Performance Paleo Cookbook, The by Stephanie Gaudreau (2015-02-01) Unknown Binding

Look, I don't buy cookbooks. I think they're a waste, especially when they're written by a food blogger who posts so much content for free online. Still, I like Steph's website and enjoyed her interviews on the Girls Gone WOD podcast, and I was persuaded to buy this when I found I was having a hard time timing and adjusting my pre- and post- workout meals on a paleo diet, figuring this book would give some good guidance. Overall, too many of the recipes are derivative (zucchini noodles, cauliflower rice, eggs baked in avocado, etc) or repetitive, or already on her site, so there are probably only a dozen interesting recipes I'd make.That said, most of those dozen are pre- and post- workout foods, which was exactly what I was looking for. Many of her recipes used some interesting flavor profiles and are clearly presented. The index has so far been counterintuitive and unhelpful (I remembered seeing a pesto recipe, but you won't find "pesto" under P, though you will find "perofrmance" [sic] there. Instead, you will find "pesto" under "basil" or "sauces," etc.), though I suspect that is due to lazy editing on the publisher's end, not Steph's doing.I expected more than a couple pages on information pertaining to eating for athletic performance, but it is a cookbook, not a nutritional guide, so I guess that is my error. I absolutely love that you will find macros for each recipe, and she also provides a little blurb for some of the less common ingredients, like yucca or lotus root. Another surprise was her smoothie section; what is typically a banal and useless section in a cookbook is anything but here; Steph includes some great ideas with some unusual ingredients.To me, this cookbook reads like something great for someone willing to experiment in the kitchen, interested in using some of the recipes as inspiration, and looking to improve nutrient timing on a paleo diet.

I am kind of lazy, but also such a fan of how great I feel when my nutrition is on point, which is what led me to Steph's blog in the first place. She's taken the time to correspond with me via email to discuss some questions I had in the past, so when she announced she was making this cookbook, I was beyond stoked. And she did not disappoint. The book finally arrived last Thursday. Today is Tuesday. I have already made and eaten 2 recipes from the book (blueberry sausage and curried chicken salad) and my weekly menu has 3 more recipes from this book on it. I am sooooo excited as the first two were incredible - and easy to make, which is a must for me. I work out 5-6 days a week, everything from teaching early morning spin classes to seeing a personal trainer at night to long runs/swims/bike rides on the weekends, so understanding what to eat and when has been a huge struggle for me. Steph has really made it simple with this book to plan for and execute a nutrition plan that supports my varied activity level each day.Knowing I have this tool at my disposal has made me feel confident in my ability to get back where I want to be and stay there. It's been about 2 years that I've started following a Paleo way of eating, and have struggled with balancing those parameters with the energy requirements inherent to endurance sports. I can't wait to see what this tri season has in store, now that I have such great information and delicious recipes at my fingertips.A lot of love, time, knowledge and life experience clearly went into creating this book, and I can't thank Steph enough for sharing her insights and expertise. But now, it's time to EAT! :)

I'm not quite sure what to make of this book. It's definitely helpful to get recipe ideas for somebody looking for inspiration for new meals that are centered around training. However, there are some seeming inadequacies with some of the macros in these recipes.I'm looking at the recipe for "Tex-Mex deviled eggs", and the recipe says that *per serving* you should get ~37g of protein. That's excellent! The problem is, however, that the entire recipe that makes 3 servings only uses 6 eggs total, and there is no additional source of protein in the recipe. Given that most regular eggs are about 6-7g of protein, using 6 eggs for the entire recipe only gives you ~36g of total protein. If you break that up into 3 servers, that's really only about 12g of protein per serving. There also seems to be some issues with the shakes recipes the author uses. She recommends using 1/3 cup of protein powder or 2 eggs, but the recipe's macros will claim it has 17g of protein total? Maybe if you have high protein eggs that's possibly, but if you're using 30g of protein powder the total protein should be much higher. These are just the specific examples I could think of off the top of my head.Also, the total calorie count per serving isn't anywhere. I guess you could do the basic math yourself to figure it out, but you'd think in a cookbook for "athletes" that'd be something the author would want to include.All told, the book is alright, but it definitely seems to have errors in it. The reason I bought this book was to be able to cook healthy meals to fuel an active lifestyle throughout the day without having to be the one to measure, weigh, and do the math for everything. Given that this cookbook seems to have some errors, it's kind of pointless for that purpose. It's good for ideas, but it seems if I follow some of these recipes I'll need to do most of the legwork myself to figure out the actual accurate macros. Disappointing.

I was already a fan of Steph's website as her no nonsense straightforward advice and recipes have really helped me on my paleo journey and a lot of them have become my go-to meals. Now, in her book, she also looks at eating and training, even covering macro levels in the recipes. As someone who is still (as a master) training and competing this really does help me look at how and when I need to eat. Steph takes amazing care with her work and has even taken all the pictures for the book. Her passion really shines through. With lots of recipes I haven't seen elsewhere (some are things that are hard to get in the UK but there are often substitutions for them) this was well worth a place on my paleo bookshelf. The recipes will have you drooling before you've even tried them.

Good book, have used a couple of recipes. Great for gym goers and those who are serious about resistance training and also those keeping their macros in check.

Great book for enhancing your Paleo menu, especially for active sports people. Well laid out into a sections and some really tasty recipes.

Loved this book, tried some lovely recipes...bit expensive...offcourse you can download free paleo recipes from internet everywhere... but still a nice buy.

Simple not a lot of innovation