Chocolate Week Goodies You've Likely Never Tried

The antioxidant properties of the cocoa pod are varied and powerful

I'm kicking off Chocolate Week(end) with a bang! Talk about friends with benefits, chocolate, especially the dark kind is a super food for athletes and cross trainers alike. Runners and cyclists who consumed a mere 8 ozs of chocolate milk after exercising were found to have less inflammation and faster recovery times. If you live in the northeast, you will have most likely visited Hershey, PA and taken the factory tour. They take you through all of the harvesting and processing of the cocoa pods. Chocolate was the drink of kings, especially Montezuma leader of the Aztec empire. They found chocolate mixed with chili peppers give them a lot of energy and stamina.  They needed it! Not having domesticated animals to ride means YOU will be hoofing it.  So here are some of my modern day chocolate inspired favorites:

Emmy's Choco Chili & Dark Cacao Macaroons
These raw food, vegan coconut-choco chili macaroons are about as close as you are going to get to Montezuma's recipe.  These are so light and fluffy, this recipe includes raw cacao, sweet vanilla bean, organic ground cinnamon and hot chili peppers. Each macaroon is 100 calories but trust me, the hot chilies will up your metabolism big time.

Emmy's cocao infused macaroons

Beauty Bursts in Chocolate-Mint by NeoCell
These tasty chews are loaded with easy to absorb Collagen, Hyaluronic Acid and Vitamin C. These are perfect before and after a workout, especially if you suffer from joint pain. One serving of only 2 soft chews gives you 2,000 mg or 2 grams of both Protein and Hydrolyzed Collagen. Made with natural flavors and real cocoa, you get some of the antioxidant benefits inherent to dark chocolate.

Beauty Bursts in Mint-Chocolate

Pure Inventions Pure Cocoa Antioxidant
These chocolaty liquid drops are very easy to take with you or add to your morning water bottle, coffee or protein shake. They really have a delicious chocolate flavor. 1 dropper full is all you need as it contains a proprietary blend of cocoa extract and cocoa powder along with Lo Han fruit extract. This is probably the best way to get an instant boost of antioxidant power into the blood stream.

Pure Inventions Cocoa Antioxidant

Emmy's Chocolate Sauce Original Dark
This is the BOSS of the chocolate sauce! Drizzle it over frozen yogurt or fruit, it contains  organic raw agave, organic raw cacao powder and wild crafted vanilla bean. This is serious stuff that will definitely boost your energy level on the spot.

Emmy's Chocolate Sauce

Natural cocao pod and beans c/o CocoWell

6 Superfoods You Should be Eating in 2014

Nothing crazy but there are some amazing superfoods you need to add to your training table for 2014!

There are so many off the chain resolutions we make each January 1st. Now this can be a good thing but so is having a game plan that you can actually stick with. Rather than bog you down with a list of supplements a mile long, how about adding three servings of each of these foods to your menu each week? I promise it will be painless and you will see results within the first month before you run out of motivation. Here's number 1:

1.) Eat More Omega 3 Fish & Shellfish
If you are still doing the chicken breast deal, try swapping out three servings a week with salmon, mackerel, sardines, or shrimp. The Omega 3 fatty acids are something we often do not get enough of so try some panini grilled salmon or shrimp over sauteed spinach and mushrooms. Those lightly cooked vegetables are complex carbohydrates which require more energy to digest and break down. Much better for you.

Salmon fillet grilling on a panini press. 3 ozs is all you need / serving.

2.) Chia Seeds (Cha cha cha CHIA!)
Organic Chia Seeds like these from Nature's Approved can be added to smoothies and ground up into a meal (literally)! Rich in ALA Omega 3, protein and fiber, they are power-packed. Add ground seeds to natural whole grains like oatmeal and whole wheat pancakes. Speaking of which, natural, multi-grain hot cereals are easy to prepare and delicious with lots of protein and fiber. Add in your Chia Seeds for even more nutrition.

Organic Raw Chia Seeds and Chia Omega Supplement.

3.) Lowfat Yogurt
Here's another powerhouse food that gives you a lot of bang for your buck. In fact if you like Greek Yogurt, you'll love this Icelandic version by Siggi's. Whichever you choose, lowfat or nonfat and low sugar is the way to go. Make sure they yogurt you choose also has active live cultures which will help your immune system and digestive track. You'll be getting extra calcium along with the protein without very much added fat. Study participants excreted significantly more fat than individuals who did not consume low fat dairy products.  I call that winning!

Low-fat Icelandic and Greek Yogurts offer more protein but less fat & sugar.

4.) and 5.) Dried Super Fruits like Cranberries & Plums
Here's another way to get both extra fiber and antioxidants in your diet, especially during the winter months. Did you know that the humble dried plum aka PRUNE has more ORAC rated antioxidants than blueberries? They are also higher in antioxidants than strawberries too and easy to take along. Dried cranberries, also known as "Craisins" by Ocean Spray, likewise offer a lot of vitamin C in a small package along with fiber. Add them to breakfast smoothies, whole grain cereals and yogurt.

Dried Cranberries and Plums are rich in antioxidants and fiber.

6.) Go Nuts Over Pecans
Raw nuts like pecans offer rich, natural oils that help keep dry skin and inflammation at bay. However, they are also rich in antioxidants, even more than peanuts, walnuts or macadamia nuts with NO additional salt. That's an added benefit along with protein and fiber. Try adding these superfoods to your training table diet for the new year and see how quickly you recover from your weightlifting and workout sessions. Commercial energy bars are often highly processed and loaded with sugar to make them taste good. Try any of these as a snack or meal item and you'll not have room for that other nonsense!

Rather than buy energy bars, invest in some raw food like these pecans.