YOU DON'T NEED THE LATEST COOK BOOK TO REACH YOUR GOALS, TRUST ME!!

I get asked ALL the time what do I think of certain cookbooks or do I have a healthy recipe for this or that, and I never give an opinion or have a recipe because it REALLY doesn't matter!
The truth is unless the author of whatever cookbook you just bought, sat you down, discussed it with you and designed the book specifically with your goals in mind, then it will be by pure chance if those recipes get you to your goal! not by whatever craze that particular "fitness guru" happens to be pushing.

To try and help you understand what I'm talking about let's use an example. I'm 90kg, train for 2 hours at least 5 days a week, I'm relatively young and have quite a high metabolism. I buy the latest cookbook to help me lose body fat, I use all the recipes and the fat falls off me, I feel great. Then there's Mary, who is 43, weigh 65kg and is just looking to lose a bit of fat around the belly. She does 2 45 minute circuit classes a week for her training. She buys the same cookbook as me because I told her the results I got and she follows it religiously. But poor aul Mary is piling on the pounds and can't figure out why? The book got me down to 6% body fat and she has GAINED WEIGHT???

What she doesn't realise, along with everyone else with bookshelves full of every cookbook since the 90s, is that NUTRITION HAS TO BE AT LEAST SOMEWHAT INDIVIDUAL!! The calories and macronutrients I need to lose weight are so different to hers that what made me lose body fat can make her gain it. Just eating "healthy" doesn't cut it. We need to make sure our portions are individual to us somehow.

That is why I'm always pushing the palm size portion system! Which is a palm size portion of protein, a fist of vegetables, and cupped hand of carbohydrates and a thumb of healthy fats with each meal. That individualises things, it's simple and a great way to start for people who have never tried to control their portions before.

AND if you get the hang of it you don't have to throw out all your old cookbooks. You can use them all once you modify the amounts of ingredients to suit your goals. I hate to be the one who always seem to be the bearer of bad news but the industry is so full of Cowboys, you have got to use your head if you want to get to your goals without wasting money!!