Flooding your changes

By Pete Ryan

Changes can be hard.  New year is especially problematic. You start that ‘ultimate diet’, you go on a juice detox programme, you decide to start exercising, revamp the diet and start decorating the house as well!  The trouble is that for many people making dozens of changes at once overwhelms them.  New diets, new foods, new exercise programmes.  The body is hit on all sides with changes and many bodies do not like too many changes at once.

When changing for the better many hinder your progress

A famous powerlifter for many years ate a terrible diet of fast food and other junk.  He rarely saw a vegetable and never ate what most people would consider healthy options.  Eventually this came back to haunt him as a medical revealed that he had cholesterol and other blood markers so bad that the doctor was surprised that he was still alive, “I have seen better blood work on a corpse!” was what the doctor said to him and warned that if he did not change his diet then he would probably die in the very near future. So, this powerlifter decided to change his diet for the better.  He dumped the junk food, included vegetables and moved to eating wholefoods.  He got very ill?  He went back to his fast food diet and the symptoms disappeared?  He tried again with the same result.  He became totally confused?  Was he allergic to healthy food?  Were wholefoods bad for him?  In the end he found a nutritionist and over the next 6 months began a slow transition to eating a more healthy diet.

So, what was this?  Was it that 'detox crisis' many gurus talk about?  You can get sick if you lose a lot of fat very quickly as toxins are stored in fat, this is to help keep you safe from poisoning, but this wasn’t the case.  In this example the individual had the wrong enzymes being produced to break down healthy food and had the wrong bacteria in his gut to survive on wholefoods.  This can be fixed, but it takes time for the body to adapt.  The ‘human digestive system’ (the symbiotic relationship between our body and the bacteria that live within us) is an amazing system. You can eat virtually anything and survive, you can eat things far away from what are considered healthy and still grow, even train hard and look good.  Usually the issues that develop are invisible, with increases in cancer, cardiovascular issues and probably an earlier death than you would have had otherwise.

Just as the body can take time to adapt to changes, so the mind also needs time to incorporate changes into your lifestyle. If you attempt to include 20 new changes into your life you will most likely fail to get them all done.  Each one will add to the stress of the day and you will finally get overwhelmed by the mass of changes and crumble. A better plan is to slowly bring in changes.

Over new year just think if you said I am going to go to the gym twice a week (or if you prefer, exercise at home).  Just that, nothing more!  Focus on that for a full month just make sure that every Tuesday and Friday you hit the gym with a full body programme.  After a month that training has started to become a habit, next add in the idea of a healthy breakfast, stick at that for a full month, while the training still continues, the month after that add in the idea of a healthier lunch...and so on.  Add one small change and things will improve, you will not be overwhelmed and by the end of a year you will begin to reap real changes. 

 

One point I would like to make...THIS IS IMPORTANT... if you are aiming at losing significant fat, start weight training, start body brushing and apply coconut oil.  These things will help the skin adjust to the new shape.  You may not be able to eliminate lose skin, but you could possibly lessen the effects. Those are a few changes at once, but you could start with a month of weights & bodybrushing, then the next month begin the fat loss and coconut oil.  If you aim to add mass I would start with resistance training (lifting weights) and pick one meal to increase the calories per day (breakfast is the easiest if you can eat in the mornings), go from there.

Simply increase by one or 2 things every month as you adapt and things will go better.  If you try to add too many things you will be flooded by changes and soon revert to your old ways.  Make 2016 the year you succeeded with your body goals!

 

Pop over to Gorilla gym if you need help with your training or nutrition

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Misunderstanding veganism within the bodybuilding world

I will try my very best here not to make this sound like a personal attack, but I will be using one person as an example of the confusion that reins within the meat-eating community of bodybuilders concerning the fact that some people choose not to use meat & dairy.  At the moment marketer Vince Delmonte has started an attack on bodybuilders who choose not to eat meat or dairy.  I'll put the links below:

He has also done a blogpost here I suggest you view the above & the article as you'll need those to see what he is claiming.  I think you'll find it interesting how people are affected by words & how they can be confused by meanings to draw totally incorrect conclusions from sometimes correct ideas.
At the very beginning of the video he says that he, as a trainer, cannot help people gain muscle, loss fat or improve health using a vegan (or even vegetarian) diet  To paraphrase him he says "You are wasting your time & his time" by trying to achieve any of those goals.  This statement is saying more about the trainer, than the actual possibility of training without meat or dairy.  Let's look at these goals he cannot help if you eat plant-based:

1/ Health - wow!  I do not know where to start with this one.  The science is pretty clear that you have improved fat levels, improvement of multiple health-factors that positively effect health (if you want some references on general or specific health issues let me know in the comments), but think blood pressure, cardiovascular health, cancer risk....I could go on, but you get the idea, if you want a quick look at few of the benefits scroll through a few of these pages on the messageboard& check out some of the health benefits mentioned there.

2/ Losing fat.  I do not know where Vince has been.  I'm guessing that as he said he has not touched a trainee since 2002 unless they ate meat means he has also not seen the research since that time!  Do I need links for this?  Seriously if you want links to studies that show going vegan will help you loose bodyfat I have many, it can be done easily, infact a wholefood vegan diet is probably a very easy way to eat & lose bodyfat.

3/ Now let's look at hypertrophy & vegan diets.  First off there isn't too much literature out there on the subject.  But, there is some truth to the idea that if you eat the same amount of protein from either an animal or plant source, then you will get less muscle mass per gram of protein consumed (I thought I had better reference this one, so here it is there are a couple of others, but the few studies done on this have found similar results).  This does NOT mean that results will be inferior when training for size,it just means you have to eat slightly more protein than you would as a meat eater to hold similar levels of muscle (I do understand that there are a few outliers who buck this trend, but the science, so far, says that you need a little bit more protein than the average meat-eater to achieve the same results).  We will come back to the 'why' in a while (if that is ok with you) as I want to go through the written article Vince produced - it's interesting to see exactly how he goes wrong with his assessment.

Point 1 in his article "Protein intake doesn’t necessarily mean protein availability"

As a rule you do need slightly more protein when eating a plant-based diet, than you do when eating a meat-based diet.  Unfortunately Vince stops there.  That's all he needs to know right?  Well, actually no, what he actually needs to know is why as this is very, very important & actually effects muscle building, fat levels & numerous other factors.  The main factor that appears to affect protein assimilation is fibre.  The fibre stops a little of the protein being assimilated into the body, but it also does a number of other interesting things. It binds with toxins & takes them safely through the body, which is useful, as you become a less toxic individual, but fibre is also the main way that oestrogens are removed from the body.  I'll go in this a little more deeply as I think you'll find this useful to actually understand the mechanism.  The body dumps oestrogens into the alimentary canal all the time, females dump way more than males, but both sexes do the same thing.  Generally speaking vegans have much higher levels of fibre than meat eaters, so yes, it does hold some of the protein as it passes through, but the fibre also grabs oestrogen, infact fibre is one of the main methods of oestrogen removal the body has.  The issue is that meat-eaters & their lower fibre intakes do not have enough fibre to bind the oestrogen successfully & so it simply becomes re-assimilated further down the alimentary canal.  So, you get the nightmare scenario of the body trying to dump oestrogen but failing due to lack of fibre!  So, is that slight loss of protein more important than that?  Personally I do not think so.  If you consider that by any standards western people consume well above any biological need for protein then you can see that the idea is quite odd....but, the argument may go, you may not have a biological need for these high levels of protein, but to achieve the maximum muscle mass possible for a human being then you may need supra-intakes of protein?  There is some evidence that higher protein may increase muscle synthesis (or decrease muscle breakdown?), but if you really want more protein, then you can easily focus on protein rich plant-based foods, or even do what many meat-eating athletes do & drink some protein powder.  A second point often raised is that plant-based protein sources do not induce the same muscle building effects as their animal-based equivalents.  Again, there is some truth to this. Things like whey protein have higher levels of leucine than many plant foods.  The good news is you can add leucine to things like seitan or rice & bring there muscle building activity to equal levels (see this study with seitan - sorry it's an animal study, but it's the only one we've got right now using seitan, also a study about rice protein here - it's not made clear but this study again balances the amounts of leucine, in this case by increasing dosage).  So, adding leucine (or a high leucine food like yeast), can really boost the muscle building capacity of the foods you eat, so you should consider this when planning your goals.  I will point out that although science at the moment suggests high protein diets seem safe, for the average person boosting protein is not necessary it is only those looking for maximising possible muscle gains that need to even consider it at all.  Vince does mention one study where strength trained females have their muscle mass compared.  I'm not sure which study that is, but the results are meaningless with the information given.  We have no idea about build, starting weights, time training, the type of training done, nothing.  This is correlation at it's worst.  You'd not want to measure people, but compare results.  If you want to be truly accurate then you'd also use people who have been on their diets for long enough that the microbiota in their alimentary canal has modified to their present diet (as vegan gut bacteria is different, see here).  I also find some issues with studies that keep some people one their present meat-eating diet & then make others change their diet to vegetarian, vegan or similar.  These are nearly always self-selective (you choose your own foods) & so you are expecting someone to make a transition to a completely new diet & then while the million & one changes are occurring internally & they are still experimenting with strange food that they make gains?  I'd like to how the average westerner did if they suddenly went onto a traditional Eskimo diet (raw fish & seal meat eating the guts, eyeballs etc) or a Masai diet (blood & meat mainly).  They may have not grown straight away & could have the odd digestive issue as well!   This is inherent in any dietary change whether positive or negative & researchers should know this!
So, to round this off, yes you will need slightly more protein than a meat eater, you may need to consider your eating a little bit more, but you get less oestrogen in you & you generally have more phytonutrients (chemicals in plants thought to help the body fight disease & stay healthy), have less risk of cancer & less risk of cardiovascular disease.  I think we've covered point 1 fairly well, let's move onto point 2.

Point 2 in the article "Hormonal Imbalances Caused by the Vegetarian Diet"

 There is simply no evidence that vegan diets cause hormone imbalances?  The literature does not say this, there is zero evidence of this.  The only people who actually tout this idea are a group called the Weston Price Foundation. They are a lobby group for meat & dairy interests & have tried to mix in lumps of truth without outright lies to get their agenda pushed through various health & Government organisations.  The one example he uses is soya (using another of the Weston Price Foundations favourite foods to attack).  His claim is that the phytoestrogens in plants bind with oestrogen receptors & so act like oestrogen.  I do not want to turn this into an article about soya.  Vince has not really read up much beyond the Weston Price Foundation pages on this one.  Most of the research actually points to soya being a form of adaptogen, that is if your levels are low it can act in an oestrogen-like manner, but if levels are high it acts like an anti-oestrogen & so actually blocks the receptors.  This is still only theory, but here is one study that looked at the research so far.  I can tell you now where all the negative research has come from - rodents - rodents do not do well on soya so disregard any studies done not using humans (as there are load of human studies now). One final point, there is one study using humans that does show marked decreases in testosterone in humans, the 'Goodin' study is used by most of the anti-soya lobby to prove their case.  Unfortunately for those nay-sayers the study has a serious flaw.  The whole drop in testosterone was caused by one male (probably coming off of steroids in my view as I can see nothing other than a life threatening disease causing that kind of drop).  I cannot fathom how any scientist could have missed this effect, but they did & so got flawed results - here is the rebuttal of that study, you can see clearly how it is flawed!  I'll leave the soya there, if you want more (& even want to join in) there is a thread over on our messageboard here  that covers many of the major studies, possible issues & other factors about soya.  Needless to say I have no issues with a normal intake of soya in a persons diet.
Next up he covers cholesterol & seems to get confused.  Vince says the body needs cholesterol (which is true), but humans make all the cholesterol we ever need, we do not need to ingest it?  Vince appears to be confused about the need of cholesterol & the source?  He then goes on to extrapolate that as vegans & vegetarians do not eat as much cholesterol, then they must have lower testosterone (as cholesterol is used to produce testosterone).  You actually make cholesterol from saturated fat, this can be found in many, many plantfoods - coconut oil & palm oil are the most famous, but most plant oil has some saturated fat in it, even the much touted olive oil contains a reasonable amount!  So, you need not worry.  If your testosterone levels drop due to low levels of cholesterol & this is due to not eating enough saturated fat, then go eat some nuts, some olives or a coconut & you'll be getting more than enough saturated fat to produce adequate testosterone.  Vince also misses an important point when it comes to testosterone, it is not actually total, or even free testosterone that affects results, unless you have massive gains or drops.  The main factor is actually the testosterone:oestrogen ratio that is the real 'killer or winner' in the race for muscle size.  Now think back to earlier in this piece...what was the one thing that a wholefood vegan diet does, that most meat-eating diets fail at? ... removing oestrogen from the body!  So, even if testosterone is slightly lower the overall effect is actually positive!  I'll include one study that shows free testosterone is similar between diets here &  one that shows differences of both testosterone & oestrogen here as you can see this question has not been fully answered & is not just a simple 'measure the total' answer as lots of factors effect the final result.
Lastly Vince attacks vegetarian & vegan diets due to an imbalance in the omega-6:omega-3 ratios.  In studies this has been shown to be true, but this is not an inherent aspect of the diet, but incorrect dietary choices people are making.  Is he arguing that meat-eaters do not have to watch their diet?  Most bodybuilders I know are very, VERY strict about their diets, eating unvarying, boring meals.  A vegan does not have to go that far unless they are aspiring to be a bodybuilder, all they need to do if make sure they eat a source of omega-3 fatty acid in the morning (think flax, chia seeds, hemp, walnuts or even an algae-based DHA/EPA pill if you like) & do not go crazy with your omega-6 fatty acids the rest of the day.  It is a non-issue, if you are eating a decent diet (if you'd like more about Essential Fatty Acids then let me know below & I'll put something together for you).  Lastly he does point out that the only way to get enough omega-3 is through fish oil - this is incorrect as not only can you get omega-3 in the form of ALA & convert it to DHA/EPA (providing that fat is not competing with omega-6 fatty acids hence have your ALA, such as flax, chia or hemp first thing in the morning), but you can also get the oil directly from where fish get it, which is from algae, you can buy DHA/EPA oil pills that are the same stuff as fish have eaten, but as it is lower down the food chain, you have less risk of contamination than you have from fish oil.  So, even if you want to take a DHA/EPA pill, then just buy algae-derived version & cut out the fish!  I think we have worked our way through point 2 enough, so let's move on to point 3.

Point 3 "Nutrient Deficiencies in the Vegetarian Diet"

With this one Vince has an uphill struggle as every major dietary organisation on earth (that I've heard of anyway) accepts that a properly planned vegan diet has no nutritional deficiencies, but let's see what Vince has to say!  B-vitamins are actually not an issue with vegetarians or vegans, actually they tend to get more of all the B vitamins except B12.  With B12 you should take a supplement or eat fortified foods.  We have all heard of people who have survived without any obvious source of B12, but this is what I call an 'unnecessary risk factor' your risk of deficiency drops to very low if you just supplement, so why take an unnecessary risk with your health?  Next up we have zinc, it is true that some studies show a lower overall zinc intake amongst both vegetarians and vegans, that is down to bad dietary choices, not the diet itself, just eat more foods that contain zinc, here's a link to some foods you can try to include in your diet...but Vince says even if you eat enough zinc (& other minerals) you damn plant-eaters are consuming all those nasty phytates - won't they block all your zinc & iron....well no they won't actually.  If Vince had looked at the research since 2002 he would have seen that phytates have not only been seen to act differently within humans, but that they also have positive effects.  I'll let you have two studies here to make my point, the first shows clearly that if the body adapts to phytates then it becomes a non-issue as your friendly bacteria deals with it, click here for that study, next I'll include an overview of phytates & how they are not simply negative, but may also help prevent cancer & have many other positive aspects to this misunderstood component of food, click here for that one.  As I said all the major dietary organisations state clearly that a properly planned vegetarian or vegan diet has no nutritional deficiencies.  Vince has not really proved his case with the above example, if those are his only evidence, then he is wrong.

Vinces final points

Vince sums up by saying that based on all the research (he must have read different research to me?) you need to eat meat, dairy & plants to be a bodybuilder.  If you cannot you must supplement virtually everything (which isn't true, you really need to supplement no more than a meat eating bodybuilder does), you should avoid soya foods (I do not agree with this - I do not suggest you eat mainly soya foods, but having tofu on occasion or a little soya milk will not have any negative effects, just do not overdo any single type of food, that is just common sense-for more read the soya thread mentioned above). He would strongly recommend that no bodybuilder ever become a vegetarian or vegan.
He does mention one odd thing.  He says "...Take a fish oil supplement, or if you can’t, at least take an algae supplement, which isn’t quite as good but is better than nothing...".  The oil from algae-based DHA/EPA is not inferior to fish oil.  If you want an actual breakdown, then fish oil is actually inferior as it does not contain only DHA/EPA, but a fare amount of unnecessary saturated fat (if you want extra saturated fat there are MUCH cheaper ways of getting it), there is also the possibility of toxic contamination as the fish used for fat extraction are near the top of the food chain than algae - which is at the very bottom.  Algae-based DHA/EPA is the superior choice in terms of purity, amount of DHA/EPA per calorie & safety.  His statement makes no sense - on what did he base that statement?   - For those interested here's an example using cod liver oil which is a fifth saturated fat.

My thoughts.

Here are a few random thoughts.  I've trained people for going on a decade now.  I have had no trouble helping people gain muscle, lose fat or improve their health while eating plant-based?  Infact I do not know of any other trainer who cannot do this except Vince?  Then again, I associate with people who tend to continue their education as it is their passion, for myself I've not only increased my abilities to train people, but I've also taken many courses in nutrition (I became a clinical nutritionist some time ago, but I still take courses at universities around the world increasing my nutritional knowledge), I've also studied massage so it can help my clients recover better & as I know their bodies so well this synthesis can really help more than going to someone who doesn't understand your training & what you are going through. I don't do this for work, but as it is a passion to continue to learn & grow.  I surround myself with like-minded people who love to search out knowledge & discover.  So, unlike Vince who has not trained a vegetarian since 2002 we continue to advance our knowledge in the field.
I have nothing against Vince, I don't even know the guy, but I would ask you hold back from any vitriol or other attacks.  I do encourage you to engage with him in a polite way, make corrections or offer suggestions to him about how he may modernise his knowledge in the field.  Feel free to quote any of the above (in context of course).  I really feel that this guy is somewhat confused about both diet & training, so would actually benefit from people helping, mentoring & advising him, not un-thought out attacks.  It's a shame that in this day & age we still have people living with 20th Century ideas about training & diet.

REVIEW: How to give a shit about your health (book)

As far as I know Karina Inkster is new to the field of health writing, at least I've never come across her before.  The book title might be a bit off-putting to some of you, but remember having names like "Skinny bitch" didn't do that book much harm, so if the name isn't to your taste, just ignore it & get into the what the book is all about.
The book is 100% plant based dietary information & is obviously written by someone who eats & trains, so they know our goals & understand the best ways to achieve them.  It is more of a 'getting started' book, but even for those of us who have been into it for a while it's still nice to read someone else's take on what needs to be done.  She advocates basic vegan wholefoods, nothing too weird or wonderful, covers basic foods you'll need to get you started, ways to avoid falling for sugary drinks cravings, covers the essential fatty acids issue, even includes recipes & of course basic training.  The only issue I found missing was I don't remember reading about the importance of B12 (which should, in my view be added to every athletes diet whether they are meat eaters, veggies or vegan). 
One other fact is the book is cheap.  Karina obviously wanted the book 'out there', so priced it in a way that means, you can easily buy one for yourself & a couple of friends who may be interested in moving towards a healthier lifestyle (that can either be a vegan in need of some health tips, a non-vegan in need of diet &/or health advice).
I would recommend this as a good starter pack if you want to move towards a healthier lifestyle.  I would actually say this is a much more sound program than say the 'Skinny bitch' approach, this program will actually get you heading towards optimal health.
To get the book click here & to check out more about Karina go to here site here (just a hint she also does personal training & nutritional advice if you need it).
As usual I get nothing for reviewing this, I just read the book & liked it & hopefully you will too!

REVIEW: Reflex Nutrition's Vegan Protein

I got a tub of this new protein powder just the other day.  I went with the strawberry flavour as I am quite fond of the old red berry.  It's unusual to have a product called something like "Vegan Protein" rather than "mega-pump 10,000" or similar, which made for a nice change & for once you do not have to ask if it is suitable for vegans :-)

So, let's look at what's in it first, you can read a full list here.  It is basically a souped up pea protein that is lightly coloured (natural colouring), sweetened with stevia & has added stuff like probiotic, digestive enzymes etc.  It is 18.5g of protein per serving with a 1% carbs & 1.5% fats.  I think adding the digest enzymes & probiotic is a really good idea as large amounts of protein hitting the stomach without all those little micronutrients sometimes does need a little help getting into you (especially if you have several shakes a day, getting bad gas can be a bitch!).

Obviously with protein you don't get anything like a caffeine rush or similar "Wow! this is working man!" type of effect, so we'll get onto to taste.  As I said I have only tried out the strawberry, but that is pretty awesome!  It might be the best tasting protein out there (certainly top two or 3!).  If you have been put off by taste before then I'd suggest you give this one a go.  I actually played about a bit & found adding a banana or two & mixing with soya milk gave you a pretty good milkshake!  I'm guessing you could play about & make desserts with this product as well, maybe making a mousse-like effect or other treats that can be made using a flavoured protein powder (that's a challenge to all you cooks out there-let's have some recipes).
Other good points about Reflex Nutrition is that it uses green technology to produce their products, so less energy is wasted & it uses only renewable energy!

I give a big thumbs up to this new protein & I will be getting the other flavours over time, if you've tried them post below!

Between the 8- 13 July 2012 we will be running a contest to win your own tub of this fab new protein, so pop over to the facebook group here & check out the contest!
If you don't win, no worries simply pop over to here & check out the different flavours.  I can 100% recommend the Strawberry & hopefully the others will be just as good!

Vegan Health & fitness magazine

Is a new magazine produced in the US.  I've seen the first issue & it's pretty good.  We need a magazine like this, so if you can support this by subscribing then that would be great.  Paper copies are available in both the US & now UK!  In the rest of the world you can still enjoy the magazine in e-magazine format.  As a member you get the magazine & access to the members area of the website.
To get the magazine or to just a peep into some of the first issue pop over to here & see what all the fuss is about!

Protein & the vegan diet

I was asked to do a bit about protein for Natures Whey makers of Ignite Ultra V (who despite the name are a vegan company).  It is really a basic primer about protein & the research as it stands right now in terms of protein & athletic performance, size & strength you can find it as a guest post on their blog here
If you like it let them know by leaving a comment a comment or emailing them.
The link again, just in case http://www.natures-whey.co.uk/articles/protein-the-vegan-diet/

REVIEW: Jason Ferrugia's Renegade Recipe Guide

There are a couple of points about this book.  First off it is not vegan, there are recipes with eggs & honey that I have found in it.  I know at the time of writing Jason was supposed to be a vegan (I'm not sure about now?), so I was hoping for something without any animal products, but there are plenty without, so it's not too hard to find plenty of good recipes.  The second thing that might affect you is that some recipes use ingredients you may not have, not ultra-weird, but unusual like buckwheat flour, that you don't usually have & would have to make a trip out for if you wanted to use the recipes as written.
I got the negatives out of the way first, but apart from those gripes there are a lot of things you might want to try out in here.  I'm not a great one in the kitchen, so cooking isn't really the top of my 'fun things to do' list, but I do like to eat, so having a few new options is always good.
This is simply a recipe guide it isn't like a planned eating system like say the latest precision nutrition plant based eating section, so you will still need to plan your eating using some common sense, but the choices are varied & you are bound to find a few things you like in the collection of goodies available.
Just to give you an idea here's the list of recipes you get:

Breakfasts & Shakes… Page 7

Banana Berry Blast Protein Shake… Page 8
Apple Pie Protein Shake… Page 9
Banana Nut Bread Protein Shake… Page 9
Mocha Rocket Fuel Protein Shake… Page 10
Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Protein Shake… Page 10
Chocolate Chip Mint Protein Shake… Page 11
Tropical Fruit Protein Shake… Page 12
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Protein Shake… Page 13
Orange Creamsicle Protein Shake… Page 13
Pumpkin Pie Protein Shake… Page 14
Pina Colada Protein Shake… Page 15
Almond Butter Cocoa Protein Shake… Page 15
Sweet Potato Pie Protein Shake… Page 16
Vanilla Macadamia Cream Protein Shake… Page 16
The Hardgainer Cure Protein Shake… Page 17
Our Favorite Protein Shake… Page 18
Spicy Tempeh Scramble… Page 19
Southwestern Style Eggs… Page 20
Breakfast Burritos… Page 21
Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes… Page 22
Banana Oatmeal Pancakes… Page 23
Protein Oatmeal Pancakes… Page 24
Almond Butter Cup Hi-Protein Oatmeal… Page 25
Apple Cinnamon Hi-Protein Oatmeal… Page 25
Raisin & Nut Hi-Protein Oatmeal… Page 26
Almond Butter Cup Hi-Protein Oatmeal… Page 27
Apple Cinnamon Hi-Protein Oatmeal… Page 27
Vanilla Blueberry Hi-Protein Oatmeal… Page 28
Frozen Bananas and Strawberries… Page 28
Breakfast Potatoes… Page 29
Almond Butter Toast… Page 30
Breakfast Quinoa… Page 30
Brown Rice Pudding… Page 31
Mint Lassi… Page 32
Trail Mix Bowl… Page 32
Fruit & Nut Bowl… Page 33

Side Dishes & Snacks… Page 35

Sitto’s Hummus… Page 36
Escarole and Beans (side dish)… Page 37
Roasted Root Vegetables… Page 37
Collard Greens… Page 38
Brown Rice and Broccoli…Page 38
Basil Walnut Pesto… Page 39
Paper Bag Roasted Red Peppers… Page 40
Cashew Cream… Page 41
Red Pepper Cashew Cream… Page 41
Steamed Kale with Tahini Dressing… Page 42
Yellow Split Peas and String Beans… Page 43
Mjedherra (lentils with wheat germ and onions)… Page 43
Roasted Spiced Cashews… Page 44
Chickpeas with Wheat Germ and Tomato… Page 45
Baby Bok Choy with Cashews and Ginger… Page 45
Roasted Garlic Toast… Page 46
Kale Chips… Page 46
Roasted Beets with Orange Slices… Page 47
Black Bean Dip… Page 48
Spinach Dip… Page 49
Collard Greens with Slivered Almonds… Page 49
Wild Mushroom Quinoa… Page 50
Fresh Guacamole… Page 51
Yam Fries… Page 52
Creamy Pumpkin Brown Rice… Page 52
Mango Salsa…. Page 53
Italian Spicy Potatoes…. Page 54
White Bean Spread… Page 55
Hummus Quesadillas… Page 55
Artichoke Hearts with Cherry Peppers… Page 56
Vegan Garlic Mashed Potatoes… Page 57
Artichoke Hearts with White Beans and Tomatoes… Page 58
Spicy Brown Rice with Crimini Mushrooms and Caramelized Onions… Page 59
Egg Salad Sandwich… Page 60
Mashed Cauliflower… Page 60
Roasted Tomatoes… Page 61

Salads… Page 63

Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing… Page 64
Quinoa Salad… Page 65
Raw Kale Hempseed Salad… Page 66
Artichoke Heart and Pea Salad… Page 66
Eggplant and Lentil Salad… Page 67
Raw Fennel Orange Salad… Page 68
Tabouleh (Parsley Salad)… Page 69
Warm Chickpea Salad… Page 70
Spicy Watermelon Salad… Page 70
Carrot Almond Salad… Page 71
Broccoli Apple Salad… Page 72
Balsamic Mixed Bean Salad… Page 73
Arugula & Mango Salad… Page 74
Fattoush (Middle Eastern Salad)… Page 75
Summer Cucumber Tomato Salad… Page 76
Warm Black Bean Salad with Oranges… Page 77
Soups & Stews… Page 79
Lentil Soup… Page 80
Yellow Split Pea Soup… Page 81
Spinach Soup… Page 81
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup… Page 82
Curried Red Lentil Stew with Chickpeas and Quinoa… Page 83
Chickpea Soup with Brown Rice and Escarole… Page 84
Barley & Bean Soup… Page 85
Black-Eyed Pea Soup with Lemon and Sage… Page 86
Portobello Mushroom and Swiss Chard Soup… Page 86
Arborio Rice Soup with Cabbage and Beans… Page 87
White Bean Soup with Kale… Page 88
Kale Chowder… Page 89
Cold Cucumber Avocado Soup… Page 90

Pastas & Entrees… Page 91

Spaghetti Marinara… Page 92
Brown Rice Penne with Spicy Tomato & Spinach… Page 93
Pasta with Olive Oil and Sage… Page 93
Brown Rice Pasta with Peas and Mushrooms… Page 94
Eggplant and Kale… Page 95
Spaghetti Marinara… Page 96
Cauliflower with String Beans in Coconut Curry Sauce… Page 97
Roasted Cauliflower Spelt Wraps… Page 98
Tomato Avocado Sandwich… Page 99
Pizza Marinara… Page 100
Brown Rice and Beans… Page 100
Sweet Potato Topped with Black Beans and Kale… Page 101
Portobello Mushroom Steaks… Page 102
Quinoa Burritos… Page 103
Baked Eggplant with Tomatoes… Page 103
Black Bean Soft Tacos… Page 104
Raw Flax Burger… Page 104
Black Bean Burgers… Page 105
TLT (Tempeh Lettuce & Tomato)… Page 106
Gluten-Free Eggplant Parm… Page 107

Desserts… Page 109

Raw Chocolate Pudding… Page 110
Sugar Free “Almost Raw” Chocolate Pudding… Page 110
Hi-Protein Chocolate Mousse… Page 111
Vanilla Mousse… Page 111
Vanilla Cream… Page 112
Sweet Potato Pudding… Page 112
Dessert Butter Bars aka “Cut ‘em & Eat ‘em’s”… Page 113
Raw Pineapple Cheesecake… Page 114
Raw Almond Butter Chocolate Cake… Page 115
Vegan Chocolate Cake… Page 116
Baked Bananas and Raisins… Page 117
Blueberry Pudding… Page 117

If these sound like the kind of thing you want to cook (the pancakes tend to use egg, so they are no good for you - I have been told you can swap in something like gram flour..but what do I know?) you can get the ebook by clicking here