mbsactive

Nutrition and exercise information posted HERE. Thanks for reading.

I posted my first before and progress photos the other day and solicited suggestions for next steps. A couple folks suggested posting nutrition and exercise information, so here's a little bit of what I've recorded so far: July 16 Calories: 2184 Carbs: 253g Protein: 97g Fat: 97g July 15 Calories: 2149 Carbs: 264g Protein: 133g Fat: 60g July 14 Calories: 3288 Carbs: 365g Protein: 194g Fat: 107g July 13 Calories: 2828 Carbs: 402g Protein: 123g Fat: 80g July 12 Calories: 2969 Carbs: 366g Protein: 113g Fat: 111g Here's also a sampling of my workout regimen, which is pretty typical (more details on my blog): Wednesday, July 2 / Lowers (set1 / set2 / set3, reps x lbs) Squats (12×135 / 12×135 / 12×135) Seated Leg Press (12×315 / 12×405) Seated Leg Extensions (12×255 / 12×255 / 12×255) Step ~15 inches (12×50 / 12×50) Leg Curl (9×140 / 9×140 / 9×140) Glute Machine (10×70 / 10×70) Standing Calf Raise (12×165 / 12×165 / 12×165) Seated Calf (12×360 / 12×360) Friday, July 4 / Cardio Ran the Peachtree Road Race. 10K in about 1 hr 5 mins, so probably just under 10 minutes per mile. Sunday, July 6 / Abs Chin Assist (6×105 / 6×105 / 6×105) * Less weight is better. These are tough for me. Dip (6 / 7 / 6) Reverse Incline Situp? (12×25 / 12×25 / 12×25) * Not sure of name. Works lower back. MTS Ab Crunch (12×50 / 12×50 / 12×50) LF Ab Crunch (20×80 / 15×80 / 20×80) LF Torso Rotation (15×150 / 15×150 / 15×150) Tricep Pulldowns (10×65 / 10×65 / 9×65) Monday, July 7 / Lowers Squats (12×135 / 12×135 / 12×135) Seated Leg Press (12×315 / 12×315) Seated Leg Extensions (12×255 / 12×255 / 12×255) Leg Curl (10×140 / 10×140 / 8×140) Glute Machine (11×70 / 11×70) Standing Calf Raise (12×165 / 12×165 / 12×165) Seated Calf (12×360 / 12×360 / 12×360) Wednesday, July 9 / Uppers Bench Press (12×135 / 15×135 / 3×185) Incline Bench Press (14×95 / 9×95) Nitro Lateral Raise (12×65 / 12×80 / 11×80) Overhead Barbell Raise (12×45 / 10×45) Curl Bar (12×70 / 12×70 / 10×70) LF Biceps Curl (8×95 / 4×95) LF Seated Pec Fly (12×120 / 7×135 / 7×135) Dual Cable Cross (10×17.5 / 12×20) Tricep Pulldown (12×65 / 11×65 / 10×65) One Arm Pulldown w/ Palms Up (12×15 / 12×15) Thursday, July 10 / Cardio 3 mile run (@ 10 min/mile) Friday, July 11 / Combo (see my July 12 blog post) Sunday, July 13 / Cardio 5.25 mile run (@ 10 min/mile) EDIT: By the way, I'm 6' tall and 191 lbs. Suggestions and comments welcomed and appreciated.

Thanks for the good advice, Tuc and Gaia. I like the idea of bulking and cutting in cycles, though I've never really tried it. The bulk in winter, cut in summer idea that Gaia has is interesting. I definitely cut back on the cardio during the winter anyway. It's just too darn cold outside to go running and I get bored to tears on a treadmill. Still on the fence about which to do first, though. On one hand, I like Tuc's idea of bulking up to 200 lbs first. That way I may have some muscle to reveal when cutting time comes. On the other hand, it's summer right now, and I have been planning to run my first marathon in late fall. Cutting now would definitely help in my training for that (and vice versa). Anyone know of a good Internet guide for cutting? Is it just cut back calories and increase cardio?

John, this is a really terrible joke. I liked it so much that I swiped it. I've already gotten several people to groan today. Thank you.

Thanks for the comments. I'll keep track of my diet for a while here: http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/diary/who/ritmatt I don't think I'll track my exercise on the livestrong site, though. Too tedious. I keep a pretty good record of my exercise in a fitness jounal (the old-fashioned, but highly portable, paper kind), but I'll start another thread here on veganbodybuilding.com so you guys can take a look. EDIT: Decided to track my exercise on my fitness blog instead. Updated my signature to include links to my diet journal and my fitness blog.

Hi everybody. I started to type my background but it started to look like a biography. So, I deleted all that and I'm going to give you the short version. I've been working out at the gym for several years. I struggle to gain muscle mass and I think I'm a little too fat. I know how to lose the fat (I can do it in no-time, believe me), but I can't seem to bulk up my muscles. I've been eating a little on the heavy side for about a year, and during that time I have gained about 7 lbs. I am currently at 192 lbs and have been stuck there for months and months. I'm 6 ft tall. Thought I was doing ok, but after finding some year-old "before" pictures on my hard drive and comparing them to the way I look today, I have decided that I'm not making any "visual" progress. Here's me today (July 2008): Here's my before and after torso pic: Here's my best attempt at a chest pic: Be brutally honest. Am I looking fit or not? I feel strong AND fat! I want to see some more muscle mass and lose the extra body fat. What do you think I ought to prioritize? Continue trying to gain mass? Go ahead and lose the fat? I'm not sure what to do next.

Ok, I've been lurking for several months. After checking out some before and after pics of myself today, I finally decided to register and post. One hesitation about registering has been that I'm not a vegan. I am a pretty devoted vegetarian, though (a lacto-ovo vegetarian, for those interested). I have maintained a vegetarian diet for almost 13 years. Also, both my kids, ages 7 and 9, have been raised vegetarian since birth. My wife is very close to being a vegetarian, too, though she is reluctant to commit 100% (I think everybody should decide what's best for themselves, so I'm definitely ok with that). Anyway, I haven't found a better site for bodybuilding on a plant-based diet, so hopefully you guys are ok with me participating here. I hope to contribute something to this community, but I'll be reaching out for some feedback, too. I love to learn and I love to challenge myself. I will be posting my before / after / progress pics momentarily. Look for that in the appropriate forum if you're interested.