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mkz26

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  1. Hello everyone! I have been exploring body building lately and I have made the decision that I am ready to aim for higher goals and once and for all achieve the level of fitness I know I can reach eventually. I consider myself knowledgeable in nutrition and have a passion for health and wellness. I have been vegan for quite awhile and eat a very clean diet, that being said, I still am new to this sort of fitness and have a few questions where I am still a bit confused! First off, my goals are to decrease body fat and increase muscle mass. While I am at a healthy weight, I do have extra fat to lose. I am a 5'6 female and about 140 lbs. However, based on measurements and calculators online, I am about 28% body fat. I have looked up pictures of this online and it looks a bit bigger than I actually am, so who knows it may be less! Someday, I would like my body fat low enough that I have visible abs and lean muscle definition. But one day at a time! Right now, I want to aim for about 20% body fat, and around 130 lbs, an achievable goal, I believe. My questions are: 1. If I want to lose weight AND build lean muscle mass, do I eat in a calorie deficit or will that inhibit me from forming muscles? I've read it is better to start with weights and cardio rather than trying to just do cardio in the beginning in the effort of losing weight. But if I am lifting, I need to increase protein and calories to support muscle growth, right? How can I do that if I'm trying to lose weight? 2. According to Livestrong.com's formulas, I should aim for 1800 cal a day to lose either .5-1lb a week (this supposedly already includes a deficit). When I add in exercise, it bumps up my calorie requirements for however much I burned. Does this mean I need to eat the calories I burned? Won't that cancel out my hard work? 3. I have just begun taking thyroid hormone replacement because i have low thyroid. I've always had a slow metabolism and gain weight incredibly easy. I feel like I should weigh 10-15 lbs less than I actually do, with as clean as I eat. So I'm not even sure if these calorie requirement formulas will work for me! I guess this isn't really a question.... 4. If I run (say 200 cal a day), I need carbs to fuel that. But if I'm lifting weights, I need a higher percentage of protein than carbs. What is the correct ratio percentage if I'm doing both these activities? Like I said, I'm pretty educated about what foods to eat, it's just the science of sports nutrition in regards to macronutrient ratios and the calculations of calories to eat. Thank you! P.s-still trying to find a plant based personal trainer? Just bought Robert's book though!
  2. Thank you! I just saw this reply But I am starting a new workout routine again and getting serious about making sure I get results this time. Another thing that may have been inhibiting my results (but who really knows for sure) is that my hormones have been out of whack for almost a year and I just began taking thyroid hormone replacement for low thyroid. This does make things a bit more difficult, since my metabolism is slower I'm not sure if conventional calculations/formulas for calorie requirements will work for me. But I am going to aim for around 100g protein daily. Thanks again!
  3. I'm a 5'6 female, 140lbs and doing P90x and wanted to see what people with vegan bodybuilding experience say about how much protein I should get. I know on a regular basis I get enough and that most people overdo it on protein which is not healthy. My question is, if I'm doing a strength program like P90X, do I need to go out of my way to eat more tofu/tempeh/beans, etc? Or will just eating more calories take care of it? I have tracked two days so far of my eating on Livestrong, and it seems about 50% carbs, 30% fat, 10-15% protein. Now this is just from two days so it's not necessarily that way everyday. Example of a day: Breakfast: oats with flax, banana, blueberries, walnut, unsweetened almond milk Lunch: apple, pumpkin seeds (1/8-1/4c) almonds (20), whatever I've made that day: vegetable lentil soup/fruit and veg smoothie/salad, etc (just one of those) Dinner: I cook everything ex: stir fry with quinoa/burritos/grain bowls/bean burgers on romaine Any snacks: smoothies, carrots, banana with pb, rye crackers with almond butter, fruit I only eat whole foods. Nothing processed. Is 30% fat intake too high to lose fat and build muscle? It's from the walnuts (which is only 1 TB), almonds (only 20) and flax (1 TB ground) it seems. Is that too much? What percentage of protein should I get? I'm only concerned about it because this is my 3rd time doing p90x and i've never seen results even though I worked my ass off, and was running on top of that (while eating very clean). Is 1800 calories a day a good goal to still lose weight and fuel my workouts? I think I normally eat around 1500. Workouts burn anywhere from 250-500 calories a day, and I walk 2 miles a day to work. Also...recommendations on protein poweders? I can't afford Vega. Anyone use Shakeology? Thanks!
  4. Does anyone know of a (female) vegan trainer in Seattle? Or at least a way to find one? I thought just googling it would work, but I can't seem to find any! I was thinking about finding an affordable one to help me once and for all change my body...doing it on my own isn't working so well! While online support is nice, I'd like someone to help me out in person. Thanks!
  5. Hello everyone, I am new to this site! I was wondering if anyone has done P90X while being vegan? I've done it twice before, was a vegetarian the first time, vegan the second time. I started Day 1 again today. The previous times I didn't really get any results, however, I am about 11 lbs lighter than the first time I did it in 2010. I obviously didn't follow their meal plan since they didn't have a vegan one at the time, but I did eat really clean and I did buy a vegan protein to drink after a workout. Since I did all the workouts and ate well, and still didn't lose weight/see a noticeable difference, I need all the advice I can get. I eat a whole foods, plant-based diet. I RARELY drink anything other than water, I don't drink/smoke, I don't buy or eat processed foods at all, and the majority of my groceries come from the produce section, the rest from bulk foods (grains, nuts, seeds), and I prepare all my meals myself from scratch. I also try to drink 96 oz of water, although some days I only get 32oz. I really don't want to OD on tofu or any kind of processed faux meat/proteins, and I really don't like the idea of a meal replacement in a powder form. I really want to get my nutrients from whole foods. I am not trying to bulk up, I am a female and want to decrease body fat and be toned. (5'6.5, 140lbs, maybe 28-30% body fat based on online measurements) I also may have a slight thyroid issue, which makes it extremely difficult for me to lose weight regardless of what I do! Any advice?
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