Gourmet Nutrition is my current new favourite cookbook

gourmet_nutrition_dr_john_berardi

I really like cooking. OK, I’m totally lying … I L-O-V-E cooking. I usually spend most of my Sunday afternoons cooking for the week or at least partially prepping for the week.

It saves me a lot of time because my weeks are usually hectic and unpredictable. Since I work fairly long hours, I always have found it important to make food preparation a priority because I can easily store everything in plastic containers and store them in the fridge or freezer for later use.

I really don’t need much motivation to cook because pretty much any food is inspiration. That said, I’ve found a new reason for cooking! I just got the Gourmet Nutrition “cookbook for the fit food lover” and I cannot wait to try all these tasty looking recipes.

The cookbook was written by Dr. John M. Berardi, Michael Williams and Kristina Andrew. Dr. John Berardi is the brain behind the Precision Nutrition concept and I can see why so many people get results from his weight management programs.

The recipes from the Gourmet Nutrition cookbook are easy to prepare, nutritious and they are perfect for people like myself who LOVE to eat, but who are conscious of what they eat. Since I spend quite a bit of time training, I want to make sure my food choices don’t sabotage my hard work. I make a point of avoiding saturated fats, junk foods, frozen foods in favour of fresh foods and slow cooking, but there comes a point where you run out of ideas on how to prepare dishes. Most conventional cookbooks don’t always take into consideration the health aspect because the recipes are laced with a lot of fat. On the other hand, I’ve bought cookbooks that were for the “healthy a heart” just to realize that the recipes were quite bland and fairly tasteless.

When it comes to food and nutrition, I have a strict rule – it’s got to taste good. I personally think it’s an offense to my taste buds to eat tasteless-flat-personality-lacking foods … I’d sooner have a bowl of cereal than eat unappealing foods or foods that I know will hurt me in the long run.

The recipes from Gourmet Nutrition are the perfect combination of nutrition and taste.

Dr. John Berardi’s background was prime for this type of cookbook: he’s a nutrition researcher, coach and consultant for 15 years. He’s worked with thousands of clients from around the world … from Olympic athletes … to cardiac patients … to ordinary people trying to lose weight.

The principles of the Gourmet Nutrition recipes are simple:

1) they MUST taste great (yippie to that!)

2) they MUST contain lean, complete protein

3) they MUST be low in sugar and processed carbohydrates

4) they MUST prioritize healthy fats over bad fats

5) they MUST control calorie intake and density

6) they MUST include fresh natural, additive-free ingredients wherever possible

7) they MUST include cards only if you deserve them (you’ll understand this way of thinking in more detail when you read the cookbook)

The book includes loads of menu plans and it even highlights portion sizes for women versus men.

One thing that I’ve never seen before in my life is the fact that Gourmet Nutrition has a specific menu plan depending on whether you work out in the afternoon or if you work out in the evening.

Here’s another interesting tidbit about the book: Dr. John Berardi is a member of the health expert advisory team for Genuine Health (I cannot get enough of their products). He uses Genuine Health proteins+, Genuine Health o3mega liquids and the Genuine Health o3mega+ 3679 in the recipes.

I’ve started dabbling with some of the breakfast recipes and I will keep trying them and I will feature them on the site.

Right now I cannot seem to be able to get enough of the Gourmet Nutrition Maple Walnut Apple Oatmeal on p. 36! It’s the perfect season for this kind of recipe and since I really enjoy oatmeal, this mid-morning snack always makes me happy.

If you want to follow along with me as I work my way through the cookbook, you can buy it online (I don’t think it’s sold on Amazon or in bookstores, but you need to buy it directly from the Precision Nutrition): Gourmet Nutrition