Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

You must give me the exact method, ingredients list for that last one!!! (Please).

Hey! Thanks for commenting on my journal! I was pleasantly surprised when I went to read yours and learned that you are a woman so your comments mean a lot! Maybe we can help each other, I see that you struggle with upper body lifts while your squat numbers put me to shame! As far as my fluffiness goes it's OK for now, but it's unacceptable for an extended amount of time, and I am getting ready for an intense diet starting in March. Looking forward to following your progress!

I wouldn't say my squat numbers are anything super impressive - I seriously envy your bench power. And it's awesome to find another woman who's not afraid to put on some "fluff" to keep getting stronger, I don't know a lot of people who "get" it. I definitely think we can help each other out, which is a really awesome thing about starting a log on here. Totally helps with motivation, accountability, and having a support system when there aren't many people in your life who take your dedication to lifting seriously (my parents think it's nuts).

Quote: “Give more. Give everything. Give blood.” - Bane

12.22.11 Work out

Cycling
10 minutes/2.33 miles

Standing Barbell Overhead Press
1x8x45
1x6x45
5x3x45
Speed work, supersetted with dumbbells.

Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press
1x5x15
1x6x15
2x5x15
1x6x10

Bent Over Barbell Rows
1x10x55
1x8x60
5x6x60
Speed work, supersetted with dumbbells

Bent Over Dumbbell Rows
1x5x30
1x5x25
2x5x20
1x5x15
Super-speed work, only enough time between sets to drop the weights and pick up the next.

Dumbbell Side Lateral Raises
2x12x20

Dumbbell Front Raises
1x10x25
2x10x20

Upright Rows
1x8x25
2x10x20

Long Pulls (Machine)
1x12x60
1x10x50
1x8x50

Delt Flys (Machine)
1x5x60
1x5x50
1x6x50
1x5x50

Barbell Shrugs
1x10x140
1x8x130
1x10x130
1x8x130

Notes:
I can honestly say today was the best work-out I’ve had since starting my new split. Definitely a big deal for me since upper-body days tend to drag. However, today was just as intense as a lower-body day, if not more so since every time I surprised myself (mostly on my super-sets and up-right rows), it just increased how jazzed I was about everything. This could be why I got this work out in under 50 minutes.
I've also decided that, after Christmas, I will be increasing my caloric intake by 250. I've been at a steady 120-121 for a while and my goal is to get stronger; I'm going to do that still telling myself I'm "reviving" my metabolism by eating a measley 1,700, if I'm lucky, calories a day when my maintenance is closer to 2,300 (for those of you not in the know, I was severely under-eating for a long time because I knew nothing about nutrition and how to find my real maintenance. Under-estimating intake and activity + over-doing cardio = not smart.

Will post macros and food "n00dz" once I finish eating. Until then ...

Repping VBB!


Pre-Work Out/No Pump Vascularity (super, and perhaps foolishly, proud of this)


I also took a photo of my back for the first time today and a semi-scandalous photo of my arms after today's work out (shirtless but not "inappropriate) because my pump was pretty crazy. I probably won't post either but definitely a mild confidence booster.

Those are pretty beastly. Stronger than me on those

Nice! A solid foundation, can't wait and see how this routine cycle goes for you.

I'm hoping that this'll help out my shoulder press and bench - I got a lot of catch up to play with you in terms of upper body.

Nicholas - Thanks! I'm pretty excited to see how things progress over the next few months. I'm not sure how long I'll be running this split, though, I'm going to do a 12 week minimum and re-evaluate from there. I'm also working on that Food Voodoo recipe for you - there's some minor tweakage going on with it to get the consistency right but once I figure that out, I'll for sure post it up.

Also, I decided not to track my macros for today, and probably won't tomorrow or on Christmas because my parents want to do the whole "sight-seeing" thing while they visit - i.e. go out to all the vegan joints and good bars around because they're "foodies" at heart.

So ...

Rest Day Eats:


What you see there is, no joke, about two pounds of a Spinach Pie grilled cheese from the famed Melt Bar & Grilled with the addition of their amazing in-house made seitan, french fries, and cole slaw. Google "Melt Bar & Grilled" if you're unfamiliar and be prepared to be grossed out/amazed. I only ate half at dinner and decided to save the rest for lunch tomorrow since I also opted to have some brews tonight with my dad. What's up? My fat storage. Cares? Zero.

Not a single macro has been tracked for the last 48 hours but I'm pretty sure I've been in range and, if anything, I've been lower than my maintenance. Good thing I plan on having some brews tonight to make up for it. Food n00dz tonight or tomorrow - hope everyone's been having a good weekend.

The damage from Saturday and Sunday.

Left-overs from Melt Bar & Grilled.


X-Mas Eve brew of choice.


X-mas Morning bro-tastic breakfast of protein pancakes, tofu, and a protein shake.



X-mas dessert of vegan cherry pie and So Delicious vanilla ice cream, topped with cinnamon.



X-mas brews:





Late night snack:



Not pictured: X-Mas Day Pizza topped with seitan, artichoke hearts, spinach, onion, and pepper and a couple shots of Maker's Mark.

Quote:

Elliptical
10 minutes – 80 calories

Squat
1x5x100
1x5x120
1x5x135
1x4x140
2x3x140
1x2x140
1x3x140
1x2x140
1x3x135

Deadlifts
1x8x95
3x5x115
1x5x120
1x5x125
1x1x125

Incline Leg Press
1x5x140
1x5x160
1x5x180
1x5x190
1x5x195

Seated Calf Raises
3x5x145
1x5x135

Seated Leg Curls
1x5x60
1x5x80
2x5x90

Notes:
When I walked into the gym, I remembered something extremely important: today would be the last deadlift day of 2011. Now, to be fair, I didn’t set 2011 as the target for my short term goals - I knew that getting a 1x0.8xBW bench was going to come in the spring, at the earliest. But realizing I was fully loaded with a lot of extra carbs from the weekend, there was only one thing to do: Get. That. 1x1xBW deadlift. And I did. By 4 reps in one set and then one little last rep just to make sure my form was perfect.
My weight went up today mostly, I know, because of the increase in carbohydrates/sodium from the weekend. However, seeing the scale go up triggered something in me: I have to increase my intake if I want to put on muscle and keep hitting PRs/making gains. No more of this "1,800" bullshit. I plan on writing something about this in a bit, though.

Macros: 51/145/184 or 1,775 calories
A bit of estimation here but I’m 95% sure they’re almost spot on. I had my last not-home cooked meal this morning with my parents but got pretty accurate measurements on it. Since then, it’s been business as usual and, surprise, even if I calculated incorrectly, the meal still fit my macros. Come at me.

Spaghetti sauce left-overs (TVP, tomatoes, peppers, onions, Brussels sprouts, kale).


Fajita pita left-overs (seitan, spinach, salsa, in a pita)


Peanut Buttah Cup Voodoo (Protein ice cream, Chocolate Peanut Butter Clif Bar, almonds and cashews, and PB2)


Oh, and I took these for some laughs.
Pre-WO/no pump. Left: unflexed; right: flexed.

Good playlists.

sweet calves you got there!

Oh, I was just reading your tumblr

Good lifting.

Matt - For sure, mate. I went through a brief stint where I only listened to Pantera when I lifted but I've since tried to incorporate a little more variety. Ha.

Nicholas - Thanks, though, I don't think they're that great. Plus, the lighting in that photo's a little generous more than likely. I just never actually get a good look at them so I figured I should see how they're doing.

Robbie - That works, too. I have both since it'd be cool to get people who wouldn't usually come here to check out my progress (i.e. people who followed my old blog that wouldn't normal come here). I actually just put a pretty heavy (no-pun intended) post on there but I'm going to copy-and-paste it on here once I figure out, for sure, what my new macros are going to be tonight.

Hatebreed, terror, ringworm, and 100 demons guide me through my workouts.