Do any of you use protein powder supplements?  I am thinking I need something since part of my goal is to gain weight and muscle.

I am finding I cannot eat enough food in the day as much as I try!  Of course, I am referring to healthy food.  I am trying to pick up the portions and add more to the mid-day meal/snacks, but think I could benefit from a protein powder.

The one I am going to try is MHP Probolic-Sr Vanilla – 2 Pound Powder – Protein Shakes.  My only reasoning on this particular brand is that I asked a friend and this is what he uses.  He said he did all sorts of research and decided this was the best one for him.   Any advice though would be appreciated!

I think one of the biggest questions people have about Insanity is what to eat.  This is especially important to me because of 2 reasons:

1. I am not a meat eater (I do eat seafood, but outside of that I am a vegetarian)
2. I am trying to add some weight and put on a bit of muscle

So, I have been looking for some recipes that are high in protein and healthy for me that are vegetarian.  I recently learned about quinoa (pronounced like keen-wah).  Quinoa is a grain-like crop that is grown for it’s seeds primarily.  It is these seeds that you are eating when you buy quinoa.  It actually looks similar to cous cous and can be used as a substitute for rice.  The great thing about quinoa is that it is very high in protein packing in about 14g in a cooked cup.

Recently, my wife turned me on to this incredible vegetarian recipe website called 101 cookbooks.  You will spend hours there looking over all of the recipes!  They are all super healthy and vegetarian.  So I went there and found this recipe for Double Broccoli Quinoa and we gave it a try.  It is great!  The sauce is almost like a pesto and it is full of flavor.  You can modify the ingredients to your liking.  I ate it as a main dish, but I would think this would be a great side dish as well.

Try it out and tell me what you think!

Yesterday was a true rest day in every sense of the word!  It capped off the end of 3 weeks and marks my accomplishment of being 1/3 of the way done!  I am feeling great and am looking forward to pushing through week 4 strong and getting to the recovery week.

I started off the morning with a power breakfast of eggs, Morningstar strips, and a bagel, so the beginning of the day was pretty healthy.  I then had to eat lunch early as i volunteered at my daughter’s school to help beautify the teacher break room.  I ended up having to do a bit a moving, but not much, on my day off!  Lunch was some leftover (semi-healthy) pizza and a salad.

Then later that evening I went a friends house and watched the super bowl. That is where I fell off the nutritional wagon!  I skipped out on the smoked ribs (since I don’t eat meat) but had heaping portions of homemade macaroni and cheese, tater tots, garlic bread, collard greens, potato chips, and chocolate cake.  Talk about a carbo loading meal!  My stomach is paying for it today too . . .

Time to get back on track and drink lots of water and get ready for another double workout tonight.  Bring it on INSANITY!  I’m ready!

Day 20 – Insanity Plyometrics Cardio

I think most people that are thinking of doing the INSANITY workout have the intention of losing weight.  I am probably in the minority as my goal is to actually gain some weight.  Of course, the weight coming from muscle.  I realize this is not billed as a muscle a building program per se, but I certainly know you will build muscle as  a by product of the intense workouts.

Since you burn so many calories each day during the Insanity workouts, you really have to refuel your body.  I am finding it difficult to consume enough calories!  Of course, I am referring to good calories, not junk food   I have tried to do the 5 meals a day, but can’t really get into the groove of eating more than a 300 calorie or so snack in morning or afternoon.  I think that is where I need to add more.  I do eat 3 real good meals each day that I try to pack in as much protein as possible.  Oh yeah, and I am a pseudo-vegetarian – I eat seafood but no other meat.

I need some more ideas to add a couple hundred calories to each ’snack’ meal in the day.  Right now I am eating protein bars, nuts, natural peanut butter and a few other things.  Please post some of your favorite healthy snacks in the comments!

During the week I don’t have a lot of time to prepare nice big breakfasts, so this is what I typically eat each morning before heading out the door: A big bowl of Kashi cereal.  In the bowl I also cut up a medium size banana, add 2 tablespoons of flax seeds, and top it off with organic 2% milk.  This is a really healthy and tasty way to start the day.  Kashi is high in protein and fiber and I get a few extra calories from the banana as well as the health benefits from the flax seeds.

While I don’t follow the Insanity Nutrition Guide exactly, I basically follow all of the same principles.  I am looking for high protein meals that can pack on a few extra healthy calories per day.

On the weekends I like to eat eggs.  I have been doing omelets with a mixture of 3 egg whites (pre packaged carton) with one real egg and whipping them up and adding veggies, herbs, and garlic.  Add a couple strips of Morningstar Breakfast Strips and you have a tasty high protein breakfast!