At the Grocery Store - Plant-Based Nutrition Interview - with Jon Hinds
By Caitlin E. Iverson

Jon Hinds is 100% Plant-Based Bodyweight Trainer, breaking misconceptions of a
plant based diets and the body's potential!

CEI: You discuss listening to your body and how food makes you feel.
The number one complaint I hear is lack of energy. What foods make you
feel energized?
JHH: Plants, lot of plants!  The foods that take your energy away are
processed foods and dairy products. I was fortunate enough to have a
client back in L.A. in the '90s, Woody Harrelson who got me off dairy,
and I noticed a difference right away in my energy and how I felt
cleaner

CEI: I know many people claim they just don't have time to prepare
meals with work and kids. What do you recommend for people on a time
budget who want to eat healthy?
JHH: You are interviewing the perfect person to ask this question to
because I am not a preparer at all! Other trainers at the Monkey Bar
Gym, like Jessica, will prepare full meals, but I eat everything out
of a bowl! Everything I make takes 5-10 minutes max to prepare.

* Salads – sprouts come in bags, cut up a tomato, open a can of
beans drain it and throw half a can of beans on top of greens!
* Veggie patty – some that are all organic and some made locally
with all natural plants and I will substitute those into my salad
occasionally
* Quinoa makes another great meal – I make a big bowl of it and
then I can use it for hot meals with vegetables and lentils or I also
use quinoa for breakfast cereals - add a banana and blueberries with a
little rice milk

These are quickly prepared and most of my meals are quick like that.

CEI: There are always discussions regarding sugar. What are some
guidelines you use?
JHH: I use an herb called stevia if I want to sweeten something. I
drink a lot of herbal teas and will add Stevia to my tea.  Stevia is
an herb that is 40 times sweeter than sugar and it's just a plant
that’s dried and ground and delicious

CEI: Do you refuel your body differently based on the type of work out
you have just completed?
JHH: I listen to my body. Most of the time I have a coconut water,
which is nature's Gatorade and the best after work out drink fluid
that you can get. I also try to get some type of fruit, perhaps a
smoothie after I work out or sometimes if I feel comfortable I will
have a regular meal but the big thing for me is not to stress.  I do
not feel it is important to eat within 30 minutes of exercising,
unless my body tells me I am hungry. There is a lot of evidence that
is coming to prove that and I have always felt that you should just
eat when you are hungry. One of my clients that was a major league
baseball player in Los Angeles was trying to put on weight and I tried
to force him even though he would tell me 'dude I don't like having
smoothies in the morning or right after I work out' I learned a good
lesson with him –

* Listen to your body
* When you are hungry, eat
* When you are satisfied, stop
* Don't eat until you are hungry

Just follow that simple solution

Animals do it perfect all the time: they sleep when they are sleepy;
rest when tired; play when energized!  We don't need to make a big
deal or get anal retentive – the percentage of people that are
actually competing in an athletic event where they might need to go
into another level is less than 1% of the population so why is it that
99% of the population supplement like they are competing. There is no
need to supplement, or refuel after 30 minutes, or carry a gallon of
water around all day long in case you get dehydrated and can't find
water in the city  - we're crazy!
I'm trying to make things simple for people so it is not so stressful
– Enjoy it!

CEI: When you train clients I know you offer the Eat Green, Get Lean
Plan – can you take me through what a grocery list would look like for
this plan?
JHH: A plant based diet is preferably 90% or more from plants, 10% or
less from other sources that might be processed foods, that might be
some animal products – I'm not a fan of eating animal products or
taking them in but we at the Monkey Bar Gym understand for most of the
population its very difficult to get away from them because we are so
bombarded with them through media and with McDonalds on every corner.

We promote eating plants and the plants we promote eating are what I
call strong plants.
You can look at plants and all foods this way:

* A weak plant might be iceberg lettuce and a strong one would be kale
* A weak food might be white rice a strong one would be yams
* A weak food might be processed or refried beans a strong one
would be lentils

I try to differentiate for children as well as adults
Eat strong plant foods and you will become stronger and leaner and
your energy will go through the roof!
The more that we move away from this plan and the more foods that are
processed and packaged the less we will reap from those foods.
I try to get people to eat as naturally as possible from the actual
source, the earth.
"If man made it, don't eat it" Jack LaLanne

CEI: There are lots of different varieties of protein bars, hemp
protein, soy and tempeh, what is your favorite brand?
JHH: If you are going to eat a protein bar there is the Organic Food
Bar – all organic products with nuts, seeds and it is sprouted. There
are huge amounts of fats in most protein bars. That is a common
misconception for most people starting out on a plant based diet and
thinking they need nuts and seeds for protein. Nuts and seeds are
actually more of a fat source. People have a phobia about eating
carbohydrates and there is nothing wrong with carbs we have been
eating them for thousands of years. Plant sources that come from the
ground are closest to nature and are the best food sources.  If you
have to eat a bar though, the raw bar that is all natural and sprouted
is a good option or the organic food bar.

CEI: When looking at nutrition labels, what are some things you look
for and others that you strictly avoid (other than animal products of
course!)
JHH: Preferably, I buy food without labels in the produce section.
When I do buy packaged food, I look at the ingredients and all words
should be those that I would understand if I was a first grader.
Simple ingredients like kale, yams, vegetables. I don't want anything
that isn't just a pure food source, with whole food ingredients.
Second thing to look for is if sugars are in it and what kinds of
sugars. I look for Low /no sugars added.
Third important thing is to check the salt added. I just took an
awesome plant-based nutrition course through my friend T. Collin
Campbell, author of 'The China Study'.  I took the course and one of
the lecturers said to read the grams of sodium.  If there is more
sodium than calories – steer clear of it! Sodium in mg should not be
more than the caloric number.
Another simple tool to use when looking at the label is multiply the
fat by 10 and if it's greater than 20% of the calories don't eat it!
In western diet,  we consume 40% from carbs, 30% from protein, 30%
from fat, which is extremely high in fat and low in carbs.
I recommend eating 80%-10%-10% a lot more from plants and not so much
fats. Protein is extremely overemphasized as well in our society. You
will get enough protein if you eat strong plant foods. If you need to
supplement use a pea or hemp protein.
Remember: Look for the big 3! 1) Fat, 2) Sodium 3) Sugar – then make
sure the ingredients are whole foods!

CEI: When things you want in your diet are not in season how do you adjust?
JHH:I will buy frozen foods like spinach, mangos.
It is important to support local farms and try to get food that takes
the shortest trip possible. I also recommend CSAs if you can, and
going to the farmers market, as often as you can.

CEI: Can you tell me the ingredients in your typical daily smoothie?
JHH:  Spinach, Mangos, cup of rice milk, source of life energy shake
which has pea and rice protein.  I like the source of life because it
makes my smoothies creamy! I also have been trying the new Tony
Gonzalez hemp brown rice and pea protein mix, which is good.

CEI: What are some items you always buy/have available?
JHH: Yams, yams, yams, quinoa, kale, spinach, mixed greens, tomatoes,
sprouts, sprouted bread, raw nuts, lentils, rice milk, apples,
bananas, blueberries, bell peppers, onions, black beans, and pinto
beans