is by making a new habit of avoiding them.

Instead of trying to rationalize a way to give into the treats, I started to think about this site, and the progress photos due in a little over a week. Also, a quote from John Berardi came to mind where he said something like, “if you can’t dedicate yourself to something for a mere two weeks, you have a problem.” Absolutely true. The final straw was when I told myself, “this is why you’re 30%”. That silenced those inner voices pretty quickly.

In the end, my way of dealing with the situation was to quickly run home (I live very close to work) and pack a few containers with spinach and chicken, some cans of tuna, and a bottle of water. Phew! I look forward to the future when this won’t be so hard.

Lesson of the day - Always be prepared in case of tempting circumstances and environments!

I believe that with any endeavor, one should stack the odds in their own favor as much as possible. In the case of body transformation, this will require a clear plan of action, and an array of proactive habits and routines.

Nutrition

Although my determination will ultimately be the most important factor in my success, having a clear idea of what will be going into my body is a huge detail. Since I’m over 20% BF, I will be using a rather strict approach for my carbohydrates, both on regular days and on carb-up days. On regular days I will be shooting for 30g of carbs or less. This excludes carbs from green vegetables and fiber - which can be eaten more or less carte blanche.

my dietary staples

• Chicken Breast
• Tuna
• Turkey Sausages
• Omega-3 Eggs
• Egg Whites
• Baby Spinach
• Celery
• Natural Peanut Butter
• Green Tea
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Balsamic Vinegarette Dressing
• Mustard

Supplements

Seeing as how my post-workout shake has always been Biotest Surge - which has 45g of carbs, I will be eliminating it for the next four months (carb-up days excepted). Instead I will be ingesting a glutamine/BCAA/creatine/whey isolate combo, so that I can get proper post-workout nutrition, while still keeping daily carb levels below my daily limit. I’ll also continue to be steady will fish oil intake (EPA/DHA), 100% psyllium husk for fiber (Metamucil), and multi-vitamins.

my supplementation staples

• Whey Isolate
• Fish Oils + CLA
• Multi-vitamins
• Creatine
• Glutamine
• BCAAs
• Fiber
• Spike + Power Drive (pre-workout stimulants)

Compliance

Carb-up days will be every two weeks. In addition, they will be “clean” carbs, so only oatmeal, fruits, yams, etc. All other days I will target 100% compliance. Personally, I find it easier to shoot for perfection rather than perfect moderation. This might sound strict, but since I’m 30% BF, I think I will require these added efforts to get off the ground faster. Once I’m below 20%, I’ll expand the selection of foods allowed on carb-up days. This was a major problem with my old routine - carb-up days were too frequent, and composed mostly of fat+carb combos that were too detrimental to my goals (ie. pizza, wings, high-fat cappuccinos, desserts, pasta, etc).

We’ll see how my sanity holds up after the first two weeks. I’ll have updated photos and new data to unveil!

The PN Challenge officially began for me yesterday. Today, I finally got around to getting most of my important data collected, so that I could submit my official registration for the contest. The results were shocking to say the least.

I have a Tanita bodyfat scale that uses an electrical signal to measure results. I’ve never believed it prior to today, simply because the results seemed to be wrong. Today I had a chance to measure my BF% using a different method - bodyfat calipers - and the results more or less validated the Tanita scale’s accuracy.

Anyways, here are my hard “before” numbers:

• Weight: 237 lbs
• Bodyfat %: 31% (calipers) 29% (Tanita)
• Lean Mass: 166 lbs
• Fat Mass: 71 lbs

Girth:
Neck: 17.25″
Shoulder: 54″
Chest: 45″
Upper Arm: 15.5″
Waist: 43″
Hip: 39.5″
Thigh: 25″
Calf: 16.5″

And here are the photos:

I’ll be posting the details of my strategy and goals tomorrow!