The abs expert, Scott Colby has been asking me all kinds of fat loss questions over the past week, and today is no different.  But first, if you find you’re constantly short on time but still want to transform your body, then you’ll definitely want to go back to part 6 of my interview excerpt and learn how to get maximum results in minimum time.

For today, however, we’re swinging the pendulum back to nutrition, specifically vegetarianism.  It seems there are still quite a few people out there with the misconception that a vegetarian diet will hinder your body transformation results - faulty thinking - and I’ll explain why below…

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Scott Colby: Donna in Atlanta says, “I know you’ve been switching to a vegetarian lifestyle.…

• How difficult is it to know what foods to blend to get the proper amount of protein per day?
• How easy is it to have variety and keep it exciting?
• Does following a vegetarian lifestyle alter your workout at all?  More energy? Does it affect your stamina, etc.?”

Now I know you talked some about the different kinds of grains and pastas you’ve been eating, Craig, but maybe you can shed some light on proper amounts of protein and if it affects your workouts at all.

Craig Ballantyne: Yeah.  It certainly HASN’T AFFECTED the workouts at all.

I was very healthy eater before; it just included more animal products, and now it doesn’t include that many.  And people are often disappointed when I say there’s been really no difference.

But if you take a look at what I was eating before, I was still eating 15 to 20 servings of fruits and vegetables before I went on the vegetarian diet, towards a vegetarian diet.  And so it hasn’t really been that much of a change, and again, I wasn’t eating fried foods or anything.

So I think it’s MORE IMPORTANT  if you cut out sugar and you cut out fried foods and you cut out poor quality foods, than changing whether or not you eat meat in your diet.

Often vegetarians aren’t really excited when I say that it’s not really that important, but that’s what I’ve found.  I just haven’t really noticed any physical differences.

As for the variety and the protein, if you are really still concerned about protein there’s still plenty of Vegan-type protein powders.  There’s Sun Warrior protein powder, which I just started trying out, and there’s also Vega, which is another very popular one.  They’re a little more expensive than the cheapest whey protein that you can get, but you can also use whey protein if you’re simply just concerned about cutting out meat and you don’t mind other types of animal products.

If you’re still consuming milk, cheese, and eggs, you’re gonna have NO PROBLEM at all getting enough protein.

But if you’re NOT CONSUMING ANY ANIMAL PRODUCTS at all, then you may need to go to the Vega or Sun Warrior protein, or any type of rice protein or pea protein.  There’s soy protein, which I don’t use, but there’s also I think hemp and I think there might also be rice, if I haven’t mentioned that one already.  But there’s certainly plenty of non-animal product-based protein powders that you can get at a health food store.  So if you’re concerned about not getting enough protein.

But me personally…

…I will get first thing in the morning probably 10 to 15 grams of protein in the first thing that I consume.  Actually I’ll probably get close to 20, because most people don’t realize that there is a lot of protein in stuff like oatmeal, bread, the pasta that I talked about.  Most of it comes in the form of that gluten, which personally I have no problem – I could eat that stuff all day – but I have no insensitivity to it.  But some people are sensitive to it – sorry, have no sensitivity to it and no problems with it, so I don’t have any problem with gluten. 

But if somebody has a problem with gluten, then they’re gonna have to be a little more particular about what they consume for protein.

They won’t be able to get protein from bread and from some of the pastas that I may consume.  But beans – one can of beans is probably gonna be 30 grams of protein, if you eat half a can of that, which I usually eat half a can of that on a salad.  You’re gonna get a lot of fiber, so that’s another issue with some people is it’s too much fiber for the trade-off.

Again, you may have to go the protein powder route where you’re getting protein without the fiber.  But again, depends on your level of vegetarianism.  If you’re going Vegan, probably gonna have to go protein powder if you wanna get over 120 grams of protein per day.

But if you’re still consuming some animal products, such as eggs or cheese or milk or whey protein, you’re not gonna have any problem at all getting enough protein.

And then VARIETY.  It will take you a little while to kind of – I recommend getting some nutrition books or going online. First two or three weeks when I was doing it I was kind of like, “I gotta find something else to do.”  Which eventually you just go and you spend a little more time in the health food store or in certain areas of the grocery store.  I mean if you’ve got a Whole Foods you’re not gonna have any problem at all.  Again, it’s gonna be a little more expensive.

But even if you go around and look in there, and then maybe you can go for cost savings to a cheaper grocery store and find some similar alternatives.  Then you’re gonna be able to consume a larger variety of vegetarian-type foods without the cost of going to a Whole Foods, obviously.  But I think just a little experience, like anything else, and eventually you find out.

First time someone goes from eating fast food all the time to trying to eat healthy, they probably are there thinking, “Okay, chicken and broccoli four days in a row – there’s gotta be something else,” and eventually you find that there’s plenty of alternatives.

And the fact that there’s raw food restaurants – which I’ve actually been to a couple of them – and they serve all their food raw.  The fact that those exist, and they actually make pretty impressive meals, it just shows you that there is a lot of variety out there.  You just do have to put some effort into finding it.

Alright, I’ve convinced you that you get enough protein from a Veggie Plan and you’ll have enough energy to ROCK people’s worlds…

…but you’re still probably skeptical that you can eat AMAZING food on a a veggie meal plan.

Well, let me show tell you about the VEGAN burger, fries, and chocolate shake feast I had the other night…

Let me set the scene…

It was a beautiful summer night…I just got in from a late dog walk with the lil stinker, Bally the Dog, where he tried to chase a few of the local cats.

So I was tired and hungry.

Plus, almost everyone in my condo building had their BBQ’s fired up - to the max - and the smell of burgers was in the air.

But as a lazy man on the Veggie Lifestyle, what could I possibly put on the grill?

Fortunately I had Kardena Pauza come to the rescue.

In her Easy Veggie Meal Plans, you’ll get her famous Portobella Mushroom Burger recipe.

Now I studied it, and changed it a wee bit, to make this crazy vegan burger, fries, and chocolate shake meal.

1) Burger Prep
- Take 2 portobella mushrooms
- Marinate in olive oil, sea salt, and cayenne pepper seasoning
- Grill
- Place both (yeah, DOUBLE BURGER!) between two pieces of whole grain bread (toast if desired)
- Add condiments (I added Dijon mustard)

2) Healthy Sweet Potato Fries Prep
- Thinly slice a sweet potato
- Brush with olive oil
- Put on grill

3) Chocolate Milkshake - (Ballantyne’s Best Blender Drink yet!)
Blend this
- 2 cups chocolate almond milk
- 1 banana
- 8 strawberries
- 20 blueberries
- 1 spoonful almond butter
- 1/2oz almonds
- handful uncooked oatmeal
- some cacao nibs
- handful of spinach

Awesome.

An amazing burger, fries and shake WITHOUT:

- Factory Farmed Meat
- Added Sugar
- Trans Fats
- Food cooked by a pimply teenager

Off to make another veggie Ballantyne Blender Drink,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, The Lazy Man’s Guide to Vegetarian Eating

PS - You CAN lose weight without meat!

“I have 2 little kids, but thanks to Kardena I weigh almost the same weight as I did on her wedding day which was over 8 years ago. I am SO EXCITED! Since going on the Easy Veggie Meal Plans I’ve lost over 13 pounds of fat. The last 10-15 pounds is always the hardest to get off as you know, but I’ve done it!”
Jeegisha, Irvine, California

Click here for the Easy Veggie Weight Loss Meal Plans

Vegetarian smoothies can be heavenly…and they can also be evil for the belly.

And I’ve learned a lot about smoothies - or what I prefer to call, “Blender Drinks” - in the last 8 weeks as part of my Veggie Lifestyle.

Here’s some truths about blender drink smoothies…

1) YES, you can add spinach to your blender smoothies and you won’t notice a difference in taste but you will get more nutrients!

You can even add Kale as well.

(And if you have blueberries and strawberries in your smoothie, you won’t even notice a difference in how it looks.)

2) Store-bought pre-made smoothies and the smoothies you buy at “Juice”-places in the mall are PACKED with sugar that will fatten your waistline.

Avoid those at all times!

3) Murphy’s Law applies every time I use a blender.

Just check this video of me making a blender drink:

4) You really need a good blender if you are going to be a blender drink maniac like I am.

I’m hooked! Two a day!

5) You don’t need to add protein powder.

Most people could save a lot of money and never buy a jug of protein ever again.

You don’t need 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight, especially if you have some fat to lose.

6) Its really not that hard to clean a blender…

…and remember, this is coming from one of the laziest guys in the world!

7) You don’t need to add juice to your smoothies.

My mom does this, but I don’t see the point. If you have fruit, like bananas, mango, raspberries, strawberries, or blueberries in your smoothie that’s sweet enough.

(Pineapple also makes for an amazing blender drink addition.)

So add more fruits and vegetables to your diet the smooth way,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, The Lazy Man’s Guide to Vegetarian Eating

PS - Did you get your copy of the 8 raw food smoothies bonus?

We are giving this away as a Veggie Meal Plans Bonus at:

=> http://www.EasyVeggieMealPlans.com

It’s a fast action bonus along with the GREATEST product I’ve ever created.

Seriously.

I truly believe the “Defend Your Diet” audio program I did with Kardena Pauza and her husband Mark is easily the greatest interview I’ve ever done with someone…

…if not the most valuable “program” I’ve ever put together for anyone on anything.

And NO ONE has ever done something like this before.

Get yours here:

=> http://www.EasyVeggieMealPlans.com

PPS - You’ll get my “Lazy Man’s Guide to Vegetarian Eating” in the Deluxe Package.

It’s a complete 55 day diary of EVERYTHING that I ate while on the veggie meal plan experiment.

PPPS - Yes, I’m still doing the veggie lifestyle.

Enjoying it, especially since I started grilling portobella mushrooms for burgers.

You gotta try Kardena’s mushroom burger recipe from the meal plans!

Quick news update:

The EasyVeggieMealPlans.com half price sale starts this week - tonight at midnight if you are on the VIP list…

…and you can still become a VIP by signing up here:

=> Click here to become a VIP and get your free weight loss report

Don’t miss out on the really cool bonuses we did, including the “Defending Your Veggie Diet” CD to deal with the “meat eating veggie haters” you’ll encounter down the road.

As I mention on that call, I’ve never received so many hostile emails or facebook messages to any of my stances on cardio as I have for simply trying out the Vegetarian lifestyle.

It gets people really angry that I don’t eat meat…and I’ve had to reply to some hostile questions…so we put together all the answers you need to deal with these folks.

So visit EasyVeggieMealPlans.com at noon on Monday to take advantage of the half price sale.

Let me know about your success stories with your new veggie lifestyle.

Now for this week’s coaching call.

Click here to listen to the podcast

Monday – July 27th

Transformation Tip: Avoid Mindless Eating

It doesn’t matter what kind of diet you are on, calories in calories out matters a LOT. So make these 3 changes:

1. Don’t eat in car or while walking.
2. If its not worth eating, don’t eat it.
3. Avoid panic eating.

And now, for the last phase of the 6-month TT Bodyweight Manual – here, we, go!

Advanced Strength Exercises & Total Body Circuit Conditioning - Workout A

1A) T-Squat (12 reps)
1B) Pushup (12 reps)
1C) Reverse Lunge (10 reps)
2A) 1-Leg Squat (8 reps)  - pistol video
2B) Towel Chin-up (Max)
3A) Feet on Bench, Hands on Ball Pushup (15 reps)
3B) Stability Ball 1-Leg Curl (12 reps)
4A) Inverted Row with Feet on Ball (15 reps)
4B) Decline Pushup (Max-1)
5A) Siff Squat (20 reps)
5B) Spiderman Pushup (12 reps)
5C) Forward Lunge (12 reps)
5D) Mountain Climber (20 reps)
5E) Ab Wheel (10 reps)
Interval Workout A

Tuesday
30 minutes of fun activity.

I just recently added a 30-minute stretching session on my off days and it’s helping me overcome some lingering stiffness from a recent injury.

Just use the stretches in the TT manuals. Go through the stretching circuit 1-3 times. I noticed a huge difference after just one session.

Wednesday

Phase 6 - Workout B

1A) Cross Crawl (12 reps)
1B) Multi-Direction Lunge (9 reps)
1C) Inverted Row (10 reps)
2A) Bulgarian Split Squat with Front Foot Elevated (15 reps)
2B) Knee-up (10 reps)
3A) Pushups with Hands on Ball  (25 reps)
3B) 1-Leg Deadlift (12 reps)
4A) 1-Arm Inverted Row (Max)
4B) Close-grip Pushup (Max)
5A) Jumping Jacks (80 reps)
5B) Reaching Lunge (12 reps)
5C) Sumo Squat (15 reps)
5D) Spiderman Climb (12 reps)
5E) Stability Ball Rollout (15 reps)
Interval Workout B

Thursday
30 minutes of fun activity. Let me know what you are doing…I’m starting to do a little bit of jump training. Nothing major, just a little. Also did my first handstand pushup last week.

Also, Thursday, July 30th will be the LAST DAY for the EasyVeggieMealPlans.com 50% off sale.

Click here for the EasyVeggieMealPlans.com Launch Sale!

Not only will you get Kardena’s professional meal plans, but you’ll also get the chance to see my own personal diary of every meal and workout I did during my 55 day Veggie Lifestyle Experiment (which I have continued up to this day!).

You’ll get to learn about all of my blender drink disasters…including this one…watch this video for a laugh!

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Friday

Phase 6 - Workout C

1A) Y-Squat (15 reps)
1B) Prisoner Lunge (10 reps)
1C) Shoulder Press Pushup (15 reps)
2A) Pull-up (Max-1)
2B) Bulgarian Split Squat (10 reps)
3A) Pushup (Max)
3B) 1-Leg Squat on Bench (10 reps)
4A) Split Squat (12 reps)
4B) Towel Inverted Row (Max)
5A) Close-grip Pushups (25 reps)
5B) Walking Lunge (12 reps)
5C) Waiters Bow (12 reps)
5E) Off-set Pushup (15 reps)
5F) Burpees (10 reps)
High-Intensity Cardio

Social Support Saturday!
30 minutes of fun activity. And if you have time…

• Go see a trainer
• Get an assessment
• Get your weak links worked on
• Get accountability

Sunday – Plan, Shop & Prepare
30 minutes activity and then plan, shop, & prepare.

Let’s save some money using Kardena Pauza’s 6 grocery shopping tips.

1) Eat meat less

2) Avoid pre-packaged stuff (I tend to buy prepared pineapple rather than buying a whole fruit…but no more!)

3) Buy local – farmer’s markets – love to hear your finds - do you have a farmer’s market near you?

4) Buy in season

5) Make your own salad dressing - Instead of buying and paying for expensive salad dressings, use lemon, honey, salt and herbs on your salad for a zesty dressing.

6) Costco - You can save money on foods like organic greens at Costco!

Amazing! Thanks Kardena.

Click here for Kardena’s Kitchen blog

Next week!
TT Reconstruction Workouts

Stay strong,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

PS - And don’t forget…

The Veggie Meal Plans Release is tomorrow!

Monday, July 20th, would be my Dad’s 70th birthday, but a little over 2 years ago he got sick, was diagnosed with cancer, and he passed away last September.

Surprisingly, our family doctor said my dad had colon cancer for about 10 years or ever 12 years, but he just didn’t know it.

It’s a long, long story with a lot of lessons.

Click here to listen to the story on this week’s TT Podcast

You see, my Dad made 3 big mistakes.

But I don’t want you to make the same ones.

1) My Dad drank too much.

This was by far the biggest factor in him getting sick. And I don’t mean 1 drink per day. He unfortunately drank himself to an early death. This never had to happen.

2) My Dad didn’t go to the doctor once in the last 25 years of his life.

Obviously, this is NOT a good idea. For anyone from my father’s generation who is listening, stop being “too proud” to go to the doctor and get your butt in there every year. Take the tests they want you to take.

3) My Dad didn’t eat enough fruits and vegetables.

His diet was not so good. Believe it or not, my Dad lived on coffee, toast, an egg, maybe a ham sandwich for lunch, too many beers, a glass of milk, and a lot of candy for the last 20-30 years of his life.

But he did a lot of things right, too.

• He was always busy with projects and stayed mentally active.
• He was physically active everyday, often doing hard manual labor.
• He was never overweight.
• He had good social support.

Those four things helped him survive as long as he did.

So my dad taught us all a lot of powerful lessons, indirectly, on what to do and what NOT to do.

1) If you drink, do a mirror check. Are you drinking too much? Is it affecting your life? Your work? Your family? Look at your kids. Don’t you want to see them grow up and have kids of their own?

2) Are you active? Are you busy with projects and constantly learning or do you just watch TV?

3) Have you been to the doctor this year? Why not? Have you noticed something that just doesn’t feel right and should be checked out? Don’t be scared! Just go. Despite all the hard times that people give the medical industry, technology and medicine is catching cancer early and treating many of them well.

So…

Don’t be a stubborn old fool!

Go to the doctor!

Better you lose a little pride and gain a lot of years.

So there you go…now let’s get you transforming…

Monday – July 20th

Transformation Tip: Do not stop!

A Turbulence Training member emailed me this morning and apologized for falling off the wagon…I told him not to worry, sometimes it takes a couple of cracks at this to get it right.

So don’t quit just because you stumbled once.   This goes for anything in life including giving up booze and cigarettes too.

Over on my facebook page, we recently had a chat about how to give up cigarettes. Almost every single person said they quit cold turkey, but most of them said it required a few tries.

But they didn’t give up trying.

So no matter what you want to do, never give up. Fight fight fight. And get social support from friends and family. And that’s what we are here at TT, friends who become like family to you.

Join me on facebook at www.facebookcraig.com or join us in the members forum at www.ttmembers.com.

We’ll be looking out for you, I promise.

Now let’s train hard!

6-Month Bodyweight Manual – Phase 5: Advanced Upper Body Strength & Lower Body Circuit Conditioning

Workout A

1A) T-Squat (15 reps)
1B) Feet on Ball Pushup (12 reps)
2A) Chin-up (Max-1)
2B) Hands on Bench, Feet on Ball Pushup (15 reps)
3A) Pushups with Hands on Ball  (15 reps)
3B) 1-Leg Deadlift (12 reps)
4A) Inverted Row – Feet on Ball (12 reps)
4B) Spiderman Pushup (8 reps)
5A) Side Plank Leg Lift (10 reps)
5B) Split Squat with Front Foot Elevated (12 reps)
5C) Spiderman Climb (12 reps)
5D) Stability Ball Rollout (10 reps)
5E) Plank with Arms on Ball (30 seconds)
Interval Workout A

Tuesday
Time for your 30 minutes of fun activity…

Well its been a heavy update so far, hasn’t it…so let’s lighten things up.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done for your 30 minutes of off-day activity?

My old man used to wrestle my friends in his underwear. Man, you think your dad was embarrassing…so beat that.

But if you aren’t going to wrestle people in your underwear, what else can you do that’s fun and different?

Bedroom activities don’t count.

Do people still skinny dip anymore?

We should all be doing more of that…man its been years…I bet over 10 years since my last skinny dip with some girls. Man, I gotta do something about that…

If you got a pool why don’t you make skinny dipping your 30 minutes of activity of fun activity this week.

Or if your neighbor has a pool, see if you can’t sneak in during off hours! Might be too intense if you get caught and have to sprint out!

Wednesday

Workout B
1A) Prisoner Squat (10 reps)
1B) Prisoner Lunge (8 reps)
1C) Inverted Row (10 reps)
2A) Pull-up (Max-1)
2B) Elbow-to-Instep Lunge (8 reps)
3A) Hands on Ball, Feet on Bench Pushup (15 reps)
3B) 1-Leg RDL (10 reps)
4A) Shoulder Press Pushup (15 reps)
4B) Stability Ball 1-Leg Curl (10 reps)
5A) Jumping Jacks (60 reps)
5B) Chop (15 reps)
5C) Stability Ball Rollout (10 reps)
5D) Chin-up (6 reps)
Interval Workout B

Thursday
30 minutes of fun activity…

And so I bought this blender and now I’m hooked on blender drinks.

It’s crazy. Two a day! Here are some tips to increase the nutritional value.

• Add spinach
• Add 4-5 pieces of fruit (one frozen)
• Add cacao nibs, nuts, seeds, goji berries

Good times!

Friday

Workout C

1A) Y-Squat (10 reps)
1B) Elevated Pushup (12 reps)
2A) Diagonal Lunge (10 reps)
2B) Step-out (8 reps)
3A) 1-Leg Bench Squat (10 reps)
3B) Chin-up (Max-1)
4A) Waiters Bow (12 reps)  video
4B) Spiderman Pushup (10 reps) ==>
5A) Siff Squat (20 reps)
5B) Stability Ball 1-Leg Curl (8 reps)
5C) Stability Ball Jacknife (12 reps)
5D) Pushup (Max-1)
5E) Side Plank (30 seconds)
High-Intensity Cardio

Social Support Saturday!
Have fun with 30 minutes of activity.

And remember, you can never have enough good friends…

• So check in with a few today.
• Hit up some on facebook – and me too
• Go back to your hometown and see an old high school friend

Sunday – Plan, Shop & Prepare
Another 30 minutes of activity.

Plan, shop, & prepare and when you shop, check your labels.

Watch out for added sodium. After all, we only should be getting 1500mg of sodium per day. The worst offenders are:

• Pizza
• Hot dogs and hamburgers
• Processed foods
• Dairy
• Canned soups, beans, and chili

Be careful with those!

Whew, that’s it for this week. Heck of an update, wasn’t it?

Next week!

• Phase 6 of 6 month BW manual – can you believe its over!
• Veggie Meal Plans - July 27th premiere -You can’t miss this…big news. You’ll love these, including my “Lazy Man’s Guide to Vegetarian Eating”

Have a great week,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS