So across the internet there are images of bowls of delicious looking brownie going around. I kept seeing people refer to them as the beltsander brownie…all I had in my head was sanding paper. Totally didn’t get it. Plus I have tried ‘protein brownies’ in the past that weren’t all that great. However, this brownie totally wasn’t like those, just like my bean brownies, it rocked.
The Original Beltsander Brownie recipe:
Scoop of protein.
10g Cocoa Powder.
Tspn Baking Powder.
60ml Milk.
You mix all the above into a thick paste and then microwave for around 30 seconds.
I went ahead with the above, but me being me I wanted to try and jazz it up. I knew egg whites had worked wonders in recipes like this before, and so I added in 25g.
My Pimped Beltsander Brownie recipe:
25g of MyProtein Total Protein (mixed blend).
10g Cocoa Powder or MyProtein’s Chocolate Smooth Flavouring.
Tspn Baking Powder.
60ml Skimmed Milk.
25g Egg Whites.
In my 700W microwave it took 60s, let it cool off a little, plate it, and you got yourself a sweet brownie. If the simplicity wasn’t enough for you, the taste for the calories is insane:
So it’s hot, bloody scorching, shorts, t shirts, flip flops…the works, it still doesn’t get you cool. What’s colder than the weather right now? Boiling water, a radiator, the oven, tea, coffee, that microwaved meal….everything.
I’m about to make your day, with these five awesome treats to beat the heat:
1) FROZEN FRUIT
Yup, just good old fruit, but instead of eating it straight outta the bag, you chuck it in the freezer over night and the next day you wake to ice cold fruity goodness.
Personal Favourites: Grapes, Bananas, Blueberries.
Watch me chuck one in a protein shake:
2) FAT FREE MILKSHAKE
We all want ice cold, thick, creamy milkshakes in this weather. But, these are typically high in fat and therefore high in calories, and maybe they just don’t sit well with our current diet. Well I have a special treat for you, my low calorie milkshake:
Let’s face it, we still want to drink coffee, but it’s piping hot and that just doesn’t sit well in this weather. So throw custom in the face and make it cold, ice cold.
Ingredients: 1/2 cup cold brewed coffee, 200ml cup Unsweetened Almond Milk, 1/2 Cup Ice, MyProtein Vanilla FlavDrops.
Method: Combine & Stir.
To find out whether coffee could potentially be [bad for you] check this out. <–
4) LOWER CALORIE ICE-CREAM
You know what’s all the rage nowadays? #WholeTubClub yeaaa if you wanna get down with the kids you need to start consuming whole tubs of ice cream. Or maybe you just want more than a scoop or two, but don’t want to kill your calorie count. I’ve got your back with these top low calorie ice cream picks:
To find out where the above might fit in your diet check your [your macro budget.]
Insider tips:
Walls Big Bites is currently on offer in Iceland 2 for under £2, and in Tesco £1. If they are not in your local, check out Tesco Express stores, that is where I got mine.
Carte Dor do Eton Mess, Chocolate Inspirations and more and these are all typically under 200kcal per 100g, which is really low for an ice cream with chunks.
Most supermarkets do their own version of frozen yoghurt, so if you haven’t got a Waitrose near you, check out you local Asda (e.g. Count on Us range) etc. as they more than likely stock their own.
When nutrition is in mls as opposed to grams, either eat the whole tub, or weigh the tub, remove 15g for the weight of the tub. Then use that figure as you’re 100% and then workout how much you want in grams, find the % that is of the whole tub, and then use that % on the ml number, for example:
500ml tub weighed 600g
600 – 15 = 585
585g = 500ml
You want 200g –> (200/585)x100 = 34% of the tub
500 x 0.34 = 170 –> you consumed 170mls
5) DIET DRINKS
What couldn’t be more simple than having a can of your chosen diet soft drink in the fridge? Personally I like cans, 1) because I can practice moderation better 2) because they are cold and I can rub the can on my body.
My Top Picks:
Pepsi Max
Pepsi Max Cherry
Diet Ginger Beer
Diet Mountain Dew
Diet Dr Pepper
Diet drinks ain’t gonna kill ya, don’t worry, I made this video years ago and the information still stands (my poor acting skills however…actually they still stand)
Unfortunately, fudge isn’t the most macro friendly treat out there. Sure it’s fine to have as a treat every now and then, and could be enjoyed regularly within flexible dieting. However the macros on Fudge, when cutting, would take some severe flexibility to fit into your macro budget for the day. I tend to just avoid it all together when I’m cutting!
So I got my muscle chef hat on and came up with this.
An almond butter, high protein, white chocolate & raspberry home made fudge. Almond butter you hear me say…
Oh yeah… I’m kind of a peanut butter addict. Infact any kind of nut butter or sweet spread I enjoy. I’m a bit obsessed I started hoarding them, building a stash, and compiled a nut butter review series (only a peanut butter addict would understand).
So to be able to combine some almond butter, white chocolate, fruit, protein aaaaaand make a fudge out of it? Winner!
Ingredients
50g of Vanilla Whey Protein Powder (any flavour is fine, but make it whey)
100g Natural Smooth Almond Butter (any nut butter will do)
150ml-200ml Almond Milk (or any milk you like)
15g White Chocolate Chips & 34g Dried Raspberries (to your taste/macro budget)
The Process
1 – Add your whey protein & almond butter into a mixing bowl, combine.
2 – Slowly add your almond milk, and continue to mix.
3 – Add your white chocolate & raspberries to the “mixture” and thoroughly stir in.
4 – Place the mixture onto some greese proof paper, placed onto a tray.
5 – Leave it to set in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour.
6 – Cut & Serve
Macronutrient Breakdown
Per 1/6th: 10g Protein 10g Carbs 12g Fat – 190kcal
Notes about this recipe
This is such a versatile recipe, that can be experimented & tinkered with to get any number of flavours, and combinations. Here are some of my recommendations;
Different Flavoured Protein Powder
Change up the entire flavour of the fudge by changing up your protein powder. The vanilla is a good “starting point” however, you can create some really indulgent chocolate flavoured ones if you were to use chocolate flavoured protein powder.
Another suggestion I would make is to add 2 different flavours of protein powder to get a nice blend in the base flavour of the fudge.
Different Nut Butters
I prefer smooth fudge, however I know some people love it with nuts in. Swapping your smooth nut butter for a crunchy version will cover your crunchy desires.
By using a high protein nut butter, you can boost the protein content of the fudge, without having to add more protein powder and thus spoiling the consistency and ratio of the recipe.
Melting
Only remove from the fridge when you’re ready to eat. The gloopy consistency of the nut butter will quickly start to melt on your fingers and go claggy.
About Adam Foster
Adam Foster is an aspiring bodybuilder, wanna-be Gordon Ramsay and all round geek. If he’s not curling in the squat rack, or watching 90’s cartoons, he can be found publishing recipes & supplement reviews on his website http://www.cheapproteindiscountcodes.co.uk or uploading videos over at his Shreddybrek Youtube Channel http://www.youtube.com/shreddybrek
This is another one of those ‘I bloody love that food, but it just doesn’t really fit in my diet’ recipes. I aint gonna lie, brownies are amazing, sugar, butter, chocolate, all the chocolate, they’re delicious, soft, gooey. Just yum. But one little brownie can set you back 300 calories and normally 15g of fat and minimal protein or micronutrition. So this is one of those recipes, where obviously it isn’t as good as the real thing, but it isn’t bad either, and it is full of goodness.
What you’ll need:
100ml Skimmed Milk (any liquid would do)
20g Protein Powder (I recommend a whey or mixed protein)
240g black beans (any bean will work)
30g Philidelphia Lightest (optional)
45g Flour (can be reduced)
1 Medium Egg (can be switched to egg whites)
5g Cocoa Powder (optional)
4g Baking Powder
Sweetener of your choosing
Additional goodies e.g. oreos, chocolate chunks, kitkat (optional but a no brainer)
How To Do It:
Add all the ingredients to a blender and BUZZ.
Add all ingredients to a lined baking tray.
Cook in a 200 degree oven for 20-30 minutes.
Take it out and delve a knife into the middle of it, if it comes out pretty much clean, you’re good to go.
Eggs ‘natures multivitamin’ containing antioxidants helping protect our eyes, choline a powerful nutrient for brain function and a high quality amino profile.
Beans one of the best natural sources of fibre on the planet. I recommend everyone gets a minimum of 25g of fibre, and in general 10% of their total carb intake (eating 300g of carbs, get in 30g of fibre minimum).
If you liked this you will want to check out the following:
Almonds, oats and cherry a great mix of flavours and textures. A bit cherry bakewell tart esq. but something you could probably eat on a more regular basis. I introduce to you Cherry Bakewell Oats!
What you’ll need:
70g Oats, 2 Cups of water, tsp almond essence, tsp vanilla essence, 12g flaked almonds, 30g Cherry Fruit Spread, sweetener of choice.
How To Do It:
Cook the oats and water on a high heat on the stove until simmering for a few minutes.
Add the vanilla and almond essence.
Once incorporated cook until desired thickness.
Serve in a bowl and stir in your Cherry Spread and top with the Almonds!
Oats – more protein than popular cereals, damn cheap, high in fibre and full of vitamins and minerals.
Almonds – rich in monosaturated fat, shown to be beneficial for heart health and cancer reduction.
Remember whether or not the above is healthy or not depends on the context of your diet and your goals. It could be within a fat loss diet, a bulking diet or someone just looking to maintain. What matters most is whether it fits within your calorie and macronutrient needs. You can learn more about you Macro’s here where I talk about your Macro Budget.
So this one is a bit epic, because Reeses Cups. Chocolate and peanut butter, what better combination? Again, this oatmeal recipe gets you some great wholesome nutrition, but also some sweetness. That’s a win, win in my book.
What you’ll need:
70g Oats, 2 Cups of water, 25g Chocolate Protein Powder (I used MyProtein Impact whey), half a banana (roughly 50g), 20g peanut butter. You may add some extra sweetener and cocoa powder too.
How To Do It:
Cook the oats and water on a high heat on the stove until simmering for a few minutes.
Add the finely chopped banana, reducing the heat and whip it into the mixture, you may need to smush the banana against the sides of the pan.
Once incorporated cook until its just a littler thinner than desired thickness and add the protein powder, as this will thicken the mixture up.
Serve in a bowl and top with your choice of peanut butter!
Oats – more protein than popular cereals, damn cheap, high in fibre and full of vitamins and minerals.
Peanut butter – they have about as many antioxidants as strawberries and blackberries, which aint bad for a nut (actually a bean, but hey).
Whey protein – cos everyone loves protein, the building block of muscle, essential for life. Highly satiating, great amino profile and highly bio-available (meaning we get a lot of good stuff from it).
Having recipes like these are handy, because we all get bored of eating the same thing day in day out. This isn’t just full wholesome foods, it’s also incredibly tasty. What I would note is that you should customise the recipe to fit you and your goals. Need more fats? You could use almond milk, or even add some real chocolate. Need less fats? Switch peanut butter for a powdered peanut butter variety. Want less protein? Reduce the amount of whey used. Need more protein? switch water for milk. You get the picture, this meal is only good for you if it fits within your dietary needs.
Oh and if you make this, be sure to tag #ReviveStronger, so I gets to see the loveliness.
Breakfast, whether you regard it as the most important meal of the day, the most boring meal of the day or just a meal. You will end up having something, and I think a lot of people end up finding they go to the same things over and over again. One for me is oats, so to keep things interesting I like to pimp them up.
So I have for you the Oatmeal series, for which the main ingredient will be our beloved oats. If you love oats, you will love this series, if you hate them, you will probably find this series will help you discover a way to eat them that you enjoy. Don’t get me wrong, you definitely don’t have to eat oats, but they are cheap and versatile.
What You’ll Need:
70g Oats, 2 Cups of water, 1/2 Cup of grated carrot, half a banana chopped, tsp vanilla essence, tsp cinnamon, sweetener, 100g Greek Yoghurt, 10g Walnuts.
How To Do It:
Add the oats, water and salt to the pan and cook on a high heat, once simmering add the chopped banana and carrot, keep stirring and reduce the heat, mashing the banana against the sides is a good way to incorporate it quickly.
Once thickened reduce the heat further and cool till your favoured consistency, then add the vanilla, sweetener and cinnamon.
During the cooking process you can prepare your icing, for this add the Greek Yoghurt and Vanilla essence to a bowl and mix up, I prepared it the night before. Simply put your Oaty Carrot Cake into a bowl and dollop on the icing.
Sprinkle over the Walnuts and there you have it Carrot Cake with Icing.
Carrot- full of Beta Carotine along with many vitamins and minerals.
Walnuts- full of Omega 3s keeping you healthy (still take your fish oils!).
Cinnamon- this has always been a winner for me, great replacement for sugar and calorie free.
Greek Yoghurt- higher in protein and lower in carbohydrates than other yoghurts and 100% natural, I use Fage 0% that you can get from any typical supermarket.
I love changing up my oats, so do my clients. Because we allow our diets to be flexible, we can swap and change foods all the time, we can eat anything we want and get great results. This is whether they are powerlifters, natural bodybuilders, mens physique competitors or just guys and gals who want to drop fat. Our diets are inclusive, and the only restrictions in place are ones that have to be to get results, calories.
People come and go, but pizza, pizza is for life. There is no better feeling than eating a slice of warm freshly cooked pizza, this can only be improved by the knowledge you made that pizza. You grafted in the kitchen, rolled the dough, laid on the toppings and furthermore, you know what went into your pizza.
By now you know I love pizza, I also love flexible dieting, and the two in combination make my day. Flexible dieting is about having the knowledge that no diet is perfect, but you can make daily food choices that progress you towards your goals, in the knowledge that these food choices can be driven by preference. One caveat being is that you must get sufficient micro and macro nutrition, otherwise you can pretty much eat as you like. For the vast majority of people a 80/20 rules applies and works, so 80% of the time you are eating wholesome, nutrient dense foods and then 20% of your diet can be as you like.
Where does pizza fit? Well just like any food, it meets my macro and micro nutrient needs. Homemade pizza is a cut above takeout, because you are choosing the ingredients, and if you follow my recipe it fits within that 80%. So you can continue to lose weight, gain muscle, build power, develop endurance whatever your goals may be, and eat pizza. Enough with the babble, here is what you have been waiting for…
Delicious, homemade, macro friendly Pizza
I am going to provide you the ingredients and method for the basic, but oh so delicious Margherita Pizza. This aint no tiny pizza, this is the real deal, 10inch, thin crust, cheesy pizza. You can make it smaller, you can make it bigger (I have) but this pizza is your billy bob, your essential, it gets the job done, bloody well.
Those are some sexy macros right? Hell yes they are, and it makes me love this pizza even more. Also check those ingredients, there is what 7 there, and of those 7 there are only 5 ‘real’ make or break ones, how good is that? It is darn good right. Plus how many of those would you consider crap? or junk? I hope none, because none are. On top of this, the method, it couldn’t be simpler. Trust me you will get why I make this almost everyday in no time.
How to make it:
Step 1
Combine all the ingredients of the base.
Do not knead this, combine and leave to sit for 1 hour.
Step 2
Blend your tomatoes and Italian seasonings.
Set your oven to the highest temperature it will go.
Step 3
Flour your work surface and roll out your dough, this is the only slightly difficult bit.
There are many methods for this, find what suits you best, personally I round the dough, then working from the inside out with my thumbs I flatten out the dough and rotate as I do, leaving a crust. Then flip and continue on the other side. From here I pick up the dough and holding the crust I rotate the dough like a steering wheel, letting it stretch out.
Keep pressing/stretching out your dough till at desired size/thickness.
Step 4
Place your rolled out dough onto your pizza stone or plate.
Chuck on all your sauce and toppings.
Cook in the oven for 4-6 minutes, depending on how well cooked you like it.
You got yourself some cracking pizza, with brilliant macros and that I can see fit within anyones diet. Sounds too good to be true? It isn’t, just try it, you will love it, and keep making it and become a pizza addict like me.
You love the sound of all this but do not know how many calories or macronutrients you need? Want to enjoy pizza like the above in the knowledge that you can still lose fat, gain muscle, stay lean and get strong but do not know where to start? Whether in contest prep for natural bodybuilding, physique, bikini or building towards a powerlifting meet or championship, we can all eat pizza and progress. All my clients eat to preference, I think everyone should, but not everyone knows how. Want to eat better and enjoy everything that goes in your mouth? You may want to look into getting a coach who can help you out. You can check out my services here.
This is a brilliant recipe because it is very simple, easy to make in bulk, really tasty and gets in a lot of micronutrition. I also really enjoy eating this cold or warm, I might just be odd but I have been eating this from the fridge at work and it hits the spot.
What you will need:
3 tins of tuna
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
2 celery heads
3 peppers
2 large red onions
2 boxes of mushrooms
3 close of garlic
2 tspn coconut oil
1 stock cube
I don’t want to list out the exact grams of each of the above items, because I know it varies each time I make this. That is because packets provide estimated weights, also things like onions and peppers vary in size. However, the above is enough to go from to make this recipe work.
What you need to do:
Chop up the garlic, onions, celery and peppers and add them to the pan with the coconut oil. Fry these until slightly soft.
Add in the tins; so tomatoes and tuna, once mixed in drop your stock cube in and allow it to cook for a little while.
Now you can chuck in your mushrooms, these will cook down fast so you could turn off the heat once these are mixed in if you desire a harder mushroom!
That’s it, simple as three steps, told you it was easy! You can then add a side of your choice, you could have this over a baked potato, make it into a pasta dish or do as I did and have it with basmati rice.
Hey guys, I want to spend some time talking to you about calorie free products. They’re great, adding loads of flavour and sweetness to our diets without the added calories. Research has shown that when kept in moderation our bodies are able to metabolise them without harmful effects and can help us lose weight. So why on earth would I ever bad mouth these products? Well as someone who has been dieting down for over 30 weeks my consumption of them has risen, and with that so has my understanding of potential pit falls.
Calorie free does not mean exactly that, as governing bodies allow companies to use this terminology if they are under a certain number of calories. In reality what does this mean? For example, if we take Walden Farms chocolate sauce (which I love).
Per serving Walden state that the product is calorie free, however there is actually 5 calories per 32g serving. That’s not exactly a lot, but say you were using a variety of these sauces through the day and using generous servings, that could really add up. Plus how many of you chew sugar free gum? I must get through almost a pack everyday now, and each piece actually contains 5 calories as well. Oh and I love Pepsi Max, again this too contains a small number of calories. You see where I am going here, before you know it you have actually consumed a decent number of calories from ‘calorie free’ sources.
As I said my consumption of these has been increasing as my diet has gotten harder. I hadn’t until recently really thought much about the above, thinking that they couldn’t be having any real impact. But, on a bad day I could in reality be getting close to 150 extra calories that I wasn’t accounting for, and imagine I have a bad week, an extra 150kcal every day, that’s over 1000 calories more than I thought. That 1000 calories could be the difference between losing the extra bit of fat I wanted.
So next time you see something ‘calorie free’ bare in mind that it does in fact contain a small number of calories, and these can add up. This is why I love IIFYM or Flexible Dieting, you count everything, there are no ‘free’ foods, because we know anything that contains energy will impact our bodies.
Adam Foster is an aspiring bodybuilder, wanna-be Gordon Ramsay and all round geek. If he’s not curling in the squat rack, or watching 90’s cartoons, he can be found publishing recipes & supplement reviews on his website 
stephenhallrevive.wordpress.com 