Contest Condiments

I'm often asked about the types of foods I eat during preparation for a fitness competition. It's a common assumption that "diet" food is boring and tasteless. Sure, it can be bland if you make it that way, but if you get creative things can be fairly tasty. 

The pic above shows a few of my favourite condiments I use during contest prep. Starting from the left:

- Fresh Salsa: I add salsa to stir fries, and actually love it cooked until almost burnt. Try combining salsa in a non-stick pan with cubed chicken, asparagus, zucchini, and broccoli. Delicious! Or spread on top and stirred into many meats like ground turkey or beef, on chicken, steak or fish, and also into scrambled eggs.

- Balsamic Vinegar: Normally used as salad dressing. If my chicken is dry I'll stir it into my salad to soak up some of the vinegar.

- Stevia Extract: A natural calorie free sweetener made from the leaves of a Stevia plant. A much wiser alternative to chemical creations like aspartame. Great on oatmeal, fruit, or in coffee.

- Mrs. Dash: Salt free spices available at most supermarkets. They have a variety of flavours, the one pictured is the Chicken flavour. I put this on everything including meat, veggies, and eggs.

- Sriracha Hot Sauce (aka Rooster Sauce): Just a touch is enough with this hot sauce! I also use this on my chicken or egg whites. 

- Mustard: I'll admit, not one of my all time favourites. But it is loved by many athletes as a diet friendly condiment. I normally combine mustard with salsa if I use it.

- Ground Cinnamon: All hail the amazing cinnamon! Combined with Stevia it's a perfect topping for oatmeal, whisked into egg whites before cooking, or used to flavour plain protein powders. I even know friends who love it on white fish!

Besides these condiments are also the basics like pepper, garlic powder, onion powder. Freshly chopped parsley and cilantro are great too. Even try cooking things in a different manner like baking, boiling, steaming, frying in a non-stick pan, and barbecuing. Mix and match condiments and also different foods. You never know what might be a perfect combination for you...like cinnamon and fish!