Recipe: Chicken & Bacon Ranch Wraps

Recipe: Chicken & Bacon Ranch Wraps

by | Mar 23, 2024

Chicken & Bacon Ranch Wraps

 

Skill Level

Moderate

Time

10 min

Serves

1

 

Calories

647

Protein

40g

Fat

36g

Carbs

46g

Fibre

13g

Equipment Needed

  • Medium mixing bowl
 

Ingredients

  • 2 leaves Romaine (chopped)
  • 85 grams Chicken Breast, Cooked (cubed, sliced, or shredded)
  • 1/4 cup Cherry Tomatoes (halved or quartered)
  • 2 tbsps Red Onion (thinly sliced)
  • 2 slices Bacon, Cooked (chopped)
  • 2 tbsps Ranch Dressing
  • 1 Whole Wheat Tortilla (large)
  • 1/2 Avocado (medium, sliced)
  • Sea Salt & Black Pepper (to taste)

 

Instructions

Step 1

In a bowl, combine the romaine, chicken, tomatoes, red onion, and bacon. Drizzle the dressing over and toss gently to combine.

Step 2

Place the tortilla on a flat surface. Add the romaine and chicken mixture and top with avocado. Season with salt and pepper. Roll up tightly into a wrap and enjoy!

Notes About Recipe

  • Great for leftovers! Best enjoyed fresh but the ingredients can be refrigerated separately in airtight containers for up to three days.
  • This recipe can be made gluten-free by using a gluten-free tortilla.

Download Recipe

Click here to download a pdf version of this recipe.

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Recipe: Pineapple Coconut Banana Protein Smoothie

Recipe: Pineapple Coconut Banana Protein Smoothie

by | Mar 16, 2024

Pineapple Coconut Banana Protein Smoothie

 

Skill Level

Easy

Time

4 min

Serves

1

 

Calories

439

Protein

37g

Fat

14g

Carbs

40g

Fibre

8g

Equipment Needed

Ingredients

  •  1 tbsp chia seeds
  • 1/2 cup frozen pineapples chunks (or fresh + 1/2 cup ice cubes)
  • 1/2 cup (175g) 0% M.F. greek yogurt (preferably coconut flavor, but vanilla or plain works too)
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (this is the one I use)
  • 3/4 cup ice cubes
  • 1/2 cup lite coconut milk
  • 1/2 medium banana (or frozen and reduce 3/4 cup ice cubes to 1/2 cup)

Instructions

Step 1

Add ingredients to blender, blend.

Notes About Recipe

  • The type of protein powder you use will make a pretty big impact on taste. I use this one, so if you don’t know which one to use try that one out.
  • The big change between a lower calorie version of this recipe vs a high calorie version is the use of different fat. The % in coconut milk, % fat of greek yogurt, and larger serving sizes of the ingredients
  • You can alter this recipe to have a lot more calories if you’d like, like some Athletes that struggle to eat enough. See recipe link below for the higher calorie version.

Download Recipe

Click here to download a pdf of the above version of this recipe.

Click here to download a pdf of a higher calorie version (827 calories!)

Affiliate disclosure: this blog contains affiliate links. This means that if you click through a link and make a decision to purchase, we will receive some compensation from the vendor; at no cost to you.

 

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Recipe: Cinnamon Avocado Peanut Butter Banana Protein Smoothie

Recipe: Cinnamon Avocado Peanut Butter Banana Protein Smoothie

by | Mar 9, 2024

Cinnamon Avocado Peanut Butter Banana Protein Smoothie

 

Skill Level

Easy

Time

4 min

Serves

1

 

Calories

303

Protein

24g

Fat

12g

Carbs

28g

Fibre

6g

Equipment Needed

Ingredients

  • 1/2 Medium Avocado (or 1/3 cup frozen avocado chunks)
  • 1/2 Medium Banana (can also use frozen, reduce the amount of ice added if you do)
  • 1 tbsp smooth peanut butter
  • 1/2 scoop protein powder (chocolate or vanilla works best – this is the one I use)
  • 1/2 cup skim milk
  • 1 tsp chia seeds
  • 1 tsp cinnamon powder
  • 1/2 cup of ice – or more or less based on your smoothie texture preference, more = thicker

Instructions

Step 1

Add ingredients to blender, blend.

Notes About Recipe

  • The type of protein powder you use will make a pretty big impact on taste. I use this one, so if you don’t know which one to use try that one out.
  • You can alter this recipe to have a lot more calories if you’d like, like some Athletes that struggle to eat enough. See recipe link below for the higher calorie version.

Download Recipe

Click here to download a pdf of the above version of this recipe.

Click here to download a pdf of a higher calorie version (837 calories!)

Affiliate disclosure: this blog contains affiliate links. This means that if you click through a link and make a decision to purchase, we will receive some compensation from the vendor; at no cost to you.

 

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Recipe: Creamy Chicken Mac & Cheese

Recipe: Creamy Chicken Mac & Cheese

by | Mar 2, 2024

Creamy Chicken Mac & Cheese  

 

Skill Level

Moderate

Time

35 min

Serves

3-4

Calories

376

Protein

40g

Fat

21g

Carbs

6g

Equipment Needed

Ingredients

  • 1 lb Boneless skinless chicken tenderloins or chicken breast
  • 1 Tbsp (16g) Oil (olive, coconut, avocado, canola)
  • 3 cups / 225 g Pasta (of your choice) (can buy Ready-Made Pasta)
  • 1 1/2 cup (168g) reduced fat Shredded Cheddar Cheese
  • 1/4 cup (56g) Butter (melted)
  • 1 cup (227g) Plain Greek Yogurt

 

Instructions

Step 1

Make and mix the cheese sauce mixture: 1 ½ cup (168g) shredded cheddar cheese, ¼ cup (56g) melted butter, 1 cup (227g) plain greek yogurt plain. To melt the butter you can either put it in a small bowl and hold it above the boiling water, or microwave it for 10-15 seconds.

Step 2

Cut the raw chicken into 1 inch bite size pieces.

Step 3

Fill a pot with water and bring to boil. Add pasta.

Step 4

While the pasta is cooking, heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat, add 1 tbsp oil and add the chicken. Cook until pink is no longer showing, should be ~ 8 minutes.

Step 5

If your pasta is ready (al dente) then strain it and a let it sit for 1-2 minutes.

Step 6

Turn heat on frying pan to low and add the cheese sauce ingredients (minus the pasta) to the frying pan and stir until the cheese melts and everything is mixed evenly.

Step 7

Add the cooked pasta and mix in thoroughly, serve.

Notes About Recipe

  • If you want to make this have more calories (and possible more delicious), make some of the following ingredient alterations: use more oil (3 tbsp oil instead of 1), use more cheese and full fat cheese (increase amount from 1 1/2 cup (168g) to 2-3 cups)

Download Recipe

Click here to download a pdf version of this recipe.

Affiliate disclosure: this blog contains affiliate links. This means that if you click through a link and make a decision to purchase, we will receive some compensation from the vendor; at no cost to you.

 

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Athletes: Optimize and Simplify Your Nutrition With Athlete Plates

Athletes: Optimize and Simplify Your Nutrition With Athlete Plates

by | Feb 15, 2024

What Are Athlete Plates?

They are visuals on how athletes can combine different foods and drink at meals, which will help them match their energy and nutrient needs for different training/exercise intensities and goals. With this approach the athlete doesn’t have to track calories or different macronutrients, rather just focus on proportions. This is an easier and more flexible approach to adhere to long-term.

The main component of each plate is a portion of whole grains/grains, protein, and fruits/vegetables. An easy way to remember this is “Carb, Protein, Color.” Each plate has different training goals and intensities associated with them (see images below).

  • What is a Carb? Carb = Carbohydrates. These are foods like bread, pasta, and rice (fruits and vegetables also can be a carb, but for simplicity’s sake we’ll refer to them as “color”). Carbs are the body’s predominate fuel source when performing higher intensity exercise/workouts.
  • What is Protein? Protein are foods like meat, fish, eggs, beans, and nuts. Protein is used by the body to build and repair tissues, like muscles after intense exercise/workouts.

Disclaimer: The Athlete Plates you see in this document are not the original work of Leverage Nutrition, rather they are an adaptation of the Athlete’s Plate® by the University of Colorado.

Understanding The Differences

Below are the main differences between the plates:

  • Different proportions of different food types
  • Beverage options: (+) Juice offered with Moderate and Hard Plates
  • Beverage size: +100ml with each increase with each increasing plate type
    • Of note: +100ml is not enough to account for total increase necessary, rather this is just a suggestion that more is needed and will help add a more practical amount)
  • Fat serving sizes: 1-3 tsp (Easy), 1-2 Tbsp (Moderate), 2-3 Tbsp (Hard)
  • Lean Protein (Easy), Protein (Moderate and Hard)
  • Whole grain (Easy & Moderate), Grains (Hard)

The above differences, and different proportions, all help the athlete consume more/less energy (calories) from food. For example, larger servings of fat will help the athlete consume more energy, and vice versa.

“Lean Protein”, and “Protein” are different options since lean protein has less energy, which is needed with the Easy Plate.

The Hard plate suggests Grain vs Whole Grain. Whole Grain (think brown bread) contains more fibre than Grain (think white bread), and is something that makes you feel full. It’s possible that having too much fibre can make you feel too full and not eat enough food (energy). Fibre is also found in fruits and vegetables, which is why their proportion decreases with increasing training intensity.

Like fibre, but to a greater extent, protein also makes you feel full. Therefore, it’s kept at 1/4 plate proportion with all plates.

How to Implement

Eat plate type at each meal based on goal and activity level.

Easy Plate

  • Goal: weight/fat loss

Moderate Plate

  • Goal: weight maintenance/sport performance with 1-hour moderate intensity exercise
  • Eat more/less based on hunger

Hard Plate

  • Goal: building muscle/weight gain
  • Goal: weight maintenance/sport performance with 1-hour high intensity exercise or 2 hours moderate intensity exercise
  • Eat more/less based on hunger

Other things to consider:

  • Bigger person bigger plate
  • In addition to 3 meals per day, should have 2-3 snacks
  • For some, might need to personalize (e.g., if trying to gain weight and eating Hard Plate but not working)
  • Important to understand this is just one strategy (that isn’t perfect) to help simplify athlete food intake

Examples

Breakfast Easy Plate

Breakfast Moderate Plate

Breakfast Hard Plate

For more examples click here to download a pdf of our Athlete Plates resource.

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