One thing that some other reviews have said is that there are filler recipes. This is true to an extent, but I don’t think it ruins the book. For instance, there is a recipe for putting fruit preserves on some toast for breakfast. This shouldn’t be news to most people, however to suggest it as a healthy option and to list the nutritional information could be useful. The goal of the book is not necessarily to provide recipes that you might not know, but to suggest healthy options for the amateur nutritionist. And certainly, there are recipes that I had never made before that I just love, like Burmese chicken curry.

Unfortunately, this book falls short in a number of ways. First of all, I bought this book on amazon.com as a paperback, and the binding was horrible. Within a couple months it completely disintegrated, which is terrible for a cookbook because it’s hard to flip through and keep it together. Cookbooks need to be heavy duty.

The other way this book falls short is that it is a bodybuilding foods book more than it is a strength training nutrition book. I make the distinction because bodybuilding in and of itself is not a healthy sport. Real bodybuilders use a variety of tricks to get their bodyfat below healthy levels for contests, and often tout distorted nutritional ideas promoted by the supplement business. Some certainly use steroids, which the general consensus is that they are unhealthy. I digress. This comes into play in this book because it suggests using supplements I don’t agree with (e.g. creatine), and also uses stuff like protein powder in some of the recipes. Some recipes otherwise use ingredients that aren’t necessarily “whole foods.” The bottom line with all the supplements and junk out there, I picked this book up looking for a cookbook with balanced, whole-food meal options. However, I find myself omitting or substituting ingredients in some recipes, or simply avoiding them. To be fair, this probably will not concern most people buying this book.

Overall, this book has some great ideas and recipes, as well as some useless ones. It probably makes a good addition to the average weight-lifter’s cooking arsenal. The only caveats are don’t rely solely on nutritional information from this book, and pray it doesn’t fall apart!

And when I take a look at the board and I see all the consistent work and effort I’ve been putting in, it just motivates me and challenges me to keep it up. I think it’s a great way to look at excercise and fitness!

-A wannabe excerciser!