Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Today I did 30 min of interval running on an incline and then 12 min on the stair master.


Then I came home to make this... my first gluten free, vegan pizza

cardio and ab day.

15 min incline jogging on treadmill
15 stairmaster 85 steps her min

25 min abs

1920 cal
41g fat
257 carbs
166g protein

Trying to get two more days of weights in before I leave for Boston.

Tonight I worked with my personal trainer. Back and chest]

10 min cardio warm up and LOTS of stretching with 50 jumping jacks

rear delt row 70x 15 80x 15 85x 12 90x 12 100x 8
low cable row 70x 20 80x 15 90x15 95x 12 100x 10 120x 5 (assisted)
lat pull down 50x 15 60x 15 70x 15 80x 12 90x 10
chest press 70x 20 80x 15 90x 12 100x 10 110x 8
reverse lat pull down 50x 25 60x 20 70x 15 80x 12 90x 10
chest flys 30x 25 35x 20 40x 15 45x 10 45x 8

10 min incline and stretching

2,068cal
71g fat
240g carbs
160g protein

Mt workout was really good today but my macros are really, really off. Too many cals, too much fat, carbs are iffy, protein is ok but my sodium was twice as much as usual... lots of sodium in the protein drink I have... might have to change it to once a day instead of twice and stick with the hemp like usual. I also had some Chinese noodles >.< Delicious but threw everything off.

Last Weight day before I leave for Boston.

Today my trainer and I did legs.

We supersetted leg press, calf raises and weighted lunges. Then deep squats, leg extensions, and inner and outer thighs.

Not super heavy weight today, but about 70% of my max.

I have decided to take my new yoga DVD with me. This way I'm still getting a workout, but something different and get a good stretch in at the same time.

I am looking forward to a bigger city with more choices when it comes to being vegan and eating out.

Boston here I come!

I LOOOOOOOOVE Boston. I might not go home. I didn't know if I was going to get any workouts in, but walking Boston is cardio in itself! Unlike Savannah, there are hills here and its so beautiful that I want to walk instead of take the subway. I can't lie... cardio doesn't usually make me sore but I feel the tightness in my legs!!

I just ate at a vegan restaurant in Alliston, MA called Grasshopper and it was so good! It was nice to not have to prepare my meal myself.

Spending 5 days in Boston was amazing, but I was ready to get back to the gym today.

I could tell I hadn't been as well as I usually do... I was more fatigued in the middle of my workout than usual.

Today was back and bicep and some abs

set 1:

rear dealt row 30x 20 40x 20 50x 15 70x 10
lat pull down 40x 20 50x 20 70x 15 90x 10
low row 40x 20 50x20 70x15 90x 12
jackknife 20x 25 25x 25 30x 20 40x 15

set 2:

bicep cable pulls 20x 20 25x 20 35x 15 40x 12
lower back extensions 15 15 12 10
leg lifts 25 20 20 15

set 3

up right cable row 20x 20 20x 15 25x 15 25x 12
reverse lat pull down 30x 25 40x 25 50x 15 70x 12


Haven't had a huge appetite today. I will get one more protein shake in before bedtime.

1256/39/139/105

Chest and Triceps.

set 1

fly machine 50x 20 55x 15 60x 15 65x 15 70x 15 75x 12
chest press 50x 25 55x 25 60x20 65x 20 70x 15 75x 12
triceps press 65x 25 70x 20 80x 20 85x 15 90x 15 100x 12

set 2

isolated inclined chest press 20x 20 20x 20 25x 15 25x 15 27.5x 10 27.5x 8
isolated chest press 20x 20 20x 15 25x 15 25x 12 27.5x 8 27.5x 6
tricep cable pulldown 25x 20 30x 15 35x 15 40x 12 45x 12 50x 8


Really hard work out... especially after yesterday's workout. My protein intake has been good for today... already at 144 with dinner left. My calories are a little higher than usual but a lot of it is from fruit.

Right now I'm in the process of making a butternut squash and sweet potato soup with tofu and kale. Hopefully it's great.

So i have been doing interval running for a week now but today I decided to really turn it up.

Instead of going from 3.6 for 2 min to 7.3 45 sec I changed it all up.

I started doing 5.6 for 90sec then up to 8.5 for 30 sec and after every cycle I changed the incline .5.

Uphill is not my strong suit especially since I live in such a flat place and don't get any practice, but today I made it to 5.0 and I am actually really proud of myself because I was sweating my ass off and I think I grunted a few times while running up hill... it was pretty funny.

I just got done reading Better Than Steroids and now I have questions! I totally agree with nutrient timing... that is a sure thing. Since I added in a after workout protein shake, not only do my muscles recover faster, but I have had better gains.

By questions are though,

Can the algorithms he uses for figuring out how much protein, carbs and fat be changed for a vegan? If I stay by his means, that means I only take in 144 carbs a day! That's a hundred carbs less that I have been consuming. Maybe he has a point though, I have been eating healthier than I ever have in the two months I have been vegan, but my weight has pretty much stayed the same... is this due to the extra carb intake. Dr Warren Willey does not differentiate between grain carbs and veg carbs, but instead tell you when to eat them, but still states to stay within the restricted amount.

My next question is, most seem to agree that you need one gram + of protein per body weight to gain muscle, but here it is only one gram per lean muscle... what is the thought process behind both.



Since I haven't seen much change in my body in the last month, I am going to try these parameters he uses. I have built a diet that I will try for 2 weeks. It's staple are the before and after "meals" that go around my workout. So here are my parameters daily 1,745 cal/64 fat/ 144carbs/ 144 protein.

The problem I run into, is after my morning fruit and protein smoothie, my green body pre workout smoothie, after shake and large salad at lunch I am left with a large amount of calories 409 and a few carbs 18. Maybe broth based soup with tofu and some spinach? I need to find a couple of items that I can rotate over the course of the next two weeks.

I love experimenting on my body... this should be fun!

Legs

I usually like to work heavy with my legs... honestly I like the way I move up in weight with my legs mostly.

This week my PT decided to do them light with high reps because he knows i hate it!


body squats wide 30reps x 5
body squats 30 reps x 5
leg press 30x 30 30x 30 30x 30 30x 25 30x 25
leg extensions 15x 30 15x 30 20x 20 20x 20 20x 15
calf raises body weight) 25reps x 5
lunges 12reps x 10
full body crunch 25x 5


My legs actually burned more than usual... high reps is hard for me, but its good to change it up.

Chest and Back


set 1:
sitting rear delt row 25x 25 25x 25 25x 25 25x 20 25x 20
lat pull down 25x 25 25x 25 25x 25 25x 20 25x 20
iso arm chest press 25x 25 25x 25 30x 15 30x 15 35x 12
inclined chest press 25x 25 25x 25 30x 20 30x15 35x 12

set 2:
back extension 20 20 20 15 15
leg lifts 20 20 20 20 20
body crunch 25 25 20 20 15
rear delt row on knee 20x 15 20x 15 20x 15 20x 15

set 3:
lateral pulldown (cables) 20x 15 20x 15 20x 15 20x15
low row (cable) 30x 20 30x 20 40x 15 40x 15
jackknife 20x 25 20x 25 30x 20 30x 20


Since I have changed my diet up again I have not had as much energy. I think this has to do a lot with my carb intake. Right now we are going high reps and low weight just to change things up and maybe help get some more of my body fat off.

I felt pretty good in the gym today... just a little weaker than usual but I think I was just feeling the effects of a low carb cycle.

I was not feeling very good at first today. A little queasy, but I pushed through and made it to the gym with my trainer.

Legs day! My favorite. I like to do really heavy legs but we are sticking with light for a little while.




leg press 90x 25 140x 20 230x 15 230x 15
leg curls 20x 25 20x 25 25x 20 25x 20 30x 15
leg extensions 20x 25 20x25 25x 20 25x 20 25x 20
one legged ext 15x 15 15x 15 15x 15 (R) 15x 15 15x 15 15x 15 (L)
seated leg press 70x 25 70x 25 70x 20 90x 15 90x 15
calf raises 60x 15 60x 15 70x15 70x 15 80x 15

I felt like I could have done more today, but I decided to leave it at that since I was not feeling 100%.

Chest, Biceps, Triceps and Back

set 1:

shoulder press 15x 15 15x 15 15x 15 20x15 20x 15
hammer curl 15x 15 15x 15 15x15 20x 15
rear delt row 25x 15 25x 15 25x 15 25x 15 25x 15

set 2:
tricep press 30x 20 30x 20 30x 20 30x 20
chest press 30x 20 30x 20 30x 20 30x 20
low row 40x20 40x 20 40x 20 40x 20

set 3:

lat pull down 40x 20 40x 20 40x 20 40x 20
tricep cable press 20x 20 20x 20 20x 20 20x 20
preacher curls 10x 20 10x 20 10x 20 20x 15 20x 15

set 4:

cable chest flys 10x 15 10x 15 10x 15 20x 10 20x 10
cable lat pull down 40x 20 40x 20 40x 20 50x 15 50x 15


20 min Stair master:

1 set:
4 min at 65 steps per minute
2 min at 120 spm
4 min at 65 spm
2set:
4 min at 65 spm
2 min at 125 spm
4 min at 60 spm

Feeling really really good today at the gym. i had a lot of energy and preachers curls weren't as hard as they used to be!

Still playing around my diet.

MACROS: 1,706 cals/29 fat/237 carbs/147 protein

My carbs are over by almost a hundred and the most shocking part is my total sodium... usually it's between 1,500 and 2,000 but today it was 3,743!! AHHH... I know my vega sport serving has 510... I am thinking about searching for a new protein to replace it... the taste is great and the protein is high but the amount of sodium scares me a little...

All around though... a pretty good day!

Today was a HIIT day.

stairmaster:

set 1
4min 65spm
2min 120spm
4min 65spm

stretch

set2
2min 65spm
1min 130spm
2min 65spm
2min 120spm
3min 65spm

10 min abs

oblique V ups 25
V ups 25
one legged jack knife 25 each side
heels to the sky 25
bicycles 25

5 mins stretching


I felt really good today... I had a lot of energy even though I have had a long week.

Still struggling to get my macros right... it always seems like my carbs and sodium are too high... I really need to switch my protein shakes

1604cal/49fat/185carb/133 protein.................but a whopping 2,702mg of sodium!