Local fitness enthusiast Jason Murphy remakes favorite meals of his youth into healthy dishes. See the full list of his recipes at www.mysaline.com/shirtless.
Since I dropped all my extra weight years ago, a common misconception I get is that I don’t eat very much.
I’ll have people tell me all the time in full confidence that they know I’m either starving, or that I eat very little compared to the average person. The truth is I am able to consume more volume now that everything I eat has nutritional value and usually less calories than the ultra-processed counterpart of the same food.
This country has a Catch-22 issue in that we are overfed yet undernourished at the same time. Most of us live on highly processed quick-access foods that are high in volume and calories, but stripped of everything else… fiber, vitamins, healthy fats, protein.
That leads to overeating, because even if you just ate a 2000-calorie fast food meal in one sitting, your body didn’t actually get any of the building blocks it needed or expected, and along with the glycemic overload, tells you an hour later that it needs to be fed again.
Take for instance, the Spicy Ch’King sandwich from Burger King. You’d think a chicken sandwich might be a healthier alternative to a red meat burger, but this thing has 1,499 calories, 149 grams of fat, and 4,755 mg of sodium! I’m not even sure how they got that much sodium into one sandwich. They must have made it directly in a salt mine, boiled it in the Dead Sea, and then added another tablespoon for good measure.
That leads to overeating, because even if you just ate a 2000-calorie fast food meal in one sitting, your body didn’t actually get any of the building blocks it needed or expected, and along with the glycemic overload, tells you an hour later that it needs to be fed again.
Take for instance, the Spicy Ch’King sandwich from Burger King. You’d think a chicken sandwich might be a healthier alternative to a red meat burger, but this thing has 1,499 calories, 149 grams of fat, and 4,755 mg of sodium! I’m not even sure how they got that much sodium into one sandwich. They must have made it directly in a salt mine, boiled it in the Dead Sea, and then added another tablespoon for good measure.
Of all the fast food nutrition horror stories I’ve read, that one truly is the king. I’m betting if you showed that to the members of the Donner party, even they would take a hard pass (see what I did there?) and keep roasting their friend’s leg on the campfire.
So how do I eat more food than before, yet maintain the 80 lbs. of fat loss? By making sure everything I eat is full of actual nutritional value, and devoid of calorie dense processed ingredients.
Take berries, for instance. Once you have let your taste buds recover from the bombardment of artificially oversweet foods, berries taste like candy. Raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries… they all take on a flavor profile I had no idea even existed in my previous life.
So how do I eat more food than before, yet maintain the 80 lbs. of fat loss? By making sure everything I eat is full of actual nutritional value, and devoid of calorie dense processed ingredients.
Take berries, for instance. Once you have let your taste buds recover from the bombardment of artificially oversweet foods, berries taste like candy. Raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries… they all take on a flavor profile I had no idea even existed in my previous life.
Fresh berries like this do have a down side, however. They are expensive, and they can become over-ripe in a hurry. There is nothing more disappointing than buying a quart of blueberries only to find they are over-ripe and soft.
Rather than throw them out, I decided to find a way to make use of these berries, and what better way than to turn them into dessert? I came up with this no-bake idea on a whim not wanting to throw good money in the trash, and it turned out to be a favorite around here now.
Rather than throw them out, I decided to find a way to make use of these berries, and what better way than to turn them into dessert? I came up with this no-bake idea on a whim not wanting to throw good money in the trash, and it turned out to be a favorite around here now.
So everyone can continue to think that I don’t eat and suffer from starvation, while I stuff my face with this delicious blueberry dessert packed with fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, and healthy fats from the blueberries, pecans, lemon, and grass-fed butter.
The next time you want a quick and easy treat, give this one a try. It will satisfy your sweet tooth, and your pancreas and liver will also approve.
The next time you want a quick and easy treat, give this one a try. It will satisfy your sweet tooth, and your pancreas and liver will also approve.
Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake tarts
Ingredients:
1 cup raw pecans
1/8 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp Swerve brown sugar or Lakanto Brown Monk fruit
1 tbsp grass fed butter, melted
8 oz grass fed cream cheese, room temp
1 pint organic ripe blueberries
1 lemon, zest and juice
4 tbsp powdered monkfruit
1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions:
Wash the blueberries and place over low heat in a saucepan. Stir frequently, then when they start to burst and give up their juice, mash the berries with a potato masher or a large spoon and stir until most of the skins are broken up and blended together. Let the sauce cool, then transfer to a container and store in the fridge to set up while making the crust:
Use a food processor to grind up the pecans, and then pulse a few times with the sea salt and swerve or monkfruit brown sugar to combine:
Melt the butter and stir into the pecan mix, then divide the mix evenly between ramekins and press into the bottom. Place in the freezer to firm up while making the cream cheese:
Mix the cream cheese, zest and juice of one lemon, vanilla extract, and the powdered monkfruit with a hand blender until smooth and creamy:
Take the ramekins from the freezer. Divide the cream cheese mix evenly:
Then top with the blueberry mix. Chill for at least 1 hour or overnight and enjoy:
See the list of all the Shirtless Chef recipes at www.mysaline.com/shirtless.