Optimum Anabolics - Day 46/Canocrapola Oil

I have been suspicious of Canola Oil for quite some time and rarely use it when cooking and/or baking. My suspicions were confirmed today when I received an email from a trusted nutrition and fitness guru, Mike Geary.

Here's a bit of what Mike had to say:

... one of the biggest problems with highly processed and refined vegetable oils such as corn oil, soybean oil, and yes, even canola oil, is that the polyunsaturated component of the oil is highly unstable under heat, light, and pressure, and this heavily oxidizes the polyunsaturates which increases free radicals in your body.

The end result of all of this refining and processing are oils that are highly inflammatory in your body when you ingest them, potentially contributing to heart disease, weight gain, and other degenerative diseases.

The reason that extra virgin olive oil is good for you is that it is cold pressed without the use of heat and solvents to aid extraction.

Canola oil, on the other hand, is typically extracted and refined using high heat, pressure, and petroleum solvents such as hexane. Most canola oil undergoes a process of caustic refining, degumming, bleaching, and deoderization, all using high heat and questionable chemicals.

That's enough for me to say "no thanks!" to the Canola oil. Bleaching? Seriously?

Mike and I are rather like-minded when it comes to Overall Fitness. Click here to check out all his helpful information on nutrition, exercise, and the power of your mind ==> Mike's site

What's your favorite oil for cooking and baking?

I'll let you know what my grease of choice is in a later post, ok? (~:

WORKOUT - BACK

All 3 supersets of the Week 7, Day 4 workout were focused on the back. I tend to build in the chest area fairly quickly so this is good for balancing out my upper body.

Superset 1: Hanging Row, Pull Ups (Assisted)
Superset 2: Wide Arm Cable Row, Close Grip Lat Pull Down
Superset 3: Twisting DB Row, Wide Arm Lat Pull Down

Total Time => 36:49

Comments:

Another good workout today. Very efficient.

Overall the weights I used were in line but I started a little heavy on the last exercise and noticed my form was breaking down.

Legs and glutes were starting to tighten up by the end of the day. Tomorrow could be interesting...

DIET - PROTEIN DEPRIVATION

My post-workout breakfast this morning was excellent but I went overboard on the sweet stuff...even for me! :) I started with a serving of Cream of Buckwheat cereal cooked up with almond milk and a whole lot of cinnamon. To cool things down a little, I put in a tablespoon of maple syrup and 2 TBS of TJ's raw almond butter.

After gobbling down the cereal, it was smoothie time. Here is what went into today's blended goodness:

• 1 cup of chilled coffee
• 1 cup of almond milk
• 1 frozen banana
• 1 scoop of plain flavored whey protein isolate
• 2 TBS of unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp chocolate extract
• 1 tsp flax oil
• 1 TBS raw almond butter
• 1/4 tsp xanthan gum

This filled up a 32 oz mason jar and required a spoon for consumption. (~:

As a mid-morning snack, I had 2 Asian pears and my raw nut mix of cashews, brazils, walnuts, and almonds.

Lunch was a fantastic cashew salad with cabbage cole slaw mix, red peppers, carrots, and scallions dressed with an almond butter, rice vinegar, lemon juice dressing. The recipe was from our favorite Ultra-Metabolism Cookbook by Dr. Mark Hyman. It's becoming clear there are no losers in this book!

Mid-afternoon, I snacked on a cut up tomato and green pepper with a couple of tablespoons of lemony hummus from the same cookbook as above.

At dinner time, Christina made yet another Ultra-Metabolism Cookbook recipe...3 bean chili. We were both amazed (though we shouldn't be after making so many great dishes from this book) at how well it turned out. Typically chili is better the day after it's made so the leftovers should be unbelievable.