High-Protein, Cheap and Tasty - And Easy On The Calories.

Often now I’ve seen actors who play super-heroes in movies do interviews where they all lament how they were forced to eat little other than chicken breasts and broccoli during the months they trained for the role.

This unappealing eating regimen has become almost the default—and for no good reason. There are plenty of other foods, and even interesting ways to prepare chicken and broccoli, to make eating pleasurable again, rather than a chore.

The easiest and best of these is SOUP.

A basic soup would take no time at all: a carton of chicken broth, a can of chicken breast and frozen vegetables of choice. That’s it! It's never a good idea to allow others, whether it be some giant food corporation or your local restaurant, to determine what goes into your food.

You can increase the protein content and taste by adding to the above simple recipe a can of refried beans and a measure of uncooked rice, allowing the rice about 10 minutes additional cooking time to absorb the tasty liquid. Beans combined with rice make a complete muscle-building protein.

Consider also adding spices, such as herbs de provence, salt, Thai 7-spice, garlic powder, MSG, red pepper flakes and more. The spices at your local health food store that you purchase in bulk form - as opposed to pre-measured supermarket kind - are cheaper, usually fresher and of greater variety.

Make enough soup to last you a few days. Then, when you walk in the door famished, there you have an already-prepared microwavable meal ready to eat in literally two minutes. I make enough to freeze so I always have a meal on hand when I'm too lazy to cook or go to the store. Otherwise in my hunger-panic I might end up grabbing an unproductive snack food like cookies or crackers that distances me from my goal.