i'm gonna be buff!

[thendanisays]

ok, so i decided it's finally time to start a journal to hold myself accountable with. so here's my story.

i'm 22, 5'8" and about 127 lbs. i am in a sort of cutting phase, where i am hopeing to lose fat and gain muscle simultaneously even if it is very slowly. i work out diligently, but i screw up my diet more often than i'd like to. i have eating issues. i was diagnosed with EDNOS (eating disorder not otherwise specified) which basically menas they can't quite pinpoint what i have, but its an eating disorder. i know that i am an emotional eater and sometimes binge (a lot) when life gets tough.i also, even when i'm on track, seem to be too preoccupied with food, and what i'll eat next and blah blah blah. i am constantly crunching numbers and calculating out percentages of macros and the like.

luckily, my body is perfectly healthy, my fitness goals are legit and i have no intention of reaching them in an unhealthy way. have i made you all think i'm nutso yet ? i have everything under control now, but as anyone who's ever had an ed knows, it never completely disappears. but i am a ok and stronger than ever.

my biggest problem is that the fitness aspect of my life seems to overshadow everything else or esle it just won't happen at all. i am hoping to find a balnce between fitness, peace of mind and a social life ideally. there are not a lot of likeminded people around me. there are no vegans at all and very few people interested in fitness (and even fewer girls who are)



i lift heavy and i love it. veggieprincess is my online trainer and she is freaking fantastic not to mention a very sweet person. my biggest goals are to do unassisted wide grip pull ups. 20 military pushups. and maybe a 1 handed pushup or two.
i'm at roughtly 20% body fat now and would eventually like to get down to about 15% and to have visible abs (which may be impossible because ihave so much extra skin from being overweight for so long) but slowly is ok with me.

here are some before and after shots.


before i was vegan, just a locto-ovo veg. about 190 lbs.
<a><img src="http://i27.tinypic.com/5chwsn.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

right after i went vegan about 5 years ago ( i dropped tenty pounds pretty quickly) i'm in the middle.

a href="http://t<inypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i28.tinypic.com/2jg42rt.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>




these were back in january of 08 after when i started training and eating serioulsy again.


<a><img src="http://i29.tinypic.com/15cko53.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

<a><img src="http://i27.tinypic.com/33b1r36.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

<a><img src="http://i28.tinypic.com/314uiw3.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

and these are about 3 and a half months later after serious training and eating with some slip ups here and there....

<a><img src="http://i28.tinypic.com/ix8inl.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

<a><img src="http://i25.tinypic.com/330bu4j.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

<a><img src="http://i28.tinypic.com/33cu0r8.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

<a><img src="http://i26.tinypic.com/fyjrxf.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

<a><img src="http://i30.tinypic.com/1zplbom.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

<a><img src="http://i32.tinypic.com/33dwm5v.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

<a><img src="http://i29.tinypic.com/4si5oz.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>



forgive the poor picture quality, but they're cell pics. no one owuld help me. but i'm proud of myself anyway. i'll be posting both food and workout logs. hopefully...

[veganpotter]

Great work...I like what I see

[DV]

You look terrific! Great job on the weight loss.

[veggieprincess]

great to see you started a journal Dani!!!!

You have come so dang far.

You can ALWAYS talk to me about your emotional eating, because believe me... I get it. I'm not just hear to whoop your ass into shape... I'm pretty good at counseling emotional eaters too, so feel free to email me or even call me if you think your going to have an episode.

We've both shared with eachother those times when we need to hide or throw away the nuts because sometimes we're fine with out 10 almonds and other times we could eat the whole dang bag!!! I can really relate to emotional eating and I am definitely one too.

But it is really about what you do more often than not that gets you to your goal, so I'd love to see you not be so hard on yourself. You are young and your body will respond really quickly when you've overeaten one day... as long as you continue to get back on the horse.

So try not to be so hard on yourself. You don't have to have all the answers or completely work through everything. You can still cheat once in awhile and get to 15% BF if that is indeed your goal.

(I was gonna email you tonight with an answer back on the home BF test... I didn't forget)

[Dawgbert]

Awesome job on your weight loss and the muscle you are currently gaining. You can really see the difference in each progressive stage!

[hilary wright]

WOW! Great progress!! Congrats!

[pazios2002]

good stuff

[alison]

You look great! Well done!

[thendanisays]

wow thanks everyone. i wasn't expecting such a response.
potter, you'll be seeing a lot more of me as i'll be out in portland with you and l&g for the whole extra time.
and veggieprincess, you have been such a huge help to me. really. and an inspiration to say the least. it always makes me happy to know i can count on you.
DV you are also an inspirtaion to me. have you looked at the weight you're moving lately? holy shit you are strong! and very knowledgable. it always impresses me.
alison, pazios, hilary wright, and dawgburt- thank you very much. it means a lot to me.


ok, so yesterday was legs day for me. the first day in my new workout program, so i went with weight a little lower just to get the form right, but my legs are still pretty sore today.

1 leg leg curl--3 sets of 12x45 lbs

Leg ext w/ body elevated--1 set 15x30, 2 sets 15x35

Hack Squats --first time ever doing these. was very surprised at how heavy the machine is alone. and it KILLED my shoulders(in a bad way)
1st and 2nd set with 20lbs added, 3rd set just the machine.

Reverse Lunges with DBS-I have a hip that pops a lot, so i tend to go light on lunges or it does pop and it hurts. 3 sets of 12 reps/leg wit two 10lb DBS

One Leg Calf Raise- 3 sets of 12/leg with 2 12.5 lb DBS

Roman Chair Straight Leg Raise 3 of 12

3 sets of crunches on ball to failure...about 110 total.

i got on the treadmill for about a minute an a half, said screw this. and went to the stadium to jog around and enjoy the weather rather than stare at the tvs under flourescent lights in front of me...you know the feeling. about an hour or so of that...although i was distracted more than once by adorable pooches.


decent food day-not enough veggies though imo.

i took a multi, calcium, xtend (during my workout) and st.johns wort and 5htp.
overall good day.

[offense74]

delish and i needed a treat because i had such a crappy day--stupid boys.

Yeah, we're taking alot of beating theses days, Marcina is usually not overly excited by our presence either

Awesome progress! You go girl!

[thendanisays]

haha. thanks offense. i think the guys on this forum are decnt i guesss nah, just playing. i like you all a lot.

so today was busy as hell for me. my dad needed to borrow my car as he is staying with me for a bit, so i walked to the gym with my 30lb bag schlepped over my shoulders with all my gym/work/food stuff for the day. did some new excercises ( i left my notebook in my bag and am too damn tired to get it)
the exercises were
wide grip pulldowns
chest cable crossovers
seated rows
hammer curls
incline bicep curls
and i was supposed to do pushups but i was already so sore that i didn't even try. i could feel it just wasn't gonna happen.

i gopt in 17 minutes of cardio (should be fifty) before my ride to work got there (way earlier than i expected)

i worked from 1030 am to 11pm ( i bartend) with NOT EVEN A FIVE MINUTE BREAK!!!!!!! holy shit!!!!! i was eating all of meals on the fly...which means i have very little concept of how spaced out they were. i felt like i was picking all day. now i'm home and i am hungry and trying not to eat a whole bunch of bananas or something. hahaha. on the plus side i made over $300, so hey- not too bad....except that my feet are killing me! good thing tomorrow is only cardio. i think i can manage.

[robert]

Don't know if anyone else already said it....but...You're already buff! Now you'll be more buff!

See you this summer!

[thendanisays]

awwww. YAY! you're too kind robert! can't wait to meet you without a swarm of people fighting for copies of your meal plans! haha. gotta love boston.

[Katabatic]

Great work!

[Tasha]

Good Work