Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Day 36

I think I'm fighting something. This can't just be PMS. I woke up with something gross in my throat and while it's much less this afternoon, it's still there. I almost didn't go to the gym this morning but I did my 20 minutes of BFL cardio. It felt okay. I'm feeling quite weak today and have been sleeping off and on. Stupidly, I've been checking work emails and have spent a large part of the day working. There is so much going on, I'm almost afraid to go in tomorrow. I think I might be stressed. I don't know.

I'm trying to eat really well today. I have to walk to the video store soon to return a movie. I think the fresh air will do me a lot of good. I must make sure I'm well prepared tomorrow, I don't think I'll be leaving my desk.

I've done everything possible to feel better....

-I'm getting extra sleep
-Drinking lots of fluids
-Eat smaller portions of healthy food
-Trying not to over do it

What's left? What more does my body want from me? If I could grab my body by the shoulders and shake it a bit, I might just ask it that question. I try to get enough rest, healthy food and exercise. I take it to a naturopath and give it the most natural treatments even when I can't afford it. I changed my diet around to suit its special needs, likes and dislikes. Seriously? What more am I supposed to be doing?

Patience. I need to have patience. Rome wasn't built in a day....

I'm going to reflect on having patience.

I'm going to go for my walk now... I think it's time to get out of here.

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"Nothing is impossible unless you think it is." Paramahansa Yogananda

I hope you feel better!

I like the way you see each day as a new day and that everything is possible, setting new goals, keeping in mind that you're not perfect, but aiming for perfection.

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"Do your best, don't worry, be happy" - Meher Baba

Thanks for your comments and good wishes! I wish I could say I was feeling better but I'm not. At least I know what's wrong with me...

Day 37

I woke up this morning wanting to go to the gym. I was so exhausted but different from when I'm just sleepy and don't want to go. I was feeling weak and shaky. I went to lie down for a bit and realised that my body was in desperate need of a break. To be sure, I picked up my 10lb weights and started doing bicep curls. By the 9th rep, I was tired, really tired. I can usually do way more than that.

I made the difficult decision to skip the gym. There is always so much guilt around missing a work out but I knew today it was a good decision.

I went to work early and had an insanely stressful morning. I managed to get in to see my naturopath this afternoon and the face she made after looking at my throat said it all. It's infected. My lymph nodes are super swollen and I have stuff stuck to my tonsils. Yuck! I've got a list of stuff I have to do to get rid of it and a homeopathic remedy to take. I have to leave for the pharmacy soon. I want to get there before it closes.

I'm also supposed to rest. I do and don't want to follow that advice.

I was told that stretching or going for a walk would be okay. I ask you, what on earth would that accomplish? A walk? A walk? It's not like I can power walk... gentle stretching? C'mon... that's not exercise. It's barely yoga. Maybe a restorative yoga class would be good. We'll see.

I'm sleepy. Very sleep. I ate junk today. I wanted to treat myself. I got some vegan chocolate pudding. Yum. And some apple cake. Yum. Yum. I realise, it didn't make me feel any better. Ugh. Live and learn right?

I'm going to go now. It's now or never if I want to get to the store before closing. I think I will take a nap when I get back home. By then the construction workers who are making waaaaay too much noise, will be gone. I hope.

I'm getting measured tomorrow... Oy! Wish me luck!

Happy Tuesday!

_________________
"Nothing is impossible unless you think it is." Paramahansa Yogananda

Day 38

I didn't workout at all today but I went to the gym to get measured at lunch. I lost a quarter inch off my hips and everything else stayed the same.

My goals for the week are:

- Get enough rest to fight throat infection
- Take all treatments/remedies
- Eat clean
- Drink lots of water/tea

I am wiped out. I did a lot of cleaning tonight and now I'm ready for bed.

I will have a long day tomorrow. I have tickets for the Sex and the City premiere and it will be a late night. Hopefully, I'll be able to nap before going out.

_________________
"Nothing is impossible unless you think it is." Paramahansa Yogananda

Days 39, 40, 41

I'm starting to feel better but it's been an exhausting week. I have not been able to get the rest that I need. I'm actually going to go back to bed soon.

My plan is to go to the gym this afternoon and do some weights and see if I've lost any strength. I'm not training with my trainer until Friday so it will be up to me to get myself ready and in shape for that session. We're going to change my program!!

I've lost a week in my contest and I hope it doesn't set me back too much. I hope that if I shock my system this weekend/week I will be able to boost my results.

I've noticed that when I'm not exercising, I'm not eating as well as I would like. It's amazing how little I eat too. I don't think that's good. Yesterday I had a breakfast meeting at work and didn't eat again until I got home at 6pm and even then I was just too tired to eat. I ended up eating late when I went out with a friend. As much as I love the taste of Chinese food... I HATE how it makes me feel.

I'm going back to bed and when I wake up again my goals will be:

- Eat clean today
- Drink water
- Take all remedies for throat
- Go to bed early
- Go to the gym

Let's see what happens....

_________________
"Nothing is impossible unless you think it is." Paramahansa Yogananda

You know I had a similar week. It's time for both of us to get back to work!

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Do what you always did, get what you always got.

I agree DV, I agree.

Days 42 and 43

I did not go to the gym yesterday. I flipped my closet from fall/winter to spring/summer. It felt really good to get that out of the way. I didn't feel like leaving the house and still wanted to rest. I decided to hit the gym today instead. Last night I went to my parents' house for dinner and had them eating like vegans.

I made a kale salad with cucumbers and strawberries. It was lightly tossed with sesame oil and soy sauce. It was delicious!! I made mashed sweet potatoes and tofu/seed burgers on sprouted grain bread. I cut my Dad some slack and brought some vegan ginger cookies with me.

Today I woke up and knew I was going to go to the gym. The push to get up and start my day came from a spiritual place. I knew I was getting close to a "now or never" space in my life. After a week off, it's a pretty dangerous spot for me to be in, my history dictates that there's a good chance I would fall off the wagon. Something is different this time. I want this, all of it, for different reasons. Maybe for the 'right' reasons. I don't know.

I was realistic about my workout this morning. I didn't push it but did manage to increase my leg press by 10lbs and my ez bicep curls by 5lbs. I had a great work out and felt awesome after!! I was doing a chest press this morning and when I finished my 20 reps I looked in the mirror and I could see my trainer looking at me. He gave me a big thumbs up. I think he was worried that I had lost some strength or that I was heading down the road towards losing motivation again. He's been with me three years, he knows how easy it has been in the past for me to lose focus. I think we both want to believe that it's different this time.

I've been sleeping with the Body for Life book next to my pillow so I see it first thing in the morning. It's also pretty good motivation. I've got a few more chapters to read but I've been falling asleep so easily I haven't felt like reading.

Before going to the gym this morning, I was on Facebook and saw a photo of a woman with whom I went to university. I saw her name tagged but couldn't believe it was her. She must've gained 50lbs in the last 8 years. I felt badly for her... in a non-judgemental way... and I wondered how that happened. I thought to myself, if I'm not careful, that could be me. It seems like I would have to break all of my healthy habits before that could happen but still.... It was a source of motivation this morning... Wow!

I've brought work home with me for tomorrow. I might get a head start on it now so I can have more time off tomorrow...

I think a little nap is in order first. It's been a long day.

_________________
"Nothing is impossible unless you think it is." Paramahansa Yogananda

Day 44

I got woken up at 4AM by a fire alarm. They are doing road work in my hood and it's doing something to the water pressure. This is the second time in a month that this has happened. Thankfully, the first time it was at 11pm. I had a hard time falling asleep but was able to get enough rest to feel good when I woke up.

I just got back from the gym where I did my 20 minutes of kick-ass cardio.

I feel good. Hungry, but good.

I've got some brown rice on the stove now. Ugh! It's going to take forever! However, I am working from home today so I have more than enough to distract me until it's ready.

I'm supposed to go to a friend's birthday lunch at a pub today. I'm not sure if I should go. I feel like my craving for french fries might be too much. Hmmm.... must give that some thought. I'm going to check the menu on-line and then follow that up with a phone call. Maybe they can do something special for me. . .

My goals today:

- Stretch throughout the day (my legs are tight)
- Get planned work finished
- Study for Thursday's exam
- Eat well and get enough calories
- Avoid flour products (I'm trying to see if this will help my asthma and mucous related issues)
- Get to bed early tonight
- Plan tomorrow's workout before bed

I've got my work cut out for me. It's time to get started!

_________________
"Nothing is impossible unless you think it is." Paramahansa Yogananda

Day 45

A review of yesterday's goals...

- Stretch throughout the day (my legs are tight) - NOPE
- Get planned work finished - YES
- Study for Thursday's exam - YES but there's more to do
- Eat well and get enough calories - MAYBE there was some junk
- Avoid flour products (I'm trying to see if this will help my asthma and mucous related issues) - NO (ate vegan pizza and roti)
- Get to bed early tonight - YES
- Plan tomorrow's workout before bed - YES

I didn't do too badly.

After a full day of working from home and a full evening of studying, I was falling asleep by 9:15. I was asleep by 10. I woke up at 5:30 feeling pretty good but I did go back to bed until it was time to get up.

I went to the gym this morning and trained on an empty stomach. I'm trying to get used to doing that again. I think that I'm eating enough these days to pull it off.

Here's my workout:

DB Chest Press

15 x 12
17.5 x 10
20 x 8
22.5 x 6
20 x 12

Incline DB Chest Press
20 x 12

Seated DB Press
8 x 12
10 x 10
12 x 8
15 x 6
12 x 12

Lat Raises
8 x 12

Wide pull downs
30 x 12
40 x 10
45 x 8
50 x 6
45 x 12

Bull Rows
50 x 12

Close Grip Push downs
35 x 12
40 x 10
45 x 8
50 x 6
45 x 12

DB Extensions
8 x 12

Hammer Curls
8 x 12
10 x 10
12 x 8
15 x6
12 x 12

Bicep Curls
15 x 8 (I could not do any more. I tried the 12's for an extra rep and I was done!)

This was my planned workout and figure that I can increase most of those weights quite a bit. I was testing the waters today. On Friday I'll be training with my trainer and we'll sort out my lower body workout together. Yay!

I just had dinner and now I have to go study for tomorrow's exam. Work has been so busy and I don't/can't see an end in sight. I'm hoping I will feel better after my exam.

I'm skipping out on my cardio tomorrow morning so I can study. I hope to make it up tomorrow night... we'll see.

Or, maybe doing it will make me feel good for my exam. I'll ponder that.

Time to hit the books!

_________________
"Nothing is impossible unless you think it is." Paramahansa Yogananda

Days 46 to 49

I survived my work week and my exam. I ended up skipping my high intensity cardio on Thursday morning but managed to get in a 30 minute power walk.

On Friday I trained with my trainer. We did a killer leg workout. I actually coudln't walk yesterday. I was in excruciating pain. I'm still extremely sore. I don't think I've ever done so many lunges in my life. We increased the weight on my leg press dramatically. It felt mostly good at the time. Except for the lunges... I was shaking during and after. I thankfully don't have to train legs again until Wednesday so that should be good. I figure a few more brutal sessions like this and my legs will be used to it after that. I don't mind general muscle soreness but wanting to cry my eyes out everytime I had to go up or down stairs was just too much for me.

I'm doing a lot of stretching and hope that will help.

I'm in Toronto this weekend and am trying my best to eat well. We've been eating out a lot so I'm not thrilled about that but I'm making my best effort not to eat too much junk.

My train will get me back home around midnight. I'm hoping I will be able to sleep on the way home so I'll feel rested enough to hit the gym before work. It promises to be another crazy week!!

More tomorrow...

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"Nothing is impossible unless you think it is." Paramahansa Yogananda

Ahhhhh, i'm so jealous! I have been trying to make my legs like jello, like the not beong able to walk type of feeling but I cannot seem to do it!

I did 40 sets for legs today (no calves, strictly hams, glutes, quads) and not even a budge. I don't even think they will be sore tomorrow.

I think I need to take some horribly drastic measures to facilitate that type of feeling, it's such a beautiful thing.....

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Where do you get your protein?
http://www.VeganProteins.com

I love how you list your goals for the day or week. and then check them off! I might start to do that as well if that's cool. If you ever are in Toronto again let me know and we can workout or cook something.




Lean and Green Wow! What does this mean exactly? Or why would this happen? Is it cause you've done so much training that your muscles are used to anything you do to them?

I dunno, I guess so AndreaFrancis. It's a combo of the whole your muscles adapt to the movement you do and my genetics. My legs are naturally the dtrongest and quickest to respond to training. Though I switched it up yesterday, probably not enough. Every other part of my body will get sore after a workload like that but my legs will act as if nothing happened........

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Where do you get your protein?
http://www.VeganProteins.com

Thanks for the comments AF and L&G!

AF, I'll probably won't be spending much time in TO this summer as my bf will likely come here. However, there's a good chance that I'll be there in the fall.

L & G, dude, this was not pleasure pain. It was excruciating. Seriously. It inspired at least three major crying fits. I went to acupuncture last night and I got about 7 needles in my ankle alone. It's taking the brunt of not being able to use my quads and glutes. My acupuncturist even used suction cups on my quads to try and loosen them before even attempting massage. That was four days later. Today my legs are much better but my butt still hurts.

Thankfully I did an upper body workout with my trainer today...

Days 50 to 52
It's been a crazy week. Recovering from Friday's work out seems to have taken all week. I should be good to train legs again on Friday but I'll wait and see how I feel before I make any decisions.

I got measured this morning. I'm still consistently loosing little bits here and there. Hopefully by the end of my contest it will add up to something significant.

I have a headache and don't feel much like blogging so I'm going to sign off.

I'm going to walk to a work meeting tomorrow. It should take me an hour. I think that will cover my cardio.

I wish you all a great night!!

I will post workouts soon.

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"Nothing is impossible unless you think it is." Paramahansa Yogananda