"Asphalt Wave Saga" CHAPTER 1: The longest jump, the furthest fall.

Good evening / afternoon / morning depending on when you're reading this.

As you will know, I've a few projects going on in the background, including a novel that I'm twenty two chapters deep.
One of these projects is a product and while I still plan to be vauge about it on this blog, close friends are aware and have been aware of it's conception for over two years.  

I guess where I'm going with this post is simple.






I am going to release this project.

And it will be a success.






However...

My other half, who works in large corporations managing even larger projects was drafted in for her expertise, something I'm normally adverse towards (mixing business with relationships).
She spent a hour pawing at a keyboard before giving me an Excel file and explaining how it worked.

After our conversation it became apparent that my self-doubt and fears of failure stemmed from a large mass of data that's sat inside my skull, this data that flew about causing chaos desperately needed to be tamed.

This Excel spreadsheet worked out the steps needed to get the product ready to launch set into daily tasks with plenty of fat (fat means excess time to complete a goal to compensate for unseen complications).
Once I saw the timeline stretch out (until nearly may) it did dawn on me that this was a tremendous amount of work but after a moment of that, I felt calm, focused and precise.

I now KNOW what to do each day and this was the key aspect holding me back. Previously I had all these other stresses and thoughts racing around my head as I bumbled through the work but now i had clarity.

Lot's of clarity.

I've decided (since my job is fairly quiet until february) that I'd make the right decision. To be focused, tuned in and precise I needed to remove negative influences from my life, make time and knuckle down for one hell of a ride.
After a long discussion with my other half, who is very logical based, we came to the conclusion that the only real way I could give this a shot at 100% of my ability is to give 100% of my time.

And that means leaving my job.

"you gotta break a few eggs to make an omelette"

Now before people think this is a good path, I'd like to stress I have saved up a good buffer of money to last me through and I'd never suggest anyone just leave their work and follow their dreams if they couldn't commit 100% to it.

This is the longest jump.
 Leaving the safety of work and grinding each day in my bedroom / office / design studio isn't going to be easy, but it is however necessary if I want to make this product a reality and begin the birth of my own business.

The longest fall is if I don't give this my all or the project is a flop, on the one hand my position in life will be worsened but I will be able to say I gave it my best shot before looking at other ventures.

It's only failure if you take nothing from it.

.

Recently I've been reading this, it's a GREAT book on understanding the psychology of habits and how we both form and CAN change them, I will be utilizing some of the techniques in my marketing campaign as well as my health and fitness.

I've never had a problem exercising, I have the right cues, habits and rewards systems in place that keep me encouraged and active.
When it comes to eating however, more so this time of the year, I let myself go a bit. I did this originally to give me a break from strict food and exercise routines but now it's become a habit, and one I plan to end. As of today I'm going to slowly try and reprogram my brain into better food habits, avoiding boredom eating etc.

I can highly recommend the book, it's a decent read and not too big.

Now to end this post, I WILL BE (to the best of my ability) blogging each day starting Sunday, throughout the experience. These will not be long posts, but just summaries of the experience so that it's fairly well documented.


Thanks for Reading viewers, I love you all.

Spiraling out of control.

MOTIVATION, AND HOW IT CAN SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROL:
Today I've witnessed what happens to all of us eventually, the spiral out of control that breaks us from dedication, consistency and determination.

Since December I've not been to the gym, now this might seem a little odd for someone that visits on an almost daily basis but this was the construct of a set of actions which have led me to today.
Today I weighed myself and I've gained the better half of a stone (8lbs). I've consciously eaten really well over December but critically, and more importantly, been eating the calorie amounts that I would consume if I was still hitting the gym hard and forgetting about my deficit. A small yet critical error.

I was brought back to my thought process that led me here, the me now and the differences between today's me versus the me of late September.

Late September's me:
"I'm going to drop the gym for a month, give my body a long rest and focus on other things and come back strong in January"

This was great in practice, I had a good December (minus a miserable Christmas) and I think my body got the rest it needed. However I've unconsciously partaken in a clean bulking phase as a result of not managing my nutrition and calorific intake.

A series of events have rolled out and caused today's me.
Today's me is half a stone heavier, a little lethargic and sitting on the second of February without still having gone to the gym. Today's me looks out of the window, thinking "I should go for a run" and then looking at the rain, finding an excuse not to.

Now that you have a perspective on today's me I'm going to go over the point's that put me here where I am. Identifying a problem and it's causes will help aid in a solution!

DECEMBER:
I decided to focus my time onto some of my big projects that I hope to generate income from, one of these is a novel I'm currently 20 chapters through writing.
This takes up all my free time in the days, writing, reading and editing.
Before I' aware, Christmas and the perpetration for it take place.

A few days later, New years eve happens and me and my partner travel to Paris to see in the new year, one of my goals from last year that I was soo happy to write off!!
During the trip to Paris I had an epiphany about my life. It was ok, but not the life I grew up wanting, I realized that with a lot of work, I could live the life I wanted. I have to buckle down, work hard and get my two big projects off the floor.

Upon returning to the UK, my time, efforts and perspective changed direction towards creating a life for myself that I want, there really are less limits when you take off the ones you place on yourself!

JANUARY:
I worked hard making more content for the book and started seriously developing another big project that aims to deliver a card game. I drink a lot of coffee and spend long stints indoors designing, writing and editing.

The payoff? My fitness goals fell to the side, life brushed them aside and I've become very aware that I now have the painful re-introduction to daily exercise, the kind that anyone wanting to change their life has to endure.

THE WORST PART of exercising is the breaking in, forming a routine and sticking to it for a few weeks to turn that effort into instinct.
Septembers me of yesterday had good intentions, but it started a chain of events off that caused me to neglect my efforts. Today's me is apprehensive and looking onto the re-starting with a grimace.

However... I need to tell you something.

Yesterdays me was foolish, today's me is lazy but we haven't covered tomorrow's me.
Tomorrow's me is going to look for a way to integrate both, work hard and work out harder, nail the nutrition and get back on track. Because success and exercise are tied in as one, they synergize and help the other.


Daily Exercise Grants Me:

• General Health Improvement.
• Serotonin to make you feel happier.
• The Ability to wake up fresh.
• Focus and clarity.
• Something other than my work to focus on.
• Lets me make meeting my health and fitness goals easier.
• Self confidence.

All these aspects will aid me in my work, I won't be sat in the rain clutching a coffee cup to keep awake because my sleep has been bad. I won't need that same coffee to kickstart me into work in the mornings. I won't be miserable and laying in bed thinking of nothing more than the projects, rolling around my head.

So here is an idea.

Why do people as a whole, those that do not actively exercise, look upon it with distress?

It's because the hardest part of changing your nutrition, attending classes or just finding the motivation to exercise is the first few weeks.
That's the time you have to make the effort with no rewards and all the punishment.

You drag yourself off your sofa, go to the gym, have a workout that may or may not have had all your effort in and then return home, tired and maybe even a little sore, to top it off a new found post gym hunger is sabotaged because you've decided to (un-wisely) follow some fad diet.

It's the people that push on, keep up consistency and keep going that start to notice something change, the feeling of exercise becomes enjoyable (Trust me on that one), you'll notice that you feel lighter, clearer and in-tune.

The problem is when you break that consistency and revert back to low levels of activity, you get comfortable, less active and lazy.

The trick is to...

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
Not at the weekend, not tomorrow... right now. Do something, and keep doing it for a few weeks and you'll kickstart yourself back in!

"Oh Kiko I'm afraid I've not exercised in a while / ever, there is no hope for me"

Wrong. If my own mother in her 60's can just start going for walks and look at her diet, so can you.

It's only too late when you're dead, make the changes. Make an effort and do it now!
(Just keep it simple to start with)

With that, I'm off for a run, time to get myself back together.

Thanks for reading!!

Real Changes and how to make them last.

Welcome back, I've missed you. I know it's been quite around here and that is because for the most part I had run out of things to say.

Originally I used to post to this blog almost daily, and while that was an amazing time I realise eventually I was struggling to have anything of value to say. Well now I have things to say, so as a result...

I'M BACK BABY! 

Too much? Naa never too much. 

So what have I been up to?

Well I set myself a goal last year:

"I refuse to spend another new years celebration in the UK"

And this year I spent it in Paris! It was the first time I'd ever been to France and I'd recommend it to anyone. Friendly people, tolerant (to my poor french) shop owners and a very simple to use metro system made for a pleasant stay indeed.

I'm not one for resolutions, I've always been a firm believer that the best approach is to make life changes, you know, permanent changes to the ways in which we live and learn and this year is no different.

I do however, believe in goal setting, and this year I've got a lot going on!

This Christmas was one of the worst I've had. period. But instead of letting that get me down I've decided to use that as fuel for my fire to get me through the early parts of this year. In martial arts like Judo and Wing Chun you use the overwhelming force and weight of an opponent as a weapon against them. I'm basically doing that with life, if I go through a bad spell I don't let those knocks take me down, instead I use them to temper my blade... ok too many metaphors but the jist of it is simple:

> Have a bad Christmas.

> Use that pain to work hard to make the next better.

This was predominantly a fitness and health blog, well now it will become a LIFE blog. One good thing to come from Christmas was a small but cherished gift from a close friend. I was lucky to receive a set of metal Kanto badges (these are the badges you get awarded in the video game Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue for essentially beating bosses).

Now my problem was, where to put these badges? While very awesome I do not have many places for them. I sat and had a long think, and even wore one (the boulder badge, my favorite) on my suit I wore to the London Boat Show, it looked good.

Anyway, I had a thought about those badges. Half the pride in the games was that you earn them, and they feel important because of the hardships you had to go through to obtain them.

What a lovely concept, earning them.
So I decided to earn mine too, give them an important merit for each one.

My MAIN 2015 goals, all set out. Once I achieve one I get to wear the badge, otherwise they stay in my safe. This will give each badge weight and actively represent goals and hardships I've undertaken.

As you can see in the goals, Tough Mudder (or similar events) have been on my to-do list for too long, the main issue I have with this is as a weight lifter I do lack in long range cardio endurance. I run more than average lifters but not enough. Now luckily tough mudder is only 12km, and also luckily my father used to run marathons yearly, he's old school but I have a pool of knowledge to pull from, now 60 years old he still runs now and then and is built muscular much like myself so if anyone is good to seek advice from it is him. I will book the tough mudder soon, forcing myself to train for it, if I can get to 10km comfortably then thanks to my other training I should be ok with the obstacles the events throw at you, and of course I'll document it all on here.

I've cut down on my meat consumption, not because I've become vegaterian or even want to, but more because I believe that here in the west that we just eat too much and that it does have some negative impact on the body.

Nutrition: 

- More water

- No carbonated drinks except sparkling water

- 50% veg plates for main

- Full fat milk (arguably the best for you when coupled with a healthy lifestyle) and proper unsalted butter, margarine is poison there is a reason even insects won't eat it.

- No fast food until my birthday (April)

- Wholegrain wheat flour, brown bread (as good as it gets)

- Avoid sugary substances except fruit

- No late night snacking. (caught myself doing it the other night)

- On non-training days, must not eat as if I was (been making that mistake)

Last thoughts, if you want to make changes do not feel you need to wait for new years to make them. You're capable of setting any date as a date to turn your life around.

The time I quit smoking, I had just bought a pack of 20, I opened it took one out, and then just thought. No. I'm not a slave to you. And crunched up the pack and threw it away.

It was hard, yes, but I did it. I do not smoke and it's been 4 years, I don't even like the smell anymore.

Only 2 things need to be done if you want to make lasting life changes:

1) Do it now, right now, no "I just need to X" or "Let me have one last Y" Just. Do. It.

2) Be consistent. If you falter, and we all do, just get up, start from then and carry on. The longer you're not doing that thing that makes you sad / unhappy / unhealthy the longer you're not sad / unhappy / unhealthy, get it?

Anyway, thanks for reading and PEACE!

IMMOVABLE WARRIOR

Hello Readers!
I hope you all had a great Christmas and new year!!

I'm working hard to a new Training program, it's been great, making amazing progress and getting stronger every single day. I showed the fitness plan to the level 3 instructor (Something I'm thinking of working for) at the gym to see what his opinions where.

He took the paper with a reserved look about him, he probably gets to see all, kinds of crap.
After looking it over, then re-looking it over he said the words "It's pretty good... Very good actually...A really good plan!"

This made me very happy, I'd targeted each day to a different muscle group, leg day on Thursday and Sunday is a much needed rest day. It hits you very hard on Wednesday and Saturday with a bit from all the muscle groups, I had declining reps, usually 10/10/8/5, using high weight. Each part of the training uses a complementing muscle so as to not burn you out after only a few different exercises. I even considered equipment rotation so that you don't end up walking all around the gym and then losing a piece of gear you needed to someone else.

FEELING NEXT-LEVEL PUMPED for today's session.



Taking something to retain focus, drive and clarity. Korean Ginseng. I know some people don't think Vitamins and herbal supplements can do much but I'm amazed at how combining it with Omega 3 1000mg really is for the brain! It's like that film limitless, minus the surge in intellect. I take these and 20 mins later I feel like my eyes are opened, everything becomes more clear.


Here is the plan, It's followed until April then gets a V.2.

So this is how my afternoons are spent, job searching in the morning until around 4pm then hitting it hard.

I'm not employed at the moment, I've got various little bits keeping me occupied but I'm doing all i can do to fix that problem, and as for the things I have direct influence over; my health, my diet, how I am to other people and my own motivation, I'm giving it more than my all and I'm succeeding.

I'm pushing forwards, and focusing on what needs to be done and I think that is a key mentality for success in any of life's aspects, focus on the main goal, give it all your attention, don't go to the gym and think about how shit your life is, or about the shopping, go and focus on getting your form perfect, focus on making weight increase deadlines, just keep your mind on the task.


We all have the ability to get most of what we want from this life, but it's not going to fall into your lap so go and tear it all apart, toss aside all the packaging and ignore the voices because this is YOUR life and YOUR story!!

Thanks for taking the time to read this, you beautiful, beautiful people.

The Turning Point.

8    MONTHS    LATER   :

"The ocean is violent but a good sailor can weather the storm"

It's been a long haul away from this Blog, I needed to focus a bit more and now I come back to you a different person.

The last 8 months I stepped up my training, hitting the gym almost daily, cut down on high saturated fat foods, cut down on consuming carbonated drinks and tried to eat a bit cleaner, not clean, but cleaner.

I focused on improving myself and I can confidently say I've achieved that, I lift over double what I could, run longer and generally feel a lot better in myself. My goals in this department are far from over, I have other ambitious goals to meet and when spring appears I'll go into my first clean eating cut (which will be difficult).

Aside from my physical appearances what else has changed?

My attitude, I'm more willing to believe in myself, I did this health change all on my own off research I did about the various items I wanted change. Christmas approach's and I'm going to share my knowledge for all the people wanting to make lasting changes on their health and fitness, so expect me to be back to regular blogs again.

 

How about the rest?

I'm STILL trying to find work in London, and while this has been almost a laughable experience the country as a whole is beginning to recover from the economic depression and employment rates are slowly on the rise, so I'm quietly confident this marathon is reaching it's end. 

I'll be working hard to get job applications out and see where I can get, then finally move to London.

I've been visiting every month for a week or two and really feel integrated into a city environment, I still adore the countryside, the wilderness and the oceans call but I've got to make this move, and it's taken longer than it should. It has been a very long war, but one I will win.

So what's next?

• Step up the resistance training program.
• Build a stronger cardio base.
• Move to London
• New business ideas.
• Think about my long term plans, and start setting some in motion

When working on a few small business ideas or any ideas for that matter, some will fail others will work, the trick is not to give up, pick yourself up, ten, fifteen or even a thousand times and carve out the world YOU want.

So make big audacious plans, make goals that terrify you, push yourself to the edge and beyond of your comfort zone, think, fight and live.


"If you can't fight for the life you want then you don't deserve to have it any other way." - Kiko


I know I can do it. Can you?

SPRING IN MY STEP

Spring is here, the sun in out and the very gloomy and record breaking cold winter the UK has just had is but a mere frosty fog on the lens of our memories. I'm sure, like myself you've noticed a drop in posts and to make this up to you and myself I'm currently taking a train back from London to my home-town  It only just occurred to me that I could write my posts in advance to save me work in the evenings which is my normal posting time. The main issue is simple; I've gone from a slow pace of life to what is now a constant stream of things creating disturbance and distraction in my normal posts. I’ll talk about a few of the things I've been up to anyway.

Things I have to fit into a day on average:

• Eating well (breakfast, lunch, dinner).
• 1.5 Hours in the Gym.
• Work on my Business (Which includes):

- Finances

- Product Design

- Marketing

- Business Model and strategy

- Streamlining workflow

- Social media presence

- Designing new products

- Maintaining strong supplier relations

- Email Sifting

- Arrange photo shoots

- Work on Shoots

- Arrange, and edit images after finding right shots

- Branding and Company Identity

- Promotion

- Setting and meeting milestones

- Organising all documentation and filing

- Conceptualising new directions

• Work on various Freelance design work.
• Work a job (at the moment I've got some intern work).
• Host game nights (most nights).
• Attend a hobby club on Wednesdays.
• Work on miscellaneous personal projects.
• Visit parents once a week
• Skype my girlfriend in the night when not in London
• Skype friends and family when in London
• Update Blog
• Update Various Facebook pages and groups

Things I have coming up that I need to find space for:

• Birthday of a good friend
• My own birthday
• 2 weeks intern work
• 2 weeks in a clinical trail testing Flu vaccines (It’s really helpful for other people and I also get paid to do it)
• Dental Surgery
• A event at London I may be attending to set up a stall
• Freelance work creating designs, manufacturing and printing T-Shirts for another event
• Creating a cheap range designs and prints to sell off old out-dated stock

So as you can see, I'm pretty busy and updating the Blog isn't a speedy system, I normally write it up, and upload the various images you see on here like the headers etc, this all takes time! My average Blog post takes just under 2 hours, which in the grand scheme of things is a huge amount of time!

However, I do not view it as work or even a service. I view this blog as a way of relaxing and noting down things that (most of the time) will help other people save money and time or just provide what I consider invaluable information I've discovered or learnt the hard way.

Anyway as you can see I've got a pretty tight schedule, so from now on I'm going to have to put to good use any waste time(like the long train journey to London) to get things lower on my list completed.

I hope everyone is well, oh and on the fitness and health front, I'm doing ok!

POWER UP MEALS!!

Welcome back, I've missed you, I hope your new years resolutions (If you make them) are going well!

Today I'm going to discuss the single most important aspect of any life change, and that's nutrition.

Remember the phrase "You are what you eat" well I'm not suggesting there are burger shaped people walking around but what we eat is essentially what we really are!!

When you eat something it's in the stomach and all the nutrients good and bad are absorbed and eventually distributed around the body fueling vital jobs such as using proteins to repair ripped muscle tissue... we call it working out; what's left over is stored in various ways, such as fat.

Why is fat stored if it causes so many health risks down the line?

Well fat is stored because your body has not evolved to know when you are going to get your next meal, as far as your body is concerned fat is going to save your life if you can't hunt down any food soon.

Problem is we keep adding to the stored fat before it gets used keeping us alive.

THE BEST WAY TO THINK ABOUT FAT IS THIS:

Think of your body as a car, and calories as fuel, if you keep filling your car with fuel and hardly run it, what will happen? Yes, your tank will be full, your car heavier from the full tank and fuel will pour out over the floor.

The body is the same, if you put more in that you take out you fill up... with fat.

Ok so now where does nutrition come in? Well that's simple, just like car fuel in general (for vehicles) you get different types from diesel to petrol all the way up to rocket fuel, they all increase performance.

People are the same, with the right fuel you can increase your output from thinking to exercise!!

This is such a HUGE topic that I'm going to have to make new headers called "Power up meals" to talk about this, I just can't do it justice in one single post but I'll go over the general idea.

Chances are you've heard the term "Super foods" if not then that's fine as I'll explain now, Super foods are foods with unusually high contents of nutrition that also aid the body in other ways, for example Blueberrys help combat cancer, protect your heart and boost memory to name a few.

Something worth noting is the preparation of foods, while it might seem obvious that frying foods is not as nutritionally beneficial as steaming something to think about, food for thought even, is that overcooking foods is just as damaging to its nutritional value.

Take broccoli for example (My personal favorite green vegetable), if your steaming or boiling it make sure to not cook it to he point where it starts to lose colour and the water changes a green colour, if you do that then you're losing precious nutrients. That green colour in the water is basically the goodness leaving the food. a way to retain SOME of that is to use that water in soups, stocks and gravy. you will save some of it that way, but ideally learning to cook things right will save you a lot of nutrients.

How to cook broccoli:

Broccoli

look for: Sturdy, dark-green spears with tight buds, no yellowing and a high floret-to-stem ratio.

Prep: Cut off florets; cut stalks in half lengthwise and then into 1-inch-thick half-moons.

Microwave: Place stems and florets in a large glass baking dish. Cover tightly and microwave on High until tender, about 4 minutes.

Roast: Preheat oven to 500°F. Spread on a baking sheet or in a pan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Coat with 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil. Roast, turning once halfway through cooking, until tender and browned in places, about 10 minutes.

Steam: Place stems in a steamer basket over 2 inches of water (with 1 tablespoon lemon juice added to it) in a large pot set over high heat. Cover and steam for 2 minutes. Add florets; cover and continue steaming until tender, about 5 minutes more.

 (From Eatingwell.com)

Want to drink fruit juice?

Avoid drinks "from concentrate" and totally avoid carbonated drinks, ideally drink something similar to something I reviewed in a previous post:

Coldpress make fruit juices, this is as close to just eating a raw apple that you're going to get, its freshly squeezed and then pasteurized using only pressure alone, no high heats used so you're 100% certain you've got all the nutrients and they have not been cooked away. 

WHEN EATING FRUIT AND VEGETABLES:

Eat something that has had as little a processing as possible.

(Much like meats, or anything really, processing equates to chemical, heat and other treatments that often hinder the nutritional properties of food)

Eat organic, you've no idea what chemicals have treated your food and what their long term effects might be (better safe than sorry)

Don't overcook.

Overcooking can effectively ruin a foods value.

Enjoy eating well.

(Even if you don't like the idea)

If you can enjoy eating healthy foods then it makes the process of eating well even better for you!

While I appreciate you might not like vegetables (I didn't when I was younger) I  did however try hard to incorporate what I could.

For example, I hated the texture of broccoli, so I'd blend it into a soup, texture problem solved. 

I don't like the taste of Egg alone, so I season well and accompany egg with other items to remove and change that taste. 

========================================================================

POWER UP MEAL  #1   MUSCLE MEAT SALAD!!

========================================================================
( Taken from EatingWell.com as it's a FANTASTIC recipe)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup fresh blueberries, divided
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted (see Tips)
• 3 tablespoons fruity vinegar, such as raspberry vinegar
• 1 tablespoon minced shallot
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 3 tablespoons walnut oil or canola oil
• 1 pound sirloin steak or strip steak (1-1 1/4 inches thick), trimmed
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 8 cups baby spinach
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

PREPARATION

1. Preheat grill to medium.
2. Pulse 1/4 cup blueberries, 1/4 cup walnuts, vinegar, shallot, sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a food processor to form a chunky paste. With the motor running, add oil until incorporated. Transfer the dressing to a large bowl.
3. Sprinkle steak with pepper and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Oil the grill rack (see Tips). Grill the steak about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare, 6 minutes per side for medium. Let rest on a clean cutting board for 5 minutes.
4. Add spinach to the bowl with the dressing; toss to coat. Divide the spinach among 4 plates. Thinly slice the steak crosswise. Top the spinach with the steak, feta and the remaining blueberries and walnuts.

TIPS & NOTES

• Tips: To toast chopped nuts, place in a small dry skillet and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant and lightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes.
• To oil a grill rack, oil a folded paper towel, hold it with tongs and rub it over the rack. (Do not use cooking spray on a hot grill.)

NUTRITION

Per serving: 392 calories; 26 g fat ( 5 g sat , 7 g mono ); 68 mg cholesterol; 11 g carbohydrates; 1 g added sugars; 29 g protein; 3 g fiber; 494 mg sodium; 748 mg potassium.

Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin A (114% daily value), Zinc (36% dv), Vitamin C (35% dv), Folate (34% dv), Magnesium (26% dv), Iron & Potassium (21% dv)

Carbohydrate Servings: 1

Exchanges: 2 vegetable, 3 lean meat, 4 fat

Just look at this meal, steak, blueberries, walnuts and spinach!! This meal has it all!! taste, class and massive protein for low fat, almost 30 g of PROTEIN!! 

A good overview of superfoods and what they have to offer!!

Apples	Protects your heart	prevents constipation	Blocks diarrhea	Improves lung capacity	Cushions joints
Apricots	Combats cancer	Controls blood pressure	Saves your eyesight	Shields against Alzheimer's	Slows aging process
Artichokes	Aids digestion	Lowers cholesterol	Protects your heart	Stabilizes blood sugar	Guards against liver disease
Avocados	Battles diabetes	Lowers cholesterol	Helps stops strokes	Controls blood pressure	Smoothes skin
Bananas	Protects your heart	Quiets a cough	Strengthens bones	Controls blood pressure	Blocks diarrhea
Beans	Prevents constipation	Helps hemorrhoids	Lowers cholesterol	Combats cancer	Stabilizes blood sugar
Beets	Controls blood pressure	Combats cancer	Strengthens bones	Protects your heart	Aids weight loss
Blueberries	Combats cancer	Protects your heart	Stabilizes blood sugar	Boosts memory	Prevents constipation
Broccoli	Strengthens bones	Saves eyesight	Combats cancer	Protects your heart	Controls blood pressure
Cabbage	Combats cancer	Prevents constipation	Promotes weight loss	Protects your heart	Helps hemorrhoids
Cantaloupe	Saves eyesight	Controls blood pressure	Lowers cholesterol	Combats cancer	Supports immune system
Carrots	Saves eyesight	Protects your heart	Prevents constipation	Combats cancer	Promotes weight loss
Cauliflower	Protects against Prostate Cancer	Combats Breast Cancer	Strengthens bones	Banishes bruises	Guards against heart disease
Cherries	Protects your heart	Combats Cancer	Ends insomnia	Slows aging process	Shields against Alzheimer's
Chestnuts	Promotes weight loss	Protects your heart	Lowers cholesterol	Combats Cancer	Controls blood pressure
Chili peppers	Aids digestion	Soothes sore throat	Clears sinuses	Combats Cancer	Boosts immune system
Figs	Promotes weight loss	Helps stops strokes	Lowers cholesterol	Combats Cancer	Controls blood pressure
Fish	Protects your heart	Boosts memory	Protects your heart	Combats Cancer	Supports immune system
Flax	Aids digestion	Battles diabetes	Protects your heart	Improves mental health	Boosts immune system
Garlic	Lowers cholesterol	Controls blood pressure	Combats cancer	kills bacteria	Fights fungus
Grapefruit	Protects against heart attacks	Promotes Weight loss	Helps stops strokes	Combats Prostate Cancer	Lowers cholesterol
Grapes	saves eyesight	Conquers kidney stones	Combats cancer	Enhances blood flow	Protects your heart
Green tea	Combats cancer	Protects your heart	Helps stops strokes	Promotes Weight loss	Kills bacteria
Honey	Heals wounds	Aids digestion	Guards against ulcers	Increases energy	Fights allergies
Lemons	Combats cancer	Protects your heart	Controls blood pressure	Smoothes skin	Stops scurvy
Limes	Combats cancer	Protects your heart	Controls blood pressure	Smoothes skin	Stops scurvy
Mangoes	Combats cancer	Boosts memory	Regulates thyroid	aids digestion	Shields against Alzheimer's
Mushrooms	Controls blood pressure	Lowers cholesterol	Kills bacteria	Combats cancer	Strengthens bones
Oats	Lowers cholesterol	Combats cancer	Battles diabetes	prevents constipation	Smoothes skin
Olive oil	Protects your heart	Promotes Weight loss	Combats cancer	Battles diabetes	Smoothes skin
Onions	Reduce risk of heart attack	Combats cancer	Kills bacteria	Lowers cholesterol	Fights fungus
Oranges	Supports immune systems	Combats cancer	Protects your heart	Straightens respiration
Peaches	prevents constipation	Combats cancer	Helps stops strokes	aids digestion	Helps hemorrhoids
Peanuts	Protects against heart disease	Promotes Weight loss	Combats Prostate Cancer	Lowers cholesterol	Aggravates Diverticulitis
Pineapple	Strengthens bones	Relieves colds	Aids digestion	Dissolves warts	Blocks diarrhea
Prunes	Slows aging process	prevents constipation	boosts memory	Lowers cholesterol	Protects against heart disease
Rice	Protects your heart	Battles diabetes	Conquers kidney stones	Combats cancer	Helps stops strokes
Strawberries	Combats cancer	Protects your heart	boosts memory	Calms stress
Sweet potatoes	Saves your eyesight	Lifts mood	Combats cancer	Strengthens bones
Tomatoes	Protects prostate	Combats cancer	Lowers cholesterol	Protects your heart
Walnuts	Lowers cholesterol	Combats cancer	boosts memory	Lifts mood	Protects against heart disease
Water	Promotes Weight loss	Combats cancer	Conquers kidney stones	Smoothes skin
Watermelon	Protects prostate	Promotes Weight loss	Lowers cholesterol	Helps stops strokes	Controls blood pressure
Wheat germ	Combats Colon Cancer	prevents constipation	Lowers cholesterol	Helps stops strokes	improves digestion
Wheat bran	Combats Colon Cancer	prevents constipation	Lowers cholesterol	Helps stops strokes	improves digestion
Yogurt	Guards against ulcers	Strengthens bones	Lowers cholesterol	Supports immune systems	Aids digestion

An overview of good superfoods
(Shared from: http://www.thepowerhour.com/news2/healthy_food_chart.htm)