Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

My main goal has always been simple yet elusive : get below 10 percent body fat and (presumeably) get real abs.

I've been working out for years and never really achieved this one goal. I used to be a vegan some years ago and recently decided to try it again but I'm concerned about trying to build muscle without meat. But I believe , really, that people should adopt a diet that reflects their ideals.

I'm currently in the United States Air Force and I'm working on not just my physical self but my intellectual and spiritual self as well.

So I believe in the ideals of a warfighter and I'm working on being a yogi and more on that at my web-log I recently started at

www.silverism.blogspot.com

My Goal is to get to that elusive 10 percent by AUG 1st.

My workouts are:

Monday, Wednesday, Friday : A full-body workout of
*25 minutes Yoga
*15 minutes boxing / kicking / sword-fighting drills
*35 minutes of weight lifting, sometimes done circuit style, sometimes focusing on one or two body-parts
*ab workout
*20 minutes low-impact cardio
*5 minutes stretch / cool down

Tuesday : squadron PC, usually some calisthenics and a 1.5 mile run done as quickly as possible (for me, between 9.5 and 11 minutes usually)

Thursday:

*Interval Cardio
---- 30 minutes moderate pace
-----2 minute sprint followed by 3 minute walk, repeat 5 times
-----30 minutes moderate pace
-----5 minute stretch

Saturday:

Long Cardio , 2-3 hours at moderate pace

Sunday : one hour ashtanga yoga and maybe a walk

No point in posting a diet plan since I'm transitioning over but work doesn't let me do too many snacks... I usually have a "power shake" first thing in the morning, then a good breakfast after my workout.

I think I will go ahead and post my current diet just for the record:

Shake

handful strawberries
instant coffee
sugar free choc syrup
protein powder
cup of Silk
glutamine powder
creatine powder

Breakfast

4 eggs
1/2 cup oatmeal
Boca Burger
sometimes some fruit
green tea

Lunch

Spinach
Almonds
Sweet Potato
Chicken or Tofu

Dinner

Mixed vegetables from frozen
Chicken, Tofu, or Tuna
brown rice
Sugar Free Fudgesicle
sometimes fruit
sometimes nuts

I think it's usually right around 2400 calories and I have been losing weight in small increments on this diet ... the main thing that makes the difference week-to-week is if I don't eat anything after 8pm until I wake up again in the morning.

Good site I'm looking forward to keeping my training log here and accomoplishing my goals.

Currently: 154.4 LBS
19.5% Body Fat (according to the Tanita Scale)
Height : 5'7"

I snacked last night on handfuls of almonds.

Had a great workout this morning, 20 minutes of Ashtanga Yoga followed by about an hour and a half of jogging. I'm trying to motivate my friend to workout with me so sometimes I have to run a slower paqce so he can do it but I'm glad I could talk him into working out for that long, he did well.

It seems to me that you are eating a lot of calories in a few meals. What I would suggest is to break those meals up into 6 "snack" meals per day. This should help your body get all the nutrients it needs without extras left over in your stomach to turn to fat. This worked for me when I was cutting and I started out at 38% body fat and I am about 8 or 9 today.

I think that's a great idea. Also, I'm noticing the weight isn't coming off as quickly as I'd like. I know they say slow is best --- but I've been stuck at the same weight for months and months now.

SO I'm going to try to eat more frequent meals of between 300-400 calories each.

Also these long workouts --- some days I just have trouble getting up that early so my plan for this coming week is to do these Beach Body DVDs in the morning and then in the evenings after work if I still feel good I'll go running for 45 minutes or so.

I'll try to do the Beach Body plan for 90 days and then I see they have a new hardcore fitness program called P90X that looks cool maybe I'll do that after I get my BF% way down.

So on my Tanita Scale it says I am 155 and 20 percent fat. But --- I think the Tanita reads body fat higher than it is. There is no way I am 20 percent --- I think. Well, the point is it gives me a direction to go in.

Anyway, I've pretty much revamped my diet and exercise routine. My long term goal for the year is to be around the same WEIGHT I am at now but with defined abs. My shorter term goal is to get abs. (hopefully in 90 days). So my goal is to not get caught up in WEIGHT but instead to lose one percent body fat every ten days. That would put me at 11 percent in 90 days... it'll actually probably be lower since I really really think the Tanita tends to give high readings.

New diet is eating at least six times a day with small meals of 300-400 calories usually, and of course as close to vegan as possible. No eating at night!!

So I'm cutting my calories from 2400 average down to between 1800-2400 every day.

I had figured out somehow that 2400 would let me burn fat off slowly but --- I've been staying at the same figures for months now so that is obviously too many calories for me to get the abs I want.

I was looking at the Beach Body extreme workout series and I thought "150 dollars?" You know, I know enough about exercise at this point to design my own workouts without spending that much money.

But I shortened the workout time because on some days knowing you have to work out for that long is enough to make you want to never even start. So now all my workouts fall between 47 and 56 minutes.

All my workouts incorporate yoga and meditation into them, a stretch-down at the end, most have strength exercises in them like push-ups and plyometric exercises and some have the drills like boxing, kicking, and bokken. The only real changes is that 3 of them are cardio focused and 3 are weight lifting focus ( chest/back/shoulders ; Legs ; Arms) and abs get worked 3 times a week.

I think diligence will pay off as well as having a forum to log onto --- that's a new idea for me to document my fitness routine in so public a place.

Awesome to see that you are so goal oriented and motivated. I'm sure you'll find success in your pursuit of the goals.

I also try to stick to 45-60 min at the gym. Although leading up to my contest I was spending about an hour and a half to two hours just to get more stuff done, burn more calories, and try to drop a little more bodyfat.

I'm quite sleepy right now, I only slept 2 hours last night due to my drive back from the Emerald Cup and having to work a 12-hour shift today, but I'll get in touch with you again soon.

Keep working hard, dieting hard, training hard and motivating yourself well. It is refreshing to see and maybe it will help me get a jumpstart on the summer season of training!

Robert

_________________

Check out my Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness Book on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Bodybuildin ... 497&sr=1-1

I think over-all I did really well this weekend. I went back to eating those smaller meals, and in a way it's nice because you do get a little happy when you think "oh yeah, it's almost time to eat again". Or is that just me?

One thing I am happy about is that on a normal basis I actually do love healthy foods. I love salads and broccoli and all that stuff that most people hate.

There is this poor guy at work who wants to lose weight but all you ever see him eat are twinkies and chee-tos and stuff like that. When I do "cheat" it was usually something like low-carb ice cream or a lean cuisine lasagna meal --- you know, still not that bad for you but not as good as, say... beans and rice.

But when I was going through technical training last year for six months I was really stressed and my schedule was nuts and I know that is an excuse but you know what I ate LOTS of stuff like pizza and doughnuts and I told myself I freakin deserved it.

So um now it's time to get rid of that.

But at least I LIKE healthy foods like tofu and oatmeal. It does make it easier than for someone who constantly craves McDonalds.

Yesterday evening we went to this Chinese place and I don't really like Chinese and I ordered veggies and tofu and it came out all fried and nasty and I could not eat very much at all ---

I came home and had broccoli with salsa and then a "no-sugar added" fudgesicle.

Since I'm still transitioning into veganism you're going to see me list things like tuna and dairy for a while until it's out of my kitchen.

I was so tired I slept all night no problem with snacking last night!

I just keep thinking about Day Ten --- that'll be my next "check-up" to see if I'm making progress on this new diet and workout routine.

I did work pretty hard on my legs this morning and incorporating the plyometrics like jump squats (no weight) left me winded.

it sounds like you are doing good, just remember to make sure your heart rate is getting up when you are doing anything cardio related. Also remember that body fat % is very hard to accuratley measure and even skin fold calipers are not accurate. I gaurentee hard work will turn results and I think you are on the right path.

Namaste (which is a greeting, which I am using because I read SilverOnes post)

First bobbycore, skin fold is one of the accurate measures. For guys, it can be taken from the chest, abdominal, and thighs.

SilverOne, like Robert said, you sound really goal oriented. I can try my best to help you but first I would need your body fat%, for calculations and stuff such as basal metabolic rate (the rate at which your body burns calories while at rest), and other factors. I can create a daily caloric intake for you, however I would need that bodyfat percentage, its important.

As for yogi, I know some stuff regarding Hinduism, and it is a very good concept. Veganism has its place there as you most likely know already. Just a bit of advice, I don't mean to sound pushy, but always have your ideals in your head. When you have those cravings, your beliefs should always be there. I can tell you that if you train your mind to do this, you can turn to a vegan just like that. Its all mind over matter, anything is possible. It is all a matter of letting go of attachments

calipers are more accurate than say a weight scale but calipers can be off from anywhere between 1-3% either way of their reading. you are not going to get acurate relsults unless you want to do the aqua submerged body fat test.....but calipers give you the closest and are most reasonable.

It seems you know your stuff bobbycore. Aqua will cost you a pretty penny.

I'm not so much as hung up the actual percentage itself so much as the number goes DOWN every ten days. And also I think it will be pretty obvious if I start to have better abdominal definition.

In general, I am doing well on this diet... but I did get up at about 10:30pm last night and made a bowl of nuts, sugar free jelly and all-bran--- I kept thinking I was hungry but after a few bites I put the rest up. So on one hand I shouldn't have had any at all but on the other at least I stopped after a few (okay four small) bites.

I've decided to extend my goal to 100 days even. So this could be a very long thread. 100 days.

Today I did do Yoga they have this program on Fit TV called Breathing Space Yoga --- I've decided to go back to doing that and then running for 30 minutes in the morning and I plan to use intervals as often as possible. Then in the evenings I will lift weights or do some more yoga. This is 6 days a week, on Sundays I am relaxing.

I am sticking to the smaller meals every day I hope it does the trick, it's not always easy to get in every little meal and snack during the day though.

Thanks for everyone's feedback.

I moved my fitness log over to blogger basically. So I didn't quit but I also didn't want to keep a journal in any one place that boxes me in... i.e. "veganism". Because I am still eating eggs here and there and some fish. So it doesn't seem right. But I definitely haven't given up on health, fitness, nutrition, etc.

well keep working on it, I hope all is going well!