Customer Reviews

Chris Carmichael's Fitness Cookbook

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Everything you read is don't eat carbs, starch is bad, diets don't work. I am an athlete - probably more of a recreational athlete - but I do workout 4-5 days per week. Food for Fitness taught me about Carmichael's periodization philosophy and how it works, but now I have recipes to go along with that. I haven't made many yet, but the Broiled Salmon on Buckwheat Noodles was awesome. Most look like they will be easy to make, and they give all the pertinent carb/calorie information.

Although I've only had this book in my possession for a number of hours, I am already quite impressed. This will be a good way to eat right and introduce alot of variety into my diet. I've made the Ricotta and Spinach Lasagna and it was absolutely fantastic. If the rest of the recipes compare to the Lasagna I think this book has earned a special place in my kitchen.

I was one of the first to get a hold of this book so that I could make even better use of "Food for Fitness". The recipes that this book has to offer, taste great, are simple to make, and if they're as healthy and beneficial to my training as they taste, then I'm going to be winning some races this season!

I have to say this is a good book. The book's chapters are seperated into the Foundation period, Preperation period, specialization period, and transition period. Now at first i found this wierd and annoying because most cookbooks are seperated into breads, soups, appitizers, dinners, snacks, and desserts. After getting used to the book I understood why and appreciate it. Most peoples sport has a "off time" and "peak time" and it gives recipes depending on what period of your sport you are in, which is nice. It also uses icons to tell you what this recipe is actually doing for example. A picture of a match that means it is a firestarter, which means is easy to digest and has ready to use energy which is great hours before a workout. Another example a picture of blocks means it is building blocks which means it is very high in protien. The book explains all of this plus has 6 other Icons. So I feel it spells everything out for the athlete.

Now these recipes are not simple simple. If you need stuff that simple you need to find a 15 min cookbook or a college student cookbook. However these recipes are simple not having complicating instructions. Some of them can take time anywhere from 15 to 90 minutes. But any healthy food will take longer. Just as minute white rice takes 10 minute... but a brown rice takes 60 min to cook. However the brown rice is better for you.
MOst of the hour recipes have alot of not active time or simmering time so you could always excersize in your kitchen while the food is cooking.

I am a vegetarian ( vegan)and these recipes are very easily comverted by switching the fish to tofu or sietan or temeph or even any premade vegetarian protien like tofurkey or boca burgers.

In short i find this book a very good buy for the athlete. If you find these recipes too complited I think it would be best if you stepped away from the stove and gave this book to your girlfriend/ wife.

Wasn't a fan of this book. I found that the caloric intake and the levels of fat were much too high for someone who is a casual athlete. If I'm Lance Armstrong and am training for hours every day, this diet makes sense. But as it is, I am a recreational triathlete who tries to keep her diet near 1500 calories to maintain my weight. More, I gain. Less, I bonk on workouts.

Secondly, I have to disagree with the people who found the recipes as being "too difficult". If anything, I was turned off by the lack of interesting recipes and the simplistic nature of the detail. Maybe some people need a lot of help in the kitchen. However, I don't like cookbooks that could be filled with more recipes instead filled with asinine directions such as "Take a noodle out of the water. Set it on a plate. Let it cool. Taste it. This is how you can tell if the pasta is done." You really can't dumb down the tough task of boiling water, throwing in pasta, and draining it, but Carmichael managed to. I really disliked this to the point where I just sort of glanced over recipes and prepared the ingredients listed in my own way.

I was skeptical getting a cookbook like this. I thought it might just be a silly book trading off the Carmichael/Lance duopolistic cycling brand. My skepticism turned to enthusiasm when I read the accompanying text and tried a few of the recipes. They are tasty, easy to make, different, and healthy. And there is enough variety to make this a cookbook I think I will explore for a while.

We've had the book for a few weeks now and have sampled some recipes. Not only is the food good, but the preparation is easy and it doesn't have expensive "exotic" ingredients that make cooking at home more trouble than its worth.
I was a little wary of the way the plan/meals were broken down, but after reading the text (there's a lot), it was well-explained and made sense for both athletes and folks just looking for healthy food choices in a busy lifestyle.
I own all the Carmichael books and think they're very helpful and informative for cyclists and general athletes.

If you want to know what to eat during certain times of the season, this is a great book. Not only are the foods healthy, they taste great and the entire family can enjoy them.

This book has recipes that are long and use products that I don't have access to in my rural town. I like short simple recipes that offer a bang for the buck with products I can obtain locally and spices that are common to my kitchen. This is more time consuming and complicated than I like. Too gourmet for me.

Lots of fish recipes, no red meat. Plenty of gourmet entrees that seem better suited to someone who wants to spend their time shopping and cooking instead of training. It would be improved with some good basic meals that one could cook simply and then throw in the fridge/freezer for a fast reheat after a long day riding.