Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Good run this morning! I skipped working out yesterday and just took the dogs to the park again. It was hot & really humid this morning, but I ran a mile warmup and then kept pace with the fast women for 4 miles! Made me feel really good. I think it's a good omen for my half marathon this Sunday. It should cool down by then and I'm finally feeling pretty good. I decided to take it easy the rest of the week and try to give it my all. It's on the Atlantic City Boardwalk and I've always enjoyed running on the boards, so I'm starting to really look forward to it. My husband and my parents are going to come cheer me on and I talked some of my running club friends into going too.

Good luck with your marathon Lisa!!!!

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Thanks! It is just a half though!!! Don't get too crazy!

Yesterday I biked for 30 minutes and did abs, chest, back, and shoulders.

This morning I met up with a different group and ran somewhere between 5 and 6 miles. This group is a little slower and takes a 1 minute walk break for every ten minutes of running. The loop also has a bunch of little hills in it so it was a fun change of pace for me and a little easier than trying to keep up with the faster group. It was also raining & pitch dark! Fun stuff!

Hey Lisa, good luck with your half!

I would suggest maybe you should not focus on the number of your weight, and instead focus on packing nutrient dense foods into your diet. It can be really easy to become fixated on the number. The important thing is to eat well, and feel good. If the weight is supposed to come off it will.

Thanks for the well wishes! I'm happy with how things went. We really lucked out with good weather this Sunday! Pamela, thanks for the advice on the weight, I really don't stress it too much, but I would like to see a gradual decrease. I'm 5'6 and being over 150 lbs is definetly too much!

Friday night I picked up "Skinny Bitch". It is a really funny, easy to read book that has some excellent diet advice. So far it has convinced me to give up coffee. Saturday I went swimming in the morning for 20 minutes then in the afternoon my husband & I took the dogs to the beach to walk around and tire them out. It was a really nice relaxing day and I went to bed extra early. Sunday morning I got up, had cereal & a banana for breakfast and my last cup of coffee! My husband drove me to Atlantic City, where we met up with a bunch of my friends from my running club. Most of them were running the Marathon, I only ran the Half.

My time was around 2 hours, 15 minutes. Not the best Half Marathon time I ever had, but not the worst either. I paced myself well and felt pretty good the whole time. I thought the race was well organized and I liked the course. I look forward to running this one again next year. Now I won't be running that long of a distance until probably the spring so I can focus on speedwork.

I didn't get up this monring to go to the gym because my legs felt like lead weights, but I plan on stopping there this evening for an upper body workout.

I hate numbers though.... I'm 5'7" and when people learn my actual weight they are almost always compelled to tell me I'm "too thin" and that I need to put on weight. Yeah, the number is low, but I eat really well (and lots) and obviously it's not harming my performance! I've never been healthier. Yet, at this weight I wouldn't be able to get health insurance in the United States, because my BMI is too low.

Other people the same height as me who are fit and healthy look great at a higher weight. We all have different bodies. Just treat it right and you'll be happy.

I quit coffee recently myself... although it took me several months to wean off of the caffeine. Good luck!

How many half marathons have you run Lisa?

Skinny Bitch was one of my favorite reads, lol

I never did give up the coffee tried once to no avail. Interestingly, now it is part of my dehydration and cutting routine for comp.

Good luck giving it up ... the headaches were a bear when I tried.

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I've been gradually reducing my coffee anyway, so I was already down to a cup or two every day. I just thought about it and realized it wasn't good that I felt like I needed it every day. I would rather not have it every day and then it will be a treat if I do decide to have it once in a while. I had green tea this morning, so that helped. I was feeling really cranky here at work this morningwithout my coffee, though part of that could have been because I was hungry too. I just hit Whole foods for lunch (and picked up stuff to heat for dinner too) , they are my savoir!!!

I should keep better track of my races, I really had to think about it. I've ran 2 marathons, and I think this was my 6th half, which includes the trail half I did in August, that one was as hard as a marathon. I've done alot of 5Ks and trail races less than 10 miles, but only one road 10K and one 10 miler. And one sprint tri Wow I sound like a regular pro!

Thanks for the tips about my weight, Pamela. I think I do naturally have a bigger build. I am really happy with the progress that I have been making. I'm starting to notice some arm and back definition already, plus my tush is starting to look good. My real goal is to get rid of some flabby spots on my thighs, the weight is just something measureable that I like to keep track of.

Ditto on the book-had me laughing out loud. About the coffee, both of you should give it up

Good luck on the marathon, keep us posted...

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Wow! I haven't updated this in a week! Crazy- last week flew by. I've been really busy at work & I'm getting ready at home for a huge Halloween bash we are having this Saturday. I'm looking forward to the party, but still have a lot to do so I'm also loooking forward to it just being over and done with.

I ate really well last week, following the skinny bitch guidelines, and didn't have any caffiene at all! Only drawback is I've been getting headaches frequently. Anyone know when they will stop?

Monday I biked for 30 minutes & upper body weights. Tuesday I ran 5 1/2 miles, then did legs weights. Wednesday took the dogs for a long walk & upper body weights. Thursday ran 5 miles. Friday ran 3 X400s. Saturday went for a long walk & then just ran a bunch of errands, including shopping at BJs (I think that should count as a full body workout!) Sunday I had a really fun 9.2 mile trail run.

I should have gotten up this morning to swim & train arms or something, but my bed was just too comfy. Now tonight I don't know if I will make it to the gym, or will clean out my bar.

I'm having a huge amount of difficulty with getting out of bed in the morning. We are going to look in to buying a timed lamp with a full spectrum bulb to simulate sun in the morning in our bedroom. It's pitch black for the first hour after I wake up.

I didn't get headaches when I quit caffeine because I weaned myself off. My friend who quit caffeine cold turkey before I did had them for about five days, I think. Good work!

Haha- I don't think my sleephead husband would appreciate a sunlamp in the bedroom! It is a good idea though. I can get up in the morning to run if I am meeting others or if I know I won't be able to run later, its on my crosstraining & weightlifting days that I have no motivation. I think I will go to the gym after work & worry about cleaning some other time!

Happy to hear my caffiene headaches will stop soon. I think sometimes they are hunger headaches too.

You could always just buy a cheap timer and put a really low watt bulb in the lamp...this way it'll just be kinda dim when you get up but the light being on shouldn't wake you up immediately. Plus you can find one for $5.

Yeah, that's kind of what I meant. I'm not sure how cheap timers will be though. When we had to buy one for our outside light it was more like $50. Maybe we can pick one up cheap in DC in two weeks!!!!!!

Monday I did do a quick arms & abs workout. Tuesday I again didn't want to get out of bed so I ran 3 X800s after work. They were really hard and I felt exhausted afterwards. I realized that I had been feeling run down for a few days at that point so I made an effort to go to bed extra early & not even try to go to the gym the next morning. I'm not sure if I had a bug, or was just rundown, but I felt tired & achy Wed so I just took it easy. Last night I finally had the energy to clean like I have been wanting to. This morning I woke up feeling good so I rode the bike for a half hour & worked my abs. I also weighted myself today: still 152. Not bad considering I've felt like I was eating a lot of food & have been relatively inactive. My attitude is better too, I'm looking forward to the party now.