Sward - The Ultimate Protein Powder Cookbook: Think Outside the Shake

THE ULTIMATEPROTEINPOW(D)ER COOKBOOKThink Outside the ShakeANNA SWARD

To Jon THE ULTIMATEPROTEINPOW(D)ER COOKBOOKIt was January of 2011 and I was on the phone with my friend Stina. We were talking about our day-to-day lives and I guess what I was telling her must have sounded pretty boring because when I was finished speaking, all I got was silence. I dont blame her of coursemy days werent exactly the definition of thrill or adventure. Truth is, I was bored. I was on the final year of my PhD and all I did was work on my thesis, read about sociolinguistics and critical theory, submit articles for journals and related publications, and mull over my fieldwork data. I loved the topic I was writing about, dont get me wrong, but I was getting dangerously close to academically imploding. It was at this stage in the conversation that she suggested that I start a blog. It was at this stage in the conversation that she suggested that I start a blog.

At first I said no way! and actually laughed at the idea because me? A blogger? I just didnt see it. I followed a few blogs, sure, but I never saw myself as authoring one. I thought blogging was something other people did, if you know what I mean. Plus, there was the issue that I had no idea what to blog about. Creating an online diary didnt appeal to me at all; I was already spending far too much time analyzing data to then want to analyze my own thoughts. But Stina insisted.

She asked me what I love to do. She asked me what was my number one passion. Without hesitation I said that it was food. Food and nutrition, the gym and proteinit was all those things at once. Thats how proteinpow.com was born. It was born out of my desire to share with the world my passion for creative and great-tasting functional foods, i.e., foods designed to complement an active lifestyle.

Within a couple of years, the blog had amassed an international readership of hundreds of thousands of people who, like me, were passionate about not only their training and nutrition but also cooking and having fun in the kitchen. A strong community formed of people who didnt want to give up pizza or pancakes as part of their healthy diet; of people who, like me, liked to chase a good workout with a huge slice of cheesecake; of people who didnt want to buy protein bars full of sugars and fillers but instead wanted to make them at home and make them betternutritionally superior and a million times tastier. Before long, our community became global. People from all corners of the world began to follow proteinpow.com and facebook.com/proteinpow, engage with what had by then become a brand, and play with their powders and ingredientsfinding new favorites and relishing the fact that a healthy diet doesnt have to be bland and it doesnt have to be boring, not when it can be packed full of fun and flavor instead! Today, with over 1,500 recipes,proteinpow.com represents the largest and most comprehensive resource for protein powder recipes online. Many of my recipes have also been featured in various magazines across the US, Europe, and Australia including Oxygen, The Grocer, Fitnorama, Muscle & Fitness, Gymgrossisten, and Mens Health. I regularly run protein powder cooking presentations and hands-on cooking workshops with professional athletes and members of a general audience alike.

In 2013, the Protein Pow App was launched as a way to share more recipes and continue inspiring people to be creative in the kitchen, try new cooking methods and ingredients, and always, no matter what, think outside the shake! Welcome to Protein Pow ;-)

THIS COOKBOOK AND PROTEIN This cookbook is designed to make healthy eating fun, easy, and above all, enjoyable. Its an offshoot of my website proteinpow.com and its all about healthy alternatives to the foods you love to cookand eat! All the recipes found here are packed full of nutrition. Theyre all sugar-free and devoid of white flour, refined carbohydrates, hydrogenated fats, preservatives, and additives. The vast majority of them are gluten-free too. Theyre all made with protein powder and contain vegetables, fruits, and healthy fats. Now, you may be thinking, theres no way something healthy will taste as good as the real thing.

But let me tell you something: these foods often taste better. And they absolutely make you feel better too. No more sugar crashing, carbohydrate overloading, or jumping off the bandwagon of your healthy diet only to feel bad about it afterward. No more bland healthy food and endless plates of vegetable sadness. No more dieting, period! Once you master the art of protein baking, I swear youll get hooked on it and, if youre anything like me, youll never crave junk food again. Why protein you ask? Because we all need protein to function and perform at our very best, whether this is at the gym or in our day-to-day lives.

Protein builds and repairs muscles, skin, blood, bones, and cartilage. Its an essential nutrient, needed to support the immune system, balance the hormones, and keep the body functioning. It also makes you feel fuller for longer, controls blood-sugar levels, and ensures a sustained release of energy so youre less likely to want to constantly snack. This, by the way, applies to both men and women. Im emphasizing this point because, all too often, protein powder is targeted exclusively toward men and is seen as a mans product, when in reality, women greatly benefit from it too (see for more on women and protein powders). One thing Id like you to bear in mind about this cookbook is that its not written as a medical guide and its also not a diet book.

It is not designed to tell you how much protein you should eat, how you should exercise, or how you should partition your calories and your macronutrients (calculated in kcals, and grams of protein, fat, carbohydrates, and fiber), It is not written to impose a particular dietary protocol upon you. This cookbook is not here to promise you dramatic weight loss, a neatly chiselled six-pack, or extensive muscular gains either. Can it help you in achieving those goals? It absolutely can! But its not designed exclusively to change your body. This cookbook is designed to awaken the creative cook in you and make you fall in love with healthy eating by providing you with a number of creative recipes to support your goals, whatever these may be. Maybe you want to snack more healthfully. Maybe you want to compete as a bodybuilder or maybe you want to exploit the full potential of your body by increasing its athletic performance in a particular sport.

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