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 working on adding muscle, but as a vegetarian who is wary of whey protein am concerned that my nutrition isn’t helping me grow enough. I use hemp powder. Can you recommend any books / meal plan suggestions in more detail?
Ed
Ed,
You should eat most types of beans every day. In particular fava, red kidney, black, chickpeas, lentils and cannellini as these are high in protein and will support muscle growth. Edamame are high in protein but because of their higher estrogen content, consume them every 2nd or 3rd day. Make sure the quantity of beans amount to at least 20 grams of protein and eat at least 20-30 grams of protein per meal every 3 hours over 6 meals. Combine these beans with brown rice or sweet potato with two or three cruciferous vegetables like Swiss chard (silverbeet), broccoli, spinach or asparagus.
But do not eat beans after 5pm as they are still high in carbs and will result in body fat storage if not utilized.
If you are able to eat eggs I would suggest an assorted (garlic, onion, pepper, mushroom and zucchini) vegetable 8 organic egg-white omelet for dinner. I also suggest you add egg whites or a high quality (bovine free) whey protein powder with your oatmeal or cream of buckwheat cereal in the morning. A high quality natural whey protein for a mid-afternoon meal with raw nuts is also ideal.
Taking an L-Glutamine supplement and branch chain aminos for extra protein will make up for the lack of meat and fish protein and help you build muscle.
I have quite a few high protein vegetarian recipes on this blog at www.ferrafitness.com/www you should look at.
Other great resources are books: The Perricone Promise, Ultra-Metabolism and The Pump Energy Food cook book.
If you remain consistent with my recommendations you will add quality muscle to your physique and have more energy and strength to perform your workouts with greater intensity and focus.
Let me know how you progress.
Best,
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
1. Train your abs intensely for no more than 15 minutes every other day with little rest between sets. Use correct form and always support your spine.
2. Vary your routine each session. Devise a program that does not include exercises from the previous abdominal workout.
3. Follow a consistent whole foods, dairy and wheat free meal plan.
4. Supplement using L-Carnitine for accelerated fat loss
5. Performing daily mirror checks and PowerPosing is a great assessment tool and keep you motivated and help visualize your new six pack!
7. Complement your midsection defining goals with 35 minutes of intense interval cardio training each day.
8. While resistance training, always be conscious of your core, breathing deeply in order to keep it tight and engaged. In addition to your abdominals (ie 6 pack) the core includes your lower back, glutes, hamstrings and ‘transverse abdominis’ (those deep tissue abdominal muscles which wrap around the torso from front to back and from the ribs to the pelvis) which help stabilize the spine.
9. Start today. The fine weather is just around the corner!
Would love to hear how you’re progressing!
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