Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

I'm new on this forum, so I think it's a good idea to start a log.

Five years ago, when I entered college (at 17), I was in my toppest shape ever. 5'8 155 lbs, played semi-competitive badminton and swam competitively for over 5 years. I wasn't vegan at that time.

Today, I'm finishing my first year in university (at 22) in microbiology (before that I did two years in another program, but quitted due to personal reasons). But the problem is that I'm totally out of shape! I became vegan three years ago when I entered university and lost 20 lbs. I'm somewhere between 135-140, but would like to be 145-150 top shape. Bad eating habits and lack of exercise contributed mostly to my decline in health.

Last week, I discovered Crossfit and trained two to three times. I really liked it, since involves so many components of fitness. I also read Thrive and Thrive Diet last week and I plan on following most of Brendan's recipes and meal plan.

So, my main goals short term are:
-Maintain this log in a day-to-day basis! (if it has been more than two days, simply bump this log so I can feel guilty )
-Train early in the morning to start the day
-Eat clean

Medium term goals:
-Try meditation/prayers
-Stop reading so much and start studying a bit more! (I can't live without books!)

Long term goals:
-Try yoga
-Do things from my 50 things to do list

Here are some pics, so that I know where I start:

Those four pics were taken on Monday March 19, 2007









Older pics





My two tattoes





And finally, my kitty!





and my girlfriend's dog

_________________
from the peaches...!

OK, it has been two days, so where is the log entries? What did you do on Thursday? Did you get up and start exercising in the morning like you wanted? And were you eating clean? (By the way, what does clean mean to you?).

On how about today, Friday? Did you get up early and exercise? These are your short term goals, so these at least need to be done first . Right?

By the way, your pics of your kitty, kittens, gf's dog, and the other photos of your lump of cells that is soon to be artistically chiseled into a masterpiece, are awesome.

I loved microbiology (I got a degree in biochemistry, and molecular biology). My advise is to just FOCUS on your priorities. Everything else falls into place in the end.

Those cats are too cute! Good luck with your training and I'm looking forward to reading about your progress.

Hi Gaia and markc7! Thanks for coming by and reminding me to keep my log! Unfortunately, I was really busy this weekend, so I couldn't update my log. On Friday, I woke up early and drove from university to home (3-hour road trip). I was pretty tired by the end of the day, so I did not work out.

On Saturday, I was damn busy too! My brother received his ring for completing his degree in Engineering, so my girlfriend and I prepared a surprise party for him! It was nice, lots of people, lots of fun! But I made some time to train!

Warm-up
-consists of squats, pull-ups, dip, push ups, supermans and sit ups;
then,
Pull-up (trying to figure my 1 RM)
1x1
1x1 (5 lbs)
1x1 (10 lbs)
1x1 (15 lbs)
1x1 (20 lbs)
1x1 (25 lbs)
1x1 (30 lbs)

30 lbs was fairly easy to do, so I guess next time, I could hit 50 lbs.

_________________
from the peaches...!

On Sunday, it was my girlfriend's birthday, so another busy day! We went to the movie theater to see Shooter (which is a good Walhberg's movie!) and then we went to the restaurant. That was a pretty bad day to maintain my good eating habits.

Anyway, I was able to weight train a bit. The workout called for:

Three rounds for time of:
Run 800 meters (I did 4 minutes of biking instead)
50 Back Extensions
50 Sit-ups

Since I'm rehabilitating from bad years of self-mutilation (ok, so not that bad, but still, I'm pretty out of shape right now!), I only did 2 rounds. The back extensions and sit-ups were broken into smaller sets (especially for back extensions). I completed the 2 rounds in 20:10 minutes.

_________________
from the peaches...!

Today (monday) was a rather cool day. University was closed because it's election day here in Quebec. (Go green party go!!) Before I went back to Quebec city, I did a fast workout at my parents' home.

Complete 40 intervals of 20 seconds of work followed by ten seconds of rest. Perform 8 consecutive intervals of each of the following exercises:

Wall-ball 20 pound ball, 10 ft target. (Reps) (replaced by a 20-lb db press)
Sumo deadlift high-pull 75 pounds (Reps)
Box Jump 20" box (Reps) (replaced by tuck jumps)
Push-press 75 pounds (Reps)
Row (Calories) (replaced by biking)

There is no additional rest between exercises.

Ok, so I was able to do the 8 intervals for wall-ball, but then, I was only able to complete 3 intervals for the SDLHP (I really didn't want to black out or meet pukie). So I instead maintained a rather elevated heart rate and did some tuck jumps, some push-press (that bitch is damn heavy!) and some biking. I can feel the fat melting away!

My eating plan should be close to this:

Breakfast: smoothie
snack: energy bar
Lunch: vegetable pizza or stir-fry or homemade veggie burger
snack: apples with nuts
Dinner: big salad
snack: salsa or guacamole or hummus with vegetables

I'll have some difficulty eating clean till Thursday, since I have a rather difficult exam in molecular genetics. Next weekend should be more relaxing, so I'll take more time cooking!

_________________
from the peaches...!

CUTE CAT!

@ clark X kent: thanks buddy!

Today I was supposed to work out, but because of the two previous workouts, my back and quads are really sore, so I decided to rest for an extra day (as tomorrow will also be a day off).

Yesterday was election day here in Quebec, and the liberal party won by only 7 seats over the ADQ (a more or less right-wing party). This means the liberal party will have to take decisions with either the ADQ or PQ (the party promoting the independance of Quebec). Stupid quebekers!

Finally, there's a hockey game tonight: Canadians Vs. Rangers. But I have to study for my exam on Thursday... Hard decision!

_________________
from the peaches...!

Good idea. My personal philosophy is "when in doubt, rest". I bet you'll come back feeling alot stronger and less sore when you next workout.

The Quebec election was quite a surprise. I'm not sure what to make of it. It'll be interesting to see how well the goverment is able to function. I mean, isn't this the first minority gov't in Quebec in over 100 years?

Another rest day will definitively help me. It's my first official week of training, so I'll take it not too hard, and then raise the intensity and volume.

Actually, it's the first minority government in Quebec since its "formation" as a province (1876 if I remember). We'll see what it will give us...

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from the peaches...!

Rest day today. I studied all day for my exam tomorrow. I'm feeling shitty at the moment, and I think there's a cold coming... I took 5 g of Vitamin C along with some probiotics. I wish it will be gone with a good night of sleep.

Last evening and this evening, there's a concert just outside of where I live. I can't even fall asleep because there's just too much noise. I'm feeling tired right now, and I need to be refreshed for tomorrow exam... damn

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from the peaches...!

Took another rest day today. Another 5g of Vitamin C and probiotics. I think the cold's symptoms are dissappearing. Good thing! I hope to be able to train tomorrow.

Exam was okay. Not too good, but not too bad either. Should be around 80%

I just made the Fuel Bites, the Ginger Pear Energy Bars and some Veggie burgers from Brendan's book. I tried the Fuel Bites, and damn, these are awesome! This means that I'll always want to get up in the morning because I'll be eating those before working out!!

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from the peaches...!