You may have heard before that breakfast is the most important meal of the day…well, it’s true folks!  If you want to start burning fat,  and feel great, try the following: For Fat loss and Lean Muscle gain consume this in the A.M.

• 1-2 scoops of Rice protein, vanilla or chocolate (we use and recommend Sun Warrior). Always select the best protein powder possible.
• 1 cup total of raspberries and blueberries - mix them together.
  (2 kiwi if you don’t like berries-all have potent antioxidants).
• 1-2 Tbsp. of ground flax seed or Chia (Omega 3’s for a strong heart, great skin, better mental function and for overall better health)!
• 6-8 ounces of water and 8 oz of one of the following:  unsweetend vanilla almond milk, organic milk (skim or 1%), unsweetend coconut milk, etc. Switch up the almond, coco milk, milk, hemp milk, etc, every couple days. Keep the body guessing!
• Throw in some cinnamon if you’d like–it’s been shown to help stabilize insulin levels which is a huge factor in fat loss and excellent health.

These are just a few options. There is an endless variety of combinations of things to use and mix. Be creative and watch the calories if you’re trying to get lean!  If you want to add more muscle/muscular bodyweight,  just add the following to the mix: peanut/almond butter, banana’s and organic whole milk.  Yup, it really does boil down to simple stuff like this! Same goes for lifting; whether your goal is to get lean, toned or to gain weight,  it doesn’t matter, you still need to lift and lift heavy. Having a lean, hard and toned body comes down to having low bodyfat and muscle.

by Jon Hinds, Owner and Founder of the Monkey Bar Gym

“Eat food, not too much and make it mostly plants” this is a simple yet righteous statement that Michael Pollan said in his most recent hit book ‘Unhappy Meals’. We all understand what it takes to eat healthy but why do we find it so difficult to do? Is it because we fold under peer pressure or show our impatience by looking for a quick fix with the most recent fad diet or is it because we haven’t been told the truth? The fitness industry has always said you MUST eat a diet of 40-50% animal protein in order to add more muscle and get leaner. While this may be true, the benefits are short lived. In the long term this diet can lead to cancer, heart disease, stroke and many more problems. The fitness industry doesn’t bother to tell you this!

In my late 30’s I fell victim to the fitness industry diets. By eating 40-50% animal protein I developed severe hand pain that stopped my teaching & competitive career in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I went to 4 doctors who all said “Jon, you’re 40 years old, you have arthritis. We can operate if you want but really you cannot do much.”  I   refused to believe this and looked elsewhere for an answer. A friend told me about the soon to be released “China Study” by Dr. Colin Campbell who I soon became good friends with. I got a pre-release version and stopped eating meat completely (I had already stopped drinking milk when my old client Woody Harrelson schooled me about it). Within 3 months my hand pain was gone 100%!!! The connection between my hand pain relief and not eating meat set me on a new goal…to eat a plant based diet and stay strong!

I was not an educated vegetarian though. I ended up eating only vegetables and very little protein resulting in a loss of 12lbs of muscle and a gain of 12lbs of fat in 8 months! I had made a common mistake people do when beginning vegan or vegetarian diets and that is they usually do not eat enough plant protein. The body needs protein (plant or animal) to build muscle and I knew that I could get it from plant sources instead of meat, saving myself from the long term effects of an overconsumption of animal protein. The Eat Green, Get Lean plan worked for me but would it for others?

I put my athletes and members of my Monkey Bar Gymnasium through the Eat Green, Get Lean plan and the results were off the charts… 17lbs of fat loss and 5lbs of muscle gain in 60 days of training and following the Eat Green, Get Lean plan!!!

Then Tony Gonzalez the All Pro NFL Tight End called me one sunny afternoon and talked to me about the concerns he felt eating the typical fitness industry diet. He mentioned that the average life span of an NFL player is 53 years!! Although this was shocking to me, I also knew it was 100% related to the diet.   Tony’s main concern was maintaining his extreme high level of playing. Since I was currently on this diet along with many of my athletes, who were all gaining in strength, I knew that this would work for Tony.

When Tony changed to this plant based diet, the Wall Street Journal headlined his story with my comment and suggestions. Tony became a NFL All Pro again this year, proving the great effects that the Eat Green, Get Lean plan works! 

Eat Green, Get Lean 6 Step Hand Plan:  Shape your hand into a plate or bowl with fingers spread as a measurement for portion size.

This is an excellent way to not over eat!!!

1. Eat 3 SMALL meals a day mostly Greens, some healthy oils (flax, fish, coconut), raw nuts, seeds or legumes (the protein of Spartans!).
   - KEY: eat 90% or more from Plants, some deep ocean fish and occasional lean meats are fine too if you keep it 1-2 x’s a week or less.
2. Eat 2-3 SMALL snacks a day (a fruit, vegetable or nuts and seeds will do fineJ)
   - This keeps the energy at constant levels and actually helps speed up your metabolism due to the fact that your body does not think that it is starving.
   - Food is better absorbed, you feel better and have better energy.
3. Eat slowly and to satisfaction only, no more! 
4. Drink a minimum of 10 to 12 glasses of room temperature water a day
5. Eat organic foods as often as possible, it’s healthier for you and the planet!!
6. Eat your last meal at least 3 hours before your bedtime.

By following my Eat Green, Get Lean program you will lose fat, gain muscle AND make yourself a whole lot healthier to boot!!

For more information on our nutrition you can find lots of great recipes in the MBG Online Fitness Journal.

Go green my friend!!

Jon Hinds
Owner & Founder of the Monkey Bar Gymansium