I recently arrived back from London and Paris, stayed healthy and had a great time.
The last time I was in London I was competing in the Mr. Universe, trying to sweat off all the water I had accumulated on a 40 hour flight from Australia that included 5 stops and one overnight in Karachi (plane needed servicing) in which we all pigged out on 5 star plush hotel cuisine.
Anyways, London has obviously changed but I was able to stay crazy lean by following this somewhat unorthodox routine:
1. Eat Bread.
Your gonna think I’m crazy for suggesting this but if you get your daily (or every other daily) dose of a French Panini with ham, lettuce and tomato or a gyros with chicken and yogurt sauce (quite popular in Paris) for lunch, you won’t crave those starchy’s for dinner. Remember French bread is very light and crusty, contains less sugar and salt than what you’re use to, and is easy on the stomach. In London they offer many gluten and wheat free sandwich alternatives (check out the eatery ‘EAT’ by London eye).
2. WALK, WAlk and walk.
Lets face it you’ll be busy checking out the major landmarks of these fabulous cities and if its Paris, London or NYC the best way to sight see is by hitting the pavement.
If you can notch up 2-3 hours of walking a day that’s over 1500 calories burnt right there entitling you to an all natural gelato. Walking keeps you super lean because is engages your whole body especially when your climbing stairs - two at a time of course.
3. Don’t TRAIN Legs!
If you are going to hit the gym, perform a total upper body workout. No need to train legs, because you’ll be working them while walking, climbing stairs and riding. On that note, Paris have bike racks you can rent bikes at from only one Euro a day. And you can drop them off anywhere in the city where there are bike rack stations. Check out my video. I rode to the Eiffel tower. It was about a 15 minute bike ride from where we were staying in the Latin Quarter.
4. Don’t Hit the Gym.
In my recent experience most of the people working at hotels don’t know where the basic gyms are so you may be wasting precious sightseeing time searching for centers that don’t suit your needs. In London I was directed to a Sauna and in Paris a Pilates studio which opened midday. Instead perform various pushups and crunches throughout the day. Powerpose® while in the bathroom mirror before a shower (contact me for these routines) and for a more comprehensive whole body, gym free workout, use playground equipment. In London we stayed near the London eye which has a playground behind it. Twice I use it and performed modified pull-ups off bars and ropes, pushups off ropes creating that unstable surface/grip for extra core engagement, and crunches and leg raises on a very narrow bench -again challenging my ability to balance therefore engaging more of my core.
5. Eat Yogurt
France is well known for yogurt and in Paris I was able to get some great varieties with a high lactobacillus content. Because you may be eating different and exotic foods it’s always a good idea to start or finish the day off with yogurt which will keep your gut healthy by fighting bacteria and ease any stomach ailments you may have. I saved a packet for breakfast by buying packs of 6 for no more than 2 Euro’s. Combined with a low sugar all natural granola it makes for a very healthy brekky and helps you lose weight.
6. Eat small and keep it at 3.
Your mind will be so occupied on sightseeing , shopping and just enjoying the cultural environment you wont really have the time nor should you have the desire to eat BIG at each meal. Keep your servings small to moderate and don’t go back for seconds unless its fresh fruit or straight protein. I found that by just eating 3 main meals each day with coffee and tea as my snacks I was able to stay super lean and enjoy my crepes and occasional ice cream at the same time.
I was watching ‘Blaine’s Low Carb Kitchen’ tonight and noticed that although he does use low carb ingredients he adds unnecessary saturated fats in to a lot of his recipes. Heavy creams, cheese and bacon are a common ingredient which I find unhealthy and quite frankly nutritionally useless. Although I do find his recipes creative and his cooking skills entertaining, he has inspired me to develop this recipe which has no bad fat, moderate in good fat, high in protein and fiber, and has a generous amount of great tasting low starch veggies.
INGREDIENTS
One pound of organic or hormone free ground turkey breast
12 ounces of parboiled mixed frozen organic peas, corn carrots and beans
1 diced onion
4 tablespoons of homemade or precooked Neapolitan (pomodoro) sauce with garlic
A shake of black pepper, garlic powder, and mixed Italian herbs
2 tablespoons of organic psyllium husk
1 whole organic egg
2 tablespoons of organic raisins (sultana’s for you Aussies)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Technique:
Mix up all the ingredients by hand or spoon in a large glass bowl until all foods have been incorporated nicely.
Shape in to an ‘Ayers rock’ formation in a large Pyrex tray (which has been greased with a tablespoon of olive oil) and oven for 30 minutes on 400 f.
Enjoy with your favorite glass of red (like I did) and thank your heart and your health that you’re having one of the best meals for your body and your mind you will every taste!
Will love to know how it turned out.
Mangia Bene!
Gennaro
Mix the following ingredients into a bowl, whisk thoroughly, and use a ladle to pour and pan fry into pancake pan with a teaspoon of olive oil.
These ingredients can be purchased at Whole Foods Market.
3/4 metric cup of Arrowhead Mills organic buckwheat flour
1/2 metric cup of Arrowhead Mills organic gluten free pancake mix
5 large organic egg whites with 1 yolk
1/2 cup Almond milk
Sprinkle of ground cinnamon
2 tablespoon of organic raisins
This makes for the perfect pancake consistency but If necessary add a little extra flour or almond milk to tweak the consistency.
Once cooked coat each pancake with one teaspoon of organic almond butter and one teaspoon of sugar free all natural jelly. Roll and enjoy!
Makes for five to six medium to large sized pancakes (serving size two)
Would love to hear how they turned out.
Mangia bene!
Gennaro
Hi Gennaro,
I’m really interested to learn how to shop for healthy foods - there are Whole Foods Markets in Canada too. I’ve done competition diets but think there is a better way to shop for foods and stay as lean as possible year round. You’re amazingly lean. How do you maintain that? Steve Reeves was a great power walker too .
Please drop me line.
Regards,
Dustin
Dustin,
Thanks for your positive feedback. Competition diets are too strict I agree but the concept of adhering to 5-6 small consistent meals a day taken from the bodybuilding school of thought is what has kept me consistently lean over 20 years since winning the Mr. Australia. This will also work for you if you’re consistent and can incorporate enough cardio and resistance training in to your lifestyle program.
WholeFoods/Wholebody is an excellent place to shop and has everything you need. Here is an example of my nutrition program. Using this as a guideline will help you attain that lean look year round.
Breakfast 7am
1 cup of organic oatmeal or cream of buckwheat (1/3 cup) with 2 scoops of Whey Protein Concentrate (non bovine and or hormone free) mixed with 10 ounces of organic almond milk
Mid-Morning 10am
6 organic egg white scrambled or omelet (1 yolk) with 1 cup of cooked organic brown rice or brown rice cereal or 2 small slices of organic German 100% rye bread. Toast bread and top with 1/4 of organic avocado.
Lunch 1pm
Grilled or oven roasted turkey breast (6 ounces) or ground turkey breast burgers (no breadcrumbs) with a 6 ounce baked sweet potato and side of low sodium pure lentil soup (1 cup)
Mid-afternoon 4pm
Isopure zero carb protein shake or homemade shake (as above) with spring water and a tablespoon of organic almond butter
1 banana
Dinner 7pm
Lean organic lamb, chicken, beef or wild salmon (6 ounces) with one 16 ounce frozen bag of Wholefoods organic Asian stir fry steamed veggies.
Supper 10pm (optional - if up past midnight)
6-8 organic scrambled egg whites
* Drink 3 litres/quarts of water a day
* Supplement with L-Carnitine liquid, L-Glutamine and a Multivitamin/mineral
* Eat fresh organic fruit between meals if hungry.
Let me know how you go with it mate!
Gennaro
Gennaro,
I was a vegetarian up until recently because I found that doing the whole 6 meals a day diet with high protein intake was really upsetting my gut and all the chicken, steak and tuna wasn’t digesting in my stomach, it felt like a rock, so I couldn’t sleep and then had no energy for my workouts. I was so very hungry after each meal as I found the protein made me very hungry ( I know protein is supposed to fill you up, but not in my case).
However I have found that being on the vego diet which made me feel less hungry and filled me up for many hours, made me lose my hard earned muscle, so I have gone back to eating meat but will try to eat a small amount at each meal to see if I can cut up and retain my muscle.
I work out 5 times a week and sometimes do cardio for 40 minutes, but weights I do religiously. Wondering if you deal with vegetarian diets (with small amounts of meat) to lose body fat but put on muscle at the same time. I am still going to the gym but I am 45 now and put on fat much quicker than ever. I would like to see my abs again. I look forward to your response. Thankyou,
Walter.
Walter,
I have and still do train quite a few vegetarians. In fact one of my vegetarian clients packed on 15 pounds of muscle and lost 8% body fat at 52 years of age (See client Richard Glasgow on my success story page).
Vegetarian diets can be very healthy but if your goal is to build a lean, muscular and athletic physique with a well defined mid-section, you need to start incorporating quality protein in to your nutrition plan.
Here is what I propose:
Even before you eat breakfast begin your day with two glasses of water. Then go off on 45 minutes of outdoor Power-walking or an intensive indoor cardio session combining 12 minutes of each of elliptical, stationary upright bike and treadmill, constantly varying the level and speed. Eat a banana or apple immediately after your cardio session, and shortly thereafter have your traditional oatmeal and whey protein shake, or 6-8 egg white omelet (with1 yolk), and brown rice cream hot cereal. Weight train either after breakfast or later in the day for 45 minutes to one hour with intensity and complete your routine with 15 minutes of Powerpose®. Resistance training and Powerpose should be performed at least 4 - 5 days per week and cardio at least 5 days per week. Train your abs in fast circuit formation every other day 3 days a week for no more than 15 minutes each session, and vary your workouts.
Make sure each meal contains a complete protein . A complete protein is a source of protein that contains an adequate proportion of all of the essential amino acids for your growth needs. This does not mean you have to eat huge amounts of meat or fish at each meal. However, moderate amounts of lean, organic protein need to be present in meals and snack. Don’t feel you have to eat red meat or chicken every day to grow either. These sources of protein do take longer to digest and can cause bloating for some. You can build a great body just as effectively by eating a variety of fish, eggs and whey protein concentrate or Isolate, which all have very high biological values and are digested and assimilated in the body easier.
Do not consume chocolate coated protein bars, sugary drinks or packaged meals no matter how healthy (the producers) say they are. Stick with whole foods. Fresh fruits, raw nuts, dark chocolate, and brown rice cakes are great snacks, but limit your portion size and frequency.
Do not consume any starchy carbohydrates after 5 pm and supplement your nutrition program with L- carnitine which you can have before your cardio sessions on an empty stomach. You can also energize your mornings with some green tea or yerba mate.
Mid-morning should be a whey protein shake with almond milk or water and a tablespoon of organic raw almond butter.
For lunch you can eat lean grilled chicken breast or a turkey patty with sweet potato or brown rice and 2 green veggies. Mid-morning - 3 bean salad with 2 boiled eggs. Finally, for dinner treat yourself to organic and/or wild salmon with cruciferous vegetables.
Record all your meals in a food journal and eat them diligently every 3 hours. Drink 3 to 4 quarts or litres of water daily and limit alcohol content to 1 unit per week. Eat at home as often as you can as you’ll be better able to control your portion sizes, and additional fat, salt and sugar, that restaurants often add in to foods to make them tastier.
Most importantly, without consistently adhering to these guidelines over a period of months, and ideally incorporating them as part of your lifestyle, the results you seek will not be evident.
Start today and continue for life, and I know you will see your abs soon and experience life changing results!
Keep me posted and have fun with it!
Gennaro