Build Muscle – Reduce Body Fat
As with the first recipe, the purpose of using this meal is to build muscle and develop a lean(er) physique. This recipe though is tailored to the phase just prior to achieving your desired weight/body composition. Power Meal II is lower in calories per serving due to the additional bulk of veggies reducing the amount of beef per serving. With the same amount of ground beef this recipe makes 16 servings whereas the orginal recipe made 12. At 33.4g this recipe still provides a “bolus” of protein per serving, in other words an amount sufficient to stimulate muscle protein turnover. Having said that, it is significantly less than the 45.6g per serving in the original recipe. Due to our biology, as explained by the “protein leverage hypothesis,” the more we overshoot our protein intake target (as made easier by the orginal recipe) the more we will naturally avoid caloric intake and lose fat rapidly. As we approach target weight/body composition it helps to transition our biology by reducing the extent to which we overshoot the protein intake target. See my blog post on the subject for all of the gory detail, “The Protein Leverage Hypothesis – A Key Piece of the Nutrition Puzzle.” So what’s different in this recipe?
- 100% Grass Fed versus conventionally raised beef (better O6:O3 fats ratio, among other things)
- Slightly leaner ground beef, from 83% lean to 85% lean
- 20% (2 oz) more carrots; went from shredded to chips (the chips hold up better and retain some crunch, which is nice)
- Fewer onions, 6 to 2 (as much as I love onions they are not very nutrient dense)
- Fewer garlic cloves, 20 to 15 (no real reason, it just turned out that way)
- Added 5 oz spinach (spinach is definitely nutrient dense, which is why it was added)
- No lard; no additional fat is required with 85/15 ground beef
- No salt and pepper; season to taste in the bowl, or add to the recipe as you see fit
Power Meal Preparation
Prep Time: 3o min Cook Time: 1 hr
Serves: 16
Ingredients
Check out the Nutrition Facts panel, it’s interactive!
- 6 lbs 85% Lean 100% Grass Fed Ground Beef
- 12 oz carrots, chips
- 1 lb fresh brocolli
- 2 medium red onions, chopped
- 8 oz fresh portabello mushrooms, sliced
- 5 oz fresh spinach leaves
- Approximately 15 cloves (30g), garlic, pressed
Directions
- In a large pot over High heat brown the ground beef
and when the ground beef is around halfway to being browned…
- Fold in the carrot chips
- Fold in the brocolli
- Chop and fold in the onions
- Fold in the mushrooms
- Fold in the spinach
obviously perhaps, the veg that requires less cooking is going in later in the process
- Fold/stir in the crushed/pressed garlic, allow flavors to meld
- Fill 16 one-pint Ball jars (same amount of burger, more veggies = more bulk = more jars = lower calorie serving size)
- Put lids on the jars and allow to cool on the countertop
- Refrigerate or freeze
Protocol and Resources
In the orginal recipe post I stated that “I’ll be eating 3 meals a day for the first time in quite awhile, cutting down on the fat in my coffee, and making sure I get a “bolus” of protein at each of those 3 meals (30-50g of protein); enough to stimulate muscle protein synthesis (MPS). The eating window will be between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., with approximately 5 hours between meals.”
As it turns out I instituted an 16/8 Intermittent Fasting protocol, with the eating window between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. This did not allow time for three big Power Meals, and I just did not have the appetite at over 45g of protein per Power Meal. As it was I was between 125 and 150g of protein per day at ~150 lbs of lean body mass; not too much, but certainly plenty! The application of this recipe will be to take my daily protein intake down to between 100 and 125g per day, while also reducing fat intake due to the fact that it’s “packaged” with the animal protein, allowing for some additional dietary carbs, or fat from other sources.
All the best,
John